Ahuja Litigation Mediation Arbitration

About Ahuja Litigation Mediation Arbitration

Ahuja Litigation Mediation Arbitration, known as ALMA, is a Surrey, British Columbia firm founded by Sumit Ahuja, who was called to the British Columbia bar on April 15, 2011. Ahuja holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and sociology from the University of British Columbia and a law degree from a law school on Australia's Gold Coast, and had worked at several firms around the province, in both smaller and larger settings, before starting the practice that became ALMA. The firm's name is a deliberate play on words: ALMA also means soul in Spanish, a nod to what the firm has described as a purpose beyond routine legal work. What began as a solo practice has grown into a team of a dozen lawyers and associate counsel, backed by legal assistants and other support staff, working out of offices in Surrey and New Westminster.

The firm's name spells out its focus: litigation, mediation, and arbitration. ALMA takes on family law, civil litigation, immigration, and wills and estates matters, and Ahuja is trained as a family law mediator and arbitrator, so a dispute can be settled privately with a binding decision instead of going through a full trial. The firm describes its approach as a team effort rather than a single lawyer working a file alone, combining negotiation and mediation where that fits and litigation when a matter has to go before a judge.