Christopher Bird has been advising and representing family law clients in Toronto since his call to the Ontario Bar in 2011. After graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School, Chris articled with a Toronto practice where he primarily practiced family law, and then following his call to the Bar in 2011 began practicing family law exclusively. Prior to opening Bird Legal in 2017, he was the managing associate of Henderson Heinrichs LLP's Toronto office.
Christopher has broad experience in resolving medium- and high-conflict custody cases, whether via litigation or settlement. He is familiar with the mindset and theories of collaborative family law, but instead offers those principles as key to a successful litigation context by using them within the litigation framework for parties who might not be able to make use of the collaborative model. Chris has extensive experience as a family litigator, including multiple trials and numerous substantive motions. However, he 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 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, he has written about the Toronto G20 summit, analyzed election results, and written obituaries for Dr. Henry Morgentaler, 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 enthusiast, and a film buff. He also happens to make an excellent key lime pie.
Reported Court Decisions
Moreira v. Garcia Dominguez (2011 OJ No. 1100 (QL) - Ontario Court of Justice [Toronto] - trial for custody and parenting time)
Kang v. Kang (2013 ONSC 5509, Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Brampton] - motion for parenting time and custody)
Prusinski v. Prusinski (2015 Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Newmarket] - costs decision following victory at trial in a Hague Application matter)
Klassen v. McKeown (2016 ONSC 1311 - Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Stratford] - motion for custody, parenting time and location of residence of child)
Testimonials
"I had a court appearance against the Ottawa CAS and I could not find a lawyer. I called [Christopher's office] and he got on a plane to Ottawa the next day to represent me. He was more than a lawyer; he was a friend to me. And when he finished representing me, he found me a lawyer in Ottawa because he didn't want me spending money to fly him out again." - G.B.
"Mr. Bird drove out to Welland to help me come to an agreement with the mother of my son and her mother, who had custody, and helped the three of us come to an agreement so that we could go forward peacefully. His kindness towards my ex-partner helped smooth things over a lot and made her more comfortable agreeing to my having joint custody." - S.P.