As part of our access to justice regime here at Jamal Law Group, we offer affordable legal services via our own in-house Designated Paralegal, Stephanie Goldminc. Stephanie is able to represent you during your family law mediation for much less than her supervising lawyer, Shahnaz Jamal. Stephanie has 22 years of experience, skills, and training, including hands-on experience at mediations, settlement conferences, Judicial Case Conferences, and Family Case Conferences.

The Law Society of BC permits Designated Paralegals, like Stephanie, to represent clients at family law mediations. These family law mediations can occur with a Family Justice Counsellor or with a Family Law Mediator duly qualified under the Family Law Regulation. During the mediation, Stephanie’s supervising lawyer will be available to contact should the need arise. Any agreements reached at the mediation at which Stephanie represents you will be subject to your having legal advice from her supervising lawyer, Shahnaz Jamal.

Why is having a Designated Paralegal with you better than going on your own? Sometimes parties who try to navigate the law and legal system on their own do not have the knowledge or assistance they need at the pivotal moment an agreement is being negotiated. During a family law mediation, issues can arise that a self-represented litigant (“SRL”) is not prepared for, and details can be missed that a SRL may not have thought of, such as the consequences of certain terms being proposed in the mediation.

During a family law mediation, a mediator cannot advise the participants of their rights and obligations under the law or what they should or should not agree to. The parties need to come to the mediation mindful of these rights and be prepared with the necessary documents so a fair and just agreement can be reached in a timely fashion.

Over the years we have seen:

• parties engage in mediation after mediation after mediation, only to find that their matter is dragging on and the issues are not getting resolved because of lack of information and understanding;

• SRLs come to our offices seeking advice on previously mediated agreements, only to hear from us that what they have agreed to is not fair or that the agreement is at risk of being set aside. These SRLs are then asked to pay large retainers for lawyers to restart the negotiations so a reliable agreement can be reached;

• agreements where a party was taken advantage of unfairly because they could not afford a lawyer to help them during the mediation process. This can prolong the conflict, cause financial hardship to a party or the children, and perpetuate existing family violence;

• delays in resolution and high legal costs that are not helpful to families who need to move on with their lives and end the conflict, or cannot afford a lawyer’s retainer.

If you would like to book a consultation to discuss how we can assist you with your family law mediation, please fill out our contact form. If you quote this blog post, we will provide a discount on our consult rate.

If you would like to know more about how to proceed with mediation in your family law dispute, here are some informative links:

Mediate BC: http://www.mediatebc.com/familymediation.aspx

Family Justice Counsellors in BC: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/divorce/family-justice/who-can-help/family-justice-counsellors

Notice to Mediate (Family) Regulation: http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/lc/statreg/296_2007