Personal Profile

             I was born in Hamilton (sorry about that) and raised and educated in Burlington where I still reside.  I am married with one son aged 24 who attends medical school at the University of Ottawa.

             I graduated from McMaster University in 1968 with a B.A. and from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1971.  I was called to the bar in 1973 and started my legal practice in 1973 as a partner in Craig, Haber, and Matthews.  In 1977 the firm changed to Craig and Matthews and carried on until 1990 when we merged with the Hamilton firm of Simpson Wigle.  In the millennium year, I started my own practice in order to concentrate on the specific areas of interest to me.  In 2000, I successfully passed the national examination for designation as a Certified Financial Planner.

Practice Areas

             Nearly all of my legal practice is now concentrated in the areas of Family Law and Wills and Estates.  My family law practice concentrates on the areas of support and property division, particularly those which involve cash flow, tax, and valuation issues.  In the wills and estates areas, I have a wide practice from will drafting to estate administration and litigation of estate issues.

             In addition to the legal areas, I also operate a financial planning service in which I am able to provide anything from full financial plans to very specific and single goal types of plans.  Since the qualifications and areas of knowledge are quite different, I offer the financial planning as a distinct and separate practice. 

What the Future Holds

             The legal and financial fields today are marked by two very distinctive trends. As our world becomes more and more complex, professionals in all fields are being forced to specialize.   No more can one hope to be a “general practitioner” within the legal or financial communities.  At the same time a busier and busier public demands “one stop shopping”.  Banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, are engaged in a mad rush to gobble up competitors and expand services far beyond those which we traditionally associate with them.  All of the chartered banks have purchased or established a stock brokerage business and are anxious to invade the insurance and leasing industries.  Large brokerage houses function as near banks, some with chequing and deposit privileges.  Insurance companies offer all sorts of investments in various types of investment funds.

           On a very small scale, I have tried to recognize these trends and plan for the future by combining a legal practice in which I can offer a full family practice including wills drafting and estate administration with the ability to provide a full financial planning service, using my qualifications as a certified financial planner.