Navigating High Conflict and Difficult Issues in Family Law 2026


Course Date: May 28, 2026

Full Course Materials
Total: 5h 52min
Total Ethics: 1h
Course Agenda ▼
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 – 10:05)
 
  • 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 (10:05 – 11:05)
 
  • 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 (11:05 – 11:15)
 
Collaborative Works in High Conflict Too (11:15 – 12:20)
 
  • 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
 
LUNCH (12:20 – 1:00)
 
Tips from the Bench—Navigating High Conflict Cases (1:00 – 1:50)
 
  • 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 (1:50 – 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 – 2:55)
 
Section 211 Reports and High Conflict Parenting Issues (2:55 – 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