FDRIO in the News Archives | Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario

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

Is Arbitration Right for Every Case?

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 matter further, reporting through the Post and other media outlets that he had neither counsel nor expert evidence at the hearing. I have not sought him out nor have I sought out the award as it appears that access to it is restricted by the confidentiality terms of their arbitration. Although the father appears to have made at least some of it public, I will not comment on the award itself and instead limit my comments to what has been reported. All of my comments should be tempered with the knowledge that I have not had the benefit of a full reading of the award itself. The reported arbitration raises a significant number of issues that I would submit have far reaching consequences for those who practice in the ADR community. Without the benefit of reading the award, I can only raise the questions, while the answers may remain unanswered until the award is available and/or an appeal is heard. Notwithstanding, here are a few of the issues which spring to my mind. Process I do not know how these people came to be in an arbitration process. I am going to assume that they had a separation agreement that provided for secondary arbitrations on various issues. If I am correct in that assumption, it would have been reasonable for the parties to expect that this problem was to be resolved in an ADR process and that they were therefore precluded from proceeding to court. My first issue on these…

“Arbitrator sides with Ontario parent who refuses to immunize children, cites anti-vaccination ‘expert’.”

The outpouring of public commentary about a recent family arbitration cries out for clarification. There seems to be much misinformation and mistrust about family arbitration. Yet most family arbitrators are experienced, caring professionals. Most arbitrations are successful in the opinion of the parties who participated in them.

FDRIO Member Jared Norton On Managing the Many Hats that FDR Professionals Must Wear

By AJ Jakubowska Jared, I appreciate this opportunity to pose some questions to you, so FDRIO members can find out more about you and your approach to FDR. In my preliminary research, I noted your emphasis on the importance of treating each individual, each dispute as unique. I also see you have an interest in process addiction, such as gaming and gambling. But talking about that first would mean getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with your background. AJ: You have a Masters in Social Work from the University of Toronto, where you specialized in Child, Youth and Services. What initially drew you to this area of study? Jared: I had always been interested in mental health and working with adolescents, even as far back as high school. I had volunteered at a mental health hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut, close to where I grew up, and through that became a peer counselor and athletic director of sorts for both their inpatient and outpatient teens. Through my time there I worked closely with a psychologist and psychiatric nurse who also allowed me to take on other responsibilities such as group work and I became increasingly interested in family systems theory and as a result family therapy. So down the road when I had the opportunity to specialize in that area it was an easy choice. AJ: Your post-Masters training is extensive: you hold certificates in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Advanced Family Mediation. You have also undertaken specialized training in therapeutic interventions and addictions work. Tell us about your transition from the theory to Social Work to your decision to apply it in the very practical FDR field. When you decided to study Social Work, did you know from the start that you wanted to be “in the trenches”, so to speak, triaging family law conflict? Jared: Applying social work in the arena of family law was probably the farthest from my mind when I was first in university many years ago. I always saw myself as being a front-line clinician providing therapeutic services, and first considered medical school…

Free of Judgment….and With an Open Mind: Members Matilda Kissi and Gilead Kay on how FDR Professionals can remain neutral and impartial

by AJ Jakubowksa In conversation with Matilda and Gil. Psychologists are divided on the question of how we become who we are and why we behave the way we do in various situations. For example, those who subscribe to trait theories believe that human behaviour arises from particular personality or character traits. Situationists, on the other hand, postulate that human beings react to particular situations irrespective of their unique, personal characteristics. It is the situation which causes them to act in a given way, not what they bring to it of themselves. There are other theories. Most modern personality psychologists are interactionists, meaning that they explain human behaviour as arising out of a combination of biology, personality and situation. The layers we accumulate over our lifetimes, layers based on our culture, upbringing, gender, age, experiences, biases, etc., make each of us very unique as individuals. While this uniqueness and variety contributes to the rich tapestry of our Planet’s population, it also poses challenges for communication, interaction and yes, resolution of disputes in the FDR context. I recently had an opportunity to dialogue with two FDRIO members, from very diverse backgrounds, about the challenge of keeping an open mind in our FDR work and approaching those who come to us for help without judgment. In our dynamic conversations, we were able to share ideas and identify some common themes in our approaches. Matilda Kissi is a Ghanian-Canadian and a Senior Family Law Clerk. Gil Kay, an Israeli-Canadian, is known to many of us as a seasoned family law litigator but he is also no stranger to resolving disputes through dialogue and consensus. In our exploration of this subject, each of us immediately identified “awareness” as being of preeminent importance. Simply and most fundamentally put, we need to be aware that judgment, bias and “pre-diagnosis” of a problem are all a possibility. As aptly identified by Gil, while we can never be truly free of it, it is important to recognize the possibility of judgment before reaching any conclusion. In his words: “You need to be honest with yourself as to your…

