Family Law Conference 2011
Course Date: July 7, 2011
Course Date: July 7, 2011
Day 1: Thursday, July 7
Welcome and Introduction
Barbara J. Nelson, QC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver
Jeffrey A. Rose, QC — Mortimer & Rose, Vancouver
James A.W. Schuman, QC — Schuman Daltrop Basran & Robin, Vancouver
Post Separation Increases in Income
- factors to be considered
- hybrid solutions
- leading cases reviewed
Philip M. Epstein, QC — Epstein Cole LLP, Toronto
Networking Break
Proposed New Family Law Act: Is It Coming?
- if so, what will it do to us and our clients?
- new Family Law Act: is this the end of fairness?
- valuation issues
- the Alberta experience
- the end of the difference between legal marriage and "common law”
- arbitration—are you ready for it?
- the 100 yard hurdle—how do you get into court?
- in the year between passage and pronouncement, what should you do for your clients?
- how will the government and the bar get the province ready for these changes?
Lonny L. Balbi, QC — Balbi & Company Legal Centre, Calgary
John-Paul E. Boyd — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver
Trudi L. Brown, QC — Brown Henderson Melbye, Victoria
Lunch With Featured Speaker: "Year in Review"
Philip M. Epstein, QC — Epstein Cole LLP, Toronto
Retroactive Child and Spousal Support in 2011—An Update
- how are judges weighting and applying the relevant factors in awarding retroactive child support five years after S. (D.B.) v. G. (S.R.)
- are courts using the same discretionary factors when dealing with retroactive spousal support claims?
- what trends seem to have emerged?
- how can one best advise clients on making or opposing claims for retroactive child and spousal support?
Marie L. Gordon, QC — Gordon Zwaenepoel, Edmonton
Ethics of Discovery
- how to ethically defend and conduct an examination for discovery
- how to professionally handle improper interruptions, objections, and interference
John Douglas Shields — Shields Harney, Vancouver
Networking Break
Chambers Practice
- drafting an effective affidavit
- organizing and presenting your argument
- management of client expectations
- courtroom demeanor
- anticipating difficult questions from the bench
- what do you want—how to get it
- what's your focus—how to help the judge or master to focus
- the value of written argument
- do you need a brief? how brief?
- the law—before or after the facts
- the facts—before or after the law
Master Alan Donaldson — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
George W. Gordon — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver
Carol W. Hickman, QC — Quay Law Centre, New Westminster
Day 2: Friday, July 8
Welcome and Introduction
Barbara J. Nelson, QC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver
Jeffrey A. Rose, QC — Mortimer & Rose, Vancouver
James A.W. Schuman, QC — Schuman Daltrop Basran & Robin, Vancouver
Family Law Arbitration
- mediation/arbitration: what is it and how does it work?
- who should use it and when is arbitration contra-indicated?
- arbitration as a process for dispute resolution: advantages and disadvantages
- the arbitration process
- arbitration agreements
- pre-hearing conferences
- the hearing
- the award
- rights of appeal
- discussion of the proposed BC Family Law Act and the BC Commercial Arbitration Act
Philip M. Epstein, QC — Epstein Cole, Toronto
Colin A. Millar — Richards Buell Sutton LLP, Vancouver
Karen F. Nordlinger, QC — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver
The Role of Children in Family Law and Mobility
- should we be challenging our assumptions about what is in the best interests of children?
- hearing children’s voices—when and how should children participate in the process?
- where are the BC courts going with mobility?
- would the White Paper proposals make any difference?
The Honourable Donna J. Martinson — Vancouver
Barbara J. Nelson, QC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver
Professor Rollie Thompson — Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Networking Break
The Role of Children in Family Law and Mobility (cont'd)
Lunch With Featured Speaker
Neal R. Hersh, "The Celebrity Divorce Lawyer"— Hersh, Mannis & Bogen LLP, Beverly Hills, CA
The Family Law Business Model
- creating and promoting your brand
- file selection
- budgets and business plans
- billing on the “satisfaction curve”
- managing client expectations
- enhancing firm income
- hiring and retaining associates and staff
- time management for family lawyers
- taming email overload
- how to stop feeling overwhelmed at the office
Paul M. Daykin, QC — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver
Dinyar Marzban, QC — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver
Networking Break
Navigating the Ethical Quagmire
- what to do and not do when faced with an ethical issue or when your actions are called into question; who you should talk to about ethical issues
- ethical issues in dealing with unrepresented litigants
- what to do when you receive documents that you shouldn't receive; e.g., your client brings in the other spouse’s documents—can you read them? can you keep them? do you have to send them back?
- civility in the practice of law
Edna M. Ritchie — Lawyers Insurance Fund, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
M. Edward Mortimer, QC — Mortimer & Rose, Vancouver
Paul R. Albi, QC — Davis LLP, Vancouver
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