This page provides links to some of the more recently published writing of John-Paul Boyd on subjects related to family law, arbitration and mediation, parenting coordination, children and parenting after separation, and access to family justice. Articles, papers and research reports not listed are likely available from John-Paul upon request; others are available for download from the University of Calgary Library. Titles in bold are likely to be of special interest to lawyers.

For general information about family law, read JP Boyd on Family Law published by Courthouse Libraries British Columbia. If you’re reading a print copy, be sure it’s the new 2024 edition. The book is written for family law disputes in British Columbia, but the portions dealing with divorce, the Divorce Act, the Child Support Guidelines and other federal legislation also apply in Alberta. The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta has excellent information about family law for Albertans.

You might also want to check out John-Paul’s YouTube channel, Five Minute Family Law. It has lots of videos on topics including getting married, parenting after separation, annulments and getting divorced.

recent publications

We’ve published a short commentary offering suggestions and best-practices for lawyers taking family law cases to arbitration, as well as two new guidelines about preparing for and appearing at remote arbitration hearings and mediation meetings.

· Last-best offer arbitrations: The process in a nutshell (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, October 2024)

· Guidelines for remote mediation meetings (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2024)

· Guidelines for remote arbitration hearings (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2024)

We’ve also been busy revising our participation agreements, including the agreements used for mediation, arbitration, mediation-arbitration, and parenting coordination. Check these out in the Participation Agreements page.

FAMILIES & Family law

· The boomers are coming: Economic and other issues of older individuals (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, February 2015, with Anna Laing)

· Dealing with pets after separation, Part 1: Understanding the law on personal property (LawNow Magazine, March 2016)

· Dealing with pets after separation, Part 2: Going to court (LawNow Magazine, May 2016)

· The expanding meaning of “other cause:” Support entitlement beyond the age of majority (Slaw, February 2020)

· Family law cases addressing the COVID-19 pandemic (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2020)

· A miscellany of recent, frequently cited appellate child support decisions (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, February 2016)

· Obtaining reliable and repeatable SSAG calculations (Department of Justice Canada, November 2009)

· Perceptions of polyamory in Canada (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, December 2017)

· Polyamorous relationships and family law in Canada (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, April 2017)

· Polyamory in Canada: Research on an emerging family structure (Vanier Institute of the Family, April 2017)

· Property rights and married versus unmarried relationships (The Lawyer’s Daily, November 2018)

· What, why and where: Untangling jurisdiction in family law (LawNow Magazine, October 2014)

Dispute resolution

· Arbitration of family law disputes in British Columbia (Canadian Family Law Quarterly, June 2017)

· A better alternative to family law rules of arbitration (Slaw, June 2019)

· Client and lawyer satisfaction with unbundled legal services: Conclusions from the Alberta Limited Legal Services Project (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, August 2018)

· Collaborative settlement: Resolving disputes after separation or divorce (Transition Magazine, September 2015)

· Designing rules of procedure for the arbitration of family law disputes (Slaw, December 2018)

· The end is not yet nigh: Remote dispute resolution in the age of COVID-19 (Slaw, March 2020)

· An evaluation of the cost of family law disputes: Measuring the cost implications of various dispute resolution methods (Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, December 2017, with Joanne Paetsch and Lorne Bertrand)

· A few thoughts for litigants: Why it pays to let bygones be bygones (Slaw, June 2015)

· Guidelines for remote arbitration hearings (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2024)

· Guidelines for remote mediation meetings (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2024)

· Handy tips and tricks for family law arbitrators (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, April 2019)

· How family law arbitrators make decisions and how to help them make the decision you want (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, March 2021)

· How lawyers resolve family law disputes (Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, November 2014)

· Last-best offer arbitrations: The process in a nutshell (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, October 2024)

· The meaning of justice in family law disputes (Slaw, November 2019)

· Mediation works: Should mandatory mediation be expanded? (Slaw, August 2016)

· Parenting coordination unboxed and repurposed (Slaw, July 2019)

· Reappraising the use of arbitration in family law disputes (Slaw, March 2018)

· Resolving family law disputes: Alternatives to court (LawNow Magazine, November 2018)

· Resolving family law disputes: Arbitration (LawNow Magazine, March 2019)

· Resolving family law disputes: Parenting coordination (LawNow Magazine, July 2019)

· Suggestions for lawyers taking family law cases to arbitration (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, October 2023)

· Suggestions for lawyers taking family law cases to mediation (John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers, September 2022)

· Think outside the box: Arbitrating family law disputes (The Lawyer’s Daily, September 2018)

Legal services & Access to Justice

· Access to justice and drafting family law legislation as a complete code (Slaw, May 2015)

· A culture of legal literacy (Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, March 2014)

· Deferred discomfort and the problem of justice reform (Slaw, December 2014)

· Early neutral evaluation programs in family law disputes (Slaw, October 2016)

· Family justice in Canada is at a breaking point (Slaw, March 2019)

· Legislative intelligibility and the rule of law (Slaw, January 2015)

· The need for a code of conduct for family law disputes, Part 1 (Slaw, April 2016)

· The need for a code of conduct for family law disputes, Part 2 (Slaw, February 2019)

· The rights and responsibilities of self-represented litigants (Slaw, August 2015)

· The rights and responsibilities of self-represented parties in arbitrations (Slaw, October 2018)

· We versus me: Normative legislation, individual exceptionalism and access to justice (Slaw, January 2015)

Children, Parenting after separation & conflict between parents

· At divorce and separation time, the children want to be heard (The Lawyer’s Daily, June 2018)

· Alienated children in family law disputes in British Columbia (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, July 2015)

· Bridging the gap: Providing children with limited standing in family law proceedings (Slaw, Janaury 2020)

· Conflict between parents, Part 1: The effect of conflict on children (LawNow Magazine, July 2017)

· Conflict between parents, Part 2: Strategies to reduce conflict (LawNow Magazine, September 2017)

· Conflict between parents, Part 3: More strategies to reduce conflict (LawNow Magazine, November 2017)

· The development of parenting coordination and an examination of policies and practices in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, December 2017, with Lorne Bertrand)

· Have we been mishandling our alienation cases? Let’s try a different approach (Slaw, October 2015)

· Interviewing children in family law disputes: A methodology for non-evaluative views of the child reports (Canadian Bar Association, December 2019)

· It’s not just them: The social and economic consequences of family conflict (Slaw, May 2015)

· Parenting assessments and their use in family law disputes in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario (Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, July 2017, with Zoe Suche)

· Therapeutic interventions and the alienated child: Whose interests are we serving, and why are we serving them? (Slaw, July 2015)

· Thoughts on the drawing of children’s affidavits (Canadian Bar Association, November 2019)

· When children refuse to visit, Part 1: Alienation and estrangement in family law disputes (LawNow Magazine, September 2015)

· When children refuse to visit, Part 2: Parental alienation (LawNow Magazine, November 2015)

· When children refuse to visit, Part 3: Responding to children’s refusal to visit after separation (LawNow Magazine, December 2015)

The Canadian Legal Information Institute has published a curated selection of John-Paul’s editorial columns on family law, access to justice and alternative dispute resolution for the online legal magazine Slaw. Browse or download the free ebook John-Paul Boyd: Selected Slaw columns from 2014 to 2020 from CanLII.

reuse of these materials

All of the materials available through this page can be saved, printed, copied, reused and redistributed without the need to first get our permission. All we ask is that John-Paul E. Boyd, KC be identified as their author.