Your family is restructuring.

When you work things out by agreement, the law is a fine woodworking tool. When someone else decides, it becomes a chain saw.

Every family matter gets settled one of two ways. The people in it decide together, or somebody outside it decides for them: a judge, an arbitrator, a stranger working from a file.

I only do the first kind. I don’t go to court. The agreements I help people reach are ones they had a hand in building, which is usually why they hold.

Some matters do have to be decided by someone else. If yours is one of them I will say so early, and I will help you find the right person for it. Better you hear that in week one than after a retainer.

If you have children, they have one family, and you and your partner will always be in it.

That stays true no matter what else changes. What you settle over the next few months will shape how that family works for your children for years afterwards.

Hear the Child

My research, education and pilot practices in the mid-2000s led to founding the BC Hear the Child Society and the Child Interviewer Roster: a way for young people to put their own views to the adults deciding about them. Both are used throughout British Columbia, including in court.

How a young person is heard depends on the young person, considering their age, maturity, how comfortable they are and what is going on around them. I approach each child as unique.

Parents ask me to hear their child’s views in my mediations, or as part of preparing a formal Hear the Child Report. Professional colleagues retain me for this work on files that are not mine. Get in touch to hear from a child.

Suzanne Strathdee Williams

I have practised law for more than three decades, and for the last decade exclusively in family law. I work as a collaborative lawyer, a mediator, and a Hear the Child interviewer.

I take a calm, constructive and creative approach: helping people resolve matters and make decisions now that build a strong restructured family future. My work draws on extensive legal, facilitation and mediation experience, and a life-long focus on supporting the rights and healthy development of children.

Before this practice I worked in a boutique family law firm, at Canada’s Department of Justice, in the Vancouver office of a national firm, at a BC Crown corporation, and at an international child-rights organisation based at a university. That range — commercial, civil, administrative, Indigenous, human and child rights — is what I bring to family matters now.

I grew up in Saskatchewan, lived in Ontario, and have spent most of my career on the West Coast. I live and work in Victoria, and I practise remotely, so I work with people anywhere in British Columbia. It also means that seeing me costs you no half day off work and no drive across town, and there is no waiting room to sit in.

Practice

• Member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association
• Family Law Mediator recognised by the Law Society of British Columbia
• Mediate BC Registered Roster Mediator
• Qualified collaborative family lawyer — Collaborative Family Separation Professionals (Victoria), Collaborative Professionals of Canada, and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals

Children and family justice

• Founded the BC Hear the Child Society and the Child Interviewer Roster, now used across British Columbia
• Formerly Deputy and Legal Director, International Institute for Child Rights and Development
• Lead writer and consultant, the Canadian Bar Association’s Child Rights Toolkit for Lawyers
• Chair of several Child/Youth Participation and Access to Justice for Children/Youth conferences
• Introduced the low bono and pro bono collaborative law initiative to Victoria

Writing and education

• Perspective of the Child in Custody and Access Decisions — The Canadian Bar Review, Vol. 86, 2007, CanLII
• Bringing a Child-Perspective Lens to Canadian Family Justice Processes — Federation of Law Societies Family Law Program, 2008
• Legal Hooks and Springboards to Advance Children’s Access to Justice — Canadian Bar Association, 2015, updated 2016
• Collaborative Law for Family Well-Being — BarTalk, Canadian Bar Association BC Branch, 2021
• High Conflict Families in Family Justice: Pathways Forward — Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 2024

Called and educated

• Called to the bar in Ontario, 1995, and British Columbia, 1996
• Juris Doctor (converted from LL.B.), University of Saskatchewan, 1993
• BA (Honours), Western University

Throughout the experience of separation Suzanne was compassionate, professional, thorough and very service oriented. My separation was complex, emotional and involved a child with disabilities; in order to reach an agreement I needed a humanistic yet assertive lawyer with experience in negotiating an agreement that was the very best for my child. Suzanne far exceeded my expectations; I would not hesitate recommending her.

Former Client

I was a client of Suzanne Williams for a few years, and I can attest to her professionalism in facilitating the stressful, legal process of divorce. She provided unsolicited advice on options to pursue and was always timely in her responses and filings. I would highly recommend Suzanne as Counsel.

Former Client

Suzanne is very organized, effectively facilitates discussions, generates creative options, and moves things forward to completion. She possesses a deep understanding of mediation principles, conflict resolution theory and relevant legal frameworks. Her communication skills, caring, cultural sensitivity and ability to synthesize complex information and problem solve make her a valuable resource for clients and professionals alike.

Dispute Resolution Professional