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28 www.canadianlawyermag.com LEGAL REPORT FAMILY LAW money and must continue on their own. "It is really hard on the system," says Alexander. "It slows the system down. It's hard on judges, and it's hard on court staff." Isaac has been practising family law since 2010 and says self-reps "have always been there. It takes longer to reach a settlement, of course," she says. "Courts are doing a great job at trying to be helpful in getting that finality for people that they need." It is challenging to deal with an opposing party that often does not know the rules, practice directions, or how to file the rights forms, says Alexander. "They seem to be getting away with more." If it were a lawyer not filing the correct form, following the filing deadline, practice direc- tion, or family law rules, the judge would typically order costs because that hearing or conference is a waste, he says. "But when it's a self-rep, I'm seeing, more and more, that judges are letting them off the hook. They're either not ordering costs, or they're reserving on costs until a later date." "I understand why. But I think it's a little bit unfair to the client who's paying their lawyer to get the forms filed properly and on time. That client now has to get a new court date because the self-rep can't comply with the rules." Ontario's Superior Court has been testing a new binding judicial dispute reso- lution (JDR) process for the last two years. The process balances a "rough and ready" approach against the goal of achieving a more efficient and less expensive system, says Sarah Boulby, a family lawyer and partner at Boulby Weinberg LLP in Toronto. In M.D. v. C.S., 2022 ONSC 6671, Justice Lene Madsen presented an overview of the procedure. The JDR process is voluntary, both sides must consent, and the judge must agree that the case is appropriate. Initially, the process is intended for simple cases involving only a few issues where credibility is not a significant concern. The process lends itself to "parenting arrangements, select child support issues, or select property issues," said Madsen. Parties agree to main- tain up-to-date financial disclosures, having their matter decided without a trial and in an expedited manner and waiving "the strict application of the rules of evidence." "That's the trade-off," says Boulby. "This is going to be a little bit rough justice. But it allows the simpler family cases to be dealt with expeditiously and without forcing a couple who may not have a lot of means to go through the same very compli- cated, lengthy hearings, requiring a lot of specialist knowledge, that we use for big commercial disputes." Parties to a JDR serve and file brief affi- davits. In the example cited by Madsen, between 90 minutes and two hours are allocated for negotiation, during which the judge "helps the parties identify their inter- ests, consider options, and reach resolution." If necessary, the same time is allotted for the adjudication. "The goal is that whether through settlement or a decision, parties have an 'answer' to their issues by the end of the day or shortly thereafter," the judge said. Last December, the Law Society of Ontario approved a family legal services provider (FLSP) license to allow paralegals to offer SELF-REPS IN COURT In urban centres, nearly 80 percent of family-law litigants file their cases with the court unrepresented. Sources: Government of Canada and National Self-Represented Litigant Project Between 50 and 80 percent of litigants appearing in family-law court are self-represented. 80% 50%