Michelle Retief

About Michelle Retief

Michelle Retief is a family lawyer in McKenzie Lake's London office who helps people sort out parenting, support and property questions when a relationship ends. Those files can go before the Superior Court of Justice or the Unified Family Court, though Retief also uses alternative dispute resolution where it suits the family. After several years in traditional family law, Retief took up collaborative practice, a process that leaves the decisions in the clients' own hands. The goal is an arrangement that lasts and gives people peace of mind, reached creatively and with an eye on cost.

Retief's path to law wasn't a straight line. With an honours social sciences degree in international development and globalization from the University of Ottawa, Retief spent several years in public and private sector roles covering HR development, international business advisory work and refugee affairs. A JD with distinction from Western University followed in 2019, and the call to the Ontario bar came in 2020. Retief articled at a London family law firm, stayed on there as an associate, and then moved to McKenzie Lake as an associate in August 2022.

Law school brought a stint in Geneva as an Advisor in Legal Affairs at Canada's Mission to the United Nations, where Retief watched and supported multilateral talks on human rights. Closer to home, Retief volunteered with the Pro Bono Canada Family Law Project to help self-represented litigants, competed in the Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition and sat on the Canada-U.S. Law Journal's editorial board. Today Retief serves on the executive of the Middlesex Family Lawyers' Association. Away from the office, you'll find Retief travelling, cooking or reading.