The Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Launches “One Stop Shop” Websites for Lawyers & Carriers

TORONTO, ON, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020/insPRESS/ – The Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (CADN) is a new national association whose membership consists of mediators and arbitrators distinguished by their hands-on experience in the field of civil and commercial conflict resolution. Membership to the Academy is by invitation-only, with a strict peer-nomination vote and extensive client-interview vetting procedure to ensure that only the top 5-10% of qualifying ADR practitioners in any province are invited to join the “ADR All-Stars” roster.

Over a 6 month period, over 600 litigation lawyers across Canada were interviewed by CADN’s paralegals as to preferred local mediators and arbitrators. This invaluable data allowed the Academy to identify the most widely-acceptable neutrals in each province. An Executive Committee of 20 respected Canadian ADR professionals then cast peer votes, assisting the Academy’s executive staff in narrowing the candidate pool further.

The Academy’s newly launched national database at www.Mediators.ca allows litigators and support staff access to a free roster of over 160 experienced ADR professionals, charging no referral or administration fees. The Academy is funded entirely by member dues, providing our database to the legal community at no charge.

In additional to the national database, CADN has created provincial chapter sites, for ease of use: OntarioMediators.org, BCMediators.org, AlbertaMediators.org, AtlanticMediators.org.

Visitors are able to quickly find a suitable neutral by identifying their preferred region, case expertise or other practice preferences. Most often, though, litigators already have a “go to list” of preferred mediators that they’ve worked with in the past, often in the local area – and it’s here that the Academy database can assist with expedited scheduling. A majority of our members post their Availability Calendars daily, allowing visitors to “call-or-click” to make direct contact with these neutrals and their staff, avoiding scheduling phone tag.

“Since the launch in 2008 of our sister US association, NADN.org, we’ve heard from many hundreds of law firms, carriers and their staff, saying how useful they find the database, particularly our online scheduling functionality,”  said Mr. Lee.  “We’ve made it very easy for visitors to reserve appointments with their preferred resolution experts. More than 80,000 lawyers, counsel and legal staff have scheduled over half a million cases online with our US members over the last decade – and we’re excited to now provide that free resource to the Canadian legal and insurance community.”

CADN is also committed to working closely with the litigation community, sponsoring and supporting respected legal associations such as The Advocates’ Society, Canadian Defense Lawyers Association, Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association, and more.

For further info regarding the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, please contact:
Darren Lee, Exec. Director (director@nadn.org) or visit www.mediators.ca/about