M. Kathleen Kinch - Lawyer/Senior Partner

Kat Kinch is a seasoned litigator and administrative lawyer, who works interchangeably and enthusiastically in her court advocacy and in creative dispute resolution outside of formal processes.

She is a graduate of McMaster University’s Arts & Science programme and UBC Faculty of Law. While attending UBC, she was named one of Maclean’s magazine’s “Best and Brightest” university scholars, and received the Raymond G. Herbert award for best all-round graduating student in her law school class. She then spent a year as a judicial law clerk at the British Columbia Supreme Court, the trial-level court in that province. She practised at a large litigation firm in downtown Vancouver from 2006 until 2014, representing professionals in civil litigation and regulatory matters, and acting for individuals in family law disputes. She also served as co-counsel in the first modern prosecution of polygamy in Canada, and as a deputy independent supervising solicitor in a court-ordered investigation. She was on the litigation team in DESWUAV v. Canada (the leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on public interest standing in Canada) and in DESWUAV’s successful intervention in Canada v. Bedford.

In 2014, Ms. Kinch returned to her hometown of Warkworth, Ontario and established a litigation practice based in Campbellford, where she attended high school. While at Campbellford District High School, she was awarded the Pinkerton scholarship and the 1997 Governor General’s Academic Bronze Medal for the top student in the graduating high school class. Ms. Kinch is pleased to serve the legal needs of the community that provided her first jobs and early education.

M. Kathleen Kinch

In Ontario, Ms. Kinch represents clients in the Superior Court of Justice and before many administrative bodies. Ms. Kinch particularly enjoys files that require inquiry and investigation into the history or future of a piece of land, a group of people or a long-standing local business or farm, all common themes in her work in estates cases, employment law, zoning matters, and administrative decisions with high stakes outcomes for the people involved.

Examples of her work include:

Acting for business owners in commercial litigation in Superior Court, including on complex matters involving injunctive relief, equitable relief and disputes over commercial agreements;
Representing local municipalities and individuals in other municipalities at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, before the Mining and Lands Commissioner, and in court;
Representing education workers in administrative law matters with serious career impacts;
Appointments as counsel for elderly individuals under section 3 of the Substitute Decisions Act;
Negotiating numerous family law resolutions and settlements, prior to court, in the early phases of a court application, and on the brink of trial;
Acting on estate cases dealing with uncertain or lost wills, beneficiary issues, active court cases and passing accounts;
Advising employers and employees on workplace issues, and representing clients when those issues develop to employment law court cases or human rights complaints;
Assisting clients involved in mediation and arbitration of their complex disputes;
Serving as counsel on multiple files concerning trailer parks and recreational properties, including stakeholder disputes, customer contract issues, sale agreements, governance issues, legal non-conforming use, and environmental and zoning matters.

Ms. Kinch is a frequent presenter at continuing professional development conferences and seminars, speaking on topics related to the laws of evidence, estates procedure, and family law.

Outside of the practice of law, Ms. Kinch is a devoted community volunteer, serving on the board of Westben, on the regional Economic Recovery Task Force, and on the Trent Hills Heritage Advisory Committee, in addition to other community activities. She is a Master Gardener in training and a member of the Northumberland Master Gardeners.