The holiday's can be a wonderful time for families.  It can also be a time of great challenge and conflict, particularly if there are disputes or concerns over the holiday parenting schedule.  All too often when these disputes arise the parties end up in Court arguing before a Judge about what should happen with their children over the holidays.  This often includes the use of lawyers, the preparation and filing of legal documents and an escalation of the conflict and an increase in costs. 

There are many studies that show that continued parental conflict is not healthy for children.  Is there another way to resolve these parenting disputes which minimizes the negative effects of parental conflict on children, particularly around the holiday season?

Fortunately Tim Burnham thinks the answer to this question is yes!

At Gurevitch Burnham Law Office Parents can choose to attend Mediation with Tim Burnham in order to resolve their disputes.  However, Mediation does not always result in an agreement.  When this is the case, the parties may still need to have a decision so that they can move on and make their plans.  This is where Arbitration comes in.  When the parents attend a Med-Arb with Tim Burnham they agree that acting as an Arbitrator, he has the power under the Arbitration Act to make a binding decision on them about the holiday parenting schedule.  

This process encourages parental cooperation and minimizes conflict.  It also provides a guarantee that there will be a decision at the end.  The process at Gurevitch Burnham Law Office is much less formal than Court which helps the parties get a decision faster and with less conflict.  If you feel this process may work for you, please feel free to contact our office.

 Cyril S. Gurevitch, Q.C. has assumed the role of President of the Canadian Bar Association-Alberta Branch for the 2012-2013 term.  He is looking forward to representing the interests of all its over 5,200 members in Alberta and to increasing the value of membership in accordance with the new Strategic Plan of the organization.  There will be an emphasis on increasing membership, adding professional development opportunities and diversifying participation at all levels of the organization. 

Cyril has chosen, as his personal goal this year, a project known as the Small Communities Initiative.  The object of the initiative is to enhance Access to Justice for all Albertans who may reside outside the metropolitan centres of Edmonton and Calgary by attracting summer students, articling students and young lawyers to those regions.  To that end, the CBA has recently created the Access to Justice Committee and begun two pilot projects in Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie where meetings with local lawyers and community leaders will hopefully lead to rejuvenation in the numbers of lawyers to overcome the aging demographics. 

A further concept of Geographic Sections is also intended to enhance educational and networking opportunities by allowing CBA Sections to be established based on their Regional Geographic setting rather than limiting them to a particular field of practice.  For a more in depth analysis of the program, please review Cyril's recent article in the CBA magazine, Law Matters, Summer 2012 entitled "Small Communities Action Plan".