Best Lawyers in Canada for Family Law
Emily Kissel is a lawyer who practises family law and estates law at Fourcand, Tremblay, Kissel, Plante ’s Montreal office. She appears regularly before the Superior Court of Québec and often represents clients in settlement conference. She has also pleaded before the Court of Appeal on several occasions and recently appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case Association de médiation familiale du Québec v. Bouvier. Emily has represented clients in divor...
Emma Ferguson is a member of our Wills, Estates + Trusts Practice Group. Emma has a broad wills, estates and trusts practice. She advises clients on all aspects of estate and incapacity planning, including wills, alter ego, joint partner and family trusts, powers of attorney and healthcare representation agreements. Emma has experience assisting clients with disabilities or their family members with planning to protect government disability benefits and advises clients on adult guardianship m...
Avra has been a renowned family law litigator for 40 years, with extensive trial and appellate experience at the highest levels of the Ontario Courts including the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. She is certified as a family law specialist by the Law Society of Ontario. Avra now acts as counsel to the firm's family law clients, having pivoted her practice to acting as a mediator and arbitrator in family law and in combined family law/commercial law of disputes. Avra is an a...
Katherine L. Shadbolt is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Family Law. Katherine L. practices law in Ottawa, Ontario Best Lawyers has recognized Katherine L. Shadbolt since 2012. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Katherine L. Shadbolt is held by other lawyers.
Dereck is a senior family law lawyer, having practiced exclusively in this area since being called to the Alberta Bar in 1995. Dereck holds a B.A. (Hons.) from McGill University followed by his L..L.B. from the University of Alberta. As a skilled litigator, he has appeared successfully at all levels of court in Alberta as well as in numerous arbitrations. Dereck also has extensive experience in negotiating settlements and drafting agreements. He applies a reasoned approach to his files and en...
For more than 30 years, Trudy Hopman has guided hundreds of clients through marriage, separation, divorce, child custody, property division, and other domestic matters. She has extensive experience in complex family law disputes and is also experienced in plaintiff personal injury and estate litigation. She’s both a litigator and a mediator, but her Calling is helping people resolve their disputes through mediation and arbitration. Trudy is regularly involved in multi-party negotiations...
Susan Metzler’s practice encompasses both commercial and personal litigation. She has represented clients at all levels of court throughout Ontario and in other provinces. Susan’s personal litigation practice includes defence for institutions against whom claims are made regarding members or employees who allegedly abuse others physically, sexually, or emotionally, a variety of issues related to educational institutions and family and estate matters, divorce and separation. Her co...
Erica Tait is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Family Law. Erica practices law in Toronto, Ontario Best Lawyers has recognized Erica Tait since 2025. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Erica Tait is held by other lawyers.
Stacey Silber is a Family Law lawyer with Farris LLP in Vancouver, British Columbia. She advises clients on a wide range of family law matters, including parenting arrangements, parenting disputes, division of property, child support, spousal support, and divorce. Stacey also assists clients with cohabitation agreements, marriage agreements, and separation agreements, and represents clients in mediation, arbitration, negotiations, and court proceedings. Stacey earned her Bachelor of Commerce ...
Laura is a family lawyer, mediator, and collaborative lawyer, currently serving as the CEO of MDW Law. MDW Law has established itself as a leader and innovator in handling complex cases. Since 2021, Laura has led this innovative group, developing a client-focused model for practicing law in a team-based environment. Laura enjoys solving complex problems and takes a results-oriented approach, striving to generate unique, cost-effective solutions. She uses alternative dispute resolutions to hel...
Caroline Lee, KC is a senior family law practitioner specializing in family law and alternative dispute resolution including collaborative family law, mediation and arbitration. She joined Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP 1989 with an established background in all aspects of family law. Caroline became a partner in 1994 and was managing partner of the firm for six years. She was appointed King’s Counsel in 2004. Caroline has been involved as a family law teacher and lecturer with the Legal Educ...
Family Lawyer for 30+ years. Mediator for 25+ years. Arbitrator and parenting coordinator for 15+ years. Current Co-Chair of the Alberta Family Lawyers Association; Past President for the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Alberta Branch; Past National Chair for the Family Law Section of the CBA; Background in psychology and corporate litigation.
Micah graduated with Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2011. He has been practicing exclusively in the area of family law for over a decade. Earlier in Micah’s legal career, his family law practice focused on high-conflict cases involving child custody, family violence, and urgent financial matters. He joined the partnership at Soby Boyden Lenz LLP in 2021 and has had an active mediation practice since 2022. Micah’s experience with high conflict fam...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.
