Law Times

Law Times • November 9, 2009 FOCUS PAGE 9 Law Commission holding consultations on Ontario's family law system BY HEATHER CAPANNELLI For Law Times husband in 2000, custody of the couple's two children went to their father. She knew she needed help to deal with the le- galities of the process but, not knowing any family law lawyers herself, Whitehouse turned to her mother for advice. Luckily, she happened to have a friend who was a lawyer. Despite her good fortune, she describes numerous trips to courthouses in Hamilton and Toronto as well as complex pa- perwork and a confusing system. "I thought about taking care of it myself, but it's very compli- cated, and if you don't get the wording just right in your pa- pers, you could be messing up your whole case," she says. In hindsight, Whitehouse says she was glad to have had a lawyer and that she got good advice from representatives at Legal Aid Ontario. But not all Ontarians in need of assistance have someone to turn to for guidance and advice. White- house spoke English, had a so- cial network, and a job. What about those who don't? How do Study aims to understand litigants' challenges W hen Colleen White- house split from her common-law they find their way through the legal system when they experience family conflicts? Those questions are the of subject a consultation paper released by the Law Commission of Ontario and of related consultations tak- ing place across the province to identify where people go to try to solve family law challenges and what services are out there to help them navigate through the Ontar- io family justice system. "Basically, it seems to be common knowledge that the family justice system, especially where process is concerned, has some serious issues," says Julie Lassonde, the research lawyer conduct- ing the consultations. "The Law Commission of Ontario has limited resources and time, but we decided to look at one part of that process — the beginning." The hope is that these con- sultations will lead to recom- mendations that might ulti- mately improve the system. In addition to examining how people first come in contact with it, the project will also look at how family justice con- nects with other social and health services along with the MARMER PENNER INC. BUSINESS VALUATORS & LITIGATION ACCOUNTANTS BUSINESS VALUATION MATRIMONIAL & OTHER LITIGATION SUPPORT FORENSIC ACCOUNTING QUANTIFICATION OF DAMAGES SHAREHOLDER/PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES GOODWILL IMPAIRMENT TRANSFER PRICING 94 Cumberland Street, Suite 200 Toronto, Ontario M5R 1A3 Tel: (416) 961-5612 Fax: (416) 961-6158 Leonard H. Kunka - Partner Email our partners at: sranot@marmerpenner.com jdebresser@marmerpenner.com | L. Craig Brown - Partner | Darcy R. 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We look forward to creating a solid relationship with you that will benefit the clients we serve. THOMSON, ROGERS Barristers and Solicitors 416-868-3100 Toll free 1-888-223-0448 www.thomsonrogers.com YOUR ADVANTAGE, in and out of the courtroom social and health services. "We're trying to under- stand where people go when they have a problem and how we could intervene much ear- lier," says Lassonde, adding that understanding the way service providers respond to users is critical. "It seems to be the zeitgeist of a lot of different reports," says Georgina Carson, chair- woman of the OBA's family law section, of the law com- mission consultations. "I think a lot of things have come to a head, leading to more process reform in family law, but the devil is in the details." Carson has practised exclu- Georgina Carson says she is encour- aged that the law commission project is looking at best practices in other places rather than simply criticizing the current system. experience of front-line work- ers in it. In doing so, it will ask staff to think about how us- ers of the system learn about their services and draw a map of how they link with other workers both within the family justice system and with related representing kids in custody and access disputes as well as in child protection matters. She agrees that the system is in need of help and is encouraged by the law commis- sion discussion paper insofar as it looks at best practices in other jurisdictions instead of just con- sulting and pointing out how the system isn't working. sively in family law for the last 15 years and has also acted for the Office of the Children's Lawyer Trust [ "It's about looking for solu- tions, not just looking to criti- cize," she says. The project will involve three phases, beginning with the pub- lic consultations that will take place until the end of this year. Organizers are reaching out to participants through the Inter- net, e-mail, and community radio stations. Once the consul- tations wrap up, the law com- mission will compile the results and conduct further research during the first half of 2010. Fi- nal recommendations as well as a report on the issue are due for release next November. For people like Whitehouse, the project is well worth the ef- fort given her long and confus- ing experience with the family law system. That's because, in March 2008, she again found herself navigating through the family law process in Ontario after she decided to seek sole custody of the children. This time, though, she knew where to go and who to talk to. "I think that studying this kind of thing is time well spent because a lot of people don't know how the system works," she says. 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