4388 rue St-Denis, suite 200 #665, Montreal | 12275 Av. Armand-Chaput, Montreal (RDP-PAT)12275 Av. Armand-Chaput, RDP-PAT(514) 914-1621 ccouturier@pubnix.net
Christian Couturier
Collaborative Lawyer and Certified Mediator
Family Mediation Face-to-Face - Family Mediation at Distance by Videoconference.

Family Mediation – Family Mediation at Distance
Collaborative Divorce – Collaborative Separation

Experience At Your Service

Profile

I have been a lawyer for 40 years. From 1982 to 2004 I was a general practitioner which included litigation. In 1997 mediation started being a more substantial part of my practice. And in 2004 I began practicing as a collaborative lawyer.

Since 2004, I practice as a mediator and as a collaborative divorce lawyer. I do not go to court and I do not litigate.

When the decision has been taken to proceed in mediation the next step is to choose a mediator. The experience of the mediator you will retain is a key factor to your mediation. Over the years I have mediated more than 850 cases.

Collaborative family law, also named collaborative divorce or collaborative separation, is a field of practice exercised by family lawyers in Quebec since 2003. I was one of about forty lawyers that were the first to be trained in Quebec in 2003 to become collaborative divorce lawyers. Since then, several lawyers have followed the training. It is an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) process. As in mediation, it is an interest based negotiation, and not a position based negotiation.

The Quebec Ministry of Justice offers information sessions on parenting after separation to parents who are separated with children under their care and who have not been able to reach an amicable agreement. The sessions are given by certified family mediators, and I am one of those that offers those information sessions. I inform the parents on the topics of mediation and some of the judicial aspects further to a separation.

I have been for several years now on the training committee of the Quebec Collaborative Law Group. I am a co-trainer in collaborative family law to lawyers who want to practice in that field. This way I can pass on my knowledge and my experience, which I have done with pleasure to lawyers in different regions of Quebec, in New Brunswick and in Geneva, Switzerland.