May 26, 2026
I was part of the earlier cohort of lawyers in England and Wales when coercive control was criminalized under s. 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. I still remember showing up at court in those early days of the newly criminalized offence and reviewing charge sheets where both defence counsel and Crown prosecutors were trying to navigate entirely new legal territory.
May 26, 2026
The Federal Court has ordered Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to decide a spousal sponsorship permanent residence application within 90 days, finding the government failed to adequately explain why the application had remained unresolved for nearly seven years.
May 26, 2026
Canada is on the verge of closing a significant gap on how the law understands abuse. Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, would create a standalone criminal offence for coercive and controlling conduct in intimate partner relationships, recognizing that a pattern of non-physical behaviour can be as harmful as a single act of violence. This shift reflects growing legal recognition of coercive control as a serious form of family violence, most notably in the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16.
May 26, 2026
Appeal by Janif from an order dismissing her claim for unequal division of family property. Janif owned a townhouse prior to the marriage, which was excluded property, but the increase in its value during the relationship constituted family property. The only issue at trial was whether equal division of that increase would be significantly unfair.
May 25, 2026
Lawyers must speak up about irregularities in the processes of trial proceedings, says one involved in a family law matter where a mother was denied “natural justice” after being made to testify ahead of those challenging her in court.
May 25, 2026
Amid a whirlwind of technology around us, sometimes age-old presentations still shine and are most useful in presenting our cases, regardless of forum. The longstanding “Table” feature in Word is a presentation tool that has stood the test of time.
May 22, 2026
Below I answer these questions: What is the new law? What must a victim prove? How can a victim prove her injuries? How will judges calculate compensation?
May 22, 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already had a profound impact on the Canadian justice and legal system. In the realm of family law especially — where self-represented litigants are especially prevalent — the use of AI has increased sharply.
May 21, 2026
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16 has been widely hailed by the family law nation. I have made my views known earlier in writings in this column. I offer little more now but to join those who believe that ultimately this decision will lead to longer and more protracted family law disputes. I hope I am wrong. However, I now write to again voice my displeasure at unelected judges making law.
May 21, 2026
From undergrad to law school, we were sold the idea that merit would matter more than face time. In university, you are graded on how you perform, not how often you are in the classroom. Whether you studied in the library or at your kitchen table, where the work happened did not matter, only whether you did it. Seven years of training built around that principle. Then you enter the working world and all of that disappears overnight.