Chart Your Path Forward

Michael is a social justice advocate and lawyer who founded MBR LITIGATION. He obtained his bachelors degree in criminal justice from Ryerson University and his law degree from the University of Ottawa. Michael is a barrister and solicitor who is licensed to practice law before the Small Claims Court, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Following his call to the Ontario bar in 2019, and prior to founding MBR LITIGATION, Michael articled and subsequently worked as an associate at a civil litigation firm in Ottawa where he focused on several areas of practice. Michael's practice is now comprised of civil litigation, employment law, will drafting & estates law.

Michael is a member of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO), the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), and the County of Carleton Lawyers Association (CCLA).

Michael's social justice experience...

Prior to attending law school at the University of Ottawa in 2015, Michael worked as a research associate at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario where he was provided the opportunity to engage with a variety of social, cultural, economic, and political issues impacting Ontarians, particularly, First Nations communities. 

In 2013, Michael was lucky enough to be a part of a team from Ryerson University that led various initiatives focused on the social determinants of health in First Nations communities in northern Ontario, and advocated for First Nations rights in the realms of food security, housing, education, and the environment. That same year, Michael also had the opportunity to volunteer as a facilitator for Southern Youth in Motion (SYiM). SYiM was an initiative to connect youth from southern Ontario with youth from First Nations communities in northern Ontario through the arts in an effort to foster meaningful relationships, and to highlight the often treacherous living conditions youth face in First Nations communities.

In 2014, Michael was also selected as a member of the Cross-Over Youth Project (COYP) led by Dr. Judy Finlay from Ryerson University and Justice Brian Scully of the Ontario Court of Justice. The COYP focused on the trajectory of youth from group homes in Ontario into the criminal justice system across the Province. 

Michael was selected as the Coordinator for a Provincial Steering Committee which gathered information about the roles of various stakeholders in the lives of cross-over youth. The information collected by the Committee eventually resulted in the development of 10 key themes relating to the journey of cross-over youth in Ontario. These themes provided the impetus for several pilot sites.

In 2015, the COYP instituted four pilot sites in Ontario, namely, Toronto, Belleville, Thunder Bay and Brantford. In 2019, a report entitled Cross-Over Youth Project: Navigating Quicksand (the "Report") was released by Dr.  Judy Finlay and Justice Brian Scully of the Ontario Court of Justice, in conjunction with Matthew-Eaton Kent, Tara-Rose Farrell, Peter Dicks, and Jessica Salerno. The Report describes the COYP in its infancy, its gradual evolution, the impact of the pilot sites across Ontario, and how to improve the lived-experiences of Ontario's cross-over youth.

Sarah owns and operates her own small business in downtown Ottawa and is a part-time office administrator at MBR LITIGATION. Sarah's primary responsibilities  include, among other things, liaising with clients, scheduling client consultations and appointments, and ensuring the timely delivery of court documentation. 

Sarah is an enthusiastic, passionate, and creative individual who brings a wealth of experience to MBR LITIGATION. Prior to opening her own business and joining the firm, Sarah worked in customer service for 15 years. She not only thrives in high paced environments, but consistently demonstrates the ability to prioritize and adapt to the firm's changing business, management, and client priorities.