OUR TEAM
Bob Finlay, MA RFT RCC
For over 45 years, Bob has worked as a Registered Family Therapist and Registered Clinical Counsellor with individuals, couples, and families. In 1995, he decided to bring his skills to the field of family law by helping families who are going through separation and divorce.
Bob has been a Family Mediator for over 25 years, a Child Protection Mediator for over 12 years, a Parenting Coordinator for over 12 years, and an Evaluator for over 25 years. Bob has mediated over 1200 files, acted as a Parenting Coordinator on over 70 files, written over 80 Section 211 Reports, and written over 170 Views of the Child Reports. He has also been qualified several times as an Expert Witness in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Provincial Court of British Columbia.
In 2009, Bob was recruited by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to appear in the documentary Don’t Wreck The Kids. In this documentary, Bob mediates a family dispute with a couple undergoing a divorce.
In 2010, Bob founded ReConnect Families, a parent and children reunification program, where a team of counselling professionals work with a family with high conflict dynamics and parental alienation. Bob has been appointed on a number of files to conduct parental alienation assessments for the Court. He consults with lawyers and families from all over Canada and the United States with respect to parental alienation cases.
Since 2010, Bob has worked as a Trainer and Coach with the Legal Education Society of British Columbia where he assists family law professionals develop their dispute resolution skills.
Bob completed a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Simon Fraser University. He completed mediation training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia and the Community Legal Education Society of British Columbia to become a Certified Mediator. Bob is a member of the Family Roster with Mediate BC and is qualified to mediate under the Family Law Act.
Bob completed training in parenting coordination and is a member of the Parenting Coordinator Roster with the British Columbia Parenting Coordinator Roster Society. He also completed training in reunification counselling including specialized training with Dr. Barbara Fidler, a renowned author and expert in treating parental alienation.
Rob Finlay, JD
For over 10 years, Rob has co-mediated over 250 legal disputes involving a variety of complex family law, civil litigation, and labour and employment law issues including separation and divorce, guardianship, parenting time and responsibilities, child and spousal support, property division, defamation, collective bargaining, and employment discrimination. He has also gained experience interviewing children for Without Prejudice Views of the Child Reports within the mediation process.
Earlier in his career, Rob worked for 2 years as the Family Mediation Services Program Manager at Mediate BC where he co-developed and operated the Regional Mentoring Program, an innovative program that provided improved access around the province to mediation services for families and mediation training for mediators. During law school, he worked as a Research Assistant for Judge Dean Morgan, a Legal Intern at the Ronald A. Peterson Mediation Clinic, a Legal Extern for Administrative Law Judges at the Employment Security Subdivision of the Office of Administrative Hearings, a Legal Intern at the Law Offices of Timothy J. Knowling, and a Legal Intern at the Ronald A. Peterson Administrative Law Clinic.
Since 2000, Rob has gained a variety of experience working with children and youth. He worked for 3 years as a Youth Counsellor at Banting Middle School with at-risk students as part of an innovative pilot project sponsored by the Crime Prevention Branch of the Federal Government. He also worked as a Hockey and Skating Instructor for the City of Port Coquitlam. Rob currently works as a Basketball Coach at Split Second Basketball.
Rob completed a Law Degree from Seattle University School of Law and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Simon Fraser University. He completed a year-long practicum with the Washington Mediation Association to become a Certified Mediator. He also completed training in mediation and negotiation at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Rob is a Licensed Attorney and is qualified to mediate under the Family Law Act.