Join program chair Deni Cashin and a panel of experienced practitioners and review 5 key cases in each of these 5 areas of family law: spousal/partner support, child support, property, protection against family violence, and child welfare.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: Consider the Bench’s perspective on common issues that family law practitioners face. Hear from Hon. Justice C. Anderson (Calgary) and Hon. Justice D. Yungwirth (Edmonton).
Q&A
In a recent interview, we spoke with program chair, Deni Cashin to learn a bit more about this program and the faculty. Here’s what she had to say.
Q: What makes this program unique?
We are tackling 5 different areas and giving attendees 5 key cases in each of those areas. This is much broader coverage than attendees would normally encounter in a LESA program.”
Q: What do you think attendees will find most beneficial?
I think they will go away from the program feeling like they are on top of most of the current issues in child welfare, spousal support, child support, matrimonial property, and protection against family violence. We try to be masters of all areas, rather than a jack of all trades, so hopefully, the overview of these 25 main cases pushes us more towards being masters.”
Q: Can you tell me a bit about the faculty and each of their presentations?
Rhoda Dobler QC has been very active with LESA over the years. She has been practicing for over 24 years, and she was the co-chair of the collaborative practice for a number of years. She teaches at U of C and has a fabulous amount of experience in family law. She is a very sought after mediator and will be covering child support at this program.”
Crystal Thompson is brilliant. She has been practicing for about 16 years and has appeared at all levels of Alberta courts, so she has some really great judgements behind her in the area of parenting and child welfare. Crystal is a fabulous colleague at our office, and she will be covering spousal support, which is always a wonderful area to debate. She has shown me a few of the cases she is planning to discuss, and they are really quite interesting, raising questions like: What happens if the recipient of spousal support dies; should they still get spousal support? What happens if the recipient of child support doesn’t try to earn as much income as they can?”
Laura Bruyer has been practicing for 25 years and also has very impressive litigation experience at all three levels of the court. She is covering case law relating to the division of matrimonial property. She has been a regular contributor to LESA and is a sessional lecturer at the U of A.”
April Kellett has quite impressive experience in the area of child welfare. Her client reviews are exceptional; she has received the 2010 Access to Justice award from Legal Aid, she has authored various publications for LESA, and she has been an instructor for family law at the U of A.”
John Evans and Kurt Schlachter will be presenting case law in the area of protection against family violence. John is a fabulous presenter with excellent litigation experience, and he has been practicing for about 21 years. He has experience in all three levels of the Court in Alberta and even in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and in the federal tax court. John will be presenting in Calgary and his colleague Kurt, will be presenting in Edmonton. Kurt graduated from neuroscience in 2000 and was admitted to the bar in 2004, so he has about 13 years of experience.”
We’re also very excited to have Hon. Justice C. Anderson speak in Calgary (March 14) and Hon. Justice D. Yungwirth speak in Edmonton (March 7). This will be a highlight for attendees as they are often keen to know the bench’s perspective.”
REGISTER ONLINE
Join us in Edmonton (March 7), or Calgary (March 14) and discuss some of the most topical cases to date in family law. View the program brochure for more information.
