How to lesson your chances.....

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1c664643.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="1bcb3a50.gif" border=0 width="179" height="165" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1c664661egdyqn.jpg"> <div> <I><B>Voices Of Children Alliance</B></I><I><B> ®</B></I><B> </B><B> |</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Voices Of Children Alliance"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Album"><U><B>Photo Album</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Important Numbers"><U><B>Important Numbers</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Books Of Interest"><U><B>Books Of Interest</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ontario Government"><U><B>Ontario Government</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Letters and stories"><U><B>Letters and stories</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Disclaimer"><U><B>Disclaimer</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>How to lesson your chances.....</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1bd6c6c3.gif"> <bR> <div> <B>How to lessen your chances of getting screwed by Canada's biased and corrupt family legal system</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Helpful tips and information about how you can keep from get the most out of the family court system while helping to make the system more accountable to you, your family and to all those other families who get sucked into the system after you</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Published by</B></div> <div> <B>Canadian Families Against Abuse by the Legal System</B></div> <div> <B>February 15, 2002</B></div> <div> <B>This information package is dedicated to all those children and families who have had their rights and freedoms violated by Canada's biased and corrupt family justice system.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Please help to educate others by copying and passing this information package out to others in your community who need help in fighting the system.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>PART 1</B></div> <div> <B>Before you get sucked into the system get yourself educated, get the tools you need to protect you and your children and get ready to FIGHT BACK!</B></div> <div> This information package contains some helpful tips intended to help you when you are about to get sucked into the adversarial family legal system.  This may include the family courts, children's aid agencies, police and health and legal professionals.  You must get educated and gather your tools if you want to avoid being taken to the cleaners.  You should get educated <B><U>BEFORE</U></B> you start spending your money on lawyers.</div> <div> Many have lost their entire life savings to lawyers, including their homes (lawyers take homes now as down payments on legal fees).  Although many of the suggestions listed here have worked for many people, one thing that all readers must remember is that although the tips given here will help in a great number of cases, in many other cases the entire family law system is nothing but a crap shoot at best - anything goes.  Get a bad judge and you are going to lose no matter how good your case is.  Remember, there is little justice and equality in Canadian family courts. Both men and women can be victims of the system although is it the men who, by far, face the worst unfairness as the system is in most cases biased against men.</div> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Get connected to the internet</B></div> <div> Just as connecting with local advocacy groups will help, get yourself connected on the Internet.  Locate parent support organizations and find out as much as you can about the legal system.  Read about the many horror stories about the experiences of people involved with the court system and with lawyers.  The past experiences of others will give you some of the best insight as to what is in store for you once you get sucked into the family justice system.</div> <bR> <div> Join in with E mail discussion groups that are focused on family law issues to obtain helpful advice.  Be sure to join those in Canada as those on Canadian E mail groups will be best versed on Canadian court and laws.  Quite often you can obtain sample court documents, case law and tips galore as to how to keep the system from screwing you over.</div> <bR> <div> Also join up with the ICQ network.  This allows you to conference chat with a number of users at one time.  It also allows others to know when you are on line and to make contact with you when you are on-line.</div> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Get a long distance phone package</B></div> <div> There are people from all over Canada that may be able to provide help to you.  If you are in a location that offers unlimited long distance phone rates for a fixed maximum rate, then sign up.  Many of phone companies offer plans that limit maximum phone charges after 6 pm and on weekends to $20 a month.  This is a good deal when you think of the amount of money you can save and the advice you can get for free.  Make personal contact over the phone with those that you become aware of over the internet.  Join in with the movement to clean up Canada's disgraceful and corrupt family courts.</div> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Join a separated or divorced parent support group</B></div> <div> Another good source of help is a local divorced parent's support group.  Check around where you live and attend meetings held by the groups.  Usually the groups offer a different focus so try them all and go to the one that you find most helpful for your situation.  Support groups generally do not provide as much help as do advocacy groups who more actively involve themselves in your case.  If there is no support group in your area, then start one of your own up.  Local support in invaluable so the more people you can gather in your community to support what you are doing, the better.  Numbers represent a threat to the system, especially if they are organized in spreading the word in the community.</div> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Obtain the assistance of an experienced third party or advocacy group</B></div> <div> If there are any advocacy groups in your area that help people in the court system then seek their assistance and advice.  Even if some of their services or information costs you money or if you are asked to make a donation to help in their cause, the costs of the advice you receive may far outweigh the benefits you receive and the money you save on lawyer's fees.  Remember lawyers have a vested interest in protecting their turf and making money off of people's litigation, whereas independent civilian organizations want to minimize litigation to the benefit of families.</div> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Read books and gather information</B></div> <div> Another good way to get educated is to gather information on the subject of lawyers and the family justice system.  Go the library or bookstore and check what publication there are. Many internet sites operated by support groups may provide a good source of books and information as well. Good information can also be obtained through other parents who have experience with the court system and from support or advocacy groups.</div> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>Familiarize yourself with legislation</B></div> <div> If you have children, get yourself a copy of legislation that deals with children.  Buy a copy or photocopy it from a friend.  Many support groups have copies of laws available.   In Ontario, legislation about children is contained in the Children's Law Reform Act.  Take the time to read this document and familiarize yourself with what impact it can have on you.  Get copies of other legislation as well such as the Divorce Act.</div> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> <B>Before you hire a lawyer, attempt mediation or other forms of conflict resolution</B></div> <div> Before you put down big bucks hiring a lawyer, attempt to resolve matters through some form of dispute resolution system outside of a lawyer.  Generally, it is much less costly.  If it fails and the other side was uncooperative then this may be in your favor in court.  Generally, Judges look more favorably on persons who have tried everything before going to court and less favorably on those who appear to want to take the other person to court as their first recourse.</div> <bR> <div> For those with nothing to hide and most agreeable to having the truth exposed, open mediation is best because anything that is said or done during mediation can be brought as evidence before a court.  For example, if a mediator felt that one of the parties was negotiating in bad faith and or failing to be honest during mediation, then this could be brought to the attention of the court under an open mediation process, whereas in a closed mediation process it could not.  Generally the party who has something to hide generally tried to keep discussions behind closed doors.  Many mediators as well prefer to have closed mediation, not because it is better, but they often don't want to help in court to get the truth out.</div> <div> <B>TIP #8</B></div> <div> <B>Educate your opponent about money-hungry lawyers as well</B></div> <div> Most lawyers will lead parents on to litigation by giving them high hopes that they will win their case and come out ahead.  Most lawyers know that the litigation will make both families broke but they sure won't tell their clients that until they have sucked as much money out of you as they can.  Send your opponent as much information as you can about corrupt money-hungry lawyers but be sure to have some third party organization that deals with lawyers, otherwise your opponent's lawyer will claim that you are harassing their client.  Maybe when the other side sees what litigation is really going to cost them, they will think twice about getting into a costly legal battle.  Remember, an informed consumer is a lawyer's worst customer.</div> <div> <B>TIP #9</B></div> <div> <B>Get yourself a phone recording device and mini-cassette tape recorder</B></div> <div> Get yourself a tape recorder specifically for your phone line and make sure you have lots of blank tapes handy.  Many electronic stores such as Radio Shack sell phone monitoring devices or add on devices that can convert a portable tape recorder to a phone monitor.  Never speak to your ex spouse, her lawyer, police, Children's Aid workers or others you don't trust without the tape recorder going.  You cannot tape a conversation between two other parties but you can tape your own without telling the other party providing you are a party to the conversation.  The bottom line is that if people are being honest and speaking to you the way they should be then what is on the tape will never be needed.  You will be surprised, however, what people will say to you when you least expect it, especially police and social workers and lawyers.  Some of what they say my be helpful in your case.</div> <bR> <div> Also get yourself a mini cassette recorder to carry in your pocket concealed.  Again, always have it running when speaking to your ex in person or to officials such as the police, social workers, children's aid workers and the lawyers.  There are some high quality digital voice recorders that will tape for up to eight hours with no tape.  They are small, compact and good quality and on top of that are totally silent in their operation.  A good, high quality, recording device can literally gather the evidence necessary to win your case!</div> <div> <B>TIP #10</B></div> <div> <B>Keep yourself healthy and financially strong</B></div> <div> Remember the strategy of the other side is to wear you down and make you broke before you get too far in the system.  Eat good and fight hard and rest when you need it.  Don't push yourself over the edge because that is just what the other side wants you to do.  A strong person has a much better chance of keeping up the battle and winning in court.</div> <div> <B>TIP #11</B></div> <div> <B>Write down your story and organize your documents</B></div> <div> Write your story down from beginning to end.  Don't get too involved with intimate details but keep things general in order to keep the document from getting too long.  List dates and a brief summary of what happened on the date.  It could be a court date, spouse left home, got served documents.  If you want others to be able to help you then you need to be able to quickly tell them your story so that they will understand.  Ideally put your story on a computer document so that you can print up multiple copies and distribute it by E mail to those who may be interested in helping you.</div> <bR> <div> If there are court documents and correspondence involved in your case then get them all sorted in order of date.  Should someone wish to help you they will need to review your documents as quickly as possible.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #12</B></div> <div> <B>Don't be intimidated and don't be afraid to FIGHT BACK!</B></div> <div> The whole system of lawyers, courts, judges, social workers, etc. often use intimidation as one of their main tools to get you to do what they want you to do.  They want you to lie dead and take what's coming to you.  The reason why gowns are worn in court by lawyers is to intimidate people.  By making the court process look like some ancient ritual and making the judge look like some kind of god elevated up at the front of the room, it makes many people feel afraid and intimidated.  The system is playing psychological warfare on you.  