Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre
4 lawyers · Established 1995 · City of Toronto
One of 2,345 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 579 handling Family Law.
Virtual appointments
Virtual appointmentsAbout Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre
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Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre is a Toronto firm that practices family law exclusively, taking on parenting, financial, and high conflict matters for clients across Ontario and, in some cases, outside the province. Gene C. Colman founded the centre in 1995 as its Managing Partner, after a career that began with a 1979 call to the Ontario bar and included time as a partner at Rayner, Oliver & Colman in Hamilton, a sole practitioner in Hamilton, an associate at Teplitsky, Colson in Toronto and Brampton, and senior partner at Colman, Greenwood & Posen in Toronto. The centre today includes additional lawyers, articling students, and support staff working alongside Colman.
Colman's work outside the courtroom shapes the firm's angle on family law: founding editor and advisory board member of the Canadian Journal of Family Law, and a founding member of the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, reflecting a long standing focus on equal parenting and procedural fairness in family court. The firm doesn't accept Legal Aid certificates or take on straightforward uncontested divorces. It concentrates instead on complex custody disputes, parental alienation, property and pension division, and cases that cross borders, and it declines to act for a parent trying to alienate a child from the other parent. Consultations follow a set process rather than a quick meeting: document review, a quoted block fee, a roughly two hour Zoom session, and a written memorandum afterward.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Gene C. Colman was called to the Ontario bar in 1979.
- Colman founded Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre in 1995, after earlier practicing at Rayner, Oliver & Colman and as a sole practitioner in Hamilton, at Teplitsky, Colson in Toronto and Brampton, and as senior partner at Colman, Greenwood & Posen in Toronto.
- Colman is the founding editor and an advisory board member of the Canadian Journal of Family Law.
- Colman is a founding member of the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, formed in 2004.
- Colman represented children through the Official Guardian's Child Representation Panel in Hamilton from 1980 to 1988.
- Colman was named FDRIO Member of the Month by the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario in September 2018.
In the community
- Colman served as first president and a board member of the Balmoral Homeowners Association from 1990 to 2017.
- Colman has presented to fathers' rights organizations, including FACT (Fathers Are Capable Too), on custody, access assessments, child support, and parental mobility.
- The firm publishes an ongoing blog and newsletter on Ontario family law developments.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
Virtual appointments
By appointmentLawyers 4
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1979–2017 · median 11 years in practice 4 of 4 lawyers
- Law schools
- Osgoode Hall Law School (2), University of Leicester, University of Ottawa 4 of 4 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- English, Hindi, Punjabi
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
The centre's office is on Bowring Walk in Toronto. Much of the firm's work involves clients from elsewhere in Ontario, or from outside the province, so the practice runs more on remote consultation than in person, walk in traffic. Intake happens online, files get reviewed by document ahead of time, and the initial meeting is a roughly two hour Zoom session rather than a quick sit down. That structure fits a caseload built around complex, sometimes cross border disputes more than routine local files.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre handle straightforward, uncontested divorces?
- No. The firm focuses on complex, high conflict parenting and financial disputes and doesn't take on straightforward uncontested divorce files.
- What if I think my ex is trying to alienate our kids from me?
- Parental alienation is one of the firm's main areas of focus. It also declines to represent a parent who is trying to alienate a child from the other parent.
- Does the firm accept Legal Aid certificates?
- No, the firm does not accept Legal Aid certificates.
- How does a consultation with the firm work?
- Consultations follow a set process. After you submit an online intake form and any relevant documents, the firm reviews the file and quotes a block fee, then meets with you over Zoom for roughly two hours and follows up with a written memorandum summarizing the facts, strategy, and next steps. There's no obligation to hire the firm afterward.
- I'm representing myself in family court. Can the firm still help?
- Yes. The firm prepares legal memoranda for self represented litigants, summarizing the statutes, regulations, and case law relevant to a specific situation, after you submit a numbered outline of the facts and issues.
- Does the firm offer mediation?
- Yes. Gene C. Colman offers mediation, with training from Dr. Barbara Landau and Prof. Howard Irving, to help both spouses work through custody, access, support, and asset division issues without going to court.
Where to find them
25 Bowring Walk, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5Z8 · 888-389-3099
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