Two ways to retain me
For the hearing
An expert report
A written, independent opinion on whether coercive control is present in your case and what it has done to the people involved. Family, civil and criminal matters, anywhere in Canada. Fixed fee, agreed before I start.
I have prepared these for counsel on both sides and for people representing themselves, and I give evidence on them when a matter proceeds.
Before you decide
A 45-minute case consultation
Not sure a report will help, or whether what you’re seeing is coercive control at all? Bring me the file. In 45 minutes I’ll tell you what I see, what evidence matters, and whether a report is worth commissioning.
$300, booked online. If a report follows, the consultation fee is credited against it.
Who you’d be retaining
Elizabeth Joy Dubois, MSW, RSW
A Registered Social Worker who has spent her career working with people living through intimate partner violence and coercive control, and who now assesses it for the courts. Court-engaged in Ontario family and criminal proceedings. RISA-certified. Retained by counsel for either party, including defence.
More about the practice →In plain terms
What coercive control is
One person taking over another person’s life, a piece at a time: who they see, where they go, what they spend, what they’re allowed to think of themselves, how they parent. Rarely one dramatic incident. Usually hundreds of small ones that only make sense together.
In May 2026 the Supreme Court of Canada recognised it as a wrong in its own right (Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia). A Criminal Code offence follows by June 2028. Family courts must already consider it when deciding about children.
What the Supreme Court decided, and what it changes →Free, for lawyers
Six questions to ask before you commission an expert
A two-page screen you can run on a file in ten minutes. It tells you whether the evidence is likely to show coercive control, whether a court will need help seeing it, and what to preserve now before it disappears. Yours to keep.
Tell me about the case
A few lines is enough: the kind of proceeding, where it stands, and what you’re trying to establish. I’ll tell you plainly whether I can help.
Send an enquiryNot here about a case? There are two online courses for anyone who wants to understand coercive control properly, and free guides for people going through it.