They want to make you scared of them and to bow down to their feet.  The rules are made hard to find and complex just so that it is difficult so that the ordinary person won't know too much.   Even courthouses are made big and elegant to impress you and make you feel humble when you enter.  When you feel afraid of the system, you are easily led down the garden path by those in it, waiting for you to enter with your open wallet and blank cheque.</div> <bR> <div> The biggest mistake that many people do is that they let their fear of the consequences of fighting the system control what they do.  Fear will:</div> <div> Often make people afraid to file a complaint about the lawyer on the other side out of fear that the lawyer will get upset at them</div> <div> Not file a complaint about a judge because it might get the judge upset.</div> <div> Not to things that will benefit their case just because they fear it will upset the other side.</div> <bR> <div> Even judges will tell you things that they know are not true knowing that you will likely to believe them.  For example, tape recording your case in court is permitted under law in Ontario yet bring a tape recorder into court and the judge will tell you that you are not allowed.  They don't like tape recorders and they don't want you want you to know what was said in court without having to spend huge sums of money on court transcripts which hinder your ability to go to trial. Even the costs of transcripts can financially harm you.</div> <bR> <div> In some cases, you may be told not to complain against another lawyer or social worker who has caused harm to your case.  Those in the system don't want their clients to rock the boat too much because these people that they have complaints about are quite often the same people that work together on other cases.  Even your lawyer may tell you not to do certain things that could be to your benefit, because your lawyer does not want to be seen by others in the system letting his/her client get “out of control.”  Often those representing themselves are afraid to go after the lawyer they are up against and allow themselves to be intimidated by the other side's lawyer.</div> <bR> <div> If you want to get the most out of the system and to improve your chances of doing good in the system, then do not be intimidated and let your fear of a fight prevent you from doing the right thing.  If you want to get somewhere you must gain respect of the system and your opponent and the only way to do this is to start by FIGHTING BACK!   When everyone starts fighting back, then the system will begin to change.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 2</B></div> <div> <B>Advice about lawyers</B></div> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Before you hire a lawyer contact citizen's based lawyer referral service in your community.</B></div> <div> Before you hire a lawyer, check to see if the lawyer is registered and in good standing with an independent local citizen's based lawyer referral service.  Such organizations, where they exist, make it their business to make consumers in each community aware of who the respectable and ethical lawyers are in the community and who are not.  They do this by maintaining a database of the lawyers in the community and gathering complaints from people in the community who have had previous dealings with lawyers in the community.  You cannot get this information from looking in the phone directory and the Law Society will certainly not give you this information.  By supporting those lawyers in the community who support ethics and accountability you will be helping to put those lawyers with lower standards out of business.</div> <div> Even if you need the services of lawyer such as for real estate or a will, then take your business to a lawyer who is recognized in the community as having morals and ethics.  Remember most family law lawyers if they are not recognized in their community as an ethical lawyer likely have questionable moral and ethical beliefs.  Help the community by doing your part to support only those lawyers who maintain the highest standards of ethics and accountability in the community and to put out of business those lawyers who do harm to children and families in our family courts.</div> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Before hiring a lawyer consult with a paralegal type of person who specializes in family law.</B></div> <div> Before you go to a lawyer try out a paralegal first.  Get a referral from a non-custodial parent's group or from someone that has been through the system as most paralegals in the phone book may not be that good at family law.  The good ones usually you hear about by referral only.  The Law Society doesn't like these people because they take away the business from their greedy lawyer members.  Quite often a paralegal is the next best thing to a good high priced lawyer and sometimes even better!  They can give you a lot of information about the law and get you started down the right path.  Quite often a good paralegal will give you better advice than many of the average lawyers.  Sometimes a paralegal can help you prepare your documents and then you can take them to a lawyer to have them checked over and have the lawyer argue your case in court.  If you don't have the money to afford a lawyer, a paralegal can be the only way to go as the vast majority of legal aid lawyers just want to get the money from their certificates and then leave you high and dry.  Remember, however, that paralegals are not lawyers and by law cannot provide legal advice although it must always be remembered that it was the lawyers who made this law in the first place for their own benefit.</div> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Check out the lawyer in court before you hire them </B></div> <div> Would you buy a car or an appliance for your home without seeing how it runs first?  The same thing logic holds for a lawyer.  When you buy a product or service, in most cases you get some sort of guarantee.  With lawyers there is NO guarantee except that you are going to pay lots of money.  So before you buy a service for which there is no money back guarantee, check it out first.  Take some time to attend court and observe the lawyer you are considering hiring IN ACTION.  See for yourself the way they handle themselves in courts.  Don't cry after you have been taken to the cleaners by a lawyer, if you never bothered to see them perform.  In fact one very good way of checking out a lawyer is by getting the name of the person who the lawyer is opposing.  Meet that person at the court and speak to them after they have left court.   If that person tells you that the lawyer you are thinking of hiring is acting without ethics then do not hire this lawyer.  An unethical lawyer will screw you just as easily as they will screw the other side.</div> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Obtain the lawyers history of participating in a trial</B></div> <div> Ask the lawyer when they last did an actual family court trial (not motion court).  If the lawyer has not done any family law trials then ask the lawyer when it was the last time they argued a family law motion before a judge.  A lawyer who has not done a trial may lack the necessary experience and skills needed to argue in your best interests and may in fact try to avoid a trial when in fact a trial may be in your best interest.  Don't be a lawyer's guinea pig to be used as their first learning experience.  Be sure to get the dates and names of the parties at the trial so you can verify it.</div> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Obtain the lawyers history of family law cases</B></div> <div> Ask the lawyer how may cases similar to yours he/she has argued in court in the last 6 months and in the last 12 months and what was the outcome of these cases. Tell him to give names of participants and the phone numbers of his clients for referral.  This is public record, so if the lawyer seems hesitant about giving you referrals from clients then maybe the lawyer doesn't want you to know the outcome of these cases or how his/her previous clients thought of them.  Take the time to contact these clients and ask them about how the lawyer performed for them and what their final outcome was.  The lawyer may not be able to provide the clients phone number but he/she should be able to provide the court file numbers of the cases as these are public records.</div> <div> Also ask the lawyer when it is the next time that he/she will be appearing in court to argue a motion or trial and get the date and case file number.  Take the time to go to court and watch the lawyer at work.  Speak to their client as well or get their client's information so that you can contact the client privately.  Compare notes with that client.</div> <div> If you don't like the way the lawyer presents themselves in court or if the lawyer seem hesitant to have you speak to any of their clients, then chances are they are not that good.</div> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>Represent yourself and use the lawyer only when needed</B></div> <div> A good strategy that will save you a considerable amount of money and allow you to be much more in control of your case is to hire a lawyer willing to provide services on an “as required” basis without the lawyer becoming the solicitor on record.  Once a lawyer becomes the solicitor on record, they in essence, become you.  Anything they do on your case is chargeable to you and every time they make a phone call they can charge you.</div> <div> The advantage of not having a solicitor on record is that the other side must deal with you directly and that all documents and letters must first go to you, not the lawyer.  Often when the other side sees that you are not having to spend as much as them on legal fees, then this will also force them to be more willing to come to the negotiating table and take a fair bargaining position. Quite often a hostile side will want to force the other side into financial hardship through the court process.  Often when they see that their efforts to do so are only costing them more money, then quite often they will back off.</div> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> <B>Have your lawyer keep you informed</B></div> <div> Advise your lawyer that you want copies of all correspondence between lawyers faxed to you as soon as possible.  It is important that you are always aware of what the lawyer is doing on your case and when.  You should keep an EXACT copy of all correspondence and materials in your own home.</div> <div> Even if the lawyer makes phone calls to the other side, advise your lawyer that you want a weekly update outlining the work the lawyer did on your file.  If the lawyer seems hesitant to do this or tells you that this is gong to cost you a lot of money in an attempt to steer you away from making them report to you, then don't hire then maybe they are trying to avoid being accountable.  Remember, you are the customer paying the bills.  If the lawyer is unwilling to provide services in a manner that is accountable to you, the customer, then go somewhere else to purchase your legal services.</div> <div> <B>TIP #8</B></div> <div> <B>Send all communications to your lawyer by fax</B></div> <div> Send all your instructions to your lawyer by fax and make sure you retain copies of your fax and the transmission receipt.  In the event that your lawyer fails to follow your instructions or does not respond to your calls, then at least you will have a record.</div> <div> If your lawyer tells you something verbally on the phone then write him back a fax confirming what was said and agreed to.  It should cost next to nothing to have a confirmation letter as the lawyer's secretary should be able to just put this in the client file.</div> <div> Again, if your lawyer indicates that he/she feels uneasy about the faxing, then it's time to move on to another lawyer.</div> <div> <B>TIP #9</B></div> <div> <B>Don't let your Lawyer make any agreements without your prior written approval.</B></div> <div> Never, never allow your lawyer to negotiate with the other side or make any kind of agreement without your approval and knowledge.  Sometimes lawyers will negotiate away your rights just because you're not there for them to be accountable to.  They can give into the other side without you even knowing about it.  One of the first understandings you should have with your lawyer and this instruction should be in writing to him/her by fax, is to instruct them than no agreements are to be made without your written consent.</div> <div> <B>TIP #10</B></div> <div> <B>Never let your lawyer go to court without you</B></div> <div> If your lawyer is going to appear in court on your behalf, never let him/her go without you being there to see what they are doing.  Sometimes lawyers will cook all kinds of deals with the other lawyer behind your back.  In some cases they may even sacrifice your case without you even knowing what they did in court.  If there is going to be any argument in court and your lawyer is representing you, then be sure you are present.  If a lawyer ever tells you that you aren't needed to go to court on an important issue and that they will take care of everything for you, then be very cautious of the lawyer as this could be the first sign of a lawyer who is not confident of his/her work or ability to do what is best for you.</div> <div> <B>TIP #11</B></div> <div> <B>Get another opinion if you don't feel comfortable with what your lawyer is doing for you.</B></div> <div> If at any time you do not get the feeling that the lawyer is doing all they can for you and you have lingering doubts that the lawyer may not be acting in your best interest then get another opinion.  