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8 Things to Remember When Attending Court

5/31/2018

The idea of court is stressful, especially when all you’ve seen are legal movies and T.V. shows, but sometimes court is hard to avoid. Here are somethings to remember:

Arrive Early: Try to be early. Sometimes the negotiations that happen outside of the courtroom are important and may even settle the matter, saving time and money. If a client is there early it allows more potential for these negotiations. If you do not have counsel, getting to the courthouse early allows you to get comfortable with the courthouse and courtroom, get your paperwork in order, and gives more time to seek out courthouse resources such as the clerks, Family Justice Services and duty counsel.
Bring your court paperwork: Bring all Orders, your Application, Affidavits and the Response from the other side. Do so even if you know your lawyer will also have it. It allows ease of reference for you. If you are self-represented, it is very important to bring your paperwork so that if you need assistance from duty counsel or other resources at the courthouse, you are prepared. If you have all your paperwork, it will also be easier to reference specific sections of your Affidavit and other court pleadings.
Be Respectful of the Courtroom: This is of utmost importance. The courtroom, Court Clerk and Judge or Justice is to be respected as well as any other court workers in the courthouse. That means to not interrupt the Clerk, Justice or Judge at any time and to speak only when spoken to. Your lawyer will ensure your position gets put to the Judge or Justice. There are a lot procedural rules that your lawyer knows and if you have any questions ask your lawyer, duty counsel or the court clerks. Only water is allowed in the courtroom. Turn off your cell phones. Do not talk with your neighbours excessively or in anything above a whisper.
Dress Appropriately: Remember that you want your argument to stand out and not what you’re wearing. Do not wear hats, t-shirts with explicit images or content on them or anything controversial. No pajama pants. My usual advice is to wear clothes that are professional but comfortable. Jeans, sweaters, nice blouses and button-up shirts are all ok. Black is always good. Talk to your lawyer with respect to any questions you may have about what to wear.
Practice Your Poker Face: Try to keep your face as neutral as possible when your matter is being heard. The Judge or Justice can directly see your expressions and your lawyer cannot. Therefore your lawyer can’t advise you as to your expressions. Certain expressions are not advised, like eye rolling or making large gestures. Some other expressions like smirking or aggressive facial expressions may also be a distraction. We may not be able to remind you before the court clerk, or worse, the Justice asks you to stop. Remember to sit close enough to your lawyer, whether right beside him or her or right behind to be able to discretely discuss the matter but any major discussions should be outside of the courtroom
Bring only supportive people with you, and leave your children at home with a caregiver: It is encouraged to bring support people to help you deal with the emotions and logistics of appearing in court. However, remember whomever you bring with you can be seen as a direct extension of you. Ensure that your support people will not be a distraction and that they follow the above tips. Try to only bring a small number of your closest support system, even only one or two people.The courtrooms are not big enough and a large support group may be seen as a distraction. Do not bring your children, find someone to look after them at home. Some courts do not allow children and it is usually not appropriate for children to witness their parents’ arguments in court. If you have any questions about who to bring ask your lawyer and they will help.
Pay attention to what happens with your matter. Whether it’s an adjournment, a consent order, setting dates or a full argument, pay attention to what is happening in front of you and ask your lawyer any questions that you may have after the matter is over. If it is an adjournment or a consent order, ask any questions you may have before the adjournment or consent order gets read on the record to avoid any problems with interpretation. If you are self-represented, remember to bring a notepad and a pen to take notes as to what happened on your matter. The court may give you deadlines for filing and serving additional court paperwork and you want to ensure to get those dates written down.
Relax as much as you can: We know it can be a stressful experience to go to court for even the smallest thing. Remember to ask your lawyer any questions before, during and after the appearance to clarify anything. If you are self-represented, ask duty counsel and other courthouse resources any questions regarding the procedure.

Whether you are in court for a traffic ticket or a family matter, attending court can be stressful, so try to relax, be prepared and pay attention and you will do fine.

