Urban Family Law

About Urban Family Law

Urban Family Law is a Burlington practice built around a single focus: resolving separation and divorce without going to court. The firm was established by Elizabeth A. Urban, who earned an honours degree in political science and economics from McMaster University in 1986, an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1989, and was called to the bar in 1991. Early practice years included criminal defence and federal prosecution work before the firm's founder restricted the practice to family law in 1996.

The practice runs on the collaborative model, in which both spouses and their lawyers sign an agreement to settle the separation outside the court system, with a built in disqualification clause if either side later goes to litigation. Collaborative training was completed in 2008, and the practice now also brings in neutral parenting and financial professionals when a file calls for it. The firm does not appear in court; instead it handles cohabitation agreements, marriage contracts, separation agreements, parenting plans, support calculations, and equalization of net family property, along with mediation and arbitration representation and notary services.