This month’s spotlight shines on Mark Tweedy of Mark Tweedy Mediation + Arbitration.
How did you first get involved with CLEBC?
I think that my first involvement with CLEBC as a contributor was about 15 years ago when Mr. Justice Bruce Butler (with whom I had practiced with at Harper Grey) invited me to be part of a panel discussion regarding mediation at a course. About eight years ago or so Colleen Cattell, KC, asked me to be a coach at CLEBC’s Fundamentals of Mediation, a course I have been involved with ever since.
What are you currently working on (or have most recently worked on) with CLEBC?
I will once again co-chair Fundamentals of Mediation with my colleague, friend, and former bandmate, Renee Collins, on December 3 and 4, 2024.
You were a litigator for more than thirty years. What inspired you to practice in this area?
Growing up, I always thought of lawyers as courtroom lawyers, like Perry Mason. I know this dates me. Regardless, I guess the idea stuck.
You then moved away from litigation to practice exclusively in the dispute resolution field. What inspired your transition?
I have mediated many cases as a lawyer. I developed, I like to think, a little bit of patience about 20 years ago. Gary Fitzpatrick, one of the elder statesmen mediators in this province, encouraged me to pursue mediator training and give it a go. I then took a number of courses at the JIBC. I conducted my first mediation in 2004. In 2015, I became a non-practicing lawyer, and have practiced since then solely as a mediator, arbitrator, and sometimes court-appointed adjudicator.
What are some of the most rewarding aspects of the work that you do now?
I like to think that what I do as a mediator is useful. A negotiated resolution of a lawsuit gives the parties control over the outcome of their legal proceeding that a court-imposed solution does not. As well, a mediated resolution saves the parties money, time, expense, and often stress. Assisting the parties in achieving these things is very rewarding.
Navigating complex legal issues, with smart, skilled, and capable lawyers holding vastly different views about those issues, can be a major challenge. Helping them find common ground, and a resolution, is often very satisfying, indeed.
You have been very involved with the Lawyers Assistance Program of BC (LAP). Can you tell us more about that?
I became involved with the LAP when I got sober in 2002, first as a client who needed assistance in early recovery, then as a volunteer, and ultimately as a board member, and finally as the president.
The incidence of substance abuse and mental health issues is significantly higher in the legal profession than it is in society generally. There still exists a stigmatization of these issues, although that is lessening. As well, lawyers are often not the best at asking for help. I view my role with the LAP as twofold: first, to speak openly and publicly about my experience with such issues to lessen stigmatization, and show that these issues can be overcome, and second, to provide peer support to lawyers who suffer from them. I also regularly act pro bono for lawyers with Law Society “issues.”
What trends are you seeing when it comes to mental health and well-being in the legal profession?
I think that there is more public discussion of mental health and addiction issues than there has been in the past. It has become far more “okay” to admit to having these issues, and there is far more support from the profession generally to lawyers who ask for help.
On top of your dispute resolution work, you are also a skilled musician. What is it about music that inspires you?
Alas, playing music has fallen by the wayside for me, a victim of Covid. My creative outlet over the past few years has been black and white film photography. Taking photographs causes me to pause and look at the world around me in a different way. Darkroom work to produce a physical image is a dark art: a strange blend of art and science. Like mediation, photography is a process that yields a result. If you arrive at a result you don’t like, you change the process. I find it all very satisfying.