Allison Ross

Allison Ross is an Associate with Rowanoak Law Office LLP who also acts as Duty counsel

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Wills 101 - Why You Should Use a Lawyer to Make a Will

5/24/2018

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Who do you know who says they should have a Will but don’t know where to start? People share “horror” stories people they know who had to deal with a family member or a friend who died without a Will and the problems that arose.
The best starting point is to get advice from a lawyer who works with you to ensure the necessities for a valid and enforceable Will are met. The information below is not intended to replace the advice you get from a lawyer and provides areas you need to be aware of when seeking advice.
The following are some major categories to be considered in making your Will:

Specific Requirements in making the Will document itself. The Alberta Wills and Succession Act provides specifics on witnesses, signing and format of the document. For example, there must two witnesses in the same room who sign at the same time and there are restrictions on who can be a witness. Alterations or marks on a Will can invalidate it. There are exceptions to the specific requirements, one being a holographic Will.

Executor (or executrix in the feminine form) is the person who administers your estate to ensure your wishes set out in your will are carried out. The Executor has the responsibility to:

gather, preserve and maintain your assets until your estate is distributed;
ensure your debts and funeral expenses are paid from your estate;
applies to the Surrogate Court to obtain a Grant of Probate that gives them the authority to administer your estate

This is only a short list of duties and responsibilities. You will want to select an Executor who will be able to manage these tasks. It is also advisable to pick an alternate in case your Executor is unable to act.

Gifts, bequests, beneficiaries etc. In a nutshell, who, what and when.

You decide who gets part of your estate. These are your beneficiaries. There may be some limitations if you have dependants. A lawyer can advise you on complex family structures and other considerations;
You decide what they get. Examples are money gifts, a share of your whole estate, specific belongings or gifts to charity. A lawyer can advise you on limitations, if any, on what you can give. Also, there are some assets you own that are distributed outside of your estate, for example insurance policies with a named beneficiary; and
You decide when your beneficiary receives the gift. For example, you may want to give part of your estate to minor children when they are older, so they do not have access to it all when they turn 18 years old.

This is an area where a lawyer can be of great help. Considerations are complex, and the lawyer helps you to avoid gifts that could fail if not worded correctly.

Other considerations to name a few:

Guardianship and trusteeship of minor children or dependant adults;
Corporations, partnerships or other business matters; and
Access to digital assets i.e. Facebook accounts.

Contact one of our lawyers for more information

Kelly Stewart

Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

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Settlement Negotiations

5/11/2018

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Settlement negotiations entail correspondence between the parties, or their counsel, that begins with discussing each issue and leads to various proposals or offers, and counter-offers, from each party with a view towards resolving matters by way of a settlement agreement.

The goal is for each party to propose an outcome or solution that both parties could reasonably live with and then put pen to paper to consolidate their agreement. The agreement would then usually take the form of the often referred to Separation Agreement, or a Consent Order to be filed in court if a court file is already open for the matter. A key note is that settlement often represents a compromise, so each party usually has to demonstrate a degree of flexibility in order to arrive at a resolution that both parties can walk away with.

The idea here is that it is better to have control over the outcome instead of handing your personal family matter to a Judge to decide, and moreover, the huge cost savings from avoiding formal litigation typically makes up for any financial compromise that may have resulted in (for example – if we were dealing with a property matter or arrears) a lesser payout than you were originally expecting.

Negotiations can also be conducted through the collaborative family law process. If you would like more information on this process, please visit: https://collaborativepractice.ca/

Jenna Walsh

Jenna Walsh is an Associate Lawyer at Rowanoak Law Office LLP.

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Alberta Courts Website

5/3/2018

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If you are looking for some information relating to the justice system, you may be able to find some information on the Alberta Courts website at https://albertacourts.ca/ which provides some useful information relating to all three levels of Court and is a good way to learn more.

In particular, the website is a good place to find the forms you may need, court locations and contact information, important procedural information and the latest announcements. It is a good first step in getting information with respect to your matter.

Chris Dick

Chris is an Associate Lawyer with Rowanoak Law Office LLP.

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8 Things to Remember When Attending Court

Allison Ross

Wills 101 - Why You Should Use a Lawyer to Make a Will

Kelly Stewart

Settlement Negotiations

Jenna Walsh

Alberta Courts Website

Chris Dick

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