Executives and business owners are accustomed to running the show but an upheaval in their personal life, such as divorce, can have a significant toll on their work, their employees and the business performance as a whole.
The federal Liberal government is aiming to protect children from high-conflict divorces, by emphasizing alternatives to courtroom battles and by using neutral language for the sharing of parental responsibilities, in what would be the first major changes to the federal Divorce Act in 20 years.
I applaud any efforts by the federal government to reform family justice. Justice Minister Jodie Wilson-Raybould has indicated that proposed new legislation will address family violence concerns, put the best interest of the children first, and improve enforcement of support obligations. I am glad to it has become a government priority.
A recent survey of family lawyers in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and British Columbia found that the majority prefer to resolve family law disputes with collaborative settlement processes rather than through costly litigation.
What is Integrative or InterestBased Bargaining? Integrative bargaining (also called “interest-based bargaining,” “win-win bargaining”) is a negotiation strategy in which parties collaborate to find a “win-win” solution to their dispute. This strategy focuses on developing mutually beneficial agreements based on the interests of the disputants.
Many family law disputes are better resolved with a team in a non-adversarial setting, and more lawyers are offering this kind of help.
As collaborative practice grows in popularity, a number of family lawyers across the country are working to launch Canada’s first inter-disciplinary organization.