Numerous efforts, including additional mediation options and the passage of new rules, have been made in an attempt to address public concerns over the family law system, Toronto family lawyer Gary Joseph says in Law Times.

“After eliminating most of the archaic demands of pleadings, it’s now easier to institute proceedings,” Josesph, managing partner at MacDonald & Partners LLP, says, referring to the passage of new Family Law Rules.

“Family law information sessions are provided for free to all new litigants in the family law system during which volunteer lawyers, social workers, and court staff deliver seminars. They clearly explain the process," Joseph writes in a letter to the editor on the topic of self-represented litigants.

A new and more extensive conference system, mediation offices in courthouses, a duty counsel system in courthouses, a dispute resolution system staffed mostly by volunteer family lawyers and Family Law Rules that punish those who do not make early and serious offers to settle through costs are further examples of efforts to improve the system, he says.