Family law practice can be hard. Lawyers must navigate the law, including legislative amendments and common law changes, changes to court procedure, clients with their own issues (not all of them legal ones), the challenges of carrying on a business/practice, and so on. On top of this, many family law clients deal with trauma and this can affect lawyers. These on-demand programs explore these “collateral issues” that family law practitioners face:

1. Mental health and trauma – how to recognize trauma in clients; how to recognize vicarious trauma that lawyers may absorb; what trauma does in the human body; how the trauma therapy modalities of EMDR and ART work
2. Roundtable discussion on challenges that family lawyers face and strategies to address them
3. The mechanics of the Arbitration Act – what an arbitrator can and cannot do; enforcement of awards; how the various provisions of the Act intersect; how to develop strong arbitration advocacy
4. A view from the bench – family law processes in the Court of King’s Bench

These on-demand programs were originally presented as an in-person program on December 1, 2023 as part of our Collateral Issues in Family Law program.

The total running time for each presentation ranges between 1 hour, 20 minutes, to 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Chair

Roxanna S. Petts, Thompson Petts Woynorowski Family Law

Presenters

Justice Sherry Kachur, Court of King’s Bench of Alberta

Carolyn Allan, Matkovic Allan LLP

Lonny Balbi KC, Balbi & Company Legal Centre

Aja Manning, MSW, RSW, Awakening Change Counselling & Consulting Inc.

Doug Moe KC, Moe Hannah LLP

Jennifer Odenyo MSW, RSW, Awakening Change Counselling & Consulting Inc.

Crystal M. Thompson, Thompson Petts Woynorowski Family Law

Rowen Gladys Waters MSW, RSW, Awakening Change Counselling & Consulting Inc.

Rachel C. Woynorowski, Thompson Petts Woynorowski Family Law