Tips for Family Lawyers Negotiating Parenting Coordination Clauses
Authors: Lindsay Kertland and Hilary Linton
Most PCs are able to have input into the jurisdiction they are given in their PC Agreement. That is because the PC Agreement does not (or should not be) signed until we have met both and had confidential intakes with each.
We find ourselves sometimes wishing that we could have had some input into what goes into those parenting plan or Consent Order clauses about parenting coordination. But that is often done between counsel long before we are contacted.
As our readers will know, PCs spend many (unpaid) hours up front, reviewing the terms of the parenting plan or court order, understanding the jurisdiction they have and explaining it all to the parents. As well, we sometimes find ourselves being asked to do things in a way that differs from our standard procedures, or to assume jurisdiction we do not want.
With these experiences in mind, we wrote a couple of articles in the Lawyers Daily recently, setting out our ‘wish list’ for counsel negotiating parenting coordination clauses in their parenting plans or Consent parenting Orders.
Read our Top Ten tips for counsel here and our Checklist of Terms to Include in the referral to parenting coordination here.
Hilary practised civil and family law for almost 15 years, and was a partner at a Toronto boutique family law firm when she started her dispute resolution career. She established Riverdale Mediation Ltd. in 2001, where the Riverdale team provides affordable family mediation, arbitration, parenting coordination and arbitration screening services, working with lawyers and with unrepresented parties. Hilary works hard to understand what each client needs to reach a workable settlement.
Website: https://www.riverdalemediation.com/
Lindsay Kertland is an accredited mediator with the Ontario Association of Family Mediation (OAFM) and the principal of Summerhill Family Mediation. She is also a member of the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario’s Parenting Coordination section.Lindsay helps families find peaceful and durable solutions to difficult and contracted conflicts.
Website: https://www.riverdalemediation.com/