FDRIO speaks on the proposed Divorce Act Amendments: Read Submissions by Founder Dr. Barbara Landau on behalf of FDRIO to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

It is the hope of FDRIO that the amendments to the Divorce Act (Bill C-78) are adopted before the next election. It has been 20 years since the last attempt at amendments and about 35 years since the Divorce Act was significantly changed. In late November, 2018, former Chair of FDRIO and Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee, Barbara Landau, appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to make submissions on Bill C-78 (Divorce Reform), as the representative of FDRIO. In advance of her attendance, FDRIO delivered written submissions, co-authored by Marie Nickle, Tom Dart and Barbara Landau. You can read them here. After her oral presentation on November 26th, Ms. Landau made further written submissions, which you can read here. was last modified: April 24th, 2019 by Tricia Wong

FDRIO Member Angela Princewill speaks on being an immigrant, culture, Black History Month and more

By AJ Jakubowska I must admit interviewing FDRIO Members of the Month is quickly becoming a favourite part my job as Newsletter Editor. Here is my conversation with Angela Princewill, our featured Member of the Month. She is a family and immigration law lawyer who has expanded her toolkit for assisting with the resolution of disputes to include mediation. AJ: Angela, as a first generation immigrant myself, I am very interested to hear your story, how you came to Canada and how the country of your birth and its rich culture have shaped who you are today and your approach dispute resolution. Let’s start at the beginning, so to speak. Angela: I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, completed 5 years of Law School at the Rivers State University and was in a position to start practising law in Nigeria once I completed the licensing process. When I came to Canada at the age of 22, I attended the University of Windsor for a further 2 years and I was called to the Bar in 2008. AJ: Tell us about your evolution as lawyer and FDR professional, please. Angela: The beginnings were humble but I had confidence (at least a hope) that over time, my own practice would grow into a dynamic firm able to assist a wide variety of people in resolving their problems. In fact, it all started in my living room in April, 2015. The original firm, called A. Princewill Law Firm, was essentially just me but we have grown and I am thrilled to say we continue to grow. AP Lawyers (as we are now called) will soon be a 4-lawyer firm as we are about to welcome a new associate in March. AJ: Angela, one immediately noticeable feature of your firm is its very diverse make up. It’s a virtual mini-cross section of Canada itself! Was this a deliberate choice on your part? Angela: Actually, it was not. It is the result of an open-minded, objective hiring process. Our goal has been to hire the “best people for the job”, regardless of religion, age,…

From the FDRIO Conference: Workplaces Need Inclusive Leaders to Break Through Implicit Bias

