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AFMS Advanced Arbitration Topic: Parenting

Instructors: Dr. Larry Fong, R. Psych. • Justice (Ret’d) Nancy Flatters KC, LL.M. (ADR) • Brad Mustard, K.C., LL.M. (ADR)
Dates: September 24 & 25, 2026
Location: U of C Downtown Campus, 906 - 8th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta

Course Overview
This advanced program builds upon foundational arbitration knowledge to develop practical, experiential skills in conducting arbitration—particularly within a parenting context. Participants will learn key principles, engage in simulated hearings, deliver an oral arbitration award, and draft a post-course written arbitration award for submission to instructors for instructor feedback.
Learning Objectives
● Deepen understanding of advanced arbitration principles and practice.
● Gain hands-on experience in conducting parenting-related arbitrations.
● Develop proficiency in delivering an oral award and writing a clear and enforceable arbitration award.

Note: This syllabus is subject to change as course circumstances warrant. Times are approximate.
Possible future expansion of the training program to include arbitration of property and support issues.

Pre-Course Survey and Readings
(Selected materials will be provided.)

● Participant Survey - Who are you, where are you from, profession, why are you here, what do you want to learn, and what are the key takeaways you are looking for? Once you submit your application we will send you the survey.

● Case law on recent arbitration cases.

● Arbitration Act (Alberta).

● Mediation-Arbitration Precedents.

● Tools for Arbitration Practice.

Application Process
Submit the application form (link below) with prerequisites listed and you will be invoiced for the course.
Prerequisites
Minimum 6 hours of previous arbitration training. Examples are:
● NFLAC special program, "Issues in Mediation-Arbitration”;
● Judge Michael Porter’s 6-day Arbitration training;
● 2016 AFCC – Annual AGM/ Alberta Conference on Arbitration – Moe Hannah;
● ADRIA Arbitration Training;
● National Family Law Arbitration Training (John Paul Boyd, K.C.);
● AFMS 2018 Family Matters Comprehensive Arbitration Training in the Fundamentals: Instructors: Justice (Ret’d) Nancy Flatters, K.C., LL.M. (Dispute Resolution) and Dr. Larry Fong, R.Psych. (5-day training); and
● AFMS - 2024 Conference with Brad Mustard, K.C.; Kevin Hannah, K.C.; and Doug Moe, K.C.

Fees
Apply and pay before July 31, 2026
• AFMS Members $1250
• Non-members $1450
Apply and pay after July 31, 2026
• AFMS Members $1350
• Non-members $1550

Registrations include lunches on both days, coffee breaks, refreshments and snacks. You can let us know of any dietary restrictions on the application form.

Application Form
The application form can be completed here: https://forms.gle/fZ3VBY8pLNN6GTpY7

Instructor Biographies
Nancy Flatters KC, LL.M. (Dispute Resolution) began her community-focused career in 1976 as Executive Director of Kingston Interval House, before attending Queen’s University Law School in 1978. After graduating in 1981, she completed her articles in Calgary and was called to the Alberta Bar in 1982. Nancy’s practice spanned Competition, Civil, Family, Child Welfare, and Criminal Law. In 1984, she incorporated Mediation into her work, and in 1985, added Teaching and Skills Training in ADR, Conflict Management, and related topic areas. She was Practitioner-in-Residence in the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law in 1991, where she developed and taught the first ADR course, while serving as Adjunct Faculty from 1988 to 2008, team-teaching Legal Interviewing, Counselling, and Negotiation Techniques (INC).

Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1996 (now King’s Counsel), and as a Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice the same year, Nancy served in Calgary’s Family and Youth Court. With her dedication to access to justice, in 1989 she designed and implemented the Family’s Court’s Judicial Dispute Resolution/ Settlement Conferencing Program, together with co-designing a Caseflow Management System. Retiring from the Judiciary in 2015, she resumed private practice as a High Conflict Impartial Evaluator, Mentor and in August 2025, returned to part-time legal practice. Nancy also continues to teach, skills train as she always has, mentors, and volunteers. Her volunteering has included teaching and in leadership roles locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. Over her 50-year career, Nancy has remained dedicated to building bridges in all she does.

Brad Mustard, L.L.B., L.L.M., K.C. acts as a Mediator, Arbitrator, and Family Lawyer. He is a partner with the Family Law firm of Moe Hannah LLP in Calgary, Alberta. Brad received his LLB at the University of Alberta and completed his Master's in Law (LLM) in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Osgood Law School.
Brad is passionate about dispute resolution and adult education and is regularly invited to speak on the subject. He taught the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law Negotiation course and presented for the Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA) on Advanced Family Law, Negotiation, Arbitration, Mediation, and Dispute Resolution.
He has presented for Family Mediation Canada as a keynote speaker on Culture in Mediation and again on Power Dynamics within Mediation. He was the keynote speaker for the Alberta Family Mediation Society conference on Mediation/ Arbitration at the annual AGM in 2025. He is an invited presenter on Advanced Mediation for the AFCC in 2026 and an invited instructor for the Alberta Family Mediation Society's arbitration course. He has presented on advanced mediation at the ACLA conference in February 2026; at the AFCC provincial conference on Mediation in February 2026; and is presenting at the National Family Law Conference in July of 2026, on coercive control.

Brad served on several boards and organizations, including:
• Chair of the Association of Collaborative Professionals Calgary;
• Chair of the Distress Centre Calgary;
• Founding Board Member with Veterans Transition Network;
• Executive with the Canadian Bar Association—Family Law South Subsection;
• Member at Large with the National Family Law Subsection;
• He is the current chair of the Alberta Family Mediation Society (AFMS); and
• He has been appointed to act as a Child Support Resolution Officer at the Calgary Courts Centre.

Dr. Larry Fong, R. Psych., RFM, C. Med., RPCA is a psychologist, mediator, arbitrator, and internationally recognized trainer with more than four decades of experience in conflict resolution. A Registered Psychologist since 1982, he holds designations as a Registered Family Mediator, Chartered Mediator, and Registered Parenting Coordinator–Arbitrator. He has served as a family arbitrator since 1992 and as an arbitrator with CAMVAP since 1998.
Larry has been a leading educator in the field for over 38 years as the sole psychologist instructor for the Legal Education Society of Alberta’s intensive mediation program—one of Canada’s longest running and most respected mediation trainings. His teaching and consulting work has taken him to fifteen countries, where he has trained judges, lawyers, police services, Indigenous leaders, and professionals across multiple sectors.
He has presented internationally, including opening the first World Mediation Forum with President, Mary Robinson of Ireland, and has served as a trainer for the National Judicial Institute (Canada) and the National Judicial Council (California). Larry has been a regular lecturer in Europe, the United States, and Canada, and his book Mediation is published in English, German, and Italian.
Larry has held leadership roles across the profession, serving as Past President of Family Mediation Canada; the Alberta Family Mediation Society; the Academy of Family Mediators; the Association for Conflict Resolution; the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts; the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta, and the College of Alberta Psychologists. He also contributed to the development of the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act in the United States.
His mediation training DVDs have been distributed worldwide, and he has appeared on national television, radio, and in major publications. Larry continues to teach, train, and mentor professionals across Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Download the full brochure with schedule here>>> https://afms.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AFMS-Advanced-Arbitration-September-24-and-25-2026.pdf