The 50th Annual Refresher: Practice Excellence is approaching quickly, so we want to give you a bit more detail about what to expect from each of the substantive law sessions.
In a recent interview, we spoke with our Family Law Sessional Chair, Marie L. Gordon QC, who was pleased to share more detail about each of the family law sessions. We also asked her why she was keen on being involved in this year’s Refresher program. Here’s what she had to say.
I think that this new idea of bringing together four subject areas under the umbrella of Practice Excellence is a great idea. It’s going to give us more exposure to broader thinking about the way we practice law. I think that all of us have capacity to think about our practices from a forward thinking approach, so that excites me. In addition to that, to get Richard Susskind to speak at this conference is a major coup!”
Learn more about each of the Family Law Sessions, including
Separation and Divorce Later in Life | John-Paul E. Boyd
Do Family Lawyers Have Ethical Obligations to the Children of Their Clients? | Patricial M. Herbert QC & Prof. Nicholas Bala
Jurisdictional Issues in Custody Matters | Krysta H. Ostwald
Old Dogs, New Tricks | Deni Cashin
Happy reading!
Separation and Divorce Later in life | John-Paul E. Boyd
About the Session
Family lawyers are facing more elder divorces than ever. This is a demographic shift that all of us are feeling, and these files require that we have an enhanced understanding of the dynamics that are unique to divorces later in life. Some of the more challenging issues that intersect include, retirement; spousal support; new spouses and new partners; insurance obligations; the making of family law obligations binding on an estate; and public assistance programs, such as OAS, CPP, etc. We need to have a broader understanding of these issues.”
About the Presenter
John-Paul Boyd is a very experienced family law practitioner who’s now the Executive Director of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family. He brings a wonderful hybrid of practical and sociodemographic information about this topic.”
Session Value
Attendees will get a greater sense of what to watch out for in elder divorces and more confidence about guiding clients through a divorce later in life.”
Additional Session Information
This session is running Sunday, May 7 (2017). Make sure to whether or not you wish to attend this session in the comments section upon registration checkout.
Do Family Lawyers Have Ethical Obligations to the Children of Their Clients? | Patricia M. Herbert QC & Prof. Nicholas Bala
About the Session
This is a really interesting take on parenting issues. The majority of our files involve parenting issues, and we’ve come a million miles away from the old fashioned notion of simply managing various schedules. Lawyers used to just help their clients manage a schedule, decide whether it was sole vs. joint custody, and we were done. This session takes a much more sophisticated approach towards understanding our role as lawyers when helping our adult clients. Lawyers have not always been aware of the impact of divorce on children and have sometimes been blind to how their role impacts their clients’ children. This is really going to inform lawyers about how they can manage parenting issues better on their family law files.”
About the Presenters
Nicholas is an international family law star. He is one of Canada’s preeminent academics, and we were extremely fortunate in securing his agreement to speak at this session. He is a prolific writer, judicial educator, and academic who is always on the cutting edge of family law issues related to children. Patricia is highly respected and a nationally recognized expert on issues involving representation of children, parental alienation, and child focus strategies for judges and lawyers. She has experience with some of the hardest files.”
Session Value
This session will give attendees the opportunity to think about their role in an expanded way. It will stretch their understanding of how they can help or harm the children of their clients, and will also allow them to become more conscious of their impact as they move through a standard family law file involving parenting.”
Additional Session Information
This session is running Sunday, May 7 (2017). Make sure to whether or not you wish to attend this session in the comments section upon registration checkout.
Jurisdictional Issues in Custody Matters | Krysta H. Ostwald
About the Session
Family lawyers sometimes feel they have to start at zero when it comes to jurisdictional issues. All of us are concerned about conflict issues and matters that intersect – either interprovincial or international jurisdictional matters. This session provides a very important update with key new cases on jurisdictional matters as they relate to custody. These matters arise frequently on a file and it’s going to be a huge comfort for attendees to get a review of not only basic concepts but also access to key go-to cases.”
About the Presenter
Krysta Ostwald is one of those lawyers who can do it all – litigate, mediate, arbitrate. Krysta has a wealth of practical experience and she is much in demand as a speaker. She is one of the leaders of the National Family Law Program.”
Key Takeaway
This session will help attendees gain a better understanding of the basics of jurisdictional custody –how to avoid leading clients into unsuccessful litigation, how to reduce client costs, and to help clients to effectively litigate if they have to.”
Additional Session Information
This session is running Monday May 8, 2017. Make sure to whether or not you wish to attend this session in the comments section upon registration checkout.
Old Dogs, New Tricks | Deni Cashin
About the Session
About 95% of all the files we ever touch never go to court. This session reminds attendees to constantly think about more effective ways for settling files. It is important to constantly challenge ourselves to get out of our old routines and to think about strategies to bring family disputes to resolution. Everything we do – whether it is in collaboration, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, etc. – all of it requires that we constantly reexamine and improve how we help people “get to yes”. Deni is going to harvest ideas and strategies to share from other family law practitioners.”
About the Presenter
I know Deni personally as being one of those hard-working effective family lawyers, who – like all of us – is striving to constantly get better as a litigator and negotiator.”
Additional Session Information
This session is running Monday, May 8 (2017). Make sure to whether or not you wish to attend this session in the comments section upon registration checkout.
Register Online
Join us for the 50th Annual Refresher this May 7–9 in at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Read the conference brochure to learn more about this once-in-a-career event.
Register on.lesa.org/50years.
