Margaret Opatovsky

Margaret Opatovsky is a partner in the law firm of Wilson, Opatovsky in Port Colborne, Ontario since 1991. She has a general practice with emphasis on family law, estates and trusts.

Margaret has practiced Collaborative family law since 2001 and is a co-founder of Collaborative Practice Niagara. She is also a co-founder and former chair of the Ontario Collaborative Law Federation as well as a former director of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

Margaret received basic and advanced Collaborative training from Marion Korn and received her basic and advanced training as a Collaborative trainer and coach from Richard Shields. Margaret now trains others in the collaborative alternative while continuing to take relevant courses herself to improve her collaborative skills. Margaret offers both basic and advanced Collaborative practice training, often in partnership with Michael Maddalena.

Prior to her career in law, Margaret was a social worker with experience in mental health, child protection and domestic violence response services. She has seen first hand the damage that acrimonious marital separations can do to families, especially children, and is encouraged by the growth of the collaborative alternative, both in family law and  non-family areas of law, as a more positive approach to dispute resolution than traditional methods.