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Wednesday, March 9, 2016

"Your Honour, I don't have a lawyer" - Unbundled services and other resources

The title - an increasingly common phrase heard in Ontario's family courts.

Between 2014 and 2015, more than 50% of family law litigants were unrepresented.

There are many reasons for this state of affairs - they are not the subject of this post.

Since 2011 or so, active steps have been taken, by various branches of the government and the legal system in general, to address the growing tide of self-represented parties before the Court.

What we want to draw to your attention in this post, if you are a self-rep, are two things:

1. take a look at this website, which has A LOT of very useful information for self-reps. It's a product of an ongoing project headed by the University of Windsor Law School (my alma mater), studying the needs of self-reps and finding ways to assist them - representingyourselfcanada website

2. one option you have, while navigating through the court system on your own, is to get some limited help from a lawyer - these are called "unbundled services" - this means that you do not retain a lawyer for the whole case but rather, for specific tasks only. For example, a lawyer could help you prepare materials for a specific hearing or review an offer than has been made by the other side. You would be entering into a Limited Retainer with that lawyer, based on a set of Rules provided to the legal profession by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

We do provide unbundled services. Many other lawyers do as well. Find the lawyer who is right for you - in your area.

Representing yourself can be tough and overwhelming and we realize that sometimes, you simply have no other choice. Consider unbundled services, though - they may assist you in dealing with some particularly challenging areas in your case.

UPDATE - January, 2018

We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!

Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT

In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.

So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:

  • Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
  • Affidavit.
MORE MANUALS TO COME! 

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