I am trained as a lawyer and as a social worker.  That means that I can mediate both financial and parenting issues for parties.

My experience in the legal representation of clients has given me the knowledge of the law and “how things work” in family law.  I understand practice and procedure.  I am a critical and practical thinker.  I can provide legal information (not advice) to parties in mediation.  I can ensure that they are informed of the law on a particular topic, as well as their rights and obligations.  I have been on the other side of the table, representing clients in mediation and arbitration.  I know what that process is like from the inside out.

My social work and mediation training have provided me with the tools to manage difficult personalities and build consensus. I am able to be empathic without getting dragged into the emotions and conflict.  Active listening allows me to listen effectively and to understand what is happening and why.  I am trained to look not only at the issues, but also at what is underlying the dispute, in order to identify and eliminate road blocks to settlement.  I am trained in child development and have worked with children of divorce.  I am able to bring the children into the process, whether that it by actually meeting with them or by figuratively representing their best interests in the mediation.

I would be happy to further describe my mediation practice and to answer any questions you may have. Please do feel free to contact me.

The post Pleased to Announce…. appeared first on Toronto Family Law Blog Canada.

https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/2776

The post Grandparent Access: Mediate, Don’t Litigate appeared first on Toronto Family Law Blog Canada.

My last day at Basman Smith LLP was Friday, August 12, 2016. Then I took the weekend off. First thing Monday August 15, 2016, I started bright eyed and bushy tailed at Beard Winter LLP. Seamless? Hardly.

Everyone supporting my move has been amazing. The tech staff who managed the transfer of my computer files over to the new system. The movers who hefted crates full of paper files between firms (and only got lost twice). The law clerk and legal assistant who have been doing yeoman’s work trying to decipher the new systems so that I can access my files, do conflict checks and meet with clients. A big thank you to all of you.

The Beard Winter family has been incredibly welcoming. People pop their heads in to my office to introduce themselves throughout the day. Colleagues stop me in the halls and elevator to say hello. Questions are answered with kindness. Directions are given with a smile. It is a warm and friendly place. Thank you for making me feel at home.

It took me an hour to write a three line letter last week. I had no idea where my files were stored, how the firm letterhead precedent works or how to save a new document. (Rest assured no one is getting billed for that time). The learning curve is steep but I am confident that in a month or two (or six), it will feel like I never practiced anywhere else. And my pictures will be hung.

Please feel free to drop me a line at my new digs. My number is 416-306-1742 and my email is [email protected]. Recall that, in addition to practising family law as a specialist, I am a certified comprehensive family mediator. I would be pleased to answer any questions about either or both practice areas.

The post Beard Winter LLP: Here I Am! appeared first on Toronto Family Law Blog Canada.

I have obtained my mediation accreditation from the Ontario Association for Family Mediation.  I am now a certified comprehensive family mediator.  I can mediate any family law issues, including all property, support and parenting matters. In a nutshell, mediation is a voluntary process where both sides (and their counsel, if represented) work with a trained facilitator (me) to resolve their family law disputes in a cooperative fashion.  The goal is a win-win resolution, particularly if children are the subject matter of the dispute.

If you have questions about mediation, or my services generally, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to explain the mediation process and how it differs from the traditional individual representation I continue to do.  You can also click on this link to an article about me featured on AdvocateDaily about my mediation practice.

http://www.advocatedaily.com/jennifer-samara-shuber-helps-families-craft-lasting-solutions-as-certified-family-mediator.html

The post Helping Families Craft Lasting Solutions as a Certified Family Mediator appeared first on Toronto Family Law Blog Canada.

In Canada, we have an open court system. That is probably obvious from the daily bombardment of information coming out of two sensational Ontario court cases presently under way: the Jian Ghomeshi sexual assault trial and the trial of Tim Bosma’s alleged killers. People might know that criminal proceedings are public and that citizens are invited to sit in and observe a criminal trial in any court in the land. But what people might not know is that the same is true of family law cases.

Family court is open to the public. When you start a proceeding in Ontario, your full name and that of your partner is front and centre on the court documents. When your case is scheduled to come to family court, your names will be on the lists posted outside of the courtroom. Members of the public can sit in on family proceedings.

Applications can be made to name the case by pseudonym or initials only, to exclude the public from the courtroom or to seal the court file. However, these requests are only very rarely granted. Judges take public and media access to a court proceeding seriously, considering it to be one of the foundations of our justice system:

The Canadian judicial system is based on a presumption that all court proceedings must be conducted in an open and public manner so as to maintain confidence in the administration of justice. The party seeking a sealing order must establish that such an order is necessary to protect societal values of superordinate importance in order to rebut the presumption. Hence, the test for granting a sealing order is whether the social value raised by the plaintiffs is one of superordinate importance to the rights of the public to open access.

The tests to either exclude the public or seal the file are stringent:

…to exclude the public from a courtroom, I need find only that a “possibility of serious harm or injustice” exists. However, under Sierra Club, supra, to seal court files from the public, I need to find there to be real and substantial risk, well-grounded in the evidence, that disclosure poses a serious threat to the plaintiff’s interest which cannot be protected by reasonable alternatives and that the benefits of sealing outweighs the deleterious effects to the public interest in open and accessible courts.

The test to proceed by initials is less so:

This family court possesses the jurisdiction to use initials or pseudonyms to protect the identity of parties pursuant to Rule 2.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which enables the court, in the interests of justice, to dispense with the general rule that the names of parties be identified in the title of the proceeding (Rule 14.06): T. (S.) v. Stubbs, [1998] O.J. No. 1294, 38 O.R. (3d) 788 (Ont. Gen. Div.). The use of initials to identify the parties was ordered in R. (J.) in the absence of submissions on the point. In this case, the identification of the parties by initials is entirely appropriate, given the privacy interests that the parties and E.D. have in this matter.

Regardless, parties should be aware that, in all likelihood, their family law case will be public. Their names and those of their children will be evident from the material filed with the court. Parties who want to ensure privacy and confidentiality are, therefore, opting for mediation and arbitration, which are closed processes.

The post Family Court is Open to the Public appeared first on Toronto Family Law Blog Canada.