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Family Dispute Resolution, FDRIO in the News, Mediation, News & Updates

Mediation Discussion – Regulated college or self-regulated institutions?

Posted on July 15, 2021 at 12:49 pm

Over many years, FDR organizations have tried to get traction with the government for the regulation approach to family mediation and they were not interested. As a result, self-regulating FDR organizations have developed comprehensive practice standards, set expectations for training – including domestic violence and power imbalance training, set high certification requirements and a complaints process to protect the public.   On June 22 2021, an article titled Mediation: The unregulated profession written by Gary Joseph was published in The Lawyers Daily. In the article, Mr. Joseph opines that poorly trained mediators are plentiful leading to uninformed participants, sometimes coerced…

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Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Dispute Resolution, Mediation, News & Updates

Interview: Life after the Bench

Avagene Skervin
Posted on July 12, 2021 at 12:14 pm

Avagene’s one on one with the Honourable Justice Clifford Nelson, retired judge. So, I have always been very interested in knowing just what judges do after they retire; can they simply walk away entirely from a life devoted to law? do they simply turn to golfing? What other stereotypical thoughts come to mind? The impact judges continue to make in the spaces they occupy after the Bench will be surprising for some and enlightening for others. Justice Nelson was more than happy to indulge a few questions from me via a “sit down through emails with me”. I met Justice…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDRulings, News & Updates

Case Law: Pereira v Ramos, 2021 ONSC 1737

Avagene Skervin
Posted on April 19, 2021 at 3:09 pm

Pereira v Ramos, 2021 ONSC 1737: Family Violence including the birthing of the statutory requirement to consider “coercive and controlling behaviour” as integral to the determination of the best interests of a child. This case was decided on March 9, 2021, eight days after the coming into force of the March 1, 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act (the “Act”). Although the Father’s motion was brought prior to the March 1st date, Justice Jain was careful to apply the applicable recent amendments regarding parenting orders and family violence considerations.   This case contains a good analysis of the best interest…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, News & Updates

Bill C-78: Amendments to the Divorce Act…In A Nutshell

Vicky Ringuette
Posted on April 19, 2021 at 2:49 pm

The period between March 2020 and March 2021 will likely be recognized as the year of many changes in the family justice system. Those working with families in the context of separation and divorce will no doubt remember it as the year Bill C-78, An Act to Amend the Divorce Act, the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Garnishment, Attachments and Pension Diversion Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act, 2019, c. 16 came into force. It may also be known as the winner of the longest name ever given to a Parliamentary Bill in…

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Family Dispute Resolution, News & Updates

Meeting Clients Where They Are At – Legal Coaching Opportunities Abound!

Lisa Eisen
Posted on March 13, 2020 at 12:38 pm

Coaches are trained to work with clients in any setting by meeting them ‘where they are at’. This phrase means being ready to work with a client in whatever capacity the client wants and is ready for at any particular time. In family law, clients are sometimes left to try to catch up to their lawyers who are racing ahead with their family law issues.  Where a client is paying the lawyer based on a traditional retainer, doing business this way can make sense for a host of reasons.  But there is a new, or recently discovered, group of family…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, Mediation

The Present Parent

Anne Marie Predko
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 3:21 pm

A few years ago, I read “Far from the Tree: Children and the Search for Identity”, a book about exceptional children and how parenting them changed their parents’ lives and identities. The children in Andrew Solomon’s book are profoundly different from their parents, and from many in society, but the experience of parenting them reframes the world, and bring their parents’ humanity to the surface.  Many people struggle to focus on parenting.  Canadians, and most people in developed countries, have a great deal of pressure during their child-raising years, with jobs, aging parents and social expectations.  For separating couples, the…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates

Parenting Law Gems

Hilary Linton
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 3:15 pm

The program and materials at this year’s OBA Institute on February 7 were outstanding, particularly in the area of parenting law. Key take-aways for family mediators, arbitrators and parenting coordinators included:  Justice Nicole Tellier presented an excellent paper on “The Mental Health Professional as Expert: Options and Ideas for Your Tougher Parenting Cases”. She spoke about section CLRA 30 assessments, noting: It is no longer necessary to establish a clinical issue (Glick v Cale, 2013 ONSC 893 (CANLII) The use of clinical records and reports from ‘participant experts’ and the scope of their evidence has been clarified by Westerhof v…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates

North York Women’s Shelter – Reaching Out to Experienced Lawyers

Miriam Roger
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 2:57 pm

FDRIO had the opportunity to interview Mohini Datta-Ray, the Executive Director of the North York Women’s Shelter, and Miriam Roger, who is creating a roster of lawyers who are skilled and experienced to assist in referrals of shelter clients. FDRIO : We hear that North York Women’s Shelter (NYWS) is putting together a list of lawyers who have experience with intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV) cases – why did you decide this was a good approach?  MD-R: Our recently reopened shelter was designed in response to some of the biggest systemic issues facing survivors of intimate partner…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, Mediation

