Navigating High Conflict and Difficult Issues in Family Law 2026

Course Chairs
H. Hailey Graham — Hamilton Fabbro, Vancouver
Daylyn Miller — Hamilton Fabbro, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Hailey Graham is a family lawyer. She obtained her JD from the Peter A. Allard School of Law.

Hailey is chair of CBABC Vancouver Family Law Section, a supervising lawyer for Pro Bono Students Canada, a guest instructor for PLTC (Family Practice), a contributing author of CLEBC's Family Law Sourcebook and chair of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a non-profit organization providing Afghan women and girls access to higher education and sport through scholarships and bursaries.

Daylyn Miller's practice focuses on all aspects of family law, including complex asset holdings, income arrangements, and high conflict parenting. She also acts as counsel on behalf of the Law Society of BC, Lawyers Indemnity Fund as it relates to family law practitioners subject to civil claims. While most of her practice centers around litigation, she enjoys advocating for clients outside of court and became a qualified Collaborative lawyer in 2023.

Daylyn became a partner at Hamilton Fabbro in 2024. She is a member of the CBA Family Law Section in Vancouver, a contributing author to CLEBC's annual publications of the Annotated Family Practice Manual and Family Law Sourcebook. Daylyn does presentations for various family law organizations, including the CBA and Collaborative Roster Society. Daylyn has also participated in advisory committees to the Attorney General with respect to legislation reform. She sits on the Board of Directors for the McCreary Centre Society, a not-for-profit organization committed to improving the health of BC youth.

Daylyn loves to call the Lower Mainland of Vancouver home, where she spends most of her time outside of the practice of law with her family enjoying the outdoors and travelling.

Faculty
Justice Baljinder Kaur Girn — Supreme Court of BC, New Westminster
Jeannette Aucoin — Cozen O'Connor LLP, Vancouver
Chris Carta — Clear Legal Law Corporation, Surrey & Vancouver
Dr. Simon Elterman — Private Practice, Vancouver
Dr. Susan Gamache — REACH Reunification Program, Vancouver
Trudy H. Hopman — YLaw, Vancouver
Leisha A. Murphy — Connect Family Law, Vancouver
Abib Ngom — YLaw, Vancouver
Anna Silver — Silver Selinger LLP, Vancouver

Click here for full faculty bios

• 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

• 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

• 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

• maintaining professionalism 
• narrowing the issues
• keeping materials concise and evidence based
• managing client's expectations
• framing arguments around the children
• self-represented litigants

• 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

• 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