Ted Dueck Mediation & Arbitration
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.1 lawyer · Waterloo Region, Bruce County
One of 54 law firms listed in Waterloo, and one of 22 handling Family Law.
About Ted Dueck Mediation & Arbitration
Ted Dueck Mediation & Arbitration is the practice of Ted Dueck, a lawyer, mediator and arbitrator who firmly believes family law and estate disputes benefit from an impartial and caring third party, one who helps the people involved settle their case outside of court.
Dueck started practising law in 1979 and has more than 45 years in family law and civil litigation behind the work, including many trials and cases argued at every level of Ontario's courts. Alternative dispute resolution caught Dueck's interest early on. Training and occasional mediation work began in the early 1990s, and since then Dueck has mediated a wide range of disputes, many of them family and estate matters, along with personal injury cases and more, as a side line to a regular litigation practice.
That side line is now the focus. Dueck has decided to put those skills toward mediating and arbitrating family law and estate disputes, serving both the public and the legal community. Dueck was also recently appointed a Dispute Resolution Officer for the Ontario Superior Court (Family Division) in Kitchener, helping people who've already started a court process resolve issues before they appear in front of a judge.
You don't have to share a room to meet. One-on-one and group video meetings can be held online, with separate breakout rooms for private talks, and briefs and memoranda can go to the mediator electronically rather than being bound and shipped on paper. The main office is at 300 Edenwood Place in Waterloo.
Practice areas
Parenting moves, pensions and farm assets
Family situations where a mediator or arbitrator fits include mobility, when a parent wants to move a child away from the other parent, and working out parenting plans. On the property side, they cover dividing pension plans as well as business and farming assets.
Our guide: How to Get a Divorce in Ontario
Contested wills and estate trustees
Estate matters suited to mediation or arbitration include setting aside a will, removing an executor and replacing an estate trustee. Elder abuse and abuse of power by an attorney are on that list too.
Med-Arb
As a mediator and arbitrator of family law and estate disputes, Dueck also offers Med-Arb, which blends mediation and arbitration into one process. Lawyers who bring Dueck in will talk through which route suits them: mediation alone, arbitration alone, or the two combined. If no negotiated settlement comes out of the mediation, the mediator steps into the arbitrator role and makes a binding decision on the issues, so nobody has to start a court case to get a final answer. Parties can still pick someone else to arbitrate if mediation doesn't settle things.
Good to know
Accessible parkingHow Ted Dueck Mediation & Arbitration works
Long experience has taught Dueck that court should always be the last resort, used when every other way of resolving a dispute fails. In mediation nobody wins or loses; the goal is an equitable result at lower cost.
Family and estate disputes can turn on complex legal principles and nuances, as well as complicated tax rules and valuation principles, and drafting contracts is a legal function reserved to Law Society of Ontario licensees. The part of the work Dueck particularly enjoys is the teaching or coaching side: helping clients understand the issues and principles behind the legal problem they're facing.
Milestones & recognition
- Completed York University's Certificate Program in Dispute Resolution in 1998, then a Master of Laws in ADR at Osgoode Hall in 2001.
- Received the Chartered Mediator (C.Med) designation from the ADR Institute in 2001.
In the community
- Ted Dueck has served as a trustee of the Waterloo Region Law Association, and as a board member and board chair for several charitable organizations.
- Dueck has taught negotiation and dispute resolution courses in many different settings.
Affiliations & connections
- Collaborative Divorce Waterloo Region (best4all): Ted Dueck was one of the original founding members of the Collaborative Family Law Association of Waterloo Region, now called best4all, an association of collaboratively trained lawyers and financial and mental health professionals who've chosen to practise in a way that de-escalates conflict.
Who handles what
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
Along with the Waterloo office, there's a northern office at RR3 Allenford. Allenford is a village on the bank of the Sauble River. It was first called Driftwood Crossing, and its formal name recognizes its first settler, Allen, and how easily the river could be forded there. Just north of the bridge on Thomas Street, a historic plaque and picnic area commemorate the Allenford Pow-Wow of 1855.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Ted Dueck meet each spouse separately before the first joint mediation session?
- Yes. For privately retained separation and divorce mediations, Ted Dueck first meets each spouse separately for about an hour to understand their individual perspective and what their needs, concerns and priorities are. Part of each meeting is checking for domestic violence or an imbalance of power between the spouses, and working out what accommodations, if any, that calls for.
- Why does Ted Dueck cap joint sessions at about two hours for couples without lawyers?
- When a separating couple comes without their lawyers, Ted Dueck tries to hold joint sessions to roughly two hours. Go much past that and people tend to become overloaded and emotionally shut down. As a result, it usually takes a few sessions to settle the various issues before an agreement can be drafted.
- If we mediate with Ted Dueck without lawyers, who drafts the separation agreement?
- For people who retain Ted Dueck without their lawyers involved, Dueck normally prepares the draft separation agreement. Independent legal advice before signing is always recommended. Anyone who chooses to skip it will be asked to sign detailed waivers making clear that Dueck gave neither party legal counsel and acted only as the impartial mediator for both.
- How does a mediation change when both sides' lawyers bring Ted Dueck in?
- Ted Dueck typically sets up a brief phone conference with the lawyers to discuss the matter. The lawyers are asked to handle the screening and to put together a mediation brief or memo setting out what's in dispute along with the key documents. When the parties' lawyers retain Dueck, or the case is already in the court system, the mediation is usually scheduled as a full-day session.
- What does Ted Dueck use for support, tax and property calculations in a family mediation?
- Ted Dueck relies on software developed for the legal profession to work out support, tax and property equalization figures. Sample parenting plan templates are provided too, for people to consider and discuss as a guide to decision making within appropriate parameters.
- Can a separating couple reach Ted Dueck before either of them has hired a lawyer?
- Yes. Some people, having heard horror stories about going to court, would rather try mediation first and bring lawyers in later. When that happens, one or both of them get in touch with the mediator themselves, usually once they've talked it over and agreed to it. You can call the office to speak with Dueck or the clerk, or send an email.
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