A Tradition of Excellence
A Long History of Providing Outstanding Legal Services in Alberta
A Solutions Based Approach
We know the Law is Complicated. Let us Simplify it for You
A Personal Approach to the Law
We Take the Time to Get to Know our Clients and their Needs
Odishaw & Guido
We are a full service law firm with a long tradition of providing excellent legal services to our clients. Whether you are starting a new business, buying a new home, updating your will, or need representation in Court, we are here to help.
Our Team
Trusted by generations of clients, our law firm has a distinguished record representing clients. The primary focus of our work is delivering innovative legal solutions while supporting our clients and their needs.
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Carla OdishawCarla Odishaw
Carla Odishaw has a wide ranging practice with experience in litigation, residential and commercial real estate, personal injury, employment law, wills and estates, and mediation.
Carla leads our Wills and Estates department. She is committed to providing our clients with practical advice and solutions at every stage of the estate planning process. Her hands on, detailed approach ensures that our clients’ legal needs are always met and exceeded.
Carla has appeared and argued matters before the Provincial Court of Alberta, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and other boards and tribunals
Carla obtained her Certificate in Conflict Management from the Alternate Dispute Resolution Institute of Alberta in 2017 and her Qualified Mediator designation from the ADR Institute of Canada in 2016.
Carla is a member of the CBA Wills and Estates group and been a member of the Law Society of Alberta since 1995.
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Ben GuidoBen Guido
Ben Guido has extensive experience in virtually all types of litigation and has argued cases before all levels of court in the Province of Alberta. Ben has acted for clients in disputes involving the following areas: corporate and commercial, construction, shareholder, insurance, employment, personal injury and medical malpractice. Since commencing his practice in 1996, Ben’s practice has led him to assist clients of every type with all kinds of disputes.
In addition to his litigation practice, Ben assists clients with corporate matters, commercial and residential real estate and wills and estates. Ben’s litigation experience gives him a unique perspective on advising clients outside the area of litigation. While recognizing that litigation is sometimes inevitable or required, Ben believes that one of the main purposes of having a lawyer’s assistance in drafting documents or making deals is to prevent future disputes. Ben’s litigation experience allows him to provide advice to clients on how to draft documents, how to structure deals or how to take other steps to avoid litigation.
Ben prides himself on being able to provide practical, cost-effective advice that you don’t need a law degree to understand.
Ben has been a member of the Law Society of Alberta since 1995.
Areas of Practice
Litigation
Our litigation practice includes providing advice on a broad range of legal disputes.
We represent clients before all levels of the Alberta Courts including the Provincial Court, Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Appeal as well as before various boards and tribunals.
We also seek to solve our client’s disputes using alternative methods such as mediation and arbitration.
Our litigation practice includes the following work:
- Builder’s Liens and Construction Disputes
- Breach of Contract
- Commercial Litigation
- Debt Recovery
- Estate Litigation
- Injunctions
- Personal Injury
- Product Liability
Corporate and Commercial Law
Our business practice includes a wide range of corporate and commercial services. We provide advice to sole proprietorships, corporations, joint ventures, non-profit corporations and societies. We work with other professional advisors to ensure your specific corporate and commercial law goals are achieved.
Our corporate and commercial law practice includes the following work:
- Incorporation of a business
- By-law drafting
- Unanimous Shareholder Agreement drafting and review
- Annual returns
- Joint Venture Agreements
- Partnership Agreements
- Corporate reorganizations
- Purchase and sale of a business
- Shareholder disputes
Real Estate
Our real estate practice include residential and commercial real estate transactions.
We offer a full complement of services and the expertise to help you buy or sell land. We work with individual purchasers and sellers, builders and lenders.
Our real estate practice includes the following work:
- Residential purchase and sale
- New mortgages
- Refinancing
- New home construction
- Construction financing
- Commercial building purchase and sale
- Commercial financing and leasing
- Lease review and drafting
- Agricultural land purchase and sale
Wills & Estates
Our wills and estates practice includes estate planning and estate administration.
Estate PlanningComprehensive estate planning includes drafting Wills, as well as preparing Enduring Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives to plan for the event of your incapacity to make financial and personal decisions prior to your death. We consider your needs and wishes now and in the future and when necessary work with other professional advisors to ensure your specific estate goals are met.
Estate Administration and Estate LitigationWe work with personal representatives (executors, attorneys and trustees) to ensure a deceased’s estate is managed carefully and distributed expeditiously and in accordance with the deceased’s wishes. We also assist and advise on a broad range of estate matters that require court intervention including applications under the Wills and Succession Act, the Estate Administration Act, and the Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act.
Our estate practice includes the following work:
- Preparing estate planning documents such as Wills, Personal Directives, and Enduring Powers of Attorney;
- Advising clients on estate planning matters;
- Advising clients on dependent adult issues;
- Attending on clients at home and in hospital as circumstances require;
- Advising executors, agents, attorneys, guardians, and trustees;
- Applications for probate, administration, or resealed grants;
- Applications for family maintenance and support under the Wills and Succession Act;
- Estate litigation;
- Advising clients on estates with no will, known as intestate estates;
- Applications under the Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act;
- Advising on trusts, including testamentary trusts, spousal trusts, and educational trusts.
Personal Injury
We act for plaintiffs and help them recover compensation for the injuries and losses they have suffered.
Our personal injury and disability practice includes the following work:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Occupier’s liability
- Product liability
- Medical and dental malpractice
Mediation & Arbitration
Litigation can be costly and time consuming. Mediation and arbitration have developed as alternative forms of dispute resolution which offer significant savings in both time and expense and allows the parties to control the terms of the process.
Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are encouraged to actively participate in the process. The decision on whether or not to settle remains with the parties and their counsel.
Arbitration is a private process where disputing parties agree to put the dispute before one or several individuals (the arbitrator(s)) who can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments. The parties decide beforehand as to the rules that will apply in introducing evidence, generally how the arbitration will proceed, and whether or not the arbitrator's decision will be binding. Arbitration is different from mediation because the arbitrator acts more like a judge in a trial.
Our lawyers have experience acting for clients in arbitrations and mediations as well as acting as mediators. We have continued to participate in arbitrations and mediations throughout the COVID 19 pandemic and are willing and able to use video technology to facilitate mediations and arbitrations during this time.
COVID-19 is an unprecedented event which has affected all aspects of life in Alberta and beyond. We are open during the COVID-19 Pandemic. While the courts were initially closed, they are now open with some COVID-19 related changes which includes conducting regular matters by desk and video applications. We can help you navigate these new processes.
We also have ways to meet clients’ needs if they are not able to attend in office appointments via telephone, video calls and e-mail consultations.
As the situation developed quickly, we know that it created complex issues that individuals and companies could never have prepared for.
If you have any questions for our lawyers or simply need to speak to someone about your concerns, please feel free to email contact one of our lawyers for advice.