COLIN J. McCORRISTON

Colin obtained his B.A. at Glendon College, York University in 1975 and he obtained his LL.B. from Queen's University in 1978. Colin was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1980 and has been practising law in Ottawa since 1981.

Colin practises primarily in the area of Family Law, assisting clients with the issues arising consequent to family breakdown, in the often emotionally charged and confusing aftermath, as both spouses and their children struggle to make the adjustments they need to make to carry on independently.

Colin has also received extensive training in Mediation and also offers Family Mediation to clients who wish to pursue this alternative to resolve their issues. Colin is a member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Association of Family Mediation (OAFM), Ottawa, and is a member in good standing of Family Mediation Canada (FMC).

Colin has also earned a Certificate for completing the Arbitration Training Program from the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario (AMIO).

Most recently, Colin has embarked upon a new initiative to promote the further alternative of Collaborative Family Law. Colin is one of only twenty-two lawyers in Eastern Ontario who are qualified to hold themselves out as members of the panel of practising Collaborative Family Lawyers. CFL will prove to be the wave of the future for many separating couples who wish to maintain personal control of the settlement process and minimize their legal costs.

Colin strongly supports the use of these alternative dispute resolution (ADR) modalities or approaches in appropriate situations, as a preferable alternative to the more costly and adversarial alternative of formal court proceedings.

Colin is ably assisted by Lisa Hope. Lisa has 16 years experience and has been Colin's assistant since 1994 and, as the majority Colin's clients will attest, Lisa is an extremely valuable member of Colin's team. Together, Colin and Lisa do their best to serve their clients in a professional, confidential and sensitive manner.

Colin can also assist you with step-parent adoptions, legal name changes and other peripheral family matters.

In cases where the custody of and access to children may be in dispute, or separating parents are having difficulty in agreeing upon an appropriate parenting plan, Colin can direct clients to appropriate professionals with the expertise to assist them in finding solutions that are sensitive to their particular concerns and practical.

One such professional is Marianne Cuhaci B.A., M.S.W., R.S.W., Colin's wife who is an extremely well qualified and experienced social worker, counsellor and mental health professional.

Marianne Cuhaci B.A., M.S.W., R.S.W., can be called upon to mediate or to provide individual or family counselling.

In addition to Marianne's private practise with Colin, her extensive social work career of twenty-two years has included such varied positions as:

Front line social worker at the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa;
Member of the Board of Directors of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa; Social worker with the Forensic Program, Royal Ottawa Hospital;
Family and Individual Counsellor; and most recently, a Social Worker with The Family Court Clinic multi-disciplinary team performing custody and access assessments in high conflict custody and access cases which are before the Family Court.

Marianne's rich career background provides a significant and valuable resource to cases where special skills and expertise are required to assist parents in conflict and to achieve a settlement that truly is in the "best interests of the children".

Besides being sensitive to women's and children's issues, Marianne is known to be equally sensitive to the special issues that men face during family breakdown, making her approach one which benefits all family members.

In addition to English, Marianne has a working knowledge of French, and can converse in Armenian and Turkish. Throughout her personal and professional life, she has been exposed to many different cultures and is known by her colleagues to be culturally sensitive.

If you think Colin and his team may be of assistance to you, please call now to schedule an initial appointment to get acquainted with Colin and to discuss the issues of concern to you. Colin will be pleased to meet with you and to advise you about the alternative approaches that you should consider and the associated costs.

Together with Colin you can determine if he and the broader GMS team and resources that they offer can provide the help and services you require.