345 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
345 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
# 01 — Information architecture
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Authority: `AGENTS.md` §3 D5 (full multi-page), §6, §5 (audience model).
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Every claim in the copy outlines below must clear `AGENTS.md` §4.
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---
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## Why multi-page at all
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The site being replaced is one scrolling page. One page can hold one title, one
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meta description, one canonical URL, and one primary topic. It therefore gets
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one shot at a search result.
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The practice's target searches are not "Toronto mediator" — that term is owned by
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retired judges with twenty years of name recognition, and the strategy brief is
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explicit that competing there is the wrong game (§II). The winnable searches are
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specific: *construction lien mediation Ontario*, *SaaS contract arbitration
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Canada*, *SABS mediation Toronto*, *technology dispute neutral*, *Farsi-speaking
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mediator*. Each of those wants its own page, its own title, its own copy, and its
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own structured data.
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That is the entire argument for the structure below. It is a discoverability
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decision, not an aesthetic one.
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---
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## Sitemap
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```
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/ Home
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/about/ Biography, credentials, the professional record
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/mediation/ Mediation — the process, formats, rules
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/arbitration/ Arbitration — the process, tracks, rules
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/med-arb/ Med-Arb and hybrid processes
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/practice/ Practice areas index
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/practice/construction/ Construction and infrastructure disputes
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/practice/technology/ Technology, AI, and data disputes
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/practice/energy/ Energy, grid, and regulatory disputes
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/practice/insurance/ Insurance, SABS, and accident benefits
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/practice/shareholder/ Shareholder, partnership, and family business
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/practice/cross-cultural/ Cross-border and diaspora disputes
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/process/ What an engagement looks like, step by step
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/fees/ Fee schedule and engagement terms
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/for-parties/ Plain language: what mediation actually is
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/insights/ Article index
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/insights/[slug]/ Individual articles
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/contact/ Intake form and booking
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/legal/privacy/ Privacy policy — PIPEDA
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/legal/terms/ Terms of use
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```
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Nineteen fixed URLs plus one per article.
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### URL rules
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- Lowercase, hyphenated, trailing slash, no file extensions.
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- `/practice/<area>/` is a stable namespace — new practice areas slot in without
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touching anything else.
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- `/insights/<slug>/` — no dates in the path. A dated URL makes a piece look
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stale at 18 months, and this content is mostly evergreen.
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- Never change a published URL. If one must move, ship a CloudFront Function
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301 and record it in the Change Log.
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### Navigation
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**Primary (header).** About · Mediation · Arbitration · Practice · Fees ·
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Insights · Contact
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"Practice" is a dropdown to the six areas, with `/practice/` itself reachable.
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Build it as a `<details>` element or a CSS-only disclosure — no JavaScript.
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**Footer.** Full sitemap in three columns, plus contact block, professional
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designations, LinkedIn, privacy, terms, and the SML Company Ltd. entity line.
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**Deliberately not in primary nav:** `/process/`, `/for-parties/`, `/med-arb/`.
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These are linked contextually from the pages that lead to them. Seven items is
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the ceiling before a nav stops being scannable.
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---
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## Deliberate omission: Indigenous engagement
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The strategy brief (§III.4) rates Indigenous engagement, IBA, and consultation-
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breakdown mediation as *"strategically the most valuable single niche"* for a
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Q.Med on the C.Med-Arb pathway.
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There is no page for it at launch, on the following reasoning:
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The brief itself says the niche *"requires deliberate relationship work with
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First Nations advisors, federal and provincial engagement staff, and corporate
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proponents over a multi-year horizon."* A practice page is a claim of present
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capability. Publishing one before that relationship work exists would be read as
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exactly what it is by the audience best positioned to notice — and that audience
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is small, well-connected, and unforgiving of practitioners who arrive claiming a
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seat. The cost of getting this wrong is much higher than the cost of waiting.
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Revisit at month 12–18, once there is relationship history to point to.
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**This reasoning is Claude's, recorded for Pouya's decision — not yet his call.**
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---
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## Page specifications
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Each page below gives its job, its primary audience, its target search intent,
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and its section outline. Copy itself is in `03-content-spec.md`.
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### `/` — Home
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**Job:** establish the unusual stack in under ten seconds, and route each of the
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four audiences to its surface.
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**Audience:** all four; leans in-house counsel.
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**Search intent:** brand and name searches; "Toronto ADR practice".
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1. **Hero.** Eyebrow (`Mediation · Arbitration · Toronto`), display headline,
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two-sentence positioning paragraph, two CTAs (*Request a consultation* /
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*How I work*), portrait.
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2. **Credential row.** Three slots: `Q.Med` · `JD + ML` · `EN · FA`. Never
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matter counts — `AGENTS.md` §4.
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3. **The approach.** The "two directions at once" argument — law and engineering
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converging on the same dispute. Infinity mark as the visual anchor.
