Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards 2023 64 CANADA Zineb Kouidri Associate at BTK Lawyers MEDIATION LAWYER OF THE YEAR Ms. Zineb Kouidri, is a lawyer and associate at BTK Lawyers, a law firm that specializes in business law, real estate and construction law, as well as civil and commercial litigation in Canada. She has over 17 years of experience in the legal field, handling several large-scale projects in Quebec and abroad. She was also president of the Centre de mediation du Québec CMedQ until 2021, where she was an accredited mediator in commercial and civil matters. She was legal counsel in an international engineering and construction firm in Quebec for more than 5 years. Ms. Zineb Kouidri was named best real estate lawyer in her area of practice in Blainville in 2022 by the Canadian organization THREE BEST RATED and was declared TOP expert for the year 2022 by the Quebec-based organization Strategies PME. ABOUT ZINEB What is the value of mediation as a method for resolving construction disputes? The Construction field is made up of different business spheres, it evolves layers of engineers, architects, general contractors, workers, suppliers, and experts of all kinds. All these people must work together to complete a common construction project. Personalities are often strong in this field and responsibilities are shared and intertwined on more than one scale. These factors of intertwining responsibilities favor the creation of disputes between the different actors in this field, and this, at each stage of the realization of the project. However, the judicial delays necessary to treat disputes in the field of construction can be counted in years and this is not a particularity of Canada but rather an international plague. These delays paralyze a project when it is at the stage of realization and can increase in time when the litigation appears after the project is completed. In such cases, the damages and costs incurred can be aggravated and the interests of the various parties to the dispute can be significantly affected. Because of its immediate access and its open communication methods, mediation would be a well thought-out solution that should be taken more into consideration in the construction field. It will be quick and efficient when the parties invited to the negotiation table have a real will to reach an amicable solution. Mediation is a strictly confidential process, which makes it a means of settlement without putting pressure on the various parties in a construction dispute. Indeed, the word of the parties is thus liberated since nothing in their statement can be used against them in a subsequent judicial procedure. The parties remain masters of the final decision which will be made by them together. Tel: +1 514-992-6333 E: zkouidri@btkavocats.com www.btkavocats.com CONTACT
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