OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships

Ethics of Drafting Standard Form Contracts

Statement of Research

Professor Marina Pavlović’s research project, Ethics of Drafting Standard Form Contracts, addresses the growing ethical complexity of legal drafting in non-negotiated, asymmetrical contracting relationships, such as consumer, employment, and small business contexts, where lawyers’ draft contracts that recipients must accept on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Uber v Heller, which called for greater scrutiny of these contracts and urged drafters to make them more accessible and balanced, the project asks whether lawyers’ professional duties extend beyond clients to contract recipients whose rights are shaped by these terms.

The project combines doctrinal and theoretical analysis with an empirical survey of Ontario lawyers, the first of its kind in Canada, focused specifically on contract drafting in asymmetrical settings. The survey will examine how lawyers identify client interests, use precedent, adapt standard terms, integrate AI tools, their views on obligations to non- clients, and whether current ethical rules sufficiently address the risks posed by AI- generated boilerplate. It also considers how generative AI compounds these ethical questions by accelerating the creation and replication of boilerplate terms at scale. By foregrounding the lawyer’s role in shaping the terms of everyday legal relationships, the project seeks to inform both academic debate and the development of professional guidance in an increasingly automated legal landscape.

From Ethics to Implementation: Addressing Litigation Recycling and Systemic Barriers in Trauma-Informed Family Lawyering

Statement of Research

This second OBA Foundation Fellowship builds on the 2024–2025 study on trauma- informed lawyering, which engaged more than 90 Ontario family lawyers and surfaced themes of trauma, power, relational harm, incivility, and unprofessional behaviour. That project produced a comprehensive report and launched the Justice With Care series. This new fellowship will take the next step by analyzing the rich qualitative narratives and reflections shared by lawyers, with particular attention to unresolved root causes of conflict and the lived experiences of both clients and practitioners.

The 2025–2026 study shifts from awareness to implementation. It will examine systemic barriers and recurring disputes in family justice, introducing the concepts of litigation recycling and chronic dispute return (CDR) to better understand patterns of repeated court involvement. At its core is the CARE(R) Framework—Competence, Accountability, Relational Ethics, Empathy, and Relational Justice- as a model for embedding trauma- informed ethics into professional conduct, legal practice, and dispute system design.

Intended Work Product

The Fellowship will produce a publishable scholarly article advancing analysis of ethics and professionalism in family law, grounded in the CARE(R) Framework and informed by the study of litigation recycling and CDR, offering accessible tools, infographics that translate research into practice. It will also include at least two conference presentations at professional or academic forums. Public engagement will continue through Peel Briefs series Justice With Care – Phase II. All these outputs aim to support systemic redesign and cultivate a culture of professionalism that prioritizes people-centered justice system.

Professor Del Gobbo's research is entitled "Towards a Restorative Approach to Legal Ethics in Canada." It explores the possibility of reorienting legal ethics around restorative justice as the foundation of a more public interest-minded approach to the lawyer’s role in Canadian society. He proposes to ask three questions: (1) What might a restorative approach to legal ethics look like? (2) What are the benefits and drawbacks of taking a restorative approach to legal ethics from lawyer, client, and community perspectives? (3) How should a restorative approach to legal ethics be professionally regulated and enforced?

By way of background, restorative justice is commonly associated with a range of facilitated encounters in which the parties to legal disputes come together to reflect on harmful conduct and how they can move forward productively to address it. Restorative justice is premised on the fact of our interconnectedness and the importance of establishing relationships and communities marked by equal care, concern, and respect for other people. In Canada, restorative justice is most frequently conceived as a feature of the criminal legal system to facilitate pre-charge diversion, sentencing, reintegration plans, and other extrajudicial matters, particularly in the Indigenous and young offending contexts. Less well known is that restorative justice has been theorized and practiced in a wide range of civil and human rights contexts as well. 

Professor Del Gobbo's research explores whether restorative justice can offer more than just an alternative path for lawyers in criminal law settings, but instead support a restorative principle-based approach to legal ethics within communities and across systems that can raise the moral consciousness of lawyers, facilitate collaboration, promote social justice, and redefine the role of lawyers as change agents.

Archana Medhekar, Certified Family Law Specialist

(Barrister and Solicitor, B. Sc., LL.B. LL.M.(DR), CPMed)

Title of the proposed study:

“Harmonizing Ethics, Empathy and Professionalism: A New Paradigm in Trauma-Informed Lawyering”

Statement of proposed study through the OBA Foundation Fellowship:

The study aims to explore the intersectional challenges in family conflict resolution, examine gaps in lawyers' ethical and professional obligations while serving vulnerable diverse populations and to develop strategies for integration of trauma-informed advocacy practices and culture shift within the legal profession for promoting meaningful access to justice.

Intended Work Products:

• A Report to OBA Foundation.
• A virtual dissemination event to present the outcome of the study. 
• An article or comparable contribution to legal scholarship on legal ethics or professionalism with collection of best practices and recommendations, with primary focus on trauma informed lawyering practice tips.
• Presentation of outcome of study at two academic and professional conferences.  
• Podcasts and radio show in English and other languages to educate the public about lawyer’s evolving role in the field of family conflict resolution.

Samantha Peters, Honours B. A., M.A., J.D. (Specialization in Public Law and Dispute Resolution & Professionalism), LL.M. (Political and Legal Thought)

Title of the proposed study:

R. v. Desjourdy: A Black Feminist Rewriting and Reimagining

Statement of proposed study through the OBA Foundation Fellowship:

In 2021, Parliament amended the Criminal Code and Judges Act with Bill c-3 to promote continued judicial education on sexual assault law and social context evidence. Through a critical rewriting of the 2013 trial decision in R. v. Desjourdy, in which an Ottawa police officer was acquitted of sexual assault charges against a Black woman complainant, this research will offer an example of how rewritten judgments could be used to advance judicial education with feminist and critical race perspectives.

Intended Work Products:

• An article or comparable contribution to legal scholarship on legal ethics or professionalism with respect to amendments made to the Criminal Code and Judges Act via Bill c-3; and
• Presentation of research at two academic and professional conferences.