Family Law Arb-Med

Under the FDR Centre Arb-Med process, the parties agree to refer their dispute to arbitration, but as a preliminary and mandatory step in the process, the arbitration is stayed following the appointment of the arbitrator to allow the parties the opportunity to try and resolve their dispute by mediation with the appointed arbitrator acting as mediator.

The primary advantages of Arb-Med are first, that the parties are required to mediate in the context of a formal arbitration process with its attendant costs and resourcing implications that will immediately resume if they are not successful, and second, that if a settlement is not reached in the mediation, the arbitrator who was acting as mediator will have been informed as to the issues in dispute and the facts of the case which can be carried over into the arbitration with potentially significant time and cost savings for the parties. It is conceivable that the resumed arbitration may involve nothing further than the arbitrator making an award based on the evidence provided during the mediation.