Law Times

Law Times • march 31, 2014 Page 13 www.lawtimesnews.com ADR practitioners embracing access efforts er the flurry of reports, studies, and conferences in 2013, the access to justice campaign has moved into implemen- tation mode. In particular, the Canadian Bar Association's Reaching Equal Justice effort that turned goals into con- crete steps has struck a chord with dispute resolution stakeholders across the country. Rather than focus on broad systemic change, the CBA invited stakeholders to consider a list of targets and ask themselves what they could do, either by themselves or working with others, to contribute to equal access to justice. "Meetings and conferences no longer need to talk about the need for change. We've laid that foundation," says Patricia Hebert, a mem- ber of the CBA access to justice committee. "Now people are asking, 'What changes can we make?' Momen- tum is building. People feel more empowered." Hebert fully understands how daunting the task is. "e legal sys- tem is a huge piece of machinery. It's so big; it's daunting. It's like ask- ing, 'How do you eat an elephant?' We say: 'One bite at a time. Do something. Start somewhere. Here are 31 goals. Pick one, see what you can do, and then share it.'" e Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals is one organi- zation that has answered the call with a new self-represented litigants checklist. Lilian Ma, chairwoman of the access to justice committee at the council, confirms the access to justice movement has passed the soul-searching stage. "Instead of theory, we are trying to do some- thing pragmatic. We have created something that is easy to use that has real, practical results." e checklist stems from a project that originally dealt with lit- eracy issues. About 80,000 people come to administrative tribunals every year and most of them represent themselves, something that makes plain language a priority. "e fact is that even if parties are literate, it is very confusing to represent yourself," says Jim Ogilvy, ex- ecutive director of the council. "e new checklist has been formulated so that tribunals can judge if they are properly servicing self-represented parties and offer- ing them a viable alternative to the court system." Another effort is the pilot project recently announced by Legal Aid Ontario that will provide up to six hours of legal assistance for family law litigants who choose mediation as well as support in en- forcing mediation agreements. In Alberta, where Hebert practices, the CBA has been circulating materials on limited-scope retainers. She also sees promise in the announcement of a family justice sys- tems reform project in Alberta. "is was an idea born from an ac- tion committee on access to justice meeting. It is a project that will re-centre the court's role." Hebert notes the court is one of the places people go to when seeking information. "We don't want to just send them into the court process but redirect the flow to other services that meet the need, are timely, and are the least adversarial process possible. is is exactly on target with the report. We can get concrete results quickly." Hebert believes there are many great examples of access to justice efforts in progress and that the next challenge is sharing them. "How do we celebrate access to justice initiatives and share them across the country if someone discovers something that is successful? Many in- dividual small projects can create big conversations." She gives the example of the work LAO is doing on assisting cli- ents with mental-health issues. "We need to package that for other jurisdictions." With that in mind, the CBA met in Ottawa in February, adopted FOCUS REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT With more than 264,000 page views and 60,000 unique visitors monthly canadianlawlist.com captures your market. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin T: 416.649.9327 | E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com Get noticed by the lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, finance professionals and other blue chip cilents and prospects who find the contacts they need for Canadian legal expertise at canadianlawlist.com with an annual Gold or Silver Enhanced listing package. ENCHANCE YOUR LISTING TODAY! Untitled-1 1 14-01-08 9:11 AM Find on-the-spot answers to conducting Family arbitrations New editioN Family law arbitratioN iN CaNada, 2Nd editioN Ann C. Wilton And GAry S. JoSeph (MacdonAld & pArtnerS llp) Your AuthoritAtive Quick reference to the relevAnt lAw And other considerAtions if more of your cases are heading to mediation, arbitration or Mediation Arbitration, then you need family law Arbitration in canada, 2nd edition for comprehensive coverage of arbitration-related topics including legislation, precedents, jurisprudence and explanations that you need to perform your role as a practitioner or other family law professional. Clear, concise and well-organized, family law Arbitration in canada, 2nd edition offers: • on-point, cross-Canada coverage of this growing area of family law • extensive commentary by expert practitioners at Macdonald & partners llp • easy navigation with a topical index and tables of contents and cases • A convenient portable format the second edition of Family law arbitration in Canada, 2nd edition features expanded commentary and comprehensive coverage of the most significant recent decisions, including: • Patton-Casse v. Casse (2012, ont. C.A.) • T.N.S. v. J.Q.W. (2012, Alta. C.A.) • Thomson v. Thomson (2012, ont. C.J.) • P.K.K. v. J.S.K. (2012, B.C. S.C.) • McAlister v. Gallant (2012, ont. C.J.) • Kroupis-Yanovski v. Yanovski (2012, ont. S.C.J.) order # 985677-65203 $132 Softcover approx. 430 pages december 2013 978-0-7798-5677-0 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. AvAilAble risk-free for 30 dAYs order online: www.carswell.com call toll-free: 1-800-387-5164 in toronto: 416-609-3800 the report, and endorsed hav- ing the committee continue to work on achieving long-term goals. "The justice system is a body without a head," says Hebert. "We need organizations like the CBA to take responsibility and ownership to keep the con- versation and co-operation go- ing. We are now consolidating the action plans and discussing how to share the updates." e council is also planning to share its new effort more widely. To Ogilvy, the check- list is a work in progress. "It will be presented at the June 2014 symposium. We will run a quick test, tabulate the re- sults, and gather suggestions for improvements. It's not a scientific exercise. It is to get people interested in measuring themselves and their tribunal by such a tool. It could be quite eye-opening." Ma wants the checklist to be a living document. "Hopefully, when people start using it more oen we will obtain feedback. Aer the conference, we will conduct a full survey and then say something quantitatively about how we are faring based on our own standard." Hebert is confident isolated efforts like this will have large ripple effects. "Although we put forward the report and recommendations, we are not in charge of all the initiatives. We need a way to share the outcome with other provinces. We know that over time, those individual projects will create a groundswell of public support for larger ideas, for example, to properly fund legal aid." LT BY JUDY VAN RHIJN For Law Times A 'The justice system is a body without a head,' says Patricia Hebert.

• Cover