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4. **Two practices.** Mediation and Arbitration cards → `/mediation/`, `/arbitration/`.
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Med-Arb named here as the long-term arc, linking to `/med-arb/`.
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5. **Practice areas.** Six-card grid → `/practice/*`. This is the most important
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block on the page for search, because it distributes authority to the pages
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that can actually rank.
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6. **Process preview.** Compressed five-step strip → `/process/`.
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7. **Latest insights.** Three most recent → `/insights/`.
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8. **Contact band.** Intake CTA and booking link.
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### `/about/` — Biography and credentials
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**Job:** be the page an appointing body or opposing counsel reads before agreeing
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to an appointment. This page carries the verifiable record.
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**Audience:** appointing bodies, ADR institutions, opposing counsel.
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**Search intent:** `"Pouya Lajevardi"`, `Pouya Lajevardi mediator`.
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1. Portrait, name, designation line.
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2. **Narrative biography**, 400–600 words. The three-track story — law,
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engineering, operating a company — told as one arc rather than three lists.
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3. **Credentials**, structured and scannable: designations, education,
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certifications, memberships. Every line from `AGENTS.md` §4 Verified.
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4. **The credentialing arc.** Q.Med held → Q.Arb in progress → C.Med-Arb as the
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endpoint. The brief (§V) treats the arc itself as part of the story; say so
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openly rather than implying a finished state.
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5. **Languages and cross-cultural practice.**
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6. **Speaking and publications.** Omit the section entirely until there is
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something in it. An empty "Speaking" heading is worse than no heading.
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7. `Person` JSON-LD. Downloadable one-page PDF bio — brief §VIII lists this as
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an asset for circulation with appointment proposals.
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### `/mediation/`
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**Job:** convert counsel who have already decided on mediation and are choosing a
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neutral.
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**Search intent:** `commercial mediator Toronto`, `ADRIC mediation rules`,
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`what happens at mediation Ontario`.
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1. What the service is; the neutral's role stated plainly.
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2. **Formats:** full-day, half-day, shuttle, remote, hybrid.
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3. **Rules:** ADRIC Model Mediation Rules, or a bespoke protocol agreed by the
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parties.
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4. **What parties should bring** — briefs, documents, authority to settle.
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5. **Confidentiality and without-prejudice framing.**
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6. Practice areas → `/practice/*`.
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7. Fees → `/fees/`. Booking → `/contact/`.
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### `/arbitration/`
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**Job:** the same, for arbitration — and to state the Q.Arb position honestly.
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**Search intent:** `sole arbitrator Ontario`, `expedited arbitration Canada`,
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`documents-only arbitration`.
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1. What the service is; sole-arbitrator, party-appointed, and tribunal-secretary
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appointments.
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2. **Tracks:** documents-only, expedited, full hearing.
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3. **Rules:** ADRIC, ADR Chambers, ad hoc.
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4. Awards — form, reasoning, timing.
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5. **Credentialing status, stated plainly.** The Q.Arb pathway is in progress;
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the page says so and describes what is available now (co-arbitration,
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tribunal secretary) versus what follows designation. Honesty here is a
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differentiator, not a weakness — and misstating it is a conduct problem.
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6. Fees, booking.
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### `/med-arb/`
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**Job:** own a term few Canadian neutrals explain well, and frame the C.Med-Arb
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endpoint.
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**Search intent:** `med-arb Canada`, `what is med-arb`, `arb-med`.
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1. What Med-Arb is; how it differs from Arb-Med.
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2. The procedural fairness objection, addressed head-on rather than elided.
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3. When it fits and when it does not.
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4. The C.Med-Arb designation and why it is the practice's stated endpoint.
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This page is a strong candidate for the best-performing page on the site.
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Search demand exists, competition is thin, and it maps exactly to the brand's
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long-term narrative.
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### `/practice/` — index
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Six cards, one paragraph each, linking onward. Also the natural home for the
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"also offered" strip: early neutral evaluation, settlement counsel, dispute-
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system design, and pre-dispute technical advisory.
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### `/practice/construction/`
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**Search intent:** `construction lien mediation Ontario`, `delay claim mediation`,
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`subcontract dispute arbitration Toronto`.
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Dispute types (lien, delay, change orders, scheduling, subcontract, deficiency);
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what an active litigation practice in the same matters brings to the room; the
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Ontario megaproject pipeline as context — Darlington SMR, Bruce C, data centres,
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transit; typical process shape. Strongest immediate fit per brief §III.1.
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### `/practice/technology/`
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**Search intent:** `SaaS dispute arbitration Canada`, `AI vendor dispute`,
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`data residency dispute resolution`, `software contract mediator`.
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The differentiator page. Dispute types: software contracts, SLA and MSA
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breakdowns, data residency and processing, AI vendor diligence, cloud
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sub-processor disputes, IP and licensing.
