The Groundbreaking Tort That Recognized Intimate Partner Violence w/ Joanna Radbord

For decades, family lawyers have represented clients whose abuse was not defined by one isolated incident, but by a pattern of control: financial abuse, isolation, humiliation, threats, physical violence, and the slow erosion of autonomy inside the home.

The problem was that tort law did not always know how to capture that kind of harm.

Claims like assault, battery, and intentional infliction of mental distress could address pieces of the abuse, but they often miss the cumulative reality of intimate partner violence: the breach of trust, the coercive control, and the loss of dignity, equality, safety, and freedom within what should have been a safe relationship.

That is what makes Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia so significant.

In recognizing the new tort of intimate partner violence, the Supreme Court of Canada gave family lawyers a framework for harm many clients had been describing for years, but the law had not fully named. The case confirms that intimate partner violence is not merely a series of discrete acts. It can be a pattern of coercive and controlling conduct that causes its own compensable harm.

In this episode, Areta is joined by Joanna Radbord, a partner at McCarthy Hansen & Company, who worked on Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia as co-counsel for the appellant before the Supreme Court of Canada. Joanna brings both direct involvement in the case and deep experience in novel family law litigation, constitutional challenges, and research on intimate partner violence. She unpacks why the existing torts were not enough, what this new tort changes for family lawyers and their clients, and why Ahluwalia marks a major shift in how the law recognizes intimate partner violence.

What you’ll discover in this episode:

How Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia created a new tort of intimate partner violence and why that recognition is significant for family law.

Why existing torts like assault, battery, and intentional infliction of mental distress often failed to capture the cumulative harm of coercive control.

The three-part test family lawyers now need to understand when assessing intimate partner violence claims.

What the new tort changes in practice, from screening and pleadings to damages, settlement strategy, and client safety.

Why this case matters for survivors whose harm has often been minimized, fragmented, or treated as incidental to the “real” family law issues.

Access your complimentary copy of the exclusive resource guide provided by Joanna Radbord. Click the link below for an instant download.

A Primer on the Tort of Intimate Partner Violence

About the Guest

Joanna Radbord is a partner at McCarthy Hansen & Company LLP. Joanna has practiced for over a quarter-century, seeking to advance access to family justice through litigation, intervention, law reform, and education. Joanna was awarded the Law Society Medal for exceptional career achievements and contributions to her community in the areas of LGBTQ2+ rights, family law, constitutional, and human rights. She received the Lexpert Zenith Award: Celebrating Women in Law and the Canadian Bar Association Sexual Orientation and CBA Gender Identity Conference Hero Award. Joanna has done ground-breaking work on substantive equality and access to justice, including litigation to achieve spousal status for same-sex couples (M v H), equal marriage (Halpern), trans parenting (Forrester), birth registration (Rutherford), three-parent recognition (AA v BB), and defining parentage (Grand). In relation to Indigenous families, Joanna’s work has addressed jurisdiction over Haudenosaunee family law disputes (Beaver v Hill) and the best interests of Indigenous children in parenting cases (E.Y. v B.A.). She is currently co-counsel in litigation seeking recognition of the tort of family violence before the Supreme Court of Canada (Ahluwalia). Connect with Joanna on LinkedIn.

About Your Host

Areta Lloyd practices estate and trusts litigation, with a particular focus on capacity litigation. She participates in public speaking, mentors junior lawyers, and presents courses on estates law, health law, and law practice management. Areta has written for several publications and wrote a column for the Alzheimer caregiver website ALZlive.com.

Resources

Have a suggestion for a great case to feature on the show? Email me at hello@onegreatcase.com

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Access your complimentary copy of the exclusive resource guide provided by Joanna Radbord. Click the link below for an instant download.

A Primer on the Tort of Intimate Partner Violence