The Hon. David Steinberg

Justice David Steinberg provides a comprehensive account of his legal career, beginning with his family background in Hamilton and education at the University of Western Ontario, where he studied under Dean Ivan Rand and edited the Western Law Review. After articling with Mayer Lerner in London and establishing a solo practice in Hamilton specializing in family law, he was appointed to the Provincial Court Family Division in 1969 at age 31, influenced by his Conservative political connections.

Steinberg played a pivotal role in Canadian family law reform, founding and editing the Family Law Reports with Carswells in 1971, which became the first specialty law report series in Canada. His editorial work led to collaboration with the Federal Law Reform Commission on the Unified Family Court project, contributing significantly to the establishment of Canada’s first Unified Family Court in Hamilton in 1977.

As Senior Judge of the Hamilton Unified Family Court since 1987, Steinberg oversaw the court’s evolution from a pilot project to a permanent institution, emphasizing case management, mediation, and community resources. The interview details the court’s expansion across Ontario in 1995, the challenges of integrating federal and provincial jurisdictions, and his philosophy of collaborative justice involving the bar, bench, and community resources in family law matters.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.