This is where advocacy groups and paralegals can be of help.   With other opinions at least you will be better informed if what your lawyer is doing is really in your best interests.</div> <div> <B>TIP #12</B></div> <div> <B>Don't pay your lawyer to mediate - go to a mediator instead!</B></div> <div> Many lawyers are getting into mediation but end up charging the same rates as if they were a lawyer.  They try to convince you that they are better mediators because they have a legal background.  In most cases you can go directly to a mediator and be charged a lot less money than if you used your lawyer for a mediator.  You don't have to be a lawyer to mediate two parties.  Another advantage of hiring a separate mediator is that the mediator may give you some different perspective on issues.  The more perspectives and opinions you obtain, the more knowledgeable you become.  Remember too, lawyers have a conflict of interest - if the mediation doesn't work then they continue to get more of your money as your lawyer fighting in court, whereas if a mediator continually fails to help bring people to a settlement, then they will likely ruin their credibility and be forced out of business.   The bottom line is that it is in the  mediators interests to get parties to settle, whereas it is to a lawyer's financial interest to keep the parties fighting between themselves.   Remember - a well educated consumer is a lawyers worst nightmare.</div> <div> <B>TIP #13</B></div> <div> <B>Fire your lawyer if he does not act in your best interest.</B></div> <div> If you find out that your lawyer did not do all that they could for you and their was no reason for them to have done what they did, then fire them.  Too many people feel intimidated to fire their lawyer because they feel that they have already invested time and money with that particular lawyer.  The bottom line is that if a mistake was made in selecting a particular lawyer in the first place, then the sooner the mistake is corrected, the better.  If the lawyer seems like they are going to lose your case or not fight hard enough to advance your case, there is no sense in being sucked for more money to lose.  Remember, it is your case, not your lawyer's. Even if you do end up losing it's better to lose knowing that you went in for a fight than to regret losing your case because your lawyer did it only his way. </div> <bR> <div> It has sometimes been reported that lawyers will arrange deals between themselves just so that they can still remain on “good” terms with each other in the future.  It was reported that in one jurisdiction, lawyers were sacrificing their clients' cases to a well-known lawyer in the same community.  Rumor had it that this lawyer was going to become a judge in the future.  None of the other lawyers wanted to get on the bad side of this lawyer because they wanted to be able to collect on a few favors should they appear before this lawyer after being appointed a judge.</div> <div> <B>TIP #14</B></div> <div> <B>If you are running out of money then discharge your lawyer before you do go totally broke!</B></div> <div> If you see your financial resources running low and you can see that your lawyer is not going to win your case before you run out of money, then discharge them before you are completely broke.   Once you run out of money, the lawyer is going to drop you anyway, so it is better to get out with some financial reserves so that you can continue to fight your case on your own if you have to.  Too many people hold on until it is too late, hoping that their lawyer will win their case.  Many, however, just end up getting all of their money sucked from them by their own lawyer and then find themselves out on the street with few other options.  Ensuring that you keep some financial reserved will help you obtain other services, which in many cases are far more valuable than what your lawyer will give you.  Use your money towards obtaining the services of people who are dedicated to beating the system, not just taking your cheque as most lawyers just want to do.</div> <div> <B>TIP #15</B></div> <div> <B>Watch out for legal aid lawyers!</B></div> <div> Although there are some good legal aid lawyers, the majority however, are at the bottom of the bucket when it comes to quality of service.   Most of them will do anything to get you into their den and make you feel good just to get that legal aid certificate on your behalf.  Once they get the certificate, most of them just want to use up the hours and then move on to the next case once you are up to the limit of your certificate.</div> <bR> <div> Quite often a legal aid lawyer will get a certain number of hours for dealing with a particular type of court matter.  Many times they will throw your case by giving into the other side just so that they can reach a settlement and collect on the legal aid certificate.  In domestic violence charges, they will often tell you that it is best to plead guilty to save all of the legal hassles.  They tell you this because they collect the same amount of money whether you plead innocent or guilty.   For them it is better for them is you plead guilty.</div> <div> <B>TIP #16</B></div> <div> <B>Don't let your lawyer keep your file!</B></div> <div> Often when a person has to let their lawyer go or to fire them, the lawyer will not hand over the file until every cent on the account has been paid.  This is one of the ways lawyers make sure that they have got every penny out of you they can.   Quite often when they make up their final bill, you now find out about all of these little extras that you did not know they did while working on your case.  That's why it is especially important not to get yourself into this position by not having your lawyer keep you up to date as work progresses on your file.  Have your lawyer render you a weekly bill and a copy of all the things he/she worked on each week.  Do this and you will avoid a major problem when you do run out of money.</div> <bR> <div> For those that do fall into this trap, then tell the lawyer to hand over the file or else you will make a complaint to the law society.  Your file is yours, not the lawyers.  The lawyer should hand over your file and if he has a complaint about your bill then he should deal with this in an appropriate way. Let him take you to court but don't let the lawyer blackmail you over your own file.  Working with a local advocacy group will also help because they can put pressure on the lawyer as well.</div> <div> <B>TIP #17</B></div> <div> <B>Forget the Law Society</B></div> <div> Although it is important to formally complain to the Law Society about bad lawyer members, do not expect the Law Society to provide much help to you unless you really got the goods on a lawyer.  The Law Society is more interested in protecting their members than they are you, a member of the public. In most cases they try to divert complaints and take a lot of time to investigate your complaint, hoping that you will go away in the meantime.</div> <div> <B>TIP #18</B></div> <div> <B>If involvement of third parties make you lawyer nervous then its time to get another lawyer</B></div> <div> A confident lawyer will encourage you to obtain as much help and information as you can for yourself.  He/she knows that this will save you money and educate you about the legal process and minimize your chargeable time with the lawyer.  A good lawyer should provide you with a list of at least some support groups in your region who can help you.</div> <bR> <div> Your lawyer should not even mind you having seeing a paralegal or having court documents drafted up by others should you decide to do so. A good lawyer will do what you want, when you want and advise you whenever they feel that what you are doing is not in your best interest.</div> <bR> <div> Should your lawyer intimidate you by saying that they cannot work with you if you are going to have outside third parties assist you, then it time to change lawyers.  Often, these lawyers don't want third parties to be involved as they are worried about the third parties telling you about some of the incompetent things that your own lawyer may be doing in your case.  Remember, lawyers who are not confident of themselves don't want you getting advice from others because it may be better than what they are providing you with.  Lawyers of a lower caliber generally don't like dealing with educated customers, but prefer ones who can just write cheques and let the lawyer do everything for them without question.</div> <bR> <div> Third party support is in your best interest and if your lawyer doesn't support this then it is time to switch lawyers as the lawyer you are currently dealing with really doesn't care about your best interest.</div> <div> <B>TIP #19</B></div> <div> <B>If you are a male, check to verify the relationship of the lawyers with the local woman's shelter.</B></div> <div> Sometimes men will hire a lawyer and later find that they get sold out and then be left sitting and wondering why.  If you are a male you may want to check to make sure that your lawyer is not taking referrals from the local woman's shelter.  Have a female friend call the local shelter and ask for a list of lawyers they would recommend.  If the lawyer is one of them on the referral list then you better start shopping for another lawyer.  If the other lawyer is on the shelter's referral list then you already know that lawyer is for women with little interest for children.  If any lawyer is that closely associated with a woman's shelter to the point where they are getting referrals, then the relationship between the lawyer and the shelter is too close.  A lawyer in this position will not want to get too aggressive with clients from the woman's shelter as he/she may lose future referrals from them.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>Lawyer early warning signs</U></B></div> <div> Below is a list of some of the things that should provide the first warning that your lawyer in not the right person for you.</div> <div> <B>Your lawyer tries to convince you to agree on a settlement that clearly is not in your best interest and you do not feel comfortable with</B></div> <div> <B>Your lawyer does not seem to be familiar with your case when he talks to you.  Always seems to be forgetting important dates and names.  This is usually a sign that your lawyer just has not been looking over your documents and in reality is just trying to make it look like he/she does so that you will keep paying them more money.</B></div> <div> <B>Does not return phone calls or messages or takes a long time to get back in touch with you.</B></div> <div> <B>Is unable or unwilling to give you the names of satisfied customers he/she has represented in the past six months in court cases involving similar matters.</B></div> <div> <B>Has not been in a trial before involving the same sort of issue you are dealing with.</B></div> <div> <B>Makes you feel uncomfortable in that you don't feel that he/she is really fighting for you.</B></div> <div> <B>Seems unwilling to argue about points that you feel are important.</B></div> <div> <B>Discourages you from dealing with outside third parties or having advocacy groups provide help to you.  Tells you that these people are not good for you and may only get you into trouble.  Best to make that decision on your own.  Remember, your lawyer has a vested interest in keeping you not well informed - the less you know the easier it is for your lawyer to screw you without you even knowing it.</B></div> <div> <B>Says that friends are not allowed to come with you to court.  If they tell you this then they probably don't want anyone to see them do a lousy job</B></div> <div> <B>Any lawyer who tells you that you should not tape record the other side when they are talking to you.  This is the signs of a lawyer who wants to play with gentleman's rules with the other lawyer, and does not want to make things for the other lawyer too difficult.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 3</B></div> <div> <B>Hints about dealing with the bias and corruption in the family courts</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Courts are very biased against men </B></div> <div> There is little justice for men in Canadian family courts.  Courts routinely give custody of children to mothers who have abused their children and assaulted their spouses.  Men on the other hand are in most cases thrown out of their homes and told they can't see their children based on solely the allegations of the women.</div> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Case conferences and settlement conferences can be dangerous to you and your children</B></div> <div> A new way that the system has come up to suck you of your money before you get a fair trial is to have you go to case conferences and case settlements.  In most cases these sideshows are just ways of the lawyers spending your money in meeting with little accountability.  They get you into these private rooms, leading you to believe that this process is part of the system but in reality they are trying to move what is being done to you in the privacy of a sealed room where there are no witnesses and in most cases no records. In this type of environment, neither judges or lawyers are accountable.  The real problem is that you are paying big bucks to have all these lawyers talk to each other.  If you went to the justice system to litigate then litigate.  If the lawyers are going to force you into mediation, then why not do your own mediation with a mediator at a fraction of the cost of a case conference or settlement.  You do not have to settle things in a case conference or settlement.  You have the right to a trial if you wish.</div> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Never have your lawyer go to court without you</B></div> <div> Never let your lawyer go to court without you.  