Upcoming Meetings & Events
Several Sections have formed working groups under the leadership of a chair or co-chairs. If you are interested in working with one of our sections, please contact the section chairs.
Upcoming Section Meetings
September 21, 2015
PARENTING COORDINATION SECTION MEETING
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
466 Speers Road, 3rd Floor, Oakville
RSVP: Lourdes Geraldo – lgeraldo@cogeco.net -OR- Michelle Hayes – michelle@successfulfamilies.ca
* email to request dial-in teleconference details if you are not able to attend in person!
September 29, 2015
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE SECTION MEETING
5:00 p.m.
1033 Bay Street, Suite 314, Toronto
RSVP: Chris Arnold e. chris@christopherarnold.ca
October 1, 2015
MEDIATION-ARBITRATION SECTION MEETING
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Torkin Manes, 151 Yonge Street, Toronto
RSVP: Lorne Wolfson, e. lwolfson@torkinmanes.com
A Personal Message from the Premier
FDRIO is delighted to welcome Premier Kathleen Wynne to our inaugural Conference and launch of FDR Week. The Premier is a trained mediator who worked at St. Stephen’s Community Mediation Service and attended Family Mediation training. She strongly supports the goals of helping families achieve a less adversarial, supportive and timely resolution to their issues in the interest of reducing conflict for parents and children.
PRESS RELEASE
Premier Kathleen Wynne to improve access to justice for Ontarians by increasing awareness of alternate dispute processes in Family Law
TORONTO, ON – SEPT. 9 2015 – The Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO) will open its first ever conference and Family Dispute Resolution Week on November 23, 2015 with Premier Kathleen Wynne, a former mediator herself, giving the keynote address. When a couple divorces, going to court is not the only option. Other dispute resolution methods include mediation, arbitration, parenting coordination, and collaborative practice.
FDRWeek will continue until November 27, and will have events for both family dispute professionals and the general public in Toronto, Durham, Ottawa, Newmarket, and Barrie among others.
There is a dire need for Ontarians to gain access to these services.
While the Canadian divorce rate has levelled off at 38%, 80% of those in Family Court are so-called Self-Represented Litigants—those who cannot afford a lawyer, according to Lorne Sossin, Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School. Many are new Canadians, whose first language is not English, as well as those with low income. A great many cases involve mental health challenges, family violence, and limited access to legal and dispute resolution options.
FDRIO is a new not-for-profit designed to bring all professionals in the family dispute resolution field together for more powerful advocacy about the many benefits of resolving cases out of court.
The conference will feature industry leaders from a range of conflict resolution processes, and is open to the public. Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur will be the luncheon speaker.
FDRIO aims to help educate the public about the costs and benefits of each dispute resolution process available in family law cases. The organization also seeks to help the public identify those rare cases when going to court is the best option, and to provide information that will help unrepresented parties better navigate the system.
Premier Wynne was a volunteer mediator at St. Stephen’s Community House in Toronto.
The full conference program is here.
To register for Family Dispute Resolution week events, click here.
For further information about FDRIO Conference/AGM, contact:
Liz Nastasi Liz.Nastasi@fsco.gov.on.ca
Barbara Landau barb@coop-solutions.ca
For further information about FDR Week Events, contact:
Hilary Linton Hilary@RiverdaleMediation.com
Laura Tarcea ltarcea@gmail.com
FDRIO Conference & AGM Rates
Join Us For Our 1st Annual Conference
Join us on Monday, November 23, 2015 for “ALL IN THE FAMILY: Bringing Dispute Resolution Professionals Under One Roof” – featuring keynote speakers Premier Kathleen Wynne and Dr. Bernie Mayer. An exciting event of discussion panels, networking, conversation and more!
Early Bird Rate $175+HST ($22.75) = $197.75 * Payment must be received by 15-Sept.
Registered Member $200+HST ($26.00) = $226.00
Non-Member $250+HST ($32.50) = $282.50
FDR Week: Let’s Talk it Out!
We are very excited to announce the first annual Family Dispute Resolution Week in Ontario (FDR Week). The goal is to support families experiencing conflict, and to support the professionals helping them resolve that conflict. The theme for this year’s FDR Week is “Let’s Talk It Out!
FDR Week is an initiative under the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO) [build in link to FDRIO site] and events are being hosted by various family dispute resolution professionals throughout Ontario. Events include
- public forums,
- information and education fairs and
- professional meet and greets and training
We invite you to participate in this year’s events. Click here for FDR Week Highlights and Schedule of Events to attend an event near you!
Newsletter Archives
Did you miss one of our FDRIO newsletters, click link below to access our archives. Don’t want to miss the next issue, send us an email at info@fdrio.ca to join our mailing list!
ARCHIVES
Exciting News and Updates
Upcoming Events
Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition
On March 13-14, the FDRIO will be working with mediate393 inc. and a large organizing committee to help present this inaugural law school family law negotiation competition. Sponsored by the Family Judges of the Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Association of Family Mediation and Epstein Cole LLP, along with many other law firm and individual sponsors, this event presents family law students with a great opportunity to practice their negotiation skills.
WANT TO JOIN FDRIO? CLICK ABOVE FOR OUR MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION.
Testing Family Law Students’ Negotiation Acumen at the Inaugural Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition
Although more than 90% of all family law cases settle out of court and many of the cases in court settle at an early stage, law schools still focus their training on substantive law and court practice. Litigation moots and mock trials have existed for many years to give students experience in the court room.
Now, family law students will also get to practice negotiation skills thanks to a new competition supported by the Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice.
The Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario is proud to sponsor the inaugural Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition, an exciting new opportunity to support the teaching of negotiation skills to family law students.
On March 14, 2015, students from law schools across Ontario will meet in Toronto to participate in a family negotiation competition that will be judged by senior members of the profession and members of the bench.
In traditional moots students demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for court: persuasive advocacy of a client’s legal case. The negotiation competition requires equivalent knowledge of the law, and a different set of skills. Students are given a complex problem and they must seek to negotiate a settlement with opposing counsel. Competitors are judged by the degree to which they explore interests, generate options and work effectively with opposing counsel to achieve a settlement that is as good as or better than their client’s alternatives.
Until now, negotiation competitions have been reserved for Civil Law students. The new Walsh Family Negotiation Competition, which is co-sponsored by FDRIO, is the first of its kind for family law students in Ontario.
Much of the hard work has already been done by the organizational committee which includes Justices Jennifer Mackinnon, Heather McGee and Ellen Murray, lawyer-mediators Susan Jack, Brian Burke, and Jennifer Suzor, and Tami Moscoe. And the event has already received strong support from many members of the legal, judicial and academic communities.
You are invited to support this ground-breaking event in one of the following categories:
- Platinum: $2500
- Gold: $1000
- Silver: $500
- Bronze: $250
- Supporter: $100
Please contact us soon to ensure your firm will be able to support this innovative event.
As the competition draws nearer, we will also need volunteers to help organize and work at the event. If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know!
Image credit: reynermedia on Flickr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode
FDRIO Working Group Summer Meetings
Thank you to all those who attended the FDRIO inaugural meeting on June 10th. We received strong interest in moving forward and are therefore scheduling three working meetings over the summer to begin creating the organization. Anyone who wishes to join those meetings and has not signed up already, please email info@fdrio.ca to be added to the list.
FDRIO Working Group Currently in Discussion
FDRIO is a non-profit organization in the process of being established. We have a large working group of family dispute resolution professionals from across Ontario and representing a wide range of service providers. This group is informing the goals, structure and operations of the organization. More information will be available by mid June 2014.
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