Legal Research

Family Matters ? An Online TV Show With a Sitting Judge

By Omar Ha-Redeye

I recently pointed to an Ontario study showing that up to a third of residents face legal problems, and the majority of those problems are in family law.  The study also looked to Internet resources as part of the solution for self-represented litigants who cannot afford counsel.

There’s a new show being launched featuring a sitting Ontario Family Court judge called Family Matters with Harvey Brownstone.  Justice Brownstone is well known in Canada for his public speaking, which includes almost every law school in the country, and his book on family law, Tug-of-War.

With the new show he’s taken his mission to educate the public about family law issues to an entirely different level.  I was fortunate enough to be involved in the production.

Justice Brownstone is obviously aware of avoiding any conflicts as a sitting judge, a concern which has probably dissuaded other judges before him from doing anything remotely similar. But he expresses his mission quite clearly,

I wanted parents to get the best possible information, directly from a judge.

Perhaps if they do, they’ll work harder together to stay out of court.

Here’s the trailer, which was just released:

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on June 02, 2010 (boomark / email).