Matrimonial Affairs

Tom Dart is the well-deserved recipient of the 2014 Family Law Award of Excellence. What follows are the comments made by him upon accepting the award.

Here is some of what’s going on in or related to family law.

A message of thanks and an introduction to the 2014/2015 Family Law Executive.

Firstly, I invite our members to join a committee and work with the Executive on Family Law education, law reform and community outreach. Secondly, I am proud to announce that this year's OBA Award for Excellence in Family Law in Memory of James G. McLeod will be awarded to Thomas Dart of Barriston LLP - Barrie. The Award will be presented at our End of Year Dinner at the Eglinton Grand on June 12, 2014.

I turned my mind to the very important determination of where to eat surrounding the courts at 47 Sheppard Avenue. Frankly, however, who has time to eat during the Court day? Is there some file you should be resolving that you aren’t? Have you not developed the time-honoured tradition of the nervous stomach? Who eats at 1:00? Who’s got two thumbs and no time to eat? This girl.

My recent retirement from representing clients in family law matters after 35 years has allowed some perspective to finally seep in. I leave for another day exploring why so many unsympathetic, overly aggressive lawyers chose to practice family law, causing themselves and others quite unnecessary pain and difficulties. I prefer to muse about how that part of our practice within the judicial system can be improved, at little additional cost.

Parental alienation cases are not going away. Having reared its ugly head for the first time in or around 1985 when the term “parental alienation syndrome” was coined by Dr. Richard Gardiner, sadly, this pathology is here to stay. That being the case, how are our courts dealing with these most extreme of high conflict cases? How are judges handling this behaviour, which some have gone so far as to label as child abuse?