Christopher Bird | Toronto Family Law Lawyer

Christopher Bird has been advising and representing family law clients in Toronto since his call to the Bar in 2011. Christopher has broad experience in resolving medium- and high-conflict custody cases, either via litigation or settlement modes. Christopher is familiar with the mindset and theories of collaborative family law, but instead offers those principles as key to a successful litigation context; many separating couples who might not benefit from the collaborative family law model (due to existing conflict) can instead work within a litigation framework to produce more rapid results (and Chris has extensive experience as a family litigator, including multiple trials and numerous substantive motions). However, Christopher also believes that the conciliatory mindset that makes collaborative family law possible is still a good mindset from which to approach a more conflict-driven proceeding and reach a settlement which serves the best interest of all parties. He is also experienced in dealing with complex financial issues with respect to both support scenarios and matrimonial property.

Christopher has a varied background including a B.A. in History from Carleton University and a pre-law career working as both a freelance film professional and an evening assistant at the Integra Foundation. The Integra Program provides a variety of family-centred, direct clinical services to children and youth ages 8 to 18. While at Osgoode, Chris became Managing Editor of Osgoode Hall’s law blog (The Court) where he was in charge of a staff of twelve writers and editors providing commentary and analysis of cases decided in the Supreme Court of Canada. He also worked for one year as a member of The Innocence Project, helping unjustly convicted criminals attempt to overturn their sentences.

Christopher is also a freelance journalist and writer. Since 2005, he has been a contributor to Torontoist, Toronto’s most prestigious city-themed blog and the first digital-only publication in Canada to win a National Magazine Award; Christopher himself won a National Magazine Award in 2014 for his Torontoist coverage of Toronto City Hall. In addition to being Torontoist’s media critic (and former TV critic), he has written about the Toronto G20 summit, analyzed election results, and written obituaries for Mark Dailey, Elwy Yost, and Jack Layton. He also writes the ongoing comic book Al’Rashad, a fantasy epic currently in its second full-length volume, and has contributed to multiple volumes of Toronto Comix.

Outside the office, Christopher is a cyclist, a swimmer, a board game aficionado, and a film buff. He also happens to make an excellent key lime pie.

Position	Organization	Location	Duration
Associate Counsel	Henderson Heinrichs LLP		2016-Present
Associate Lawyer	Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre		2011-2016

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
Carleton University	Bachelor of Arts		N/A

State / Court	Date
Ontario	2011

• Member | Law Society of Upper Canada.

• Gold Award for Best News Coverage | Canadian Online Publishing Awards

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