Articles 2021

The 2015 Bencher election will be held on April 13. Consider the issues facing the profession.

One of the benefits of a juristic approach that requires each legal case concerning a child to turn on its own particular facts is that all of the child must be considered.

Are lawyers aware of their attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, biases, stress level and anxiety and, most importantly, how those factors influence their judgment?

Is it appropriate for counsel to review a draft expert's report, and hold communications with the expert? Does this inherently conflict with the expert's duty to be independent?

As lawyers, we frequently become entrenched in our own thought process and limit ourselves to legal solutions. There are times that we need to look beyond legal solutions and proceed to other models, including therapeutic solutions that can be incorporated into Court Orders. If we remain open to these alternative approaches, we may be rewarded with unexpected solutions and resolutions.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has declared that charging a purchaser of legal services by the hour is "undesirable".

In the past year, a number of cases have been released involving the interpretation of the new pension provisions under the Family Law Act.