MICHAEL ASHLEY, Toronto Family & Divorce Lawyer

Michael has practiced family law since being called to the Ontario bar in 2016, and has extensive experience in both litigation and various forms of alternative dispute resolution (including out of court negotiations, mediation and arbitration). He employs a practical approach to family law, ensuring at all steps that he maintains a relationship of trust and reliability with his clients while also contemporaneously managing clients’ expectations. Whether through litigation or negotiations, Michael advocates for his clients on a range of issues, including: parental decision-making responsibility (custody), parenting time (access), child and spousal support, income valuations for support purposes, property division and equalization. Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Ottawa, magna cum laude in 2012 and graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School with a J.D. in 2015.

Outside of the day-to-day practice of Family Law, Michael has a keen interest in the historical intersection between politics, the law and the advancement of members of the LGBTQ+ community’s rights in the context of family law (for example: same-sex marriage and family planning (adoption, surrogacy, etc.).

When he’s not at the office zealously advocating in his client’s best interests, Michael enjoys travelling to different countries around the world and soaking up the local culture, including music, cuisines and wines. As a proud dual citizen of Canada and the Republic of Ireland, Michael has most certainly taken advantage of a European passport, travelling to more than twenty-five countries and he has no intention of slowing down. Michael also enjoys wine tasting and cooking (with a keen interest in South Asian cuisine) and is a member of numerous Ontario wineries in the Lincoln, Ontario area.