Harper's Family Law Chambers

06/08/2024

I have just uploaded to my web site at harperschambers.com the video of my presentation at the Brantford Club on the Impact of AI on Family Law.

To view video click link
Https://https://lnkd.in/giiTFcUB

04/14/2024

Respect
At the end of March of this year I published an article on my web site, harperschambers.com. The article is entitled Conduct in the Family Justice System.
One of the most important messages I wanted to convey was the need for the public to respect the administration of the justice system and particularly the family justice system. The ramifications of losing that respect are devastating.
A lack of respect for the system can lead to a breakdown in the rule of law and eventually chaos. Our families and our children cannot be the victims of bad conduct of the participants in the family justice system.
Everyone in this system must act in a manner that represents the highest degree of professionalism, integrity and civility. Those characteristics apply to judges, lawyers, mediators and arbitrators.
We all have bad days. Everyone must do their best to check that at the door when participating in the justice system.
Aretha Franklin reminded is how to spell it: R E S P E C T.
It is up to you to show everyone how to live it.

03/25/2024

Public Confidence in the Family Justice System
How everyone conducts themselves in the family justice system is fundamental to obtaining a retaining the public confidence in the system.
Most importantly, in family law, what is said and how it is said goes directly to whether there can be a successful reshaping of the family that is needed after separation.
I published an article on my harperschambers.com outlining the proper conduct that must be everyone’s guide.
To read it click this link: https://www.harperschambers.com/post/conduct-in-the-family-justice-system

03/25/2024

Public Confidence in the Family Justice System
How everyone conducts themselves in the family justice system is fundamental to obtaining a retaining the public confidence in the system.
Most importantly, in family law, what is said and how it is said goes directly to whether there can be a successful reshaping of the family that is needed after separation.
I published an article on my harperschambers.com outlining the proper conduct that must be everyone’s guide.
To read it click this link: https://www.harperschambers.com/post/conduct-in-the-family-justice-system

Conduct in the Family Justice SystemThe Honourable R. John HarperThe Court, Counsel and Clients Public Confidence in the Family Justice SystemHow everyone conducts themselves in the family justice system is fundamental to obtaining a retaining the public confidence in the system.Most importantly, in...

01/11/2024

am please to announce that my article dealing with my reflections on children caught in parental conflict before the court that is entitled:

"But What About Me"

will be published in Edition 42 of the Canadian Family Law Quarterly to be released in February 2024.

This publication will also be available on line at Westlaw.

01/01/2024

A Guide to 2024
Priorities for Parents and Professionals in the Family Justice System

As 2024 is my first year as a retired judge, but not retired from my involvement in family law, I want to share my thoughts on the most important focus all professionals who deal with the administration of family justice should have.

The author of rainydayreflections.com talked about the impact of what we do on children.:

"I believe that children are our most precious commodity. They are our future. How we educate and interact with children is one of the most important things an adult will ever do. Children are so often lost in the shuffle of life. As an educator, one of the most difficult things for me is watching children become casualties of their parent’s lives. As parents (or grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and educators) it is imperative that we are constantly aware of how our behaviour affects the young ones in our lives.”

As a judge, I tried to never let the children get lost in the shuffle of life and their parent’s disputes. Everyone involved in family law must never lose site of how you conduct in performing your professional duties impacts the children who are the subjects of the issues before you.

As I continue my new venture in family law, I encourage all professionals and parents to be vigilant about how their conduct might impact the children and never allow your conduct to contribute to one child being a casualty of conflict.

12/22/2023

Thoughts for the New Year
Communication: A Family Advocate’s Strength

I used to dislike it whenever someone said: “In the old days we use to do it this way”.

I have come to learn that there are valuable lessons to be learned from what use to be. I prefer to say that there were good basic practices (in earlier days) that, in my view have gone by the wayside (too early).

When I was a lawyer and was retained on a file, after meeting the client and having, at least, an initial goal to achieve, subject to further development of the facts through disclosure, I would send an introductory letter to the other side and try to arrange a telephone call in order to assess the viability of setting up a meeting to review what each side needed by way of production and to get an initial assessment of positions that might allow me to consider whether negotiation, mediation or other solution option approaches were appropriate.

At this initial meeting we would also try to narrow the issues and set timelines for disclosure and next steps. If the matter had to go to court, we had already defined what could be agreed upon and what still needed to be produced. We came to court hitting the ground running. The court event was “meaningful”.

As a judge, my observation was that too many lawyers used the initial case conference to introduce themselves to the other side. Little to no discussions had taken place in advance of the conference. Maybe this was a function of the digital age manner of communication (enhanced by the pandemic) or simply using the court procedures as a tickler system that caused action to be taken on a file. I suspected it is a combination of both.

Some lawyers are hesitant to talk to the other lawyer because they have been burned by conduct that is uncivil and otherwise unprofessional. I understand that concern. However, it is better to insist on civility and professionalism than to simply avoid what could be a very good practice. Developing relationships are useful to creating a climate where solution options can be generated and most importantly, keeping the litigation process dignified for everyone’s benefit.