Never trust a lawyer to do what is best for you unless of course you have lots of money to throw away.  Lawyers will often cook up little deals with the other side in your absence, deals that serve their best interest and screw you out of your money.</div> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B><U>Never</U></B><B> attend a motion court or trial without a court reporter present</B></div> <div> Never have your matter heard before a judge unless there is a court reporter present.  Include your request for a court reporter in your court documents and be sure to call the court a couple of days before your hearing and tell them to be sure that a court reporter will be present.  Better still send them a fax and make sure you keep the receipt.  The lawyers and judges like it when there is no record of what went on or what was said in court.  This way they are not accountable and can say almost anything they want and not have to worry about evidence existing about what was said in court.  Lawyers love to lie when there is no record of what was said.</div> <bR> <div> Never let your lawyer say that you don't need a court reporter.  If your lawyer says that it is not necessary then tell him you want one or you will fire him.  Quite often the lawyer do not want anything on the record that they could be held accountable for should they mess up your case.  Another trick you must watch out for is that some of the courts will tell you that they don't use a court reporter when both parties have lawyer with them and that a court reporter is used only when one party is representing themselves.  DON'T fall for this trick, even if your lawyer tells you that this is the policy.  The system wants you to think that there is nothing you can do.  If anything children and families need protection from all the lies and crap that the lawyers spew from their mouths in court. Remember, even your own lawyer can be your worst enemy.  If your own lawyer does not seem interested in making sure that a court reporter is present for you then he/she is really not looking out for your best interests and is more afraid of getting his friends in the court upset than he is concerned about protecting your interests.</div> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Try to always have a third party witness in court</B> </div> <div> Whenever possible try to have a third party such as a friend with you in the court or have a third party sit somewhere in the court to observe proceedings.  Lawyers and Judges get nervous when outsiders they don't know are present in the courtroom. They are especially concerned when they see members of the press or members of the public who are advocates for children or families.</div> <bR> <div> Find out it there is a local Court Watch organization in your area and approach them to have a Court Watch observer attend your hearing.  Court Watch observers are trained to observe information and report irregular activities it to outside agencies whenever they observe it.</div> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Don't let the court or your lawyer kick your friends out of court</B> </div> <div> Quite often lawyers may tell you that your friends are not allowed to come to a court hearing.  You may also be told that the court is closed to members of the public.  This is often done by the court and the lawyers mainly because they do not want members of the public to really see what is going on behind the closed doors of the courts.  They don't want potentially new clients to see them screw up or to see the injustice that goes on in court.  If your lawyer tells you that you cannot have friends in the court, then ask they why over the phone while you tape record it.  If they say the law does not allow it, then fire them and write a complaint to the law society about their incompetence.  The laws say that the courts are to be OPEN to the public.  How else are members of the public to be allowed to keep and eye on those who are destroying families if all of their dirty work is behind closed doors.</div> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>If your lawyer is doing a lousy job in court then fire him/her on the spot!</B></div> <div> If it appears that your lawyer is not doing a good job defending your case and appears not to know your case, or is contradicting your earlier instructions, then stand up in court and announce to the judge that you are firing your lawyer on the spot for failing to follow your instruction and for failing to fulfill his/her duty to properly represent you.  Not only will this send a message to your lawyer in front of the other lawyers in the room that poor work will get them fired, but you are also saying to the legal system that you are not going to be intimidated by lawyers.  This will gain you a lot more respect not only by the judge but by the other lawyers in the community.  News of this will spread fast.</div> <bR> <div> Then tell the judge that you will need an adjournment on the matter.  Advise the judge you have the right to proper legal representation and that this lawyer has failed you. If the other lawyer tries to argue costs for appearing in court when you fired your lawyer then tell the judge that cost should be forwarded to your lawyer for not doing his/her job properly and that this whole situation was as a result of the failure of your lawyer to do his/her job.  Tell the judge that as a member of the public, you assume that lawyers must be competent because they are licensed by the Law Society but that it appears that being a member of the Law Society does not guarantee a person good representation in court.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> File a formal complaint if the judge fails to deliver justice</div> <div> If you come out of a court hearing with a judgment that you feel is biased or where you feel the judge conducted himself or herself in an improper manner, then as soon as you leave the court, file an official complaint against the judge through the judicial council.  Although the judicial council is like the law society and are more interested in covering up for the judges, make the complaint anyway.  This will ensure that the same judge cannot hear your case again.  If your lawyer complains about you sending in a complaint, then your lawyer is probably more concerned about looking good to the judge than he is about winning your case.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 4</B></div> <div> <B>Information and Tips so that you don't get screwed by the Office of the Children's Lawyer</B></div> <div> This section gives some tips about how to protect yourself from the Office of the Children's Lawyer which is in Ontario.  Similar agencies exist in most provinces under various similar names but all should be approached with caution using the same strategies.  The tips given here can be used in any situation where children have been assigned government appointed lawyers supposedly to protect their best interest.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Educate yourself about this biased government agency</B></div> <div> Many parents have told of horrendous experiences with the Office of the Children's Lawyer. They are perceived by many, including judges, to represent the best interest of children but in too many cases, they have miserably failed to protect the children.  Many parents have complained of biased and poorly written reports and have told stories of children being placed in the homes of vindictive and abusive parents. Generally they toe that line that mothers get kids and dads pay the bills.</div> <bR> <div> Another thing you can do to educate yourself is to study about assessments.  Some information is available on the internet or through bookstores.  Some organizations are beginning to offer workshops on how to evaluate an assessor's report and make a complaint and even file a lawsuit.  In areas where these courses are available they are well worth attending.  Once The Office of the Children's Lawyer knows that you know what to look for in a report and know how to launch a lawsuit if the report is flawed, they will be extra careful when they do your child's assessment.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Make them accountable with the help of a third party</B></div> <div> One of the most powerful ways to protect yourself against their shoddy, biased and unprofessional reports is to hire your hire your own independent assessor or child advocate to do a separate report at the same time or to review all of the work that workers with the Office of the Children's Lawyer do in your case.   Make sure that the OCL is aware that you have help.  The Office of the Children's Lawyer will have to make sure that their report is accurate as they will know that their report will be compared against the other report or that their work will be scrutinized.  They will not like this and may try to intimidate you to get rid of the other assessor.  Having a good advocacy group or agency oversee your case during the time that the Office of the Children's Lawyer conduct their investigation can also do wonders.  Just like others in the court system, the Office of the Children's Lawyer staff will not like having a third party involved and will try to tell you that you cannot do this.  When it comes to a third party do not let the Office of the Children's Lawyer manipulate you where you are alone.  Always remember, the goals of the lawyers and most in the system is to single you out and isolate you so that others are not watching what is going on.  They want to screw you without others being present to interfere.</div> <bR> <div> If the Office of the Children's lawyer ever tells you that they don't want the child speaking to any other third party, then ask them why.  Do this over the phone and tape them if you can.  If they don't want to answer this question on the phone, then that tells you that they got something to hide and that they are were trying to screw you from the very beginning.  At that point ask the same question in writing and if they don't respond then fire off a complaint letter and copy it to as many Members of Parliament as you can to expose their failure to be accountable.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Get the kids to speak to another third party.</B></div> <div> Workers with the OCL will stretch their reporting time so that certain information will become dated.  For example, OCL social workers may not want to hear from a child who wishes to be with his/her father.  Instead the OCL will drag things on for months so that the parent controlling the child (usually mom), the opportunity to brainwash the child and to strike fear in the child for revealing anything.  Quite often mothers who abuse their kids get enough time by the OCL delays to work on their kids so that the kids will shut up and not say a thing about being abused. Some cases have been know to drag on for two years by OCL just because they know the child wants to live with dad and OCL workers don't want to report this.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Get their credentials and background</B></div> <div> One important thing you should do in every case is to get the background and resume of the lawyer and social worker assigned to your case.  Often you may find that they are very bias.  In some cases, it has been found that social workers being assigned to cases by the Office of the Children's lawyer were actually working for a woman's shelter or at counselling agencies closely associated with them such as anger management courses.  Some of the social workers and lawyers have been found to have experienced bad relationships themselves and as a result have a hatred for the opposite gender because of their own personal experiences.  You can be sure that in such cases, you can be sure that the recommendations of the Office of the Children's lawyer will be in the mother's favour, no matter what the best interests of the child may be.</div> <bR> <div> Before you deal with the Office of the Children's Lawyer demand the following</div> <div> Request resumes of both the lawyer and social worker involved with your children's case although the lawyer's resume is less important.</div> <div> Find out if the lawyer or the social worker are FULL TIME employees and paid direct by the Attorney General's Office on Ontario.  If they are not DIRECT employees then they work as agents for the OCL.  Find out which firm or agency the lawyer and the social worker work for.  If they have their own practices then find out where the practices are. </div> <div> If they are agents then ask them for their business cards from their private practices.  Also get their Office of the Children's Lawyer Business Card.</div> <div> For lawyers and social workers who are brought in by arrangement of the Office of the Children's Lawyer, you should get full information about their involvement with outside agencies.  Some have found that social workers work with women's shelters and have extensive biases against fathers.  Yet these counsellors claim to be unbiased and acting in the best interest of children. If the lawyer or the counselor accept referrals from a women's shelter where your spouse has attended, then this is a conflict of interest and you should get them off your case for this conflict.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Remember, they are lawyers and social workers too!</B></div> <div> Don't every forget the fact that the Office of the Children's Lawyer is an office established by lawyers.  Although their mandate is supposed to be the children, do not think for one minute that they will put the interests of your children ahead of their own.  