FERRO & KOPEL

This matter came before Bennett J concerning proceedings involving parties identified as Ferro and Kopel, and their child, J. The dispute centred on the preparation and exchange of expert reports and the scheduling of court events.

The court was required to determine several issues, including the vacation of a final hearing and its relisting, the specific documents to be provided by the independent children's lawyer to named experts, the placement of certain documents on the court file, amendments to existing orders regarding report release dates and the preparation of an attachment assessment report, and the payment of expert costs. Further issues involved directions for the independent children's lawyer regarding document indexing and the provision of documents to experts, as well as restrictions on parties and practitioners providing additional documents to experts. Finally, the court needed to address the timing of a family dispute resolution conference and the nature of the mediation requested.

Bennett J ordered that the final hearing be vacated and relisted before Justice Berman. The court directed the independent children's lawyer to provide a comprehensive list of specified documents to Dr B and Dr C, including various reports and affidavits from experts and individuals such as Ms D, Mr G, and Mr H. The court also directed that an email containing an affidavit be placed on the court file in a specific section. Amendments were made to previous orders concerning the release date of a report and the preparation of an attachment assessment report by Dr C, with parties ordered to share the costs. Directions were given for the independent children's lawyer to provide an index of documents to be sent to experts and for the parties and their legal representatives to be restrained from providing any additional documents to Dr C, the family consultant, and Dr B beyond those indexed. The court also varied an order for a family dispute resolution conference to take place in early February 2016, with a direction for the independent children's lawyer to request a mediation consistent with the Hague Model. The court further ordered that its reasons for decision be transcribed and placed on the court file.