The panellists presented their talks during Day 3 of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice’s (CIAJ) Families and the Law, a three-day examination into the nation’s justice system and how it impacts families.
This year, the CIAJ’s 48th annual conference was held in Winnipeg and ran Oct. 9 through 11.
One panellist presenting for Innovations in Family Law: New Ways of Supporting Families was Edmonton’s Melissa Bourgeois, who in 2022 was granted a special waiver from the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) to be able to act for both parting spouses.
But, as Bourgeois explained to attendees, the circumstances must be right: the couple must be amicable, not in dispute, and must not consider themselves opposing parties — at least not in the traditional sense.
“While they may disagree, what they want is an outcome of their legal separation that allows them to successfully co-parent, to allocate their family resources in a way that is fair to them both, and also, importantly, to maintain control over the decisions that they need to make,” said Bourgeois, principal at the firm One Family Law. “They also seek a process that allows for them to continue to thrive as one family unit that maybe just looks a bit different from a legal perspective.”
Bourgeois first approached the LSA in 2020 about the idea after seeing a similar approach taken in the United Kingdom. Bourgeois’s new method was approved by the LSA as a pilot project in 2022 and saw a “soft launch” in early 2023.
“From January 2023 onward, we honed our internal systems, our client delivery services, eventually creating our unique seven-step process that we now offer to a wide breadth of clients from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and walks of life,” said Bourgeois.
Since then, Bourgeois’s firm has been retained by 105 couples under the one-lawyer approach.
Most couples doing this, she said, finalize the terms of their separation for a flat fee; the process usually takes six to eight weeks, from intake to the filing of a joint divorce application.
Bourgeois calls the “one family” lawyer approach a “restorative justice model.
“[It is] where two people choose to approach their legal separation as something they want to address together, prioritizing, above all, the needs of everyone in their family, combined, as well as keeping up the integrity of their past, present and future relationships,” she said.
The One Family Law website states:
“By choosing to jointly retain a family lawyer, and receiving neutral, impartial legal advice together, our clients experience a streamlined process that cuts down on cost and saves time, all while sparing them unnecessary conflict.”
Another panellist was Jacinta Gallant, a Charlottetown, P.E.I., lawyer who started Our Family in Two Homes, an educational program to help fellow family lawyers better equip their clients for the process of separation and divorce.
It was following a particularly problematic case that Gallant started to question her approach as a family lawyer. Searching for a better way to serve her clients, Gallant began eliciting feedback from them as to their experience under her advocacy.
For one, Gallant noticed that clients, regardless of their education level, absorb information differently. Some, she found, had trouble understanding the legal information she was giving them.
She also found out that they valued a “human connection” with their lawyer.
But she also found that they felt their natural negative feelings about the situation were not being acknowledged.
“I began to wonder, who’s preparing the client?” said Gallant, principal at Waterstone Law Group
It was then that Gallant, already a 25-year veteran, said she decided to “detoxify” her practice. She began listening to clients more, asking more questions and taking a less aggressive approach.
Through this, she not only advocated for them but educated them.
Part of their education came in the form of a workbook that Gallant developed. Clients would take the workbook with them, complete assignments and then return it.
“I started giving a workbook to every client, and I noticed a profound difference,” said Gallant. “Now, I know our clients better; more efficiently; more effectively; more meaningfully. So, I’m able to help more families. I have far less time spent on the phone, or in person, hand-holding and trying to nudge and push people forward because I can assign them some exercises that will help them be ready for the conversations that they need to have with me.”
Gallant turned this into Our Family in Two Homes, which, according to its website, is a preparation toolkit that “equips divorce professionals around the world with a suite of transformative resources designed to provide efficient, empathetic and expert guidance for families.”
The program offers customized workbooks, online tutorials, templates, group coaching and “community input.”
The workbook that started it all has now been customized for 50 legal jurisdictions in 10 countries, Gallant told conference attendees.
The third panellist was Jo O’Sullivan, a collaborative family lawyer and principal at O’Sullivan Family Law in Brighton, England.
O’Sullivan, who addressed the conference virtually, said her “lightbulb moment” came when she realized that the current system — as well as her traditional approach — was potentially exacerbating confrontation between the parting spouses.
She began changing the way she practiced and, in 2022, wrote (Almost) Anything But Family Court, a book that has been well-received in her legal community.
On its face, the change in her approach that has led her to the present seems simple enough: “Stop being so much of a lawyer.”
“I had to stop being such a know-it-all, which is what I’m trained to do,” said O’Sullivan. She went on to explain that it dawned on her that she had not been fully listening to what was important to her clients.
Like Bourgeois, O’Sullivan also practises a “one solicitor, one couple service,” according to her website.
On the book, the website states that it “aims to encourage couples to reduce conflict at the point of separation (and thereafter).”
“The book outlines the people and processes you need to know about when separating if you wish to sort things out to avoid family court,” the site states. “It has been written to increase confidence, reduce stress, avoid wasting time and money. It’s a vital read for those experiencing a breakup.”
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