Assessments & Interventions: The Intersection of Family Law & Psychology - Day 2

Morag MacLeod is a senior family litigator, arbitrator, mediator, and parenting co-ordinator in private practice in Vancouver. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trial Lawyers Association of BC and chairs its Family Law Litigation Group and the popular TLABC Family Listserv. She is the Vice President of the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society and a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Morag is a member of the CBA, VBA, Family Mediation Canada, the BC Hear the Child Society, The Family Law Advocates Group, and the editorial board of the CLEBC publication Family Law Sourcebook for British Columbia. She is a contributing author to various CLEBC and other publications, and is a frequent presenter on family law and litigation topics.

Faculty
Day 1
Nicole Aubé, PhD, RPsych — Vancouver
Professor Nicholas Bala — Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston
John-Paul E. Boyd — Executive Director, Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Calgary
Nikki Charlton — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver
Jesse Elterman, MA, PhD Candidate — Vancouver
Alyson Jones — Alyson Jones & Associates, West Vancouver
Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP (Forensic) — Forensic Psychologist, Queen Creek, Arizona

Day 2
The Honourable Mr. Justice Patrice Abrioux — Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver
Jesse L. Desilets — Schuman Daltrop Basran & Robin, Vancouver
David C. Dundee — Paul & Company, Kamloops
Michael Elterman, PhD, MBA, RPsych — Vancouver
Mary Korpach, PhD, RPsych — Vancouver
Jonathan M. Lazar — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Morag M.J. MacLeod — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver
Eugene Raponi, QC— Waddell Raponi, Victoria
Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP (Forensic) — Forensic Psychologist, Queen Creek, Arizona
Rebecca St. Clere England, PhD, RPsych — Ward St. Clere Inc., Vancouver
Suzanne S. Williams — Brown Henderson Melbye, Victoria

Keynote Address: Evidentiary and Empirical Standards in Family Law Interventions and Assessments

• role of the forensic psychologist in child custody litigation
• forensic versus clinical approaches to custody assessments
• bias; ethical issues
• evidentiary standards

Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP (Forensic) — Parenting After Divorce, Queen Creek, Arizona

Networking Break

Assessments in Family Law Disputes

• when and why to seek assessment of parent and child
• when assessment of child is inappropriate
• adult assessments; parenting capacity, employability, mental health concerns, personality disorders, family violence
• child assessments
• assessing relevance; impact on case
• evidentiary status of findings of fact, hearsay, and test results
• recommendations on the ultimate issue; court’s discretion to reach alternative conclusions
• red flags

Michael Elterman, PhD, MBA, RPsych — Vancouver
Eugene Raponi, QC — Waddell Raponi, Victoria

Networking Lunch

Why and How we Hear from Children

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
• court’s discretion to determine how children’s evidence is received
• children’s letters and videos, testimony, and affidavits
• evidence of parents and other adults
• judicial interviews
• custody assessments
• children as parties
• children’s counsel

Evaluative and Non-evaluative Views of the Child Reports

• nature and content of each
• differences in confidentiality and control of child over content
• contraindications, limitations, and weaknesses
• evidentiary concerns
• selecting assessors/interviewers

David C. Dundee — Paul & Company, Kamloops
Mary Korpach, PhD, RPsych — Vancouver
Suzanne S. Williams — Brown Henderson Melbye, Victoria

Understanding Custody Assessments

• understanding commonly used psychometric tools and diagnostic output
• understanding ethnocultural weaknesses; limitations of psychometric tools
• assessing and understanding strengths and weaknesses of report: process, choice of tool, analysis, choice of informants, vulnerabilities of informants
• critically assessing report recommendations
• rebuttal reports: best practices and recommendations of AFCC and the College of Psychologists
• red flags

Rebecca St. Clere England, PhD, RPsych — Ward St. Clere Inc., Vancouver

View from the Bench Regarding Roles of Assessors and Experts in Parenting and Custody Cases

The Honourable Mr. Justice Patrice Abrioux — Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver

Networking Break

Assessment and Intervention Roundtable: Process and Procedure

Moderator: John-Paul E. Boyd — Executive Director, Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Calgary
The Honourable Mr. Justice Patrice Abrioux — Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver
David Dundee — Paul & Company, Kamloops
Rebecca St. Clere England, PhD, RPsych — Ward St. Clere Inc., Vancouver
Mary Korpach, PhD, RPsych — Vancouver
Alyson Jones — Alyson Jones & Associates, West Vancouver

Judicial Responses

• judicial treatment of alienation claims in court
• contempt, conduct orders, costs, and fines
• removal of child, reversal of parenting schedule, and allocation of parenting responsibilities
• extraordinary enforcement remedies
• effectiveness of judicial responses

Morag M.J. MacLeod — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver

When Enough is Enough

• knowing when to down tools
• low-impact means of leaving the door to reconciliation open
• impact on rejected parent
• helping the rejected parent

Jesse L. Desilets — Schuman Daltrop Basran & Robin, Vancouver
Jonathan M. Lazar — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver

John-Paul E. Boyd — Executive Director, Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Calgary
Alyson Jones — Alyson Jones & Associates, West Vancouver
Morag M.J. MacLeod — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver