Effective Advocacy in High Conflict Parenting Cases | CPDonline.ca

Effective Advocacy in High Conflict Parenting Cases

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Credits
Professionalism (Ethics, etc.): 1.0
1 hour
Substantive: 1.0
1 hour
Published
2026
Presenter(s)
Christine Doucet
Bill Eddy
Melanie Kraft
Julie Stanchieri
Source
Toronto Lawyers Association (TLA)
Provider
CPDOnline.ca
Language
English
Length
2 hours
Price
$419.00 plus tax

High-conflict parenting matters often demand a disproportionate amount of time, resources, and emotional energy. These disputes are not only costly and draining for clients but also place a significant burden on the court system. High conflict parenting disputes require special considerations to ensure you are putting your client’s interests forward in a way that is most effective.   As family law counsel, your role is to advocate zealously for your client—without exacerbating conflict or misusing court resources. Striking this balance requires thoughtful, strategic advocacy.

 

In this session, hear directly from the Honourable Madam Justice Melanie Kraft, Bill Eddy and experienced family law practitioners about how to navigate these challenging cases effectively and ethically. Topics will include:

 

  1. Oral and Written Advocacy: Tips for being concise, focused, and persuasive in your written materials and court submissions.
  2. Professionalism: Strategies for maintaining civility between counsel, even when your clients are in deep conflict.
  3. Working with Self-Represented Litigants: How to communicate effectively, respectfully, and in line with your obligations.
  4. Duties to the Court: Understanding your responsibilities when the other side is unrepresented, including how to assist the court without compromising your client’s position.
  5. Managing Client Expectations: Best practices for communicating with your own client—balancing transparency, strategy, and the importance of not fueling the conflict.
  6. Understanding High-Conflict Personalities: How to recognize high-conflict behaviours, set boundaries, use structured communication strategies (such as BIFF responses), and reduce escalation while still advocating effectively for your client.

Presenters

Christine Doucet

Bill Eddy

The Honourable Justice Melanie Kraft

Justice Melanie Kraft graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1994. Upon completion of her articles with Epstein Cole LLP, she was admitted to the Bar of Ontario. She practised family law exclusively with the firm, becoming a partner in 2001. Her practice covered a broad range of family law issues and involved various dispute-resolution mechanisms, including the negotiation of domestic contracts in complex financial matters and acting as counsel in contentious parenting, support, and property disputes. Given Justice Kraft’s long-held commitment to improving the public’s access to justice, she has supported and participated in programs developed to support this objective. This includes her past participation in the Intensive Poverty Law Programme at Parkdale Community Legal Service; her service as Duty Counsel at the Ontario Court of Justice, and, most recently, her service both as a Dispute Resolution Officer and as Advice Settlement Counsel at the Superior Court of Justice. Justice Kraft is an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she co-teaches Family Law. She has obtained certificates in mediation from both the Collaborative Decision Resource Centre in Boulder, Colorado, and the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School. In addition to spending family time with her husband, Mark, and their three children, Justice Kraft has been actively involved in parents’ associations at her children’s elementary schools and has also served on the board of her children's post-secondary school

Julie Stanchieri

Julie Stanchieri is the principal of Stanchieri Family Law which she founded in 2008, a firm that focuses on providing highly effective legal representation for family law disputes as well as a positive client experience. She practices in all areas of family law with a special interest in complex financial disputes. Julie is also a trained family mediator and arbitrator. She appears in all levels of court in Ontario. Julie was called to the bar in 2002 after completing her L.L.B from the University of Toronto and B.A. from McMaster University. She obtained an L.L.M. in Family Law from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2008. Julie is a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Lawyers Association as well as member of the Advocates’ Society. Julie often contributes to various print, online and other media appearances relating to family law issues.