Don't forget that huge sums of money are being charged by the Office of the Children's Lawyer back to the taxpayers through the backdoor to the money trough.  They will drag your case on for months and have endless meetings and consultations about your children because they get to charge by the hour.   How would you like to be given a blank cheque from the government.   Remember on thing, the main interests of the lawyers are THEIR JOBS and MONEY and these lawyers with the Office of the Children's lawyer sure know how to soak it to the taxpayer's!</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>File a complaint if they do a lousy job!</B></div> <div> When the OCL has completed their work and if you find that it was poorly done and a waste of taxpayer's monies then write a complaint letter to the Attorney General's Office of the Province in which your reside. Copy the letter to as many of the members of federal and provincial parliament as you can.  GO PUBLIC with your story.  There are services available that will distribute you letter free of charge to the politicians.  Ask why tax dollars are being spent to keep lawyers in the lives of your family when they do nothing to help or in some cases make matters even worse for your family.  Make an appointment with your Member of Parliament and tell them about your experience with the OCL and tell them how tax monies are being wasted.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> <B>Tape record everything they say!</B></div> <div> Social workers and lawyers at the Office of the Children's Lawyer have a habit of changing stories to protect their behinds.  Anytime you talk to them on the phone use a tape recorder and everytime you meet them in person conceal a tape recorder on your body.  The Office of the Children's Lawyer prefers to have people come to their office ALONE and usually they will have a second worker present.  This is so that their workers can have a witness to collaborate any story they may come up with while you have no way to support your side of what was said in their meeting.  You will be amazed at what workers may say when you least expect it or how they may report that you said certain things when in fact you did not.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #8</B></div> <div> <B>Secretly videotape interviews with their workers</B></div> <div> Some of the social workers with the Office of the Children's lawyer have been caught falsifying evidence and changing stories or not reporting information that parents give to them.  Quite often they will ignore information that may be supportive of a parent.  Often they will ignore information that is beneficial to fathers.  If you are having them come to your home, then set up a video recorder in a location that cannot be detected by the worker and try to tape your meeting with them.   You never know what you may catch on tape and it may save your case.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #9</B></div> <div> <B>Document everything!</B></div> <div> Make sure that all of the information you have given them is documented in writing.  Workers with the OCL will often claim that they did not have certain information or that you did not tell them certain things.   They will select what they want to use and conveniently forget to include anything that my help the parent they do not want to support.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #10</B></div> <div> <B>Make them file a written report</B></div> <div> Workers with the Office of the Children's Lawyer often will often not give any kind of report in writing and will just speak to the court.  They do this because they don't want to get caught lying as they can always backtrack from a previous position.   Insist that you want a written report with reasons for their recommendations and make this clear from the very beginning.  Send them a letter as soon as possible after they have first become involved in your case and advise them of this and ask them to confirm this in writing with you.  If they refuse this then you can be assured that they are out to screw you and don't want any evidence in writing for you to use against them.  At that point you better be prepared to make lots of noise and complain and do everything you can to protect yourself from them.  Social workers and lawyers who do their work in a professional and accountable manner should have no problem in putting their words and recommendations in writing and not be afraid to stand behind them.  Those who have something to hide and want to remain unaccountable are the ones who usually don't like to leave a paper trail.  If they don't give you a report, you should send a complaint letter to EVERY member of parliament in your province.  Makes lots of noise. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #11</B></div> <div> <B>Take a witness to office meetings with you!</B></div> <div> Workers with the Office of the Children's Lawyer quite often don't like to speak on the phone or give written reports. They do this to minimize getting caught in their own lies and cover-ups.  Sometimes you may be asked to attend a meeting at their office without your children. They make this sound do convenient and part of the normal process.  In reality they do this because they can have greater control over the meeting process in their own environment.  They will usually have two people in attendance to provide witness to each other but will expect you to be alone in the meeting.  This always keeps them in a position of having two people's word against just one.  With this strategy, they will always be able to back each other up with lies, while you will be unable to support your side.  If you feel that the Office of the Children's Lawyer is not being fair and honest in their assessment process and you would like to better protect yourself from this kind of scenario, take a witness such as a friend with you to these meeting and always carry a concealed tape recorder with you.  If they tell you that you can't bring anyone into the meeting with you then ask them if the meeting can be tape recorded by yourself.   If they say no then tell them that the meeting is off and don't attend.    Send off a letter to the Attorney General's Office outlining how they prevented you from bringing a witness to the meeting with you or taping the meeting.  Copy this letter to all the members of provincial parliament.  Embarrass them for trying to cover up their dirty work.  </div> <bR> <div> Alternately, you could chose to not to tell them about your tape recorder and still go to the meeting alone and see what they say to put their foot in their mouth.  You would be surprised at what they might say when they think they have you alone with no witnesses present.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #12</B></div> <div> <B>Conduct your own pre-interview with the social worker involved.</B></div> <div> Many of the social workers with the Office of the Children's Lawyer are biased and tow the agency's line which is to be biased against fathers and non-custodial parents.  Early in the game, you should provide a complete list of questions concerning their background, their beliefs in certain areas and any potential conflict of interest that they may be in.  All Social workers should be willing to provide their CV (Curriculum Vitae) which outlines their background and experiences.  If they do not want to give you a copy of their CV then you know they have something to hide already.  If you don't know what questions to ask them, then obtain the assistance of a family advocate or lawyer to prepare a detailed list of such questions.  Again, be sure to tape record this interview with the social worker.  It is best to speak to the social worker after they have conducted their first interview at your home so that they do not come to the first visit with their backs up against the wall.  Give them enough rope on their first visit to your home to hang themselves.</div> <bR> <div> Questions to ask the social worker at the completion of your visit your home.</div> <bR> <div> Ask them if they use any prescribed written criteria to define what is in the best interest of the child when they do their report.  If they say yes, then ask them if it would be possible to obtain a copy of this.  Ask them where this list comes from.</div> <div> Ask the social worker if they have read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  If they say yes, then ask them if they are familiar with how the Charter deals with the custody of children.  If they say no, then state for the record (tape recorded) “then you have not familiar with all of the laws relating to custody? Is that correct.”</div> <div> Ask the social worker if he/she is familiar with any Supreme Court of Canada case law concerning custody of Children.  If they say yes, then ask them to name some of the cases they are familiar with and what is their understanding of these rulings.  If they say no, then state for the record, “then you are not familiar with what the Supreme Court of Canada has to say about custodial rights”</div> <div> Ask the social worker what his opinion of shared parenting and joint custody.  Ask when he/she feels that joint custody is applicable and when it is not.</div> <div> Ask the social worker if he/she is familiar with the Joint Senate/House of Commons Report on custody and access and its recommendations. If yes, then ask him/her as to what the major thrust of the report is.  It would be helpful to have a copy of this report with you to show to the social worker.</div> <div> Ask the social worker to explain what he feels should be done when there is high conflict.</div> <div> Ask the social worker is he has reviewed studies relevant to joint custody.</div> <div> Ask the social worker what their opinion is on domestic violence.  Do they 1) feel that men commit the vast majority of domestic violence by a fair margin or 2) men and women commit about the same amount of domestic violence with men just slightly ahead.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #12</B></div> <div> <B>File a lawsuit against the social worker!</B></div> <div> All social workers with the OCL in Ontario are members of the Ontario College of Social Workers.  They can be held liable if you can show that their actions have caused damages to you or your child.  Even additional legal expenses to fight their flawed report are considered damages.  If you have been diligent in following the recommendations given in this document, you may have gathered enough evidence which will reasonably show that they have lied or failed to conduct a professional and unbiased assessment.  Obtain a copy of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice manual published by the Ontario College of Social Workers and learn it inside and out.  If you have evidence, then launch a lawsuit in small claims court or in civil court, including against the social worker personally.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #13</B></div> <div> <B>File a formal complaint against the social worker!</B></div> <div> All social workers with the OCL in Ontario are members of the College of Social Workers.  If you have been diligent in following the recommendations given in this document you may have gathered evidence which will reasonably show that they have lied or failed to conduct a professional assessment.  Telephone the college and obtain a copy of their code of ethics and rules that their members must follow.  Prepare a detailed and comprehensive report outlining where the worker has failed.  Preferably have a third party conduct a review of the social worker's report and prepare a report.  A third party analysis of the social worker's performance will get more attention and be taken more seriously.  Fire off a complaint with your detailed report to the College of Social Workers and demand a hearing of the matter.  Demand that the worker be disciplined and the flawed report pulled from the proceedings.</div> <bR> <div> Again, having a third party trained in conducting assessments or a professional support you in your claims will help you with the complaint.  The College of Social Workers like most regulatory bodies run by members of their own profession usually do not like to take action against one of their own unless there is either overwhelming evidence or they see that other professionals are in support of your complaint.  When they know they have only you to deal with, they will be much more inclined to put off your complaints as they know that damage to their reputation will be minimal.  The more people you have visibly supporting you, the better.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 5</B></div> <div> <B>WHAT TO DO IF YOUR LAWYER FAILS YOU</B></div> <div> There are many, many tragic stories of people getting ripped off by family law lawyers or where clients have lost their cases because lawyers did not do their job competently.  Do your best to avoid having a bad lawyer by educating yourself and having more than one source to go for legal support and advice.  If, however, you happen to be a lawyer's next victim then here of some tips as to what you can do to correct the situation and help to ensure that this same lawyer does not do the same thing to another innocent families in the community.</div> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>The first thing to do is to fire them!</B></div> <div> If you don't trust your lawyer, or he/she has given you advice that you feel is not in your best interest then the first thing to do is to fire them.  Don't waste any time.  Move on to another lawyer or represent yourself if you are forced to.  You can often do more harm to your case by having a bad lawyer represent you than having no lawyer at all.  Don't be afraid to move on, things can only get better.  