About Kathryn Smithen

Kathy is a powerful advocate. She is as persuasive on her feet in court as she is in making compelling submissions in writing.

She provides a strategic and individualized approach to the cases she takes on, tailored to the specific needs of each client. Kathy is fair, detail-oriented and fiercely loyal to her clients. She is devoted to improving family law in Ontario and beyond.

Kathy is particularly passionate about representing women who have been victims of domestic and/or sexual assault and helping them find safety, stability and financial resources through the family law process. She works regularly with women’s shelters, legislators, media, police and other stakeholders to help keep women – and their children – safe. Kathy’s passion in this area of law is as a result of her experiences as a survivor of domestic violence and as the mother of a child witness.

Kathy started her career as a lawyer at the age of 49 after articling for a criminal defence firm. She studied as a mature student and single parent at Osgoode Hall Law School where she earned a Juris Doctor degree in 2008. She was called to the Bar of Ontario after a lifetime of unusual, personal exposure to the judicial system in Canada. Her experiences give her a practical but unique perspective as a family lawyer who understands how family law is intertwined with other areas of jurisprudence. She regularly relies on her research and writing skills honed as an undergraduate student at Ryerson University where she earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2002.

Kathy spends her spare time engaged in art, film, volunteer work, helping her adult daughter plan her Big Fat Greek wedding, music, sculpture, screenwriting and Jewish genealogy.