This is the age of media. An average person's view of the world is greatly affected by the media. This includes the public's perception of court.
TV teaches that legal battles are waged in the court room, with fist-pounding lawyers and finger-wagging judges. Reality is not what you see on TV. What you also do not see is the tremendous cost involved in conducting a court case, from start to finish.
A family court proceeding in Ontario can be an expensive, drawn-out process, for a variety of complex reasons over some of which you will have control and many of which you won't. Going to court is not the panaceum you may think it is. There are cases where the involvement of a judge is necessary to address differences in the legal positions of the parties. Sometimes, the intervention of a judge is required to address an emergency situation like the abduction of a child or non-payment of support.
Overall, settlement is always the preferable solution, for all concerned, assuming the parties both understand their legal rights, are making the bargain freely and without duress, understand the basis of the bargain through solid disclosure and have had an opportunity to get legal advice. Settlement polarizes the parties less than does a court case, where there is usually a clear winner and a clear loser. In a settlement, the parties are the authors of the terms of their agreement. This is the opposite of what happens in Court (other than in the context of a case which settles through Case Management) ~ a stranger to your family (the judge) makes decisions which may very well affect you and your children for the rest of your lives.
For the reasons above (and many other reasons which a family law lawyer can provide you) choose settlement if you can.
Some mediators/arbitrators in Ontario:
Stephen Grant and Gerry Sadvari
Herschel Fogelman - Basman Smith
Jennifer Shuber - Basman Smith
Melanie Kraft - Epstein Cole
Ken Maynard
TV teaches that legal battles are waged in the court room, with fist-pounding lawyers and finger-wagging judges. Reality is not what you see on TV. What you also do not see is the tremendous cost involved in conducting a court case, from start to finish.
A family court proceeding in Ontario can be an expensive, drawn-out process, for a variety of complex reasons over some of which you will have control and many of which you won't. Going to court is not the panaceum you may think it is. There are cases where the involvement of a judge is necessary to address differences in the legal positions of the parties. Sometimes, the intervention of a judge is required to address an emergency situation like the abduction of a child or non-payment of support.
Overall, settlement is always the preferable solution, for all concerned, assuming the parties both understand their legal rights, are making the bargain freely and without duress, understand the basis of the bargain through solid disclosure and have had an opportunity to get legal advice. Settlement polarizes the parties less than does a court case, where there is usually a clear winner and a clear loser. In a settlement, the parties are the authors of the terms of their agreement. This is the opposite of what happens in Court (other than in the context of a case which settles through Case Management) ~ a stranger to your family (the judge) makes decisions which may very well affect you and your children for the rest of your lives.
For the reasons above (and many other reasons which a family law lawyer can provide you) choose settlement if you can.
Some mediators/arbitrators in Ontario:
Stephen Grant and Gerry Sadvari
Herschel Fogelman - Basman Smith
Jennifer Shuber - Basman Smith
Melanie Kraft - Epstein Cole
Ken Maynard
Ken, I agree with most of your comments. As I said, there are situations in which the involvement of a Judge is necessary but with good faith on both sides and solid legal advice for each of the parties, they should at least try to settle their differences, before proceeding to litigation.
ReplyDelete