Co-Mediation Legal Services with Sainty Law

Lehal Law is pleased to offer co-mediation legal services with Kathryn Sainty of Sainty Law. Both Kathryn and Kamaljit understand the benefits of mediation having been trained in mediation at Harvard Law School (Program on Negotiation). Kathryn and Kamaljit met 25 years ago (when they worked together at a North Delta law firm). They have been hoping to collaborate in some fashion ever since. The idea of co-mediating family law disputes arose out of conversations between Kamaljit and Kathryn about the benefits of mediation but also how they might work together. Combined, Kathryn and Kamaljit bring more than 50 years experience in the law to the table.

Kathryn was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1986. While in private practice, Kathryn gained experience in a wide variety of areas including family, an area she concentrated on in her last five years in private practice. In 1997 Kathryn left private practice to become Legal Counsel to the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In 2001, she was appointed a district registrar of the Court and in 2010 she became the Registrar of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Kathryn retired from the Supreme Court in June 2014 and returned to private practice. She has recently started her own law firm (Sainty Law) and works as a mediator and arbitrator in a wide range of areas including family law matters, business disputes, personal injury and insurance claims, wills and estates litigation, and wrongful dismissal and employment disputes.

Kathryn is an accredited “family dispute resolution professional” (mediator and arbitrator) by the Law Society of British Columbia and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

What is Co-Mediation and What are Its Benefits

Co-mediation is a mediation process using two mediators working as a team to assist parties in resolving their conflict. Two common goals and benefits of co-mediation are to:

• Provide an extra set of eyes and ears to help resolve the dispute. (“Two heads are better than one”; for example in co-mediations one mediator can take notes and observe while the other mediator asks questions; or, one mediator can focus on the details, while the other focuses on the big picture);
• Speed up the mediation process and encourage prompt agreement of the parties. Two mediators may divide tasks; for example, each mediator can caucus (meet individually) with one of the participants at the same time, making the mediation more efficient.

Two mediators may also be beneficial when the mediators have varying skills. Kathryn has experience in family law and as an adjudicator; Kamaljit has experience in mediating civil matters and speaks fluent Punjabi and Hindi. Together Kathryn and Kamaljit form a formidable team.

Co-mediation is advantageous because the professional consultation between the mediators is built in and readily available. Kathryn and Kamaljit have worked together in the past and are versed in consulting with each other providing participants with a distinct advantage of their being able to consult throughout the work they do together.

Co-mediation offers many advantages at a fee comparable to most experienced, individual mediators, while saving the family the considerable financial and personal cost of possible litigation. Because the co-mediation model creates an atmosphere particularly conducive to reaching agreements, the entire mediation process can be less costly in both time and expense.

Contact Us

To find out more about retaining Kathryn and Kamaljit as your co-mediators, please contact their legal assistant, Ms. Moona Ali, at 604-596-1321 or mali@lehallaw.com.