by Amanda Jerome as appeared in The Lawyer’s Daily on January, 17, 2019 Everyone has implicit bias. Whether it’s toward a specific culture, gender, or age, biases learned from childhood impact how people behave in a workplace which, Delee Fromm explained, need to be broken in order to change social norms. Fromm, a lawyer and neuropsychologist who works as a consultant on understanding gender at work, spoke at the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario’s conference on how to acknowledge bias and work towards changing attitudes. “Implicit bias,” she explained, are “attitudes, stereotypes and beliefs that are unconscious.” Since people may be unaware of bias their “conscious principles can be diametrically opposed” to their unconscious beliefs. When Fromm went to university in 1972 the second wave of feminism had started. She said there was this belief that women could be whatever they wanted to be and everyone thought by 2018, at least, 50 per cent of senior management in law firms and corporations would be women. “That hasn’t happened,” she said, adding that data collected on corporations in the U.S. shows that progress on diversity stalled in the ’80s and ’90s. “So, why is this happening?” Fromm asked. If it’s beneficial for workplaces to have diverse perspectives on a team, why are so many firms and organizations still male dominated? she added. Fromm explained that the human brain processes information in two streams: fast and slow. The slow process is conscious and analytical, while the fast side, which makes up the majority, is unconscious and makes quick decisions based on image recognition. This can lead people to make snap judgments based on gender or race. An example Fromm used on the impact of implicit bias was an article released by Wired magazine on software programmers who were horrified that their image recognition software had become gender biased. They’d fed the program photos from social media sites, which resulted in learned bias. “Any of a person in a kitchen was labelled a woman. What horrified them was what the future implications are of that. So, if a robot goes into…

Court Upholds Confidentiality of Mediation Intake Forms, Mediator’s File and Screening Notes: (Retired Justice) Cliff Nelson & Hilary Linton

by, Cliff Nelson, Riverdale Mediation & Hilary Linton, Riverdale Mediation and mediate393/311/47 Few legal principles are more sacrosanct than settlement privilege. In family law, where the legal, emotional and physical safety of family mediation is directly connected to its effectiveness, the principle is even more important. And the most sacred of all parts of a family law file are the notes generated by the mediator in what is known as the screening process and the confidential intake forms completed by clients to initiate it. Screening is the mandatory first step undertaken by professionally certified family mediators. It is a confidential meeting between each client and the mediator to assess whether the key principles of family mediation— a voluntary, informed process of self-determination that does no harm— can be met in the particular case. Its importance for an effective, fair and safe mediation cannot be understated. It is a long- established best practice endorsed by every Canadian professional mediation organization. Screening is “super-confidential”. It is covered not only by the three-way confidentiality provisions between the mediator and the parties, but also by a specific agreement whereby each party undertakes to not seek production of any screening information relating to the other party. The reasoning for this is self-evident: screening relates to issues of power imbalance including intimate partner violence and, in cases involving risk, disclosure of this information could jeopardize the safety of a party or child. There is no case where a court has compelled disclosure of screening notes or intake forms and for good reason. Screening is what enables mediators to design negotiations that meet the needs of each client. After screening, a confidential mediation will take place, unless the parties have signed an Agreement to Mediate that provides otherwise. Everything that happens in the mediation process is confidential, as are all intake forms, notes, documents and draft mediation reports. The only exceptions are where a child is in need of protection, a person’s safety is at risk, or otherwise in accordance with the law. This is mediation 101. So it was (very) surprising to see that in December…

From the FDRIO Conference: Indigenous Peoples Often Prefer to Deal with Conflict Resolution Within Own Communities

by Amanda Jerome as appeared in The Lawyer’s Daily on January 3rd, 2019 Approaches to conflict dispute resolution are different in the Indigenous family context and legal professionals need to educate themselves on cultural variances in order to ethically and effectively assist them, explained Katherine Hensel to attendees of the Family Dispute Institute of Ontario’s annual conference on family dispute resolution. Hensel, founder and principal lawyer at Hensel Barristers in Toronto, was the keynote speaker on Indigenous Families — Approaches to Conflict Resolution and noted the myriad of differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that must be kept in mind during dispute resolution. “I’ll give you an example,” she said, explaining to the audience that when she goes to visit her relatives in northern British Columbia she has to adapt to the way her people communicate. “It takes me two or three days to realize that people are speaking to me because, particularly for the northern communities, it is very rare in a casual, social environment or familial environment, to speak face-to-face,” she added. Hensel, who is Secwepemc, said communication is done in a more “walking side-by-side” way, instead of directly. She explained that it takes her time to appreciate that people are engaging with her and to some this may appear as diffidence. “It’s not a form of deference. It’s not shyness. It’s the proper way to speak, which is not viewed as a superior way to speak to how anyone else speaks, but it’s very different and in order to be a Secwepemc citizen and interact effectively within my own community, I need to carry myself in a different way,” she said, adding that she can spend the entire afternoon with her relatives and communicate verbally with only 10 per cent of the words that would typically be spoken in a non-Indigenous setting. Hensel added that this non-verbal way of conversing is “not confined to the Secwepemc people.” She spoke of travelling from Toronto’s island airport, which many Indigenous people use to fly to northern communities. “… back when there was a boat that used to take us…

