The Best Family Law Mediators in BC Recommended by a Family Lawyer

As a Vancouver divorce lawyer, I took several years and gathered data based on my own experience and from other family lawyers on who are the best family law mediators in BC. I am not getting paid to recommend the below family law mediators, so don’t worry there is no intent to this post except to help you choose the right mediator for your family law case in BC.

My family law firm gets so many calls from people asking for recommendations on the best family law mediators that I decided to write this blog.

Please note though this is just general helpful information. The recommendations are the subjective outlook of some of us BC family lawyers. You are free and should do your own due diligence in picking the best family law mediator for your case.

• Note: in most cases, the fees for the mediator are covered equally by both parties, so please have that in mind as you read the below recommendations.
• Also note: most mediators prefer for the parties to have their lawyers present during mediation. In these circumstances, mediation may only take 1 or 2 days. In cases where you self-represent, your mediation may take many days and meetings with the mediator. To find the best family lawyers in BC, click here.

The Best Family Law Mediators in BC

Note the following incredible mediators in no specific order:

Diane Bell, KC | Vancouver

Arguably the most famous family law mediator in BC, Diane Bell is known as the queen of dispute resolution. I most appreciate her no BS personality and the ability to push people to settle rather than take a passive approach. She has one of the highest success rates in settling family law cases and is respected by almost everyone. I have never met a family lawyer who has not been happy with her services. I believe her rate is around the $600 per hour mark and you should expect mediation costs to be over $7000 for each day of mediation. Note that her schedule is jam-packed, so you will have to wait at least a couple of months if you want to book a mediation. She prefers to assist those who are represented by lawyers. You can contact her by clicking here.

Trudy Hopman | Vancouver – Surrey – Northern BC – Remote

We asked Trudy Hopman to Join YLaw because we truly believed she is one of the most talented, caring, compassionate and intelligent mediators our lawyers came across. Her style is to never give up until there is a settlement. She is known to push people to settle instead of taking a passive role. She is also evaluative meaning she will give you your chances of success/loss in court if you don’t settle.

Experience, Costs & Mobility

• over 30 years of experience as a family lawyer and over 20 years of experience as a family law and estate litigation mediator. Here are some more stats:
• 99% settlement rate at mediation
• flat fee services $5,000.00 per full day of mediation, including pre mediation calls, violence screening, travel time
• Will travel to Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, Okanagan, Interior, Kootenays at no extra cost (outside of disbursements
• Available on less than 30 days’ notice, available evenings and weekends, without fixed hours
• Can offer in-house experienced family law lawyers readily available if you want to have a second or third opinion during the mediation.

You can schedule a mediation here: Book Mediation with Trudy

Lisa Hamilton, KC | Vancouver

Lisa has an incredible career is a family lawyer, mediator, president and bencher at the Law Society of BC, etc. She also owns her own family law firm. She has vast knowledge of family law and has dealt with almost every type of case imaginable both as counsel and as a mediator. Her costs are fixed at $7000 for a full day mediation. You can contact her by clicking here. 

Larry Kahn, KC | Richmond, BC

To me, he is like the king of resolving very complex financial issues in family law. He has over 40 years of experience in family law and is the founding partner of his firm, Kahn Zack Ehrlich Lithwick. He works out of Richmond and has easily settled multi-million dollar acrimonious cases. He is also a parenting coordinator and does not allow emotions to rule his mediations. If you are looking for a male family law mediator, he would be a great choice. I think his rate is $650 per hour, but please double-check. You can contact him by clicking here.

To learn how to prepare yourself for your family law mediation in BC, click here. To learn about what mediation really is and means, click here. 

*Leena Yousefi is a family lawyer and the founder of YLaw Group. She is the writer of this blog and is responsible for its content. 

** The content of this page was updated in June, 2023 for comprehensiveness and freshness.