John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers provides mediation, arbitration, mediation-arbitration and parenting coordination services for family law disputes throughout Alberta and British Columbia. John-Paul E. Boyd, KC is a senior family law lawyer nationally known for his big-picture approach to family justice issues, contributions to public and professional legal education on family law, and special expertise in disputes concerning parenting, support and jurisdiction.

dispute resolution

John-Paul’s goal is to help the individuals involved in a family law dispute resolve their differences with courage, respect and integrity. We aim to resolve family law problems fairly, quickly and at the lowest possible cost, while reducing the impact of the disagreement on children, minimizing conflict, and supporting parents’ ability to work together into the future.

For people wishing to mediate a dispute, John-Paul will help the parties separate their interests from their legal positions, identify solutions, and reach a forward-looking agreement that is equitable and as fair to both parties as possible.

Arbitrations with John-Paul will usually begin with an attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation before proceeding to a hearing, unless the parties are certain that mediation will not produce a settlement. Arbitrations begin with planning meeting to identify the issues in dispute, fix a date for the hearing, set deadlines for the steps to be taken before the hearing, and develop the rules and processes that will be followed at the hearing.

We have developed a list of procedural options, available for download on the Arbitration Procedure page, that are specifically designed for the arbitration of family law disputes. These procedural options are intended to ensure that the level of process provided is proportionate to the complexity, importance and value of the issues in dispute, that the needs and wishes of children are heard and taken into account, and that the dispute is resolved as quickly as possible at the least cost possible.

For people wishing or required to participate in parenting coordination, John-Paul takes a firm but pragmatic and child-centred approach to resolving parenting disputes and implementing the terms of final orders, awards and agreements on parenting. His long-term goals are to help the parties learn to communicate more effectively, identify the behaviours that frustrate their ability to cooperate, and develop strategies to resolve future disagreements on their own.

Our current mediation, arbitration, mediation-arbitration and parenting coordination agreements are available for download on the Participation Agreements page.

children’s legal services

John-Paul has prepared non-evaluative views of the child reports since 2007 and has written extensively on children’s participation in justice processes, including interviewing children, hearing children’s views in family law disputes, and drafting children’s affidavits. His expertise is invaluable when independent counsel is required to prepare the affidavit of a young person or to provide children and youth with legal advice.

John-Paul connects easily with children and is able to explain the legal issues affecting them in a clear, understandable way. He takes a sensitive approach when providing children’s legal services, seeking always to protect children from conflict between the adults in their lives and ensure that the legal proceedings between their parents have the least possible impact.

Independent legal advice

John-Paul provides legal advice about the meaning, effect and fairness of family law agreements. He respects the rights of individuals to settle their legal disputes as they wish. He will explain the law clearly and concisely, as well as the range of alternative settlement possibilities and the range of likely outcomes were the dispute to be resolved through the courts instead.

John-Paul’s objects are to assess the fairness of a proposed family law agreement or participation agreement and ensure that the client fully understands how the proposed agreement affects their present and future rights and responsibilities.

a paperless process

John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers uses an electronic, paperless process to streamline mediation, arbitration and parenting coordination processes, and provide a fair, speedy and cost-effective resolution of family law disputes.

Day-to-day communication occurs largely by email and documents are shared and delivered in electronic form through a secure client portal. Meetings, conferences and hearings may be held in person or by videoconference using Zoom.

in-person meetings

When it is necessary to meet in person, meetings, conferences and hearings can be held anywhere in Alberta and British Columbia convenient to the parties and their lawyers.

When John-Paul is required to travel outside Calgary, we charge a flat per diem rate of $500; clients are not otherwise responsible for John-Paul’s travel costs or travel time, and will not be asked to pay for common disbursements such as accommodation, airfare or mileage.