Canadian Lawyer - sample

24 M A Y 2 0 1 9 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m G illian Hadfield has no problem dealing with complexity. As a law professor who recently returned to the University of Toronto's faculty of law after teaching in the United States, her research spans a huge array of topics in law and economics, from the legal system in ancient Athens up to present-day issues such as regulating artificial intelligence. But what drives Hadfield to look critically at our legal system is very simple and personal. During her previous stint at U of T law in the late '90s and early 2000s, Hadfield published a paper entitled "The Price of Law: How the Market for Lawyers Distorts the Justice System" in the Michigan Law Review. "What prompted that paper was the fact that I was involved in ongoing cus- tody litigation that just would not stop," Hadfield says. Her legal battle with her former husband "was basically draining me of every bit of money I had" and eventually put her into bankruptcy. This direct experience as a victim, instead of simply a scholarly critic, of the legal system, has driven her work ever since. Gillian Hadfield came back to Canada to teach law students a simple lesson about complicated legal regimes: It's not about you By Tim Wilbur DESIGNING COMPLEX SYSTEMS C R O S S E X A M I N E D Despite all her advantages and connections, including pro bono assistance from Bay Street lawyers, Hadfield ended up self-represented. "Here I am one of the most privileged people … I'm in the best position to deal with this. I have a law degree, an economics degree. I'm a member of the elite. I can contact people." While she had lost so much through this process, she had gained an acute awareness that the legal system was more complex than it needed to be and designed in such a way that only lawyers can provide help, she says. "So that really kind of set me off on the path that I've been on for the last 25 years." While her experience drove her to take a critical perspective, her research remained rooted in the law and economics approach that she has had throughout her academic career. "I didn't really want to write about my personal life. I didn't want to write about family law, because I don't think that's an adequate level of scholarly distance from your subject." Soon after publishing her seminal paper in 2000, Hadfield joined the University of Southern California's law faculty. While her move to the United States was mainly a result of the custody arrangement that emerged from her legal battle, being in California also allowed her to study how the legal system in the world's richest economy was not working at its most basic level.

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