15th Biennial Family Law Conference 2025

Course Chairs
Todd R. Bell — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Nikki L. Charlton — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Morag M. J. MacLeod, KC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Todd Bell is a highly skilled litigator and trial lawyer with wide-ranging courtroom experience spanning all levels of Court in BC. Todd settles as many files through agreements or mediation as possible, but in the event of an impasse he litigates the matter to a resolution.

Todd's practice areas include the division of high net-worth assets including complex corporate structures, trusts, foreign property, and pensions. He practices in all manner of parenting and custody litigation including relocation and Hague Convention matters, adoption litigation and emergency protection from family violence. Todd has been the successful counsel on multiple seminal family law judgments. Todd received his LLB in 2007 and was called to the bar in 2008. Todd has served as adjunct faculty at the Allard School of Law at UBC, was co-chair of the CBA Family Law Subsection after several years on the executive, has been a member of the Editorial Board of the Family Law Practice Manual (CLEBC) since 2012, has joined the Editorial Board of for the Family Law Sourcebook (CLEBC) commencing in 2022, chairs conferences or presents legal papers on family law issues several times every year for organizations such as CLEBC, TLABC, LSS, CBA (Okanagan), and the Access Pro Bono Court of Appeal program.

In his personal life, Todd is an enthusiastic canoeist, having done hundreds of kilometers in each Ontario, the Yukon, BC, and northern Saskatchewan. He lives in Vancouver with his spouse, son, and two terribly behaved Labrador Retrievers.

Nikki Charlton is a partner at Farris LLP, where she has practiced family law since 2004. Nikki provides services from either a collaborative or litigation approach depending on the individual needs of her clients.

She is an accredited family law mediator, arbitrator, parenting coordinator, and has also been appointed by the courts and members of the family law bar to prepare Hear the Child reports. Nikki is also an elected Bencher of the Law Society of BC, and currently sits on the Discipline Committee, Complainant Review Committee, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.

Morag MacLeod, KC is a senior family law mediator and arbitrator in private practice in Vancouver. She is a member of LSBC, CBABC, and TLABC. She is the past president of the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society, past chair of the Family Law Litigation Group of the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, and a retired member of the Family Law Advocates Group. She was a member of the Editorial Board of the CLEBC Family Law Sourcebook from 2014 to 2024. She is a contributing author to various CLEBC and other legal publications, and a frequent presenter on family law mediation and arbitration topics.

Faculty
The Honourable Chief Justice Ron A. Skolrood — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Associate Judge Kimberley A. Robertson — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Andrew Beynon — Director, Land Code Governance, First Nations Land Management Resource Centre, Sutton West, ON
Ryan J. Black — DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Vancouver
Joe Broadhurst — Broadhurst & Kooy LLP, Vancouver
Erin L. Brook — Brook Law, Nanaimo
Kiu Ghanavizchian, CPA, CA, CBV, MBA — Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., Vancouver
Michael Kahn, JD, MEd — Lawyers Assistance Program of BC, Vancouver
Cary Ann Moore — Legislative Counsel, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Jessie Ramsay — Baker Newby LLP, Chilliwack
Fiona K. Robin — Basran Robin Allen & Desilets, Vancouver
Nadia Rowe — Practice Advisor, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Heidi A. Taylor — FH & P Lawyers LLP, Kelowna
Professor Rollie Thompson, KC — Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax and Counsel, Epstein Cole LLP, Toronto

• entitlement: Stobo? Zandbergen?
• SSAG exceptions: don't forget them!
• retroactive spousal support: after Colucci

• type of report/assurance level
• mathematical accuracy
• validity of assumptions
• reasonableness of multipliers
• other considerations

• First Nation law making authority: inherent rights, self-government agreements, and federal law
• implementation of matrimonial real property laws
• the future: expansion of First Nation lands and governance relevant to matrimonial real property laws

• crafting the arbitration agreement
• getting the best out of the process
• enforcement tips
• critical case law
• paralegal laments

• the court's typical approach to co-mingled excluded property prior to the decision of the BCCA in Mills v. O'Connor
• the principles of the pro rata approach as clarified in Mills v. O'Connor
• going forward post-Mills:
  • dealing with co-mingled excluded property and changes in value of mixed assets over time
  • tips on what evidence to gather to complete the tracing exercise and how to present the information to court
  • how does Mills change the approach to excluded property going forward

• view from the bench on civility in chambers  
• view from the bar on civility, collegiality, and dealing with self or unrepresented litigants 
• view from the bar on managing prejudice when dealing with self-representing litigants, applying Brown v. Brown, 2020 BCCA 53

• credibility basics, including Browne v. Dunn, collateral matters
• IPV preconceptions, myths and stereotypes, and evidence
• what's next?, more "law," judicial notice, tort of family violence

• new case law developments that have shaped family law in BC over the past two years

• unique challenges family law practitioners face, including vicarious trauma and burnout
• lawyer well-being dimensions
• practical strategies to improve lawyer well-being

• what AI is and isn't and why lawyers need to understand it
• ethical and professional considerations when incorporating generative AI into your practice
• latest and greatest from the world of AI—what lawyers are using now and what they might be considering using in the future
• emerging issues in generative AI and professional responsibility

• is there any certainty at all, how do we give advice about the long term
• Bradley v. Callahan: what does it all mean 
• drafting to account for Healey, O'Conner, and Schrader