In January, 2013, I took a two day course, Family Violence Screening for Dispute Resolution Professionals, to enhance my ability to recognize and deal with family violence in the context of family law cases. This course was beneficial for Kitsilano Family Law, especially in regards to British Columbia's new Family Law Act, which came into force in March, 2013. It has focused on the need for family law professionals to increase their awareness of this problem and develop skills and techniques for keeping family members safe, defusing and reducing tensions that could lead to violence in the family context, and bringing cases to a satisfactory resolution in spite of concerns about violence. The course, sponsored by the Continuing Legal Education Society, was designed to provide increased knowledge of the complex problem of family violence, and featured roleplays to assist the professionals in learning how to deal with the various situations in which family violence might be a factor.
Mediating Cases under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child AbductionWhen we think of the term ‘child abduction’, we often think about children being kidnapped by strangers. However, in many cases, children are taken abroad or kept in another country by one parent (called the “abducting parent”) without the permission of their other parent (the “left-behind parent”).
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Designated Paralegal/Legal Coach services for Self-Represented LitigantsNavigating and understanding a family law case with full representation can be daunting; now imagine doing this on your own. This is what approximately 40% of British Columbian’s are currently having to do in their own family law case.
Kitsilano Family Law: Reflections as a Summer StudentMy name is Isa Nafissi, and I am a second-year law student at the Peter Allard School of Law at UBC. This past summer, I had the opportunity to work as a summer student at Kitsilano Family Law, where I gained hands-on experience by supporting the lawyers on various cases.