Mr. James MacDonald

James MacDonald, born in Alberta in 1934, moved to Vancouver as a child where he attended UBC Law School, graduating in 1957. After articling at Clark, Wilson & Company and practicing there for five years, he relocated to Toronto in 1962, initially working with Gordon Ford before establishing MacDonald & Ferrier in 1965 with partner Lee Ferrier. The firm specialized in family law at a time when it was considered the least prestigious area of legal practice.

MacDonald played a crucial role in Canadian divorce law reform during the 1960s. He and Ferrier presented a brief to the Joint Parliamentary Commission on Divorce Reform led by Senator Roebuck, advocating for marriage breakdown as the sole ground for divorce. Their recommendations influenced the groundbreaking Divorce Act of 1968, which introduced no-fault divorce based on separation periods. MacDonald authored “Canadian Divorce Law and Practice” in 1969 and became heavily involved in continuing legal education, serving as Director of the Bar Admission Course from 1970-1975 while simultaneously establishing the Law Society’s continuing education department.

Throughout his career, MacDonald witnessed and contributed to the transformation of family law from a disreputable field dominated by “divorce hacks” to a respected legal specialty. He joined Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt from 1986-1991 following the Family Law Act of 1985, then established his own boutique family law practice. By 2002, MacDonald was advocating for collaborative family law as the future of family dispute resolution, emphasizing interest-based rather than rights-based negotiations to better serve families and children.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.