If you have to fire your lawyer close to a court date you should be able to get an adjournment to allow you time to obtain a new lawyer.  Most judges would look foolish for not granting you a reasonable extension of time as the courts always promote the idea that everyone should be given the opportunity to be represented by a lawyer.</div> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>If your lawyer has acted inappropriately or has failed to serve your best interests</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Arial" ><B> then file a written complaint with Law Society.</B></FONT></div> <div> Even though investigators from the Law Society are painfully slow and often side with their members, consumers are still urged to file a complaint.  This will at the very least allow you to create a paper trail -- the first step to protecting yourself.  If your complaint is the latest in a string of 20 or more against your lawyer, it may finally force officials to take action.  Complaints should be addressed to the Law Society of the Province in which the lawyer is practicing.  In addition, a copy of your complaint should be mailed to any local community advocacy group for a possible investigation.  If there is a citizen's based lawyer referral service then be sure to send them a copy of your complaint as well.  Citizen's based lawyer referral services usually maintain a database on all lawyers practicing in areas where the service has been established.   By helping to identify those lawyers who are not doing good work you will be helping to keep other unsuspecting people in your community from making the same mistake.</div> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Report the lawyer to any independent referral service</B></div> <div> If there are any independent referral services in your area, then report the lawyer to the service.  Be sure to provide a copy of your complaint letter to the law society as many of the independent referral services will not register your compliant without proof that you have a valid complaint about the lawyer.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Use mediation or arbitration to resolve your dispute</B></div> <div> If you have a complaint about your legal bill, negotiate directly with your lawyer first. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally, contact the Law Society or the court for information on investigating the charges.  Some courts will “tax” the lawyer's bill.  Ask your lawyer to participate in a private or government-run dispute resolution program instead. Where Citizen's based justice committee's have been established, then they can hear your complaint.  Other sources of mediation may be found in the Yellow Pages under "Mediation" or "Arbitration," or get a referral from your local consumer protection office or court. </div> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>File a small claims court lawsuit</B></div> <div> If your lawyer won't negotiate or participate in mediation or arbitration, consider suing in small claims court. If your fee dispute is less than the maximum allowed in the jurisdiction in which the dispute occurred, you can file in small claims court without a lawyer. For more information on how to file a small claims suit, contact your local small claims court.  Local advocacy organizations can provide help to find someone to assist you.</div> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>File a legal malpractice suit</B></div> <div> If your lawyer's misconduct caused you to lose your case, you can file a legal malpractice suit. To win, you must first prove your lawyer guilty of misconduct or negligence, then show you were harmed monetarily. If you win, you can receive monetary damages, sometimes including any lawyers' fees you had to pay to bring the suit.  Before proceeding on a malpractice suit, obtain as much information as you can and be sure to hire a lawyer who specializes in this type of litigation.</div> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> <B>Become an activist for change</B></div> <div> If you've had a bad experience with a lawyer-run discipline program, you're not alone. Nationwide, the vast majority of all complaints registered against lawyers through Law Societies are dropped, the majority without a proper investigation. The truth of the matter is that lawyer-run discipline doesn't work. There's an insurmountable conflict of interest to depend on lawyers to police themselves and as the old saying goes, you know what happens when we put the fox in charge of the chicken coop.  The only way that consumers can make lawyers accountable is to stop taking business to those lawyers who create disrespect for the system in the first place by doing a poor job.  If you have children, remember that your own children will one day have to deal a lawyer, so the sooner the lawyers are made accountable the better for the whole community.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 6</B></div> <div> <B>Advice about the Police</B></div> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>When it comes to family matters don't trust them</B></div> <div> There is a strong bias to some extent in many of the police agencies against fathers.  Should a mother deny a child's access to the father, the police will often tell the father over the phone to see their lawyer and take the matter to court.  However, should a father be late or deny access to a mother, the police will often react swiftly against the father by showing up to their door in force and demanding that they take the child back to the mother.</div> <bR> <div> Many police suffer from what is commonly referred to by officers and psychologists as the “knight in shining armor syndrome”.  When officers (even male officers) respond to a domestic violence call, they get this sense that they are coming to the aid of some poor defenseless women and that they are going to be saving her from her evil and abusive husband.    As a result of this sense that it is the woman who needs to be saved, many officers come on to the scene with the impression that the man is guilty already.  Officers will sometimes unconscientiously impress the woman with their rough treatment of the woman's spouse.   It has been reported that in some cases, officers have ended up having a relationship with the woman they supposedly “saved” and then helped to destroy the woman's former spouse.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Tape record all communication between you and the police</B></div> <div> Just as with other areas of family legal system corruption abounds with the police.  Anytime you have to call the police or anytime the police call you get your tape recorder going.  If you are speaking to them out of your home then take your mini-cassette recorder with you.  Never leave home without your tape recorder if you are going to be doing anything that may involve speaking with the police. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Never go to the station without being given a reason</B></div> <div> To protect themselves and to intimidate you, the police may ask you to come to the station for questioning.  They should clearly tell you why they want you to come to the station.  In most cases it is to intimidate you or get information out of you.   If they seem not clear or evasive about why they want you to come down then don't go.  Tell them to come to your residence if they want to talk to you.  Be sure you have a tape recorder set up somewhere in the room where you will speak to them.  A video camera is sometimes a good recording device as the microphone is usually quite good and will pick up noises all throughout the room.  A video tape as well can last for a long time whereas audio tapes tend to run out after 30 to 6o minutes.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Get names and badge numbers</B></div> <div> Anytime you are in contact with the police, especially when they seem to be mistreating you, be sure to get their names and badge numbers.  You'll need these in your complaint letter if you send it out later.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Write a complaint letter</B></div> <div> If at anytime you feel that you have mistreated by the police or you believe that they have been biased against you then make a formal complaint to the Chief of Police IN WRITING.  Make an official public complaint which will force the police to investigate the officers involved.  It is important to copy your letter to any local government body such as regional government council which may oversee the police.  Also send a copy of your letter to the Solicitor General and Attorney General of the Province as well as to members of provincial parliament.  The more copies you send of your letter the more effect you will have to help make the system better for all.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 7</B></div> <div> <B>Advice about Women's Shelters</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Know what they are really about</B></div> <div> Contrary to what many have been led to believe, there is a dark, dark side to the women's shelter movement.  Most women working in a shelter hate men and one of their main goals is to see men destroyed.  They do this in the name of helping women.  Many of those who operate these shelters are lesbians and other women who absolutely hate men, partly because they can't find a man themselves. Misery likes company, so many of these women who work at shelters don't want to see other women happy and married, so one of their main objectives is to destroy and break up the families of other women.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Tape record everything your spouse and children may say when they call from a women's shelter</B></div> <div> Whenever your spouse may call you from a woman's shelter be sure to tape record everything being said.  You will be surprised what may be said to you over the phone.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Know the strategy of the women's shelters</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>To separate you from your children</B></div> <div> One of the first things that a women's shelter does is to separate the father from his children.  When a woman takes her children into the shelter they will not encourage the woman to call to let her spouse know where she is.  Often this is done to frustrate the father and make him upset.  This will increase the likelihood that the father will do something drastic trying to find his children.  The women at the shelter don't care about the kids - they only care about destroying the fathers.</div> <bR> <div> <B>To get lies to the court before the truth can be known</B></div> <div> Women's shelters will often counsel the woman to make lies about abuse in order to get an ex-parte court Order against the fathers.   Even when their has been no abuse or abuse mutual between parties, the shelters will get the woman to claim that she is afraid of her former spouse and that she is in need of protection.  The women's shelters have all the forms and know all the right things to say to get the sympathy of the court and to get an order slapped against the father, without the father even being given the chance to tell the other side of the story!  Once an ex-parte Order is issued it becomes an uphill battle from then for the father because the ex-parte court Order already has the father labelled as a wife-batterer.</div> <bR> <div> To get you to do something irrational</div> <div> By keeping women and children away from their fathers, they hope that the father will do something irrational such as calling friends and relatives and threaten them.  They then will turn this information against the father and claim that he has a problem with violence.  They will then use this to get a restraining order against him.</div> <bR> <div> To brainwash your spouse</div> <div> By the time most women come out of the shelter, they hate men.  Their minds have been poisoned about marriage, relationships.  Like the women who run the women's shelter, they will now believe that all men are wife beaters.  They will be well coached as to what their rights are for child support, spousal support.  They will be convinced that they are yet another victim of a man.  They will now believe that their former spouse must be put in his place and shown that women do a better job than men.  They will believe that women should be in control of this world, not men.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Direct the women and children into anti-father counselling sessions</B></div> <div> The women's shelters have connections with counsellors who they will send the woman and the children to see.  These counsellors have been carefully selected by the women's shelters to be anti-father and anti-family.  The purpose of the counselling is to make it look good to the court that the mother is doing the “good” thing for the children.  These counsellors will then provide letters to the mother supporting her and telling how good a mother she is and that the children are best in her care, not the fathers.   Some of these counsellors will recommend that the kids not see Dad.  The purpose of course is to break the relationship between the father and the children.</div> <bR> <div> To get your wife to be nice to you to get you to agree to her demands</div> <div> One of the strategies that the women's shelter will do will get the woman to call her spouse in a manner intended to soften them up and to get their former spouses to.  They will often encourage the woman to contact her former spouse and to speak nice to him to get him to agree to things such as getting personal possessions from the home or to provide information that they need for their court case.  