FACT SCENARIO

You are involved in a legal dispute over the home renovations done on the homeowners' property, which is a heritage home in which one of the parties grew up and holds great sentimental value.

The homeowners paid the home renovation company $35,000.00 to renovate all of the bathrooms in the house, as well as to redo the kitchen and main bedroom.

The homeowners are not satisfied with the work done on the property and start an action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Small Claims Court for damages. They want their money back.

The renovation company claims that they did all of the work properly and do not owe any damages. The company claims that the homeowners were extremely difficult to work with and were simply never satisfied with anything they did. The company states that they have never had complaints about their work before and feel that the homeowners are simply trying to get out paying them.

The homeowners threaten to post very bad reviews on the company's website, which they know will damage the company's prospects of attracting new customers.

The Small Claims Court judge suggests that the parties attempt to mediate or arbitrate the matter to avoid the expense of costly litigation. The parties agree to do so.

PART I) MARCH 28, 2023

You are to form groups with 6 students in each group.

In each group, you will assume the following roles:

1) 2 students to act as the homeowners;

2) 2 students to act as the owners of the renovation company; and

3) 2 students to act as the mediator, arbitrator OR mediator/arbitrator.

You are to choose which role each student will assume amongst yourselves.

After you have formed your groups of 6 students, I will assign groups as follows:

GROUP A - mediate the issues;

GROUP B - arbitrate the issues; or

GROUP C - the mediator will attempt to mediate the issues and if that fails, will arbitrate the issues.

You are to meet with your partner in the exercise to discuss how you will put forward your position (if you are a party), how you will facilitate the discussions/negotiations between the parties (if you are the mediator), what you will require from the parties in order to reach a decision on the issues that will be binding on the parties (if you are the arbitrator) or how you will proceed with the matter (if you are the med/arb).

You are then to engage in a mediation, arbitration or med/arb session.

You are to participate in a negotiation between the homeowners and the owners of the renovation company. Your goal is to attempt to settle the matter to avoid litigation if possible.

Remember: The mediators in this exercise are to facilitate the discussions but they have no ability to force a settlement on the parties.

Remember: The arbitrators in this exercise are to facilitate the discussions and ultimately make a final decision that is binding on the parties.

Remember: The med/arb in this exercise are to initially facilitate the discussions between the parties with the understanding that, as a mediator, they have no ability to force a settlement on the parties BUT also with the understanding that they have the ability to change the nature of their involvement in the matter and act as an arbitrator if the parties cannot settle the matter themselves.

The mediators, arbitrators, med/arbs, must establish the following at the outset of the exercise:

- grounds rules, such as to speak civilly and respectfully to each other, to not interrupt each other

- how to discuss the relevant points in the legal dispute

- what each party hopes to accomplish in the session

- a best case resolution, a worst case outcome, and the most likely result

You should take notes during the session to ensure you recall the discussions and how you felt during the negotiations as you will need that information for the written part of the assignment.

PART II) APRIL 11, 2023

A)Oral presentation

You are to present - as a group - a summary of the discussions in the mediation, arbitration, med/arb.

Each person in the group must speak to the experience of mediating the legal issues according to their role in the assignment.

You are to explain how you felt as the homeowner, renovation company owner or mediator, arbitrator or med/arb.

Explain how you felt at the beginning of the discussion, throughout the session and at the end of the session.

Consider the following (the below list is not exhaustive):

Did you feel the negotiations were productive?

Did you feel frustrated by the either/both party's perceived lack of willingness to negotiate reasonable terms?

Did you feel powerful or weak during the session?

Did you feel heard while you spoke? Was that important to you?

Did anyone interrupt you while you spoke? How did that make you feel?

Did you feel that your concerns, interests, claims were taken seriously?

How do you think the session could have gone better?

If you were unable to settle the matter, how do you feel settlement might have been reached?

You are to write an individual assessment of your participation in the assignment. You are invited to address the questions set out above as well as any other issues you experienced during the session.

Grades are based on the quality of the assignment, the organization of the elements of the assignment and thoroughness of documents.

Proper grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and paragraph breakdown are required.

The written assignment must be 2 - 3 pages in length, typed, 12 font, double spaced, stapled and the pages are to be numbered. You may use both sides of the pages to conserve paper. The page length does not include a cover or title page.