© 2016 FDRIO | Privacy Policy | Refund & Cancellation Policy
Uncategorized

You’ll know it when you see it (Unless you don’t know what you’re looking for)

Shmuel Stern
Posted on March 13, 2020 at 3:41 pm / 0

A Primer on Conflicts of Interest in FDR Plainly stated, a “conflict of interest” is when a person faces competing professional or personal interests. The classic example is the workplace supervisor and supervised employee who are also spouses. From a legal practice perspective, a conflict of interest is widely defined as “when there is a substantial risk that a lawyer’s loyalty to or representation of a client would be materially and adversely affected by the lawyer’s own interest or the lawyer’s duties to another client, a former client, or a third person.”[1] The issue of conflicts of interest is drilled…

Read More
Uncategorized

Nine Startling Google Factoids about Legal and Professional Services Marketing

Posted on March 13, 2020 at 3:17 pm / 0

(Originally published December 19, 2019, in The Lawyer’s Daily, a LexisNexis publication)  1.   Fact: Google owns 93 per cent of all web searches in Canada. Canada loves Google even more than the Americans do. This means: Your website needs to be optimized for Google Chrome. You need to be using tried-and-true principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to build your website, right out of the gate. If you’re not doing this, do not expect any leads off your website.  If you do not make it clear what business you are in, or what service you are providing, Google spends…

Read More
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 / 0

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…

Read More
FDR Updates, News & Updates

Med/Arb Agreement Enforceable Despite No DV Screening

Lorne H. Wolfson
Posted on March 13, 2020 at 12:34 pm / 0

Z.S. v. B.P., 2020 ONSC 885 is the latest in a series of cases in which Ontario courts have had to determine if an arbitration agreement is enforceable notwithstanding its failure to comply with the procedural requirements of the Regulation to the Arbitration Act. The parties had signed Minutes of Settlement in which they agreed to proceed with mediation/arbitration. The parties and the arbitrator executed a mediation/arbitration agreement which provided that it would become effective once the domestic violence screening required by the Regulation had been completed. The husband refused to attend for screening and argued that the med/arb agreement…

Read More
News & Updates

Marketing in the Age of Social Media

Gary Joseph
Posted on March 13, 2020 at 12:13 pm / 0

We are all busy practitioners but there is busy and then there is busy.  Effectively marketing your FDP practice will help you improve the quality of the work that comes in and that quality improves the quality of the work that goes out.   The better the work product the more likely that quality work will come in.  It is circular in that respect.  My late senior partner James MacDonald often reminded me that the best marketing is a happy client.   I continue to subscribe to that theory, but in today’s highly competitive world, I believe that we all…

Read More
FDR Updates, News & Updates

Marketing and Profitability in A Boutique Practice – Build Your Niche

Ian Hull and Nick Esterbauer
Posted on March 13, 2020 at 12:05 pm / 0

At some point or another, many lawyers, mediators, or other professionals assisting families will consider focusing their practices into areas of specialization.  While the focus of this paper is marketing from the perspective of a specialized estates practice, many of the same principles and tools may apply to other specializations in law and related fields.  This paper will attempt to address some of the niche marketing tools that have been effective in our practice. Specific Marketing Techniques The following is a summary of ten tangible steps that were taken by Hull & Hull LLP over the years to establish itself…

Read More
Event, FDR Updates, News & Updates

CBV/FDRIO Conference February 13, 2020

Posted on March 13, 2020 at 11:54 am / 0

On February 13th, 2020, FDRIO and the CBV Institute (the professional organization of Chartered Business Valuators in Canada) held a joint conference on “Current Issues in Family Law”. This event – attended by over 100 professionals – focused on three main areas: facts vs appearance, practice issues, and joint retainers. Nine professionals, including six business valuators, two family law lawyers, and a retired judge addressed these issues. 1)  Independence of experts: Fact vs Appearance  Neil Maisel moderated a panel with Brahm Siegel and the Honourable Cliff Nelson who provided their thoughts on the recent changes to joint litigation experts and…

Read More
Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates, Mediation

The Present Parent

Anne Marie Predko
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 3:21 pm / 0

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…

Read More
Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates

Parenting Law Gems

Hilary Linton
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 3:15 pm / 0

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…

Read More
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 / 0

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…

Read More
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 / 0

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…

Read More
Family Dispute Resolution, FDR Updates

Cliff’s Notes – Disciplining a Social Worker

Cliff Nelson
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 2:34 pm / 0

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…

Read More
FDR Updates, Mediation, Parenting Cordination

Children Resisting Contact – Challenges, Controversies & Conundrums

Nick Bala and Barbara Jo Fidler
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 2:05 pm / 0

Cases of children resisting contact with a parent post-separation are often complex and dynamic, with multiple interacting factors that are likely to be changing over time. Almost all of these cases involve children who are experiencing a parental separation characterized by significant conflict. While many of these cases need court involvement, for some, with the help of skilled professionals, mediation may be the most appropriate response.  Some of these children are “alienated,” as they are resisting contact or rejecting a parent in a way that is disproportionate to the child’s experience with that parent and inconsistent with the previous relationship…

Read More
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 / 0

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…

Read More
FDR Updates, Mediation, Parenting Cordination

Case Law Review Parenting Coordination – Some New Cases

Elizabeth Hyde
Posted on February 13, 2020 at 1:13 pm / 0

Parenting Coordination is a hybrid process combining mediation and secondary arbitration. Although parties may have agreed to retain a PC in their consent Order or separation agreement, courts have ruled this is just an “agreement to agree” to retain a PC and without a signed PC Agreement, a court cannot order one party to execute the agreement (Horowitz v. Nightingale). In the recent case of Carmichael v. Carmichael 2019 ONSC 6313 the court was dealing with a high conflict couple who were waiting for a Section 30 assessment. As communication about their children was one of the main concerns for…

Read More
← Older Posts

Copyright 2017 FDRIO