Fall 2002 Report

Judicially Assisted Dispute Resolution in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench

Judicially Assisted Dispute Resolution (JADR) or judge mediated resolution of legal disputes before the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench came into practice in December 1997, following a meeting of the judges of the Court.

Karen Fulham, Executive Assistant to the Chief Justice of the Court, advises that since 1997, the Court has experienced a steady growth in the JADR service, with 219 judicial mediations held in the Winnipeg Centre of the Court from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002.

“One of the judges of the Court has had an 85% success rate in resolving cases with JADR which has resulted in saving an estimated 200 days of trial time, not to mention the significant cost savings for the parties involved”, said Fulham.

Eighteen Court of Queen's Bench judges are available for JADR assignments. The Court receives five or six requests for JADR each week. A consensual request from all parties to the case is made to either the Chief Justice or the Associate Chief Justice of the Court. At the time of the request, the parties are asked to indicate which judges of the Court they would prefer to conduct the JADR.

JADR involves the judge meeting with the parties and their counsel in a case conference. Every case conference has a settlement component – the judge will discuss and offer various methods for dispute resolution, including early neutral evaluation and mini-trials.

Most JADR case conferences in Winnipeg occur at the Law Courts Building, but can take place outside the courthouse. Fulham says, “At some point in the process is a time for each party to discuss and contemplate settlement options, so don't be surprised to see a JADR judge lingering in the hall outside the courtrooms in which the JADR is ongoing!” Of course, the JADR process is confidential and no public access is permitted.

Fulham says that JADR is by far the most successful settlement oriented service offered by the Court. “One of the factors for this may be that the JADR process is not mandated by the Rules of the Court, alleviating
the need for parties to file extensive briefs of law and allowing the JADR judge to work creatively with the parties toward a resolution.”

As head of the Litigation Department at Aikins, Todd Campbell advises, “Our litigators have made excellent use of the JADR process offered by Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench judges and will continue to do so in appropriate cases to achieve the best results for our clients”.