Smithen Family Law

About Smithen Family Law

Smithen Family Law is a solo family law practice in North York, run by founder Kathryn Smithen, who has practiced family law in Ontario for more than fifteen years. The firm handles divorce, both contested and uncontested, child custody and parenting time, child and spousal support, property division, separation agreements, cohabitation agreements, and family law mediation, and it takes on same sex and LGBTQ+ family law matters as well. Smithen Family Law describes its work as trauma informed, built on the idea that legal representation should help people rebuild, not just settle a dispute.

Kathryn Smithen has a public profile beyond the case file. The firm's site lists features in Maclean's, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and Law Times, plus a CBC Radio appearance on Definitely Not the Opera. In September 2018, Smithen appeared as an invited witness before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, speaking to intimate partner violence. Smithen Family Law doesn't accept Legal Aid Ontario certificates, but it takes on some pro bono work and refers other clients to Legal Aid designated lawyers.