The Very Hungry Mediator: FDRIO member Mitchell Rose on the importance of feeding your clients and yourself well!

“…but he was still hungry.” The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Philomel, 1986) ——————————————————————————————————– I am always hungry. If I am not eating then it is likely that I am thinking about food – unless I am mediating. It has become a problem. Allow me to explain: Back in the day when I was a hardcore litigator, before I metamorphosed into settlement counsel and a mediator, getting enough to eat was never problem. Court normally starts at around 10:00 a.m. — leaving plenty of time for a hearty breakfast. During a day at court, one could always count on the judge calling a mid-morning break, an ample lunch recess, followed by an afternoon break and then typically wrapping up the day by 5:00 p.m. This allowed for regular snacks and meals outside the courtroom while I finalized my submissions or just re-read the material for the day’s motion, trial or appeal. I would often pack food to take with me or I would eat at an on-site coffee shop or a nearby restaurant. I even began to associate court in downtown Toronto with Chinese food. If I went to court, chances were good that — at some point during the day — I would be dining at one of the many restaurants that line Dundas Street West near University Avenue, around the corner from the various courthouses. In the meantime, going on examinations for discovery only got better as the years passed from a food perspective. The various reporting facilities around Toronto each began to outdo the other in terms of putting out a big spread for customers. Given that lawyers call their own breaks during examinations, no one goes hungry. I still attend mediations as a lawyer and many mediations are held at the same reporting facilities. Since mediations have a significant amount of downtime when the mediator is occupied with the other side in a caucus, there is always time for lawyer and client to grab a nice lunch or snack down the hall. At my firm’s offices, where we regularly host mediations, we do not offer a smorgasbord (since we do not charge extra for the use of our space), but there is always something on which to nosh and, if anyone wants something more substantial to eat,…

Family Mediation Helps Separating Couples Divorce Amicably, Save Time and Money: FDRweek News

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 16, 2018 – Many Ontarians are turning to family mediation, family arbitration, and the hybrid med-arb—all forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)—to settle their separations and divorces. Factors driving this are: clogged family courts across many parts of Ontario; the high cost of hiring family lawyers; and the perils of navigating family court as a self-represented litigant, with no lawyer. Mediation is a well-known legal remedy for settling lawsuits in corporate-commercial law as well as personal injury claims. Corporations surveyed indicated that mediation saves them money (90%) and that it is better than litigation (81%). The Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO) promotes all forms of family dispute resolution, including court in appropriate cases. The week of November 19, 2018, FDRIO will host these three events in Toronto and communities across Ontario: FDRIO is having its 4th annual conference November 19, 2018 in Toronto. This year’s theme is “Through the Lens of Change.” Keynotes will be given by Aruna Papp (“Honour, Shame and Love: what Ontario FDR professionals can learn from a survivor of the culture of honour”) and Katherine Hensel (“Indigenous Families –Approaches to Conflict Resolution”). Inaugural Parenting Coordination Institute, on November 20, 2018, in Toronto at the Law Society of Ontario. FDRIO is the Ontario organization offering professional standards and certification in Parenting Coordination (PC), which helps separating couples with ongoing parenting disputes. Certified Parenting Coordinators are required to take extensive training, as parenting coordination is highly specialised. Family Dispute Resolution Week (FDRweek), with events for both the general public to learn more about family mediation, family arbitration, med-arb, and parenting coordination as well as events for ADR professionals. Free, public and professional events are scheduled in Toronto, Ajax, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Oshawa, Port Credit, Ottawa, among others. For more information: Lorne Wolfson, FDRIO, lwolfson@torkinmanes.com, (416) 777-5414 Hilary Linton, FDRIO, hilary@mediate393.ca, (416) 593-7100, ext. 291 Media Contacts: Brian Kilgore, Senior Counsel The Legal A Team Mobile (416) 879-5771 BAK@bell.net Jana Schilder, Co-Founder The Legal A Team Mobile (416) 831-9154 jana@janaschilder.com was last modified: April 24th, 2019 by Tricia Wong

