SPRING 2018 |
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What does it cost to resolve a family law dispute in Canada? Among the processes commonly used to resolve family law problems, are there significant differences in the time that it takes to resolve a problem, client satisfaction, cost, the ability to address urgent problems or the ability to arrive at decisions in the interests of children? As part of our SSHRC-funded Cost of Justice project, we recently published a report that examines the use of collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration and litigation to resolve family law disputes. This project, which was undertaken with the Canadian Research Institute for Law and Family (CRILF), includes findings from a survey of more than 150 family law lawyers practicing in Nova Scotia, Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
In addition to benefits and preferences, this study provides an important new glimpse into the relative costs associated with resolving family law disputes using different processes. For example, the average legal fee to resolve low-conflict disputes through collaborative settlement processes was $6,269, and the average fee to resolve high-conflict disputes was $25,110. By comparison, the average fee to resolve low-conflict disputes through litigation was $12,400, and the average fee to resolve high-conflict disputes was $54,400. “An Evaluation of the Cost of Family Law Disputes: Measuring the Cost Implication of Various Dispute Resolution Methods”, the final report from this study is available on the CFCJ website here. |
This visual representation of the data from the “An Evaluation of the Cost of Family Law Disputes” report provides an overview of lawyers’ views on the usefulness, efficiency, duration, cost-effectiveness and clients' satisfaction of collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration and litigation for resolving family law problems. Check out this great new CFCJ infographic, designed by Adriane Wu, on the CFCJ website at www.cfcj-fcjc.org/infographics/Cost-Of-Family-Law-Disputes.
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This CFCJ A2J blog discusses the primary objectives of the Cost of Family Law Disputes study and highlights key findings on the suitability and cost of resolving different types of family law problems using collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration or litigation. In addition, it highlights the importance and the need for empirical studies like the Cost of Family Law Disputes study that can offer insight into areas where resources can be directed to improve experiences and outcomes for people seeking to resolve family law problems through these and other processes. The “New Research on the Suitability and Cost of Family Law Dispute Resolution Processes” blog can be accessed on the CFCJ website here: http://cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog/new-research-on-the-suitability-and-cost-of-family-law-dispute-resolution-processes.
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“Another paradigm shift is and should be taking place today”. This is one of the primary arguments in CFCJ Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Jennifer Leitch’s paper on “Coming Off the Bench: Self-Represented Litigants, Judges and the Adversarial Process”. Dr. Leitch highlights the present-day shift in the civil litigation process that has seen a significant increase in self-representation and discusses why this merits a “serious re-appraisal of the structure and dynamics of the adversarial processes” that addresses the realities of self-representation. "Coming Off the Bench: Self-Represented Litigants, Judges and the Adversarial Process" is published on the CFCJ website here.
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For almost a decade, the World Justice Project (WJP) has collected data that measures rule of law in countries across the world. Recent WJP Rule of Law indices have included assessments for 113 countries, based on the following eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice. While Canada’s 2017-18 composite score of 0.81 places us 9th overall, Canada’s performance on individual factors considered for the civil justice rule of law component reveal a steady and much less encouraging trend. In his latest blog, CFCJ Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Ab Currie, discusses Canada’s consistently and comparatively mediocre WJP rankings on accessibility and affordability and unreasonable delay in the civil justice system. Read “A Steady State But a Bit Low” on the CFCJ website here: http://cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog/access-to-civil-justice-in-canada-has-been-in-a-steady-state-but-a-bit-low.
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CFCJ BOARD MEMBER, STEPHEN GOUDGE RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR LEGAL ETHICSIt is our pleasure to congratulate CFCJ Board Member, Justice Stephen Goudge (pictured above with Alice Woolley) on receiving the Canadian Association for Legal Ethics (CALE) Lifetime Achievement Award for his “sustained accomplishments in the field of legal ethics and professionalism”. Throughout Justice Goudge’s long and distinguished career he has displayed an unwavering commitment to advancing access to justice and excellence in the legal profession. Congratulations again, Justice Goudge, on a very deserving honour!
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JUSTICE METRICSThe national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters’ Metrics Working Group has produced various documents and resources related to its ongoing work on national justice metrics enhancement and coordination. These documents can now be accessed on the CFCJ-managed Access to Justice Research Network (AJRN) at https://ajrn.org/justice-metrics/. Further documents will be published on the AJRN’s Justice Metrics page as they become available.
To subscribe to the AJRN listserv, send an email to communications@cfcj-fcjc.org with “AJRN subscribe” indicated in the subject line. |
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