Court File and Parties

Court File No.: FS-19-008883 Date: 2019-04-08 Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Between: Casey Trudene Knight, Applicant – and – Blake Lanier Gottesman, Respondent

Counsel: Bryan R.G. Smith and Sarah Conlin, for the Applicant James B.C. Edney and Joseph Slavec, for the Respondent

Endorsement

DIAMOND J.:

[1] Further to my Endorsement of April 5, 2019, I confirm that Justice Stevenson has now appointed me to be the case management Judge for this proceeding. As such, I will hear all case and settlement conferences going forward while another judge(s) will be appointed to hear motions.

[2] In my earlier Endorsement of March 28, 2019, a return date of June 25, 2019 was set for a long motion dealing with, inter alia, the issue of jurisdiction (Ontario or Massachusetts) and the balance of the relief sought by the applicant in her original motion.

[3] Included in the relief to be determined on June 25, 2019 was the respondent’s potential Hague Convention application seeking an order returning the children of the marriage to Massachusetts.

[4] Having now conducted two case conferences in this proceeding, and subject to receiving further submissions from the parties, if the respondent is intent upon proceeding with a Hague Convention application, in my view that application ought to proceed earlier than June 25, 2019 and in any event not be tied to or decided at the same time as the issue of jurisdiction.

[5] To that end, I would ask that the parties schedule a telephone case conference with me at their earliest convenience to advise (a) if the respondent is indeed proceeding with his contemplated Hague Convention application, and (b) if so, whether an earlier return date should be scheduled for that application.

Diamond J. Released: April 8, 2019