Sometimes the woman will convince their former spouses to move out of the house so that they can move back in.  Often they will say, that maybe they need a break to give the relationship some time to work out.  Once they have the man out of the house, then they open up with both barrels from their lawyer to keep the man out for good and keep the house, the furniture and the kids.</div> <bR> <div> To allow single mothers to jump the waiting list for subsidized housing</div> <div> Women often go to a women's shelter so that they can jump to the front of the waiting list for subsidized housing.  The waiting lists for subsidized housing are very long and even many families with children wait for months and sometimes years to get to the top of the list.  Women who go into the women's shelter and claim abuse are given preferential treatment and given first choice of subsidized housing.   They often lie about abuse to get preference, often putting many intact families with children back on the list.  It is a case of the truly needy being made to suffer because of the demands of the selfish and greedy.   There are huge personal benefits to lying about being abused and the women's shelter will certainly provide direction and advice for the greedy and selfish women to abuse the system at the expense of the taxpayers.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>See if your lawyer or the opposing lawyer feeds from the shelter money trough by accepting shelter referrals.</B></div> <div> Get a female friend to call or to drop in to the local shelter and ask them for a list of lawyers that they would recommend.   If your lawyer is on their list then you had better check out the lawyer very thoroughly.  If you can't find any previous satisfied customers, then you should find yourself another lawyer.  If your former spouse is using a lawyer on the list then at least you will know where that lawyer stands on women's issues.  Chances are that any lawyer who takes referrals from the shelter is not too eager to upset them, so as a result they if they are representing a father they will not work too aggressively for the father in fear of losing future potential referrals from the shelter.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Write a complaint letter about the shelter</B></div> <div> If a shelter has been responsible for your children being separated from you and adversely affected your family then you must write a letter of complaint.  Copy the letter to all the members of Parliament using services that specialize in this.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>Join up as a member and get on the inside</B></div> <div> Some women's shelters have a membership where you can become a voting member.  Take out a membership, attend regular meetings and find all about their organization.  Find out about the backgrounds of those who work their and the directors of the corporation.  Make noises about the operation of the shelter if it appears to be acting without accountability.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 8</B></div> <div> <B>Information and Tips so that you don't get screwed by social workers and psychologists</B></div> <div> This section gives some tips about how to protect yourself from social workers and psychologists.  Bias abounds with these professionals. Although there are many hard working ones all should be approached with caution using the strategies listed here.  The tips given here can be used in any situation where professionals have been called in to deal with your children supposedly in the name of their best interests.  Many of the tips given here are similar to those for the Office of the Children's Lawyer.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Educate yourself about who it is you are dealing with</B></div> <div> Ask for referrals from others in the community that were in the same situation as yourself.  If you are a father then ask the person for the name of other fathers they have done reports for. Speak to these persons.  If they don't want to give you the names of any persons or try to tell you that it is confidential, then they are trying to hide the truth.   Most people who have had a happy outcome as a result of the help they received from a social worker or other professional are more than happy to put in a good word for that person. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>Make them accountable with the help of a third party</B></div> <div> One of the best ways to protect yourself against their tactics and shoddy and biased reports of social workers and psychologists is to hire your hire your own independent assessor to do a separate report as well.   Tell them that you will be having their report critiqued by another professional.  The social workers or psychologist will have to make sure that their report is accurate as they will know that their report will be compared against the other report or critiqued.  They will not like this and may try to intimidate you to get rid of the outside party.  Having a good advocacy group or agency oversee your case while the social worker or professional do their work can also do wonders.  Biased social workers and professionals as will most in the legal industry, not like having a third party involved and will try to tell you that you cannot have one involved.  When it comes to a third party do not let the social worker or psychologist manipulate you to get you along.  Always remember, the goals of the system is to single you out and isolate you so that others are not watching what is going on.  They want to screw you without others being present to interfere.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Get their credentials and background</B></div> <div> One important thing you should do is to get the background and resume of the person who is going to be involved with your child and family.   Often you may find that they have a history of being bias.  In some cases, it has been discovered that social workers being assigned to children's cases were actually working for a woman's shelter or with agencies closely associated with shelters.  You can be sure that in such cases, that the recommendations made by people with such a background will be in the mother's favour, no matter what the best interests of the child may be. It is good to find out if the worker is married, separated or divorced and has children.  Many of these social workers who have been through a bad marriage will often have a hatred of the other sex.  If they have children and have sole custody of their own, chances are that they don't support the position that children need both of their parents.</div> <bR> <div> Before you deal with any social worker or psychologist demand the following</div> <div> Request a resume and background of the person involved with your children's case.</div> <div> Ask them is they take referrals from any women's shelters</div> <div> The names of others in your same situation where the professional has done reports for in the past.  Be sure to call those people.</div> <div> Find out their marital status and if they have children.  If children are involved, find out what the parenting arrangements for their children are.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Ask them for the process and methodology they use</B></div> <div> If a social worker or psychologist is to conduct an unbiased and professional assessment of the best interests of your child and family, they should have some guidelines that they follow.   Ask them what they are.  Be sure to tape record them when you speak to them.  Many of them don't know how to answer this question and fumble up really good.  If they don't have a methodology that they follow when they conduct their assessment, then they probably are telling you that they go on their own intuitions or biases.  Watch out for these types.   A good competent professional should be able to tell you with confidence, the procedures and methodology that they follow.  Top notch professionals will have it written down and should be able to provide it to you upon request and without hesitation. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>File a complaint if they do a lousy job!</B></div> <div> When the social worker or professional has completed their work and if you find that it was poorly done then write a complaint letter to the group that have their accreditation from. Copy the letter to as many of the members of federal and provincial parliament as you can.  There are services available that will distribute you letter free of charge to the politicians.   Make an appointment with the professional body of which they are a member and make lots of noise.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>Tape record everything they say!</B></div> <div> Social workers and so called professionals have a habit of changing their stories to protect their behinds when they find that things are not the way they would like them to be.  Anytime you talk to them on the phone use a tape recorder and anytime you meet them in person conceal a small mini cassette tape recorder on your body or in your clothes.   You will be amazed at what social workers or professions may say and then come up with a totally different story later.   Quite often this information can be used to get them disciplined or discredited.  Once you have the goods on them, you can put them out of business and help prevent the life of some other child from being ruined by some biased professional.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PART 9</B></div> <div> <B>Information and Tips so that you don't get screwed by the Children's Aid Society</B></div> <div> This section gives some tips about how to protect yourself from the various Children's Aid Societies which is in Ontario.  Similar agencies exist in most provinces under various names but all should be approached with caution using the same strategies. Very similar to the Office of the Children's Lawyer, social workers and lawyers are what drive these agencies.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #1</B></div> <div> <B>Educate yourself about these agencies</B></div> <div> Many parents have told of horrendous experiences with various Children's Aid Agencies. The children's Aid agencies are supposed to protect children at risk but in many cases they take kids away from good homes and help child abusers to keep abusing children.  To protect yourself you must understand your enemy.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #2</B></div> <div> <B>If you can't beat them, join them</B></div> <div> Most people think that the Children's Aid Society is the government.  In reality, each Children's Aid Agency is an independent community-based charitable organization with a local director and board of directors.  They operate just like any other business in your community.  Although they get their money from the government they are not government.  As a member of the public you can join up as a member.  As a member you can have access to their bylaws and membership directory.  Should you need to solicit the support of other members in the community you literally can start calling the other members for support to make changes to the bylaws of the corporation.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #3</B></div> <div> <B>Study the laws and procedures</B></div> <div> Children's Aid Agencies work under government legislation.  In Ontario this legislation is called the “Child and Family Services Act”  You should get a copy of this government Act and read it thoroughly and highlight any areas of the Act that seem applicable to your case.</div> <bR> <div> Another thing that you can do is to study about child custody assessments.  This will allow you to better understand what is in the best interest of children and to understand what constitutes a risk to the child.  Should workers fail to do a proper report then you may have legal recourse to sue them but in order to do so you will have to understand yourself just what it was that they did wrong.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #4</B></div> <div> <B>Make them accountable with the help of a third party</B></div> <div> One of the most powerful ways to protect yourself against their shoddy, biased and unprofessional involvement is to hire your hire your own independent child advocate to monitor the activities of the Children's Aid in your case.  Make sure that the Children's Aid agency is aware that you have trained persons helping you.  The Children's Aid will have to make take extra caution in the work they do because they know that they will not be able to pull the wool over your eyes with a trained support person helping you to scrutinize ever move they make.  They will not like this and may try to intimidate you to get rid of the other person.  Children's Aid staff will not like having a third party involved and will try to tell you that you cannot do this.  When it comes to a third party do not let Children's Aid staff manipulate into a position where you are facing them alone.  Always remember, the goals of most of the social workers and lawyers is to single you out and isolate you so that others are not made aware of what is going on.  They want to screw you without others being present to blow the whistle.</div> <bR> <div> If the Children's Aid ever tells you that they don't want the child speaking to any other third party, then ask them why.  Do this over the phone and tape record their answer.  If they don't want to answer this question on the phone, then that tells you that they got something to hide and that they are were trying to screw you from the very beginning.  At that point ask the same question in writing and if they don't respond then fire off a complaint letter and copy it to as many Members of Parliament as you can to expose their failure to be accountable.  