The Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS)

• Since 1982 LISNS has helped Nova Scotians deal with their legal problems and become better informed about the law by providing them with legal information and resources.

• LISNS is a registered charity

LISNS Divorce Fair

I’m going to talk about the first LISNS Divorce Fair which we organized in 2010

Why a Divorce Fair?

• Family law is consistently the area of law that we get most questions about and the most accessed information on our website and through our Dial-a-Law program

• Around 70,000 divorces in Canada annually

Why a Divorce Fair …

Impacts on:• the couple, • children• extended familiesbefore, during and after the break-up

Purpose

To bring together in one venue a range ofprofessionals and services that people mightneed to access if they are thinking aboutor are separating or divorcing

Purpose

To bring together in one venue a range ofprofessionals and services that people mightneed to access if they are thinking aboutor are separating or divorcing

Target audience

•Married, common law, same sex partners who are separating or divorcing

Target audience …

• Extended family : grandparents, adult children, aunts and uncles – potentialimpacts on family relationships

Format

• Trade show – participants could ask questions one on one

• Information sessions• Keynote speaker• Separate days for men and women

Communications strategy

• The title – immediately caught media attention = free publicity in print, radio and television

• Makes people sit up and take notice• Clear target audience and subject matter

Audience Engagement

• Steady stream of people – probably about 300 over two days

• Most visited a number of booths and stayed for a couple of hours or more

• Most attended one or more info sessions• Keynote presentation was standing room only

Expected use of information

Attendees would:• Have a better understanding of the range of

services they might need to use and the best options for them

• Understand the impact of separation on children

Expected use of information…

• Understand how their behaviour during and after separation/divorce affects them and their children

• Use the information to change their negative behaviour

Feedback

“My wife left two weeks ago, I had no ideawhere to find out whatto do. The Divorce Fair has helped me plan my next steps – thank-you.”

Feedback

“I’m in my 60s. I started to my divorce years ago and never followed it through. My daughter encouraged me to get down here to the Fair to find out how to finish the divorce. I now know what I have to do and who to see.”

Repeat Performance

• We ran the Divorce Fair again the following year

• This year we tried to expand it to a more general topic and it was not successful.

• We are planning a Divorce Fair next year in Cape Breton a much smaller city than Halifax

Legal InformationSociety of Nova Scotia

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