A short self-paced course · $57 CAD
Your Case Conference
What to expect, and how to prepare.
The notice gives you a date, a time and a courtroom or a video link. For most people it's the first time they'll speak to a judge about their family, and the first time in months they'll face the other parent. A lot of the dread comes from not knowing what happens. This course walks you through it, from the paperwork to the drive home.
Written for Ontario family court. Most of it applies anywhere in Canada.
You'll walk in knowing
- what a case conference is for, and what it isn't (nobody is cross-examined, and you don't have to prove your case)
- every deadline, worked backwards from your date
- how to write a brief a judge can follow: specific, dated, about the children
- what to bring, and how to set up a video conference
- how the conference usually runs, and how to speak to a judge
- how to raise coercive control clearly, without labels
- what to do afterwards, and how to look after yourself that night
I write reports for family courts. This is what I'd want anyone to know before their first conference.
How it works
Fourteen short written lessons. Read it in an evening, or a lesson a day as your date gets closer.
- Before you start — where the case conference fits in a family court case
- What a case conference is — its purpose, its limits, and what the room is like
- Getting ready — the paperwork and deadlines, writing your brief, what to bring
- On the day — how it usually goes, speaking to a judge, raising coercive control
- Afterwards — the endorsement, next steps, and looking after yourself
- Where to get help — free help at the courthouse and beyond
- Your Toolkit — printable planner, issues on one page, questions, what to bring, notes from the day
Questions people ask
Is this legal advice?
No. It won't tell you what to ask the court for or what to write in your forms. For that, use duty counsel, the Family Law Information Centre at your courthouse, a legal clinic or a lawyer. This course is about everything around the forms: understanding the day, preparing, and staying steady.
My conference is next week. Is it too late?
No. The course is short enough to read in an evening, and the planner helps you work backwards from your date. If your brief isn't done yet, start with lessons 2.1 and 2.2.
Who is it for?
Any parent with a family court case conference coming up, with a lawyer or without one, on either side. It includes a lesson on raising coercive control, and on what to do if it's raised against you.
Is it private?
Everything prints, so you can work on paper. If you'd rather not get email about the course at your usual address, write to info@coercivecontrolcanada.com and tell me the safest way to reach you.
Getting your story in order first?
Your brief is much easier to write once what happened is in date order. Your Account, In Order walks you through that step by step, and the free workbook Organising Your Own Account is a good place to start.
Who wrote it
Elizabeth Joy Dubois, MSW, RSW, is a Registered Social Worker who prepares independent expert reports on coercive control, for either side, and gives evidence on them as an expert witness. Over two decades across clinical, hospital and legal settings, and a specialised practice in coercive control.
General information, not legal advice. No testimonials or outcome claims appear on this site, by choice.
Walk in prepared
$57 CAD, includes the printable Toolkit. Go at your own pace.