Engage the other side of the dispute early by an in person or virtual meeting. Don’t fall into the trap of only using email and text. That from of communication has the greater potential of miscommunication and somewhat of an impersonal stream of communication that may lead to action and reaction.

Being a lawyer, especially in family law involves the ability to communicate and obtain and retain good professional relationships.

Now for the old but wise proverb: Confucius says:

Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I might remember.
Involve me and I will remember.

Early personal, audio or video communications involve the participants. This just might help each participant to get a better understanding and memory of positions and options to move forward.

Don’t just sit at your desk sending emails and text messages while that song is going through your head:

“You used to call me on my cell phone”!

12/04/2023

The Pathway from Possible to Provable to Payable

Goal Assessment

It is always advisable to get legal advice that you have confidence in.

Make sure that you have all of the necessary disclosure you need to properly assess your case. Once you have the disclosure, set your realistic goals and make a determination of whether these goals can be achieved by negotiation, mediation, arbitration or the court process.

Whether the issues involved in a family law dispute enters the ADR path or finds their way to the court process, a realistic assessment must done of the possible claims that might fit the legal criteria necessary.

What might be possible may not be achievable. That is where a realistic assessment of the underlying facts and producible evidence comes into play. You cannot be guided by only wishes or hopes driven by emotion.

What documents and reliable witnesses can you produce to support any claim?

A proper assessment of your achievable claims cannot be made without an assessment of the other party’s case. Don’t get stuck in a tunnel vision approach that might allow you to misapprehend your achievable goals.

Cost Gains Analysis

Make sure that with any steps that are taken to advance your case, you know what the costs are compared to the potential gain.

Allowing yourself to be taken up with unreasonable expectations is a recipe for disaster. Taking unreasonable positions exposes you to, not only paying your own costs, but also paying at least a portion of the other party’s costs.

Make sure that you and any legal representative advancing your case does so in a resolute but civil and dignified manner.

Unreasonable positions and conduct prolong the dispute. They also increase the hidden costs that cannot be forgotten. The hidden costs are the life costs. The negative emotions and stress to the disputants and their family, especially the children must never be forgotten.

11/27/2023

ADR and the Court Process
Multiple Ways to Unclog the Drain

In an article in the Canadian Lawyer Magazine July 14, 2023, (Advocates’ group cites coming crises in civil and family court delays, makes plea for more resources) the author, Zena Olijnyk quotes a Report of the Advocates Society entitled Delay No Longer. The Time to Act Is Now

In Ontario, it currently takes almost 1.5 years for a motion longer than 2 hours to be heard by a judge in Toronto, and more than 1.5 years after the trial management conference (or more than four to five years from the issuance of the original application) for a three-week family law trial to be heard by a judge in Brampton; and more than four to five years for a civil action to proceed from commencement to trial.

Ask the court what the length of time for each event in your jurisdiction is.

On March 1, 2021, the amendments to the federal Divorce Act came into force. The changes in the Divorce Act make it obligatory for lawyers to encourage clients to attempt to resolve matters through family dispute resolution processes such as mediation and collaborative law and inform their clients of the family justice services known to the legal advisor, unless they are clearly inappropriate.

Consider the alternative to court while still in court. This is sometimes referred to using ADR as a continuum.

Studies have shown that a successful alternate dispute resolution process to solve family disputes takes approximately half the time and is approximately half of the costs of the court process.
Wherever possible, consider using negotiation, mediation or arbitration to some the problem.

However, the fact that the matter is in the court system does not preclude access to efficient and effective alternate methods of resolving the problem. There are procedures that may shorten the time to the next event. These procedures are under utilized if they are used at all.

Consider the use of Rule 17 (9) of the Family Law Rules in order to achieve the benefits of ADR within the court process. This rule allows for the parties to chose to have their matter meditated during the court process. This will eliminate the need for a conference and move the matter along more expeditiously. This allows for parties to choose their own person in effect to conduct the conference. A person that both have confidence in and may be more accessible in a timely manner than the court is able to accommodate.

11/23/2023

Financial Disclosure in Family Law
The one side of the coin
Complete, accurate and timely disclosure of all assets, liabilities and income allows for early assessment by both parties of their realistic achievable resolution options.
It increases the ability to bring the matter to a speedy conclusion.
It reduces the potential to create a lingering hostile environment that prohibits logic and reason to be engaged to solve the problems.
The other side of the coin
Playing litigation hide and seek with financial disclosure can be disastrous for the whole family.
In Leitch v. Novac, 2020 ONCA 257 C, William Hourigan highlighted the courts view of nondisclosure at Para: 44:
[44] As the Supreme Court suggested in Leskun v. Leskun, [2006] 1 S.C.R. 920, [2006] S.C.J. No. 25, 2006 SCC 25, at para. 34, nondisclosure is the cancer of family law. This is an apt metaphor. Nondisclosure metastasizes and impacts all participants in the family law process.
The right path
Choosing complete, accurate, and timely disclosure allows the family to be healthier and to keep both sides of their coin.

10/23/2023

Thank you for taking the time to explore my new venture. If you have any questions or you'd like to make an appointment please reach out.