Episode Details

For years, survivors of coercive control heard that what happened to them was real but had no legal category. A landmark Ontario ruling started to change that. In this episode, Sean Valentine of the Family Law Coach joins Lisa to break down a rare event: a self-represented survivor who won compensation for the coercion and control she endured over a 16-year marriage, under a newly recognized "tort of family violence."

Sean and Lisa dig into what made it possible, from how the claim was pleaded to the domestic-violence and power-imbalance training Canadian judges receive. They're honest about the hard questions too: how to put a dollar figure on years of psychological harm, and how a system opens this door without inviting exploitation. Lisa adds her perspective on the grit it takes to stand before a judge alone.

This is strategic education about a Canadian legal development, not legal advice for your specific situation.

✅ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
✅ What the new "tort of family violence" actually means for survivors
✅ How a self-represented litigant won damages for coercive control
✅ The specific way the claim had to be pleaded to succeed
✅ Why judicial training on abuse and power imbalances mattered
✅ How courts wrestle with putting a dollar figure on psychological harm
✅ The risk of a precedent like this being exploited, and the balance courts must strike
✅ What it really takes to represent yourself in a high-stakes hearing
✅ Why being proactive with evidence matters, with or without a lawyer

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS (+1:00 for the bumper)
0:00 Intro
1:00 The self-represented survivor who made legal history
5:00 What the "tort of family violence" means
15:23 Judicial training, and why this ruling was possible
23:00 Could it be exploited? Putting a number on psychological harm
28:14 Being proactive in your own case

CTA (spoken): Steering your own high-conflict case? Book a free discovery call at beentheregotout.com.
Books: Been There Got Out — https://www.amazon.com/Been-There-Got-Relationships-Circumstances/dp/194627495X/ · When Your Ex Turns the Kids Against You — https://www.amazon.com/Been-There-Got-Out-Against/dp/1967674183
Tags: coercive control, tort of family violence, family law, canada, self represented litigant, pro se, domestic abuse, power imbalance, high conflict divorce