Go to any family court and you will find the dockets overflowing with cases involving parents in dispute over their property, money and children. In recent years the majority of these parents are self-represented, trying to navigate a complex and frustrating legal system on their own without a lawyer. In this ground-breaking episode Justice Brownstone and his guests, including a fellow judge, will tell you what you need to know if you are contemplating going to family court. This is a rare opportunity to hear about the procedures and rules of evidence that govern the way judges make decisions.
Guests:
Lorne MacLean, QC - Family Law Lawyer Lorne N. MacLean QC is the founding partner of the top rated MFLG and is one of Canada's most experienced and highly rated lawyers concentrating in family law and BC divorce, successfully protecting clients' rights since 1983 exclusively in the field of high net worth and complex family law disputes, including spousal and child support, property division, custody, guardianship and access, and marriage like relationships. Lorne MacLean's Queen's Counsel designation is an honour conferred on only 4 percent of the members of the BC legal profession to recognize exceptional merit and contribution. No stranger to precedent setting cases, Lorne MacLean, QC has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada twice and is successfully representing the wife in Canada's first frozen embryo custody dispute.
John Schuman - Certified Specialist (Family Law) John is an experienced and respected family lawyer, education lawyer and children's rights lawyer. He is the head of the Family Law Group at Devry Smith Frank LLP.
John received his Honours B.A. from Queens University in 1994. John attended Law School at the University of Windsor, graduating in 1998. He then went on to complete his LL.M. in child and family law in 1999. John has always practised in the areas of family law and children's rights. He joined Devry Smith & Frank in 2009, where he practices mostly in the area of family law but also heads up the Education Law group, advocating on behalf of children. John has trained as both a family mediator and arbitrator to assist families in resolving their matters in a less adversarial way. John is also trained as a Collaborative Lawyer.
Justice Robert Spence - Family Court Judge Justice Spence was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in March 2002. Prior to his appointment, Justice Spence was a litigator in private practice in Toronto, having been called to the Ontario Bar in 1979. He obtained his Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) at the University of New South Wales (Australia), where he attended in 1981-82. He was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Family Law in 1995. For many years he taught family law at the Bar Admission course in Ontario. He has also taught in the Trial Advocacy course at the University of Toronto Law School. For the first four years following his appointment to the Ontario Court, Justice Spence presided primarily over family law and child protection cases, as well as criminal cases. Since March 2006 he has presided at the North Toronto Courthouse, where all seven judges at that location specialize in family law and child protection cases. In 2009, Justice Spence was the instructor in Osgoode Hall's Law School Professional Development program for part-time LL.M. students in family law, teaching the "Care of Children" course.
