During a family law trial, the respondent sought to qualify a social worker as an expert in family therapy and parental alienation.
The court refused to qualify the proposed expert, finding she failed to meet the threshold requirements of admissibility under the Mohan framework and lacked the requisite independence and impartiality required by the White Burgess test.
The court noted the proposed expert viewed herself as an advocate for the children, failed to comply with the Family Law Rules regarding expert duties, and demonstrated bias in her report.
However, the court admitted video interviews of the children conducted by the proposed expert, subject to later submissions on their weight.