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**Write this page in the register the brief demands:** a neutral who can read an
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API trace, a model card, or a System Impact Assessment on the same page as the
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contract. The brief warns explicitly against softening this to "technologically
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literate" — the claim is engineering practice, so the copy says engineering
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practice.
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### `/practice/energy/`
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**Search intent:** `Bill 40 dispute`, `IESO dispute resolution`,
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`OEB leave to construct dispute`, `grid connection dispute Ontario`.
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Grid connection and allocation, leave-to-construct, proponent–municipality
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disputes, IESO market participation, data-centre connection allocation. Brief
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§III.2 frames this as a 24–36 month build. **Write it as a genuine position, not
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a claim of existing volume.**
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### `/practice/insurance/`
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**Search intent:** `SABS mediation`, `LAT pre-hearing mediation`,
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`accident benefits mediator Ontario`, `MIG dispute`.
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Highest realistic near-term volume — it flows directly from the existing
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personal-injury and SABS practice, and brief §IV.7 notes the segment is
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underserved by senior mediators. Unglamorous and worth doing well.
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### `/practice/shareholder/`
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**Search intent:** `shareholder dispute mediation Ontario`,
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`partnership dissolution mediator`, `family business succession dispute`.
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Shareholder and partnership disputes, co-founder breakdowns, family-business
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succession, SME exits. The operator angle — running SML Company Ltd. alongside
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the practice — is the differentiator here.
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### `/practice/cross-cultural/`
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**Search intent:** `Farsi speaking mediator Toronto`,
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`Iranian Canadian business dispute`, `diaspora shareholder dispute`.
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Note that D4 makes the site English-only. This page describes Farsi-language
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capability in English; it is not a Farsi page. Diaspora family-business
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succession, dual-jurisdiction shareholder disputes, partnership disputes among
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diaspora entrepreneurs, cross-cultural commercial matters.
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### `/process/`
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Five steps, from intake to conclusion: confidential intake (day 0) · engagement
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and framing (1–7) · pre-session exchange (7–21) · the session (21–30) · binding
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conclusion (30+). Also: conflicts checking, confidentiality, and what happens if
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a matter does not settle.
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### `/fees/`
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**Blocked on `AGENTS.md` Q4 — do not invent numbers.**
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Hourly rate; half-day and full-day mediation; preparation time policy;
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cancellation terms; administrative fee; HST treatment; who pays and how costs
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are shared between parties; payment terms. A real page with real numbers, or a
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`TODO(pouya)` — nothing in between.
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### `/for-parties/`
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**Job:** serve the self-represented tier without diluting the counsel-facing
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pages. Plain language, short sentences, no jargon.
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What mediation is · what it is not · who the mediator is and is not (not your
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lawyer, not a judge) · what happens on the day · what it costs · what happens if
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you do not settle · how to prepare.
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### `/insights/` and `/insights/[slug]/`
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Astro content collection, MDX. Index reverse-chronological with topic filtering
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by practice area.
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Article frontmatter: `title`, `description`, `publishDate`, `updatedDate`,
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`topics[]`, `practiceAreas[]`, `readingTime`, `draft`.
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Content territories, from brief §VII: process explainers · regulatory commentary ·
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industry-specific dispute commentary · anonymised reflections · technical
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explainers for lawyers · credentialing and career-arc content.
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`Article` JSON-LD with `author` pointing at the `Person` entity. Each article
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links to the relevant practice-area page — this is what turns the blog into
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ranking power for the pages that convert.
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**The section stays out of primary navigation until at least two pieces are
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live.** An empty blog signals abandonment more loudly than no blog signals
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anything.
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### `/contact/`
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Intake form (`05-backend-spec.md`), booking embed, direct email and phone
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(Q3), Toronto by-appointment line, response-time expectation, and an explicit
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note that submitting the form does not create a retainer or a mediator–party
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relationship and does not itself create a conflict check.
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### `/legal/privacy/` and `/legal/terms/`
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Required, not optional — the intake form collects personal information about
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identifiable third parties in live legal disputes. What is collected, why, where
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it is stored (DynamoDB, region), retention period, who can access it, how to
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request deletion, and the contact for privacy inquiries. Must match what the
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backend actually does.
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---
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## Build order
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Dependency-ordered, so nothing is blocked mid-stream:
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1. Scaffold, tokens, base layout, header, footer, SEO component
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2. `/` — proves the design system end to end
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3. `/about/` — the credential spine everything else references
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4. `/mediation/`, `/arbitration/`, `/med-arb/`
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5. `/practice/` and the six area pages
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6. `/process/`, `/for-parties/`
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7. `/insights/` plumbing, then the drafted articles
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8. `/contact/` and the intake backend
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9. `/fees/` — last, since it is blocked on Q4
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10. `/legal/*` — written to match the backend as actually built
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11. Audit and cutover (`06-deployment.md`)
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