Risks of Intimate Partner Homicide to Lawyers, Mediators, Clients and Families

by Jana Schilder as appeared in The Lawyer’s Daily, September 18, 2018 It is a fact that many more women die by the hand of their intimate partner than by any other means. There were 18 women killed and two men killed in Canada from January to April 2018 by their intimate partners, making a mockery of the words “I love you” and “to love, honour and cherish.” Separation and divorce escalate risk of harm, and involvement with lawyers and the legal system further aggravates risk of a party or child being harmed or killed. In 2015, Winnipeg family lawyer Maria Mitousis was almost killed when she opened a mail bomb that was sent to her by her client’s ex-husband. In the U.S., stories of murdered family lawyers seem commonplace, most recently Antonio Mari, shot by his client’s ex this past June, and Sara Quirt Sann, murdered by her client’s ex-husband. “Fortunately, intimate partner homicides — of men and women — are often predictable and also preventable,” said Hilary Linton, a family lawyer, family mediator, family arbitrator, international mediation instructor and a director of the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO). “The problem is most people in and out of the justice system have not learned to recognize the predictors of this kind of risk nor the safety planning that can be done to minimize it.” Here’s what we know for sure about intimate partner homicide and how separation and divorce make an uneasy situation much more volatile. Separation is the most dangerous time for a victim of violence. Consulting with a family lawyer increases the risk of murder for victims of domestic violence. As a result, family mediation and other family dispute resolution (FDR) processes are high risk when domestic violence or intimate partner violence is present. At this year’s FDRIO Conference in Toronto, Nov. 19, 2018, Aruna Papp will give a keynote titled “Honour, Shame and Love: what Ontario FDR professionals can learn from a survivor of the culture of honour,” followed by a panel discussion that will amplify domestic violence issues. “Screening for domestic violence…

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

Is Arbitration Right for Every Case?

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

“Arbitrator sides with Ontario parent who refuses to immunize children, cites anti-vaccination ‘expert’.”

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

FDRIO Member Jared Norton On Managing the Many Hats that FDR Professionals Must Wear

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

Free of Judgment….and With an Open Mind: Members Matilda Kissi and Gilead Kay on how FDR Professionals can remain neutral and impartial

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

FDRIO speaks on the proposed Divorce Act Amendments: Read Submissions by Founder Dr. Barbara Landau on behalf of FDRIO to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

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

FDRIO Member Angela Princewill speaks on being an immigrant, culture, Black History Month and more

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

Court Upholds Confidentiality of Mediation Intake Forms, Mediator’s File and Screening Notes: (Retired Justice) Cliff Nelson & Hilary Linton

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

From the FDRIO Conference: Indigenous Peoples Often Prefer to Deal with Conflict Resolution Within Own Communities

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

The Very Hungry Mediator: FDRIO member Mitchell Rose on the importance of feeding your clients and yourself well!

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Week, FDRIO in the News, Mediation

Family Mediation Helps Separating Couples Divorce Amicably, Save Time and Money: FDRweek News

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Dispute Resolution, FDRIO in the News

Risks of Intimate Partner Homicide to Lawyers, Mediators, Clients and Families

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Week, FDRIO in the News, Mediation

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Dispute Resolution, FDRIO in the News

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