BIOGRAPHY:
barbara findlay QC has been practising law for 30 years.
Over the course of her career, she has been active in
many areas of the law. She was a senior manager of the
Legal Services Society (legal aid); she taught both
full time, and as adjunct faculty at the Faculty of
Law, UBC; and she has had a general practice. She has
been a member of the Law Society Equity and Diversity
Committee, the Canadian Bar Association National Equity
Committee, the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association
Equity Committee; LEAF (B.C. Board of Directors and
National Legal Committee); and was the founding co-chair
of SOGIC (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference
of the Canadian Bar Association).
She has presented in many Continuing Education seminars,
both in B.C. and nationally; and has written and published
many law-related articles in legal journals and popular
media.
barbara has been very active in the community, and currently
sits on the Board of Pacific Disabled Women's Action
Network. She was adopted by the WE'etsuwe'ten people,
and given the name Zil' ha' lay (Many Spirits).
barbara was given a QC (Queen's Counsel) designation
in 2001 by Her Majesty in Right of the Province of British
Columbia .
I have been practising law in British Columbia since 1977. I think that collaborative family law and mediation are tools which are vastly more effective than going to court.
In comparing the two processes,
- The only issues you can deal with are the ones that are covered in the law.
- Litigation is set up on a win/lose model: if your ex wins, you lose and vice versa
- You have no control over the litigation process: the lawyer, not you, takes the necessary steps; the courts, not you, set the timetable; the judge, not you, decides what the result will be
- It is your life, but you are not central to the litigation process
- The adversarial process generally means that exes end up (even if they didn’t start out) furious with each other
- Children are left out of the process, unless someone requests a custody and access report
- The litigation process makes no allowance for your emotional needs
- The litigation process can take a very long time (months or years)
- The litigation process can cost an enormous amount of money
- The litigation process may have destroyed the relationship between you and your ex so badly that it is very difficult to have an effective continuing relationship, with respect for example to your children
- It is very difficult to turn to the collaborative model if the adversarial model fails
- The adversarial process can be very very expensive
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Collaborative Law or Mediation |
- You can deal with all of the issues between you, whether or not the law has a provision that covers the situation.
- In collaborative family law we look together for creative solutions that can benefit both of the adults and all of the children in the relationship
- You and your ex have all of the control over the process, including the timing and content of meetings, and the ultimate result
- You, your children, and your ex are central
- The collaborative process generally means that even if you were furious with each other at the start of the process, you end up with respect for your ex and knowing that you have done nothing to make the situation worse
- Children can be involved in the process, in age-appropriate ways
- The collaborative process recognizes and makes space for the emotional needs you and your ex have; and psychologists can be involved in the collaborative process to support you through it
- The collaborative process is generally much shorter than the litigation process
- The collaborative process generally costs less than the litigation process
- The collaborative process helps to create problem-solving strategies that can be used by you and your ex to deal with issues that arise after you complete a collaborative agreement
- If the collaborative process fails, it is easy to turn to the adversarial process
- The collaborative process is generally cheaper than the litigation process
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I am happy to meet with you to discuss whether the collaborative route meets your needs. First consultations with me are always without charge. The purpose of the consultation is to give you the information you need to decide which route best suits your needs. |
