Alan was born in Cape Town, South Africa and graduated with his B.A. LL.B. from the University of Cape Town. He started practicing as a litigator in 1975 in a variety of areas including Personal Injury, Family, Insurance and Business disputes.

In 1979 Alan and his family emigrated to Edmonton, Alberta where he was a partner in the Witten LLP firm, practicing in the areas of Litigation, Wills and Administration of Estates, Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Leasing, Business Law, Financing Transactions, Construction and as Counsel to the Alberta Association of Nurses and the Alberta Dental Association.

In 1991 he relocated to Vancouver and was a partner at McCarthy Tetrault where he practiced in the area of Commercial Real Estate until 1999, when he retired to concentrate on Commercial Mediation as a full-time mediator.

When he practised, Alan was included in the 1999 First Edition of Lexpert's "Top 500 Lawyers in Canada" and has been listed in all subsequent editions of Lexpert, the directory of leading lawyers in Canada, as a leading practitioner of Property Leasing.

Since 1993, Alan has mediated a wide variety of matters, including catastrophic bodily and brain injuries; environmental issues; shareholder and partnership disputes; soft tissue injuries; various tort and Occupier's Liability litigation files; professional malpractice suits involving medical, dental, architect, legal and other professionals; family business disputes; commercial leasing and real estate transactions; rent renewals; employment and labor matters; complex contractual and commercial disputes; administration of estates and wills including Wills Variation actions; disability insurance and property casualty claims; investment and securities cases; construction matters including the leaky condominium issues.

Alan trained as a mediator through the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, the Justice Institute and the Harvard Law School Mediation Workshop, where he subsequently assisted Prof. Frank Sander as a teaching assistant. He instructs courses in Dispute Resolution and Negotiation at B.C.I.T. and has conducted workshops in Negotiation for I.C.B.C. and the Vancouver Police.

Alan's extensive experience as a barrister and solicitor in a variety of areas in litigation and commercial law, in negotiation and as counsel to professional associations give him a deep insight into complex legal issues and the ability to assess quickly the social and business dynamics in a contentious situation. Combined, these attributes allow him to focus the parties on the issues at hand and create resolution.

• B.A. LL.B. from the University of Cape Town. 
• Trained mediator through Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
• Justice Institute and the Harvard Law School Mediation Workshop

Please ask for fee schedule 

English