Court Decision Highlights Importance of Screening for Suitability for Med-Arb

Hilary Linton
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 2:41 pm

Current best practice in the negotiation of separation agreements is to not mandate future mediation-arbitration of any disputes.  The recent trial decision of Justice Finlayson in C.S. v. D.A.S. 2020 ONCJ 16 (CanLII) illustrates the perils of boilerplate mediation-arbitration language in separation agreements.  The parties’ separation agreement required them to go straight to private arbitration in the event of a future dispute. Such a clause is not as common; usually the parties are mandated to first try mediation.  When the parties were unable to agree on a proposed change to their Separation Agreement, the mother attempted to initiate the arbitration…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates

Cliff’s Notes – Disciplining a Social Worker

Cliff Nelson
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 2:34 pm

Social workers who are involved in mediation, mediation/arbitration, custody arrangements and parenting coordination will be interested in a recent decision of the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers v. D 2019 ONCSWSS8. The four discipline cases, (heard as one), raised allegations against a senior social worker in his role as an assessor, mediator and parenting coordinator. The very detailed decision resulted in a penalty which included suspension and remediation through both education and mentoring. What is interesting and instructive is the type of conduct that the panel found inappropriate. I have set out…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, Mediation, Parenting Cordination

Case Law Review – The Power of Clear Expectations in Resolving Parenting Disputes

Schmuel Stern
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 1:46 pm

I want to share a recent decision demonstrating the power of clear expectations. How can we implement this amazing tool in parenting dispute resolution?  I.A. v. M.Z., 2019 ONCJ 780 (CanLII) is a Motion to Change decision of Justice Sherr changing an initial final trial order – also of Justice Sherr – at 2016 ONCJ 615 (CanLII).  (a) The trial decision The parties had a brief, tumultuous relationship. The evidence demonstrated that the father was abusive, controlling and “displayed erratic conduct”. One notable event occurred after separation, at the end of an access visit, when the father unbuckled the newborn…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, News & Updates

Attachment in Family Mediation

Posted on May 24, 2019 at 1:30 pm

Dr. Linda Ennis If we are truly understanding what constitutes a successful family mediation, we need to address the impact and role of attachment theory as a foundation for all human behavior.  The theory applies, in its entirety, as a continuum ranging from the secure to the insecure nature of relationships across the lifespan beginning in early childhood until adulthood. It all began with John Bowlby’s definition of attachment as “a deep and enduring bond that connects one person to another across time and space” (Bowlby, 1969). Children seek closeness or proximity to their attachment figures when they are upset…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, News & Updates

Having Two Lawyers on a File – is it a justifiable expense?

Posted on May 7, 2019 at 2:07 pm

by Retired Justice, Cliff Nelson as part of “Cliff’s Notes” a feature in FDRIO’s newsletter This month, I am going to refer to two cases: one from the Ontario Court of Appeal, the other from the Superior Court of Justice. Neither case is of particular importance (except, of course, to the parties themselves) nor do they have much precedent value. However, I still think it is worth bringing them to your attention for reasons that will become apparent. We all know that litigation costs are beyond the reach of the majority of our citizens. Time and again, we have heard…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDRIO in the News, News & Updates

Is Arbitration Right for Every Case?

Posted on April 29, 2019 at 11:03 am

by Judith Nicoll Readers of this Newsletter will no doubt have read the FDRIO response to reports that an Ontario arbitrator had sided with a mother who chooses not to vaccinate her children.  The National Post reported (Mar.28/19) that the Arbitrator had accepted anti-vaccination evidence from a medical doctor who now practiced chiefly in alternative medicine.  The article reported that the Arbitrator qualified the doctor as an expert on vaccination, although a Judge in the U.S. had declined to do so in a similar case. It appears that the father in the case either has or intends to take the…

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Family Dispute Resolution, FDRIO in the News, News & Updates

Book Review: A Guide to Family Arbitration in Ontario

by Stephen Grant and Jenna Preston (Lexis Nexis 2018)
Posted on April 26, 2019 at 1:02 pm

Score: 9.5/10 This thin (just over 100 pages of text),  easy-to-read primer is a gem for family arbitrators and parenting coordinators. It is also a great guide for counsel wondering if private adjudication is a good option.   One may not wholly accept the premise that family arbitration is becoming the norm in Ontario due to an unwieldy court system—— you can get a trial or long motion date in Toronto in 4-6 weeks— nor with the assertion that family arbitration is less costly than court. But if you want to quickly and solidly learn the basics of family arbitration…

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