You may also try to get their response on tape in person by concealing a hidden tape recorder on your body and speaking to them in person.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #5</B></div> <div> <B>Get the kids to speak to another third party.</B></div> <div> Workers with Children's Aid agencies will often twist the facts and in some cases outright lie.  For example, a CAS workers may not write about a child who is being abused by one parent but will use words such as “problems” when in fact abuse occurred.  Quite often mothers who abuse their kids get enough time through delays by the Children's Aid delays to work on their kids so that the kids will shut up and not say a thing about being abused.  It has been reported that many CAS agencies have the same bias as the Office of the Children's Lawyer in that mothers are favoured over fathers.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #6</B></div> <div> <B>Get their credentials and background</B></div> <div> One important thing you should do in every case is to get the background and resume of the social workers assigned to your case.  Shortly after they have assigned a worker to your case inform the CAS that you would like a copy of the workers resume.  Often you may find that there background may indicate that they are very bias.  In some cases, it has been found that social workers being assigned to cases by Children's Aid Agencies were actually working for a woman's shelter or at counselling agencies closely associated with them such as anger management courses.  Some of the social workers and lawyers have been found to have experienced bad relationships themselves and as a result have a hatred for the opposite gender because of their own personal experiences.  You can be sure that in such cases, you can be sure that the recommendations from such a worker will be in the mother's favour, no matter what the best interests of the child may be.</div> <bR> <div> Before you deal with the Office of the Children's Lawyer demand the following</div> <div> Request resumes of any social worker involved with your children's case.</div> <div> Find out how long the social worker has been with the CAS agency.</div> <div> Ask the social workers if they have had any complaint lodged against them with the Ontario College of Social workers or any other professional licensing body in any province.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #7</B></div> <div> <B>Remember, their jobs depend on intruding into your family!</B></div> <div> Don't ever forget the fact that the various Children's Aid agencies rely on the number of cases they handle in their community to get funding from the government.  Although their mandate is supposed to be to help children, do not think for one minute that they will not want to make it their business to get themselves involved with your children.  Don't forget that huge sums of money are being charged by the various CAS agencies back to the taxpayers whish is based on the number of cases that each agency has.  More cases = more money = more jobs for social workers. When social workers see their case load getting low they will find the smallest reason to keep your file open.  They will drag your case on for months and have endless meetings and consultations about your family's situation because they get paid as they go.   How would you like to be in a position to be given a blank cheque from the government every month.   Remember one thing, the main interests of the agency are THEIR JOBS and MONEY and these agencies sure know how to soak the taxpayer's!</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #8</B></div> <div> <B>File a complaint if they do a lousy job!</B></div> <div> If you find that the work done by the CAS and its workers was poorly done and a waste of taxpayer's monies then write a complaint letter to the Community and Social Services Minister in the province in which your reside. Write a well, written, concise letter and copy the letter to as many of the members of federal and provincial parliament as you can.  GO PUBLIC with your story.  There are services available that will distribute you letter free of charge to a wide audience.  Ask why tax dollars are being spent to keep social workers involved with your family when they do nothing to help or in some cases make matters even worse for your family.  Make an appointment with your Member of Parliament and tell them about your experience with the Children's Aid Agency and tell them how money is being wasted.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #9</B></div> <div> <B>Tape record everything they say!</B></div> <div> Social workers, lawyers and agents with the Children's Aid Agencies have been known to lie and distort the truth.  Some will lie and change stories to protect themselves and their fellow workers. In order to protect yourself, anytime you talk to them on the phone use a tape recorder and anytime you meet them in person conceal a tape recorder on your body.  In most cases CAS workers prefers to meet people alone although you will notice that at many formal meetings, especially those at the CAS offices, they will have other social workers present on their side.  This is so that their workers can have a witness to collaborate any story they may come up with while you have no way to support your side of what was said in their meeting.  You will be amazed at what workers may say when you least expect it or how they may report that you said certain things when in fact you did not.  A tape recorder can catch them when they screw up.  There are now long play digital tape recorders which will record for several hours or more.  These digital tape recorders, although more expensive that tape models, offer silent operation, high quality without the worry of tapes having to run out in the middle of a meeting.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #10</B></div> <div> <B>Secretly videotape interviews with the CAS workers</B></div> <div> Some of the social workers with the Children's Aid Society have been caught falsifying evidence and changing stories or falsely reporting information that parents give to them.  Quite often they will ignore information that may be supportive of a parent.  Often they will ignore or trivialize information that is beneficial to fathers.  If the Children's Aid Society is coming to your home, then set up a video recorder in a location that cannot be detected by the worker and try to tape your meeting with them.   You never know what you may catch on tape and it may save your case.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #11</B></div> <div> <B>Document everything!</B></div> <div> Make sure that all of the information you give the CAS is documented in writing.  Workers with the Children's Aid will often claim that they did not have certain information or that you did not tell them certain things.   They will select what they want to use and conveniently forget to include anything that my help the parent they do not want to support.  Without a record of you giving them information that you feel is important, they can ignore it and say they never knew about it.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #12</B></div> <div> <B>Take a witness to meetings with you!</B></div> <div> Workers with the Children's Aid Agencies generally don't like to speak on the phone or give written reports. They do this to minimize getting caught in lies and cover-ups.  Honest and credible workers will have no objection to you having support persons with you or putting all communication in writing.  </div> <bR> <div> Quite often you will be asked you to attend a meeting at their office. They make this sound  convenient and part of the normal process.  In reality they do this because they can have greater control over the meeting process in their own environment and to intimidate you even more with their fancy offices.  They will usually have a minimum of two or more people in attendance to provide witness to each other but will try to get you to come alone to the meeting.  This always keeps them in a position of having two people's word against yours should something slip up during the meeting.  With this strategy, they will always be able to back each other up with lies, while you will be unable to support your side.  To better protect yourself from this kind of scenario, take a witness such as a friend with you to these meeting and always carry a concealed tape recorder with you.  If they tell you that you can't bring anyone into the meeting with you then ask them why snd see what their response is.  If they insist then ask them if the meeting can be tape recorded by yourself.   If they say no then tell them that the meeting is off and don't attend.  Never attend a meeting without a witness with you or without a tape recorder running during the meeting.  If you are being refused a support person and/or a tape recorder then send off a letter to the Attorney General's Office outlining how they prevented you from bringing a witness to the meeting with you or taping the meeting.  Copy this letter to all the members of provincial parliament by having your letter passed on to groups or organizations that can do this for you.  Embarrass them for trying to cover up their dirty work.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #13</B></div> <div> <B>Conduct your own pre-interview with the social worker involved.</B></div> <div> Social workers with Children's Aid agencies often are biased and tow the agency line which is to be biased against fathers and non-custodial parents.  Early in the game, you should provide a complete list of questions concerning their background, their beliefs in certain areas and any potential conflict of interest that they may be in.  All Social workers should be willing to provide their CV (Curriculum Vitae) which outlines their background and experiences.  If you don't know what questions to ask them, then obtain the assistance of a family advocate or lawyer to prepare a detailed list of such questions.  Again, be sure to tape record this interview with the social worker.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #14</B></div> <div> <B>File a lawsuit against the Children's Aid social worker!</B></div> <div> All social workers with the Children's Aid in Ontario are members of the College of Social Workers.  They can be held liable if you can show that their actions have caused damages to you.  You can even get their license suspended if you can show gross negligence. Even additional legal expenses to fight their flawed report are considered damages.  If you have been diligent in following the recommendations given in this document, you may have gathered enough evidence which will reasonably show that they have lied or failed to conduct a professional and unbiased assessment.  Obtain a copy of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice manual published by the Ontario College of Social Workers and learn it inside and out.  If you have evidence, then launch a lawsuit in small claims court or in civil court, including against the social worker personally.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TIP #15</B></div> <div> <B>File a formal complaint against the social worker!</B></div> <div> All social workers with the Children's Aid agencies are members of the College of Social Workers.  If you have been diligent in following the recommendations given in this document you may have gathered evidence which will reasonably show that they have lied or failed to perform their job in a professional manner.  Telephone the college and obtain a copy of their code of ethics and rules that their members must follow.  Prepare a detailed and comprehensive report outlining where the worker has failed.  Preferably have a third party conduct a review of the social worker's report and prepare a report.  A third party analysis of the social worker's performance will get more attention and be taken more seriously.  Fire off a complaint with your detailed report to the College of Social Workers and demand a hearing of the matter.  Demand that the worker be disciplined and the flawed report pulled from the proceedings.</div> <bR> <div> Again, having a third party trained in conducting assessments or a professional support you in your claims will help you with the complaint.  The College of Social Workers like most regulatory bodies run by members of their own profession usually do not like to take action against one of their own unless there is either overwhelming evidence or they see that other professionals are in support of your complaint.  When they know they have only you to deal with, they will be much more inclined to put off your complaints as they know that damage to their reputation will be minimal.  The more people you have visibly supporting you, the better.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> LAWYER'S RECORD OF SERVICES RENDERED</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="669" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=BOTTOM HEIGHT= 36 WIDTH="567"><div> <B>Date and details of services performed</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH="87"><div> <B>Number of Hours</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" 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VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG 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VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="567"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="567" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="87"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="87" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>