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| Education |
Patrick Stopa is a graduate in
Arts and Law from the University of Saskatchewan
(1973). He completed his Articles of Clerkship with
Major Caron (now Caron & Partners LLP) and was
called to the Alberta Bar in 1974. He was appointed
Queen’s Counsel in January, 2004.
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Professional
Practice
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Mr. Stopa is a Partner at Caron & Partners
LLP. He practices primarily in the areas of family law, personal
injury and commercial litigation and municipal law. He has
appeared before all levels of Court in Alberta and before
various boards, commissions and tribunals. Mr. Stopa has
represented clients on a variety of legal issues at private
mediations and at Judicial Dispute Resolution conferences.
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Mr. Stopa is a trained mediator,
negotiator and collaborative lawyer having successfully
completed the Legal Education Society of Alberta courses of
training in Interest-Based Negotiation, in the Mediation of
Family and Divorce Conflicts and in Collaborative Law. He has
acted as mediator and arbitrator in family law and other
disputes. Since its inception in 2001 he has been a Dispute
Resolution Officer in the Court of Queen’s Bench Dispute
Resolution Officer Project at the Calgary Court House respecting
matrimonial matters involving issues of child custody and
access, child and spousal support and division of matrimonial
property. Mr. Stopa is also a roster mediator for the Law
Society of Alberta Fee Mediation Program respecting fee disputes
between lawyers and clients and between lawyers respecting the
transfer between them of client files.
Mr. Stopa’s experience is broad and includes the conduct of
senior civil litigation files on behalf of plaintiffs and
defendants in matters pertaining to family law, commercial and
construction law, professional negligence law and personal
injury law. He has defended clients charged with criminal and
quasi criminal offences and has assisted in prosecutions under
the Income Tax Act (Canada) on behalf of the Crown as an
appointed special prosecutor. He has been retained by
municipalities and developers with respect to development and
planning issues and is the firm’s lead counsel as city
solicitors to an urban municipality. As a result of Mr. Stopa’s
litigation and mediation experience, Mr. Stopa believes that
Alternate Dispute Resolution is an effective and more
satisfactory method of dispute resolution over litigation, its
adversarial nature and consequent cost in time, money and
effort. |
| Associations |
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Mr. Stopa is a member of
the Canadian and Calgary Bar Associations. He is the President
of the Alberta Bobsleigh Association and a director of Bobsleigh
Canada Skeleton. He was a sessional instructor at Mount Royal
College and has participated as an instructor in the Alberta Bar
Admission Course and as a presenter and chair of panel at
various conferences and seminars regarding specific issues of
law in his areas of practice. Mr. Stopa is also a member of the
Alberta Municipal Legal Advisors Association, the Regional Legal
Aid Review Committee, the Alberta Mediation and Arbitration
Society and Association of Collaborative Family Lawyers
(Calgary). |
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