FDRIA members have provided the information that you will find included in their profiles including their professional qualifications. We recommend that you do your own diligence when choosing an FDR professional to ensure that they are the right professional for you and your circumstances.
Biographical Info
Rhona Buchan is a lawyer and an accredited family mediator. After 20 years of practising in courts, Rhona opened Buchan Law & Dispute Resolution in 2023 in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador to provide a specialized focus on out-of-court dispute resolution, including family law mediation. She is also a Senior Associate with the consulting firm Goss Gilroy Inc. Rhona holds a Masters of Law (LL.M) in Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2021), a LL.B from the University of Ottawa (2000), a B.A. from Memorial University of NL (1996). She has been a member of the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador since 2001. Rhona practised with Legal Aid NL from 2001 – 2021, litigating family law, child protection law and criminal law, in provincial, supreme and appeal courts throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, including in indigenous communities. At Legal Aid NL she held the positions of Area Director, Staff Solicitor, and Duty Counsel at the Supreme Court of NL Family Division.
Rhona is passionate about access to justice and the role of dispute resolution processes. She became the founding chair of FDRIA (Family Dispute Resolution Institute Atlantic) a professional network to advance knowledge and use of family dispute resolution in Atlantic Canada, and since 2020 she has taught the Dispute Resolution section of the Bar Admission course for the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the rest of her life, Rhona teaches yoga, is a parent of twin teens, an active member of school councils, a keen traveller, and an actor, having graduated in Theatre Performance from Toronto Metropolitan University (1991).
Biographical Info
Leigh began her practice at a large downtown law firm in the area of labour law. She soon realized that she loved the challenge of preserving personal relationships in the heat of legal battle. In 2007, she found her way to practicing family law, mediation and divorce law in a small firm with Lynn and Angus at Reierson Schurman. It was a perfect fit. After several years together as Reierson Schurman, Leigh founded Davis Reierson in 2010. She joined MDW Law as counsel in January 2023.
Leigh has had the privilege of representing individuals in a broad range of family disputes and negotiations, and regularly represents clients all across Nova Scotia. Leigh has also been retained by numerous clients living outside of the province, including individuals residing in the U.S. and other countries.
In addition to being a skilled and strategic litigator, Leigh is also a trained mediator, arbitrator, and parenting coordinator. She is a Q. Med. (ADRIC), and an FDRP Med, Certified Specialist in Family Mediation (FDRIO). Leigh is a Vice Chair of the Nova Scotia Labour Board and an Adjudicator in the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia.
Leigh holds a J.D. from Dalhousie Law School (2002) and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 2003. Prior to attending law school, Leigh graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Saint Mary’s University.
Leigh is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, the Canadian Bar Association, the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario, and the ADR Institute of Canada.
Leigh is a yoga, barre, and indoor cycling instructor, and has taught a variety of classes at studios around Halifax since 1999. Leigh spent several years coaching and playing roller derby, and has been studying pottery.
Biographical Info
Daphne is a family lawyer who has practiced law in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, for over forty years. Her interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution led her to become a fully certified Collaborative Family Law practitioner, and she has successfully completed many cases using this effective cooperative method. She enjoys helping clients obtain fair separation agreements without the need for formal court hearings, or for lengthy (and often slow) written negotiations. She has a BA from Queen’s University in Ontario and a law degree from Oxford in England. She has held many positions with the national Canadian Bar Association; she worked on their Legal Aid Committee for many years, and on their Task Force on Gender Equality in the legal profession, led by Justice Bertha Wilson of the Supreme Court of Canada. In the year 2000 she became national President of the Bar Association, and focused her energies on improving access to justice for disadvantaged Canadians.
Daphne received the Order of Canada for her life-long work on access to justice. She also received the Governor General’s Award in Honour of the Person’s Case in 2009, for work on women’s rights, and for being a founding mother of LEAF (the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) which conducts Supreme Court test case litigation to give effect to women’s Charter guarantees.
Biographical Info
Bill English is a retired provincial court judge who worked in Labrador and throughout the province for almost 20 years. He sees the great benefits of early and less expensive dispute resolution for families who have to deal with disputes among them. He admires those who do that work. He will encourage others to join the effort by promoting training in, and access to, family dispute resolution throughout this province. Bill worked as a lawyer with a broad range of practice before and after his work as a judge. His primary areas of interest, besides FDR, are indigenous, criminal and family law.
Biographical Info
Jacinta Gallant is a respected collaborative lawyer, conflict trainer and innovator. She is recognized internationally for her insightful and experiential approach to teaching and managing conflict. Jacinta’s innovative resources, Our Family in Two Homes, help clients prepare to engage deeply, and productively, in Family Mediation and Collaborative Practice. Her conflict training focuses on the Insight Approach to Conflict and her goal as a trainer is to help conflict professionals meaningfully engage with clients.
Biographical Info
Melissa’s practice is focused primarily on litigation and mediation. She spends the majority of her time assisting clients with separation and divorce in Western Newfoundland and in Labrador.
Biographical Info
Born and raised in Churchill Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador, Keri-Lynn has a Bachelor of Law (with Honours) and Masters in International Commercial Law from the University of Kent in Canterbury, the National Accreditation Certificate from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, an Executive Certificate in Conflict Management from the University of Windsor Law School- Stitt Feld Handy Group, a Certificate in Mediation from the Harvard Mediation Institute at Harvard Law School and a Certificate in Trauma Informed Advocacy from Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
She is the current Chair of the Family Law Section for the Canadian Bar Association-Newfoundland and Labrador Branch and enjoys being active on the National Executive. She is the Chair of the Pharmaceutical External Audit Appeal Board, a Review Panel Member of the Medical Care Insurance Act, Disciplinary Panel Member for the College of Massage Therapists, is external counsel for the Miawpukek Band, and spent 12 years as an adjudicator for the Human Rights Commission. Keri-Lynn spent time clerking with the Department of Justice, has coached people on alternate dispute resolution courses, and has been in private practice since 2006. Keri-Lynn has also spent time presenting on various Family Law Matters across Canada to lawyers, the public and other stakeholders. In her spare time Keri-Lynn sits on the Law Society Honours and Awards Committee, the Bar and Bench Committee at Family Court, Daybreak Parent Child Centre Board of Directors, volunteers with Lakecrest Independent school and has over two decades of service with Scouts Canada.
Biographical Info
Angela is a partner at MDW Law and has practiced exclusively in family law since 2007. Angela is a firm believer in the power of ADR approaches to resolving disputes, particularly in the realm of family law.