Course Introduction and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:10)
Nadia Myerthall — Program Lawyer, CLEBC, Vancouver
H. Hailey Graham — Hamiton Fabbro, Vancouver
Daylyn Miller — Hamilton Fabbro, Vancouver
Expanding Our Understanding of High Conflict (9:10 – 10:00)
- individual vs. systemic—statue or movie?, partical or wave?
- Bill Eddy—High Conflict People in Legal Disputes, BIFF
- the amygdala high jack
- 33—solutions—recent social developments
- understanding the family as a living system
- the purpose of families
- basic principles of family dynamics through the life span
- the needs of children
- Building a Better Brain (video)
- ACES
Dr. Susan Gamache — REACH Reunification Program, Vancouver
Jurisdiction and Parenting- How to Address International Parenting Issues (10:00 – 10:55)
- identifying whether the case will proceed under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or whether it will proceed under the local legislation
- steps to take when it is a Hague signatory country
- steps to take when it is a non-Hague signatory country
Trudy H. Hopman — YLaw, Vancouver
Abib Ngom — YLaw, Vancouver
BREAK (10:55 – 11:10)
Collaborative Works in High Conflict Too (11:10 – 12:05)
- screening clients for suitability in the collaborative process, assessing whether the issues or the clients are high conflict
- how to structure the process, for example, whether four-way meetings are appropriate and what alternatives there are to four-way meetings, how to navigate protection orders during the process
- how to use a team (i.e., other professionals) effectively
- balancing duties as lawyers and advocates versus the ethical standards of the collaborative practice
Leisha A. Murphy — Connect Family Law, Vancouver
Anna Silver — Silver Selinger LLP, Vancouver
NETWORKING LUNCH (provided to in-person registrants) (12:05 – 1:05)
Tips from the Bench—Navigating High Conflict Cases (1:05 – 1:55)
- maintaining professionalism
- narrowing the issues
- keeping materials concise and evidence based
- managing client's expectations
- framing arguments around the children
- self-represented litigants
Justice Baljinder Kaur Girn — Supreme Court of BC, New Westminster
Managing the Behaviour Spectrum: Incentives and Containment in High Conflict Family Litigation (1:55 – 2:45)
- early identification of high conflict or potentially high conflict matters
- early intervention
- clients
- incentivise better conduct
- contain poor conduct
- rehabilitate past poor conduct
- identify the unsalvageable client
- the other party
- self rep vs. with counsel
- coordinated actions with counsel
- be helpful to the self rep
- getting buy-in from the client
- other counsel
- lower the temperature
- make a connection
- give them a break
- third parties
- identifying the problem
- containing that influence
- getting buy-in from the client
Chris Carta — Clear Legal Law Corporation, Surrey & Vancouver
BREAK (2:45 – 3:00)
Section 211 Reports and High Conflict Parenting Issues (3:00 – 3:55)
- letters, documentation, preparing your client, and other pre-assessment issues
- complex terminology, including alienation, diagnosis, testing, and IPV
- difficult issues such as clients delaying, recommendations
Jeannette Aucoin — Cozen O'Connor LLP, Vancouver
Dr. Simon Elterman — Private Practice, Vancouver
Concluding Remarks (3:55 – 4:00)
H. Hailey Graham — Hamiton Fabbro, Vancouver
Daylyn Miller — Hamilton Fabbro, Vancouver