BELINDA ROSSI Managing Partner ROSSI RODRIGUEZ MCNEILL & LEE LLP "PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE
Possessing a wealth of experience and knowledge in family law matters, Belinda Rossi has successfully been providing clients with superior, timely, and cost-effective representation for nearly a decade.
She launched Rossi Rodriguez McNeill & Lee LLP (a boutique Family Law firm) after becoming a Partner of a large top 10 ranked regional law firm.
As Managing Partner, she surrounds herself with first rate colleagues.
Having a background in business and corporate law, as well as fraud recovery, has been an asset to Belinda’s family law practice, which
includes assisting clients with complex income, property, tax, and corporate/
business issues that arise within the context of family law support claims, property division and preservation, trust claims, and production
requests.
If parenting issues are involved, Belinda takes a proactive approach to
resolving those matters in a child-focused, sensitive and effective manner. Belinda is skilled in high conflict cases, and works quickly to devise
personalized strategies that best meet each client’s needs.
Over the years, Belinda has gained extensive courtroom experience in all facets of family law, including custody, access, support, income determination, and property division.
Belinda’s expertise has also been sought outside of the courtroom. She has co-authored family law Continuing Legal Education materials for the
Ontario Bar Association and lectured on family law issues, including business valuation and income determination.
Belinda has been the recipient of the Granger Award in Family Law, C.C.H. Canadian Limited Prize (Family Law), and the Murray Award in Advocacy.
My Business Magazine asked Belinda how she
began her career, what are the biggest challenges
and what special skills she brings to her practice...
MBM: What interested you in family law?
BR: While at law school, I had a brilliant family law professor, the late James MacLeod. He was considered by the family law field as the “go to” person in family law. He took complex family law concepts and made them simple. He told stories about the cases he had worked on and I was riveted. I was fascinated by the hybrid nature of this area of law. Family law was not only about custody and access, it also incorporated real estate, tax, corporate and other financial issues. Learning family law under James MacLeod’s
guidance was a gift.
In family law, you engage with people and what matters most to them. It deals with their children as well as the financial health of the family.
The human component and my wish to help others in need cemented my desire to practice family law.
MBM: What’s toughest for your clients that you help them with?
BR: When parties separate, they are sometimes blinded by hurt, despair, and anger. That’s understandable. I teach my clients to focus on a path to resolution rather than the ‘war’. If disputes cannot be resolved, the decision will be taken out of the person’s hands and made by a third party – whether a judge or arbitrator. Trying to negotiate effectively, creatively, and reasonably is key. I pride myself on finding creative ways to keep a client’s financial health intact post- separation. If there are children, the only approach is one that is child-focused.
Empowering clients with knowledge and a strategy to meet their needs goes a long way in dialing down anxiety.
MBM: Tell me what is unique about you?
BR: I’m a case law junkie. I read about my area of law and updates all the time. I started a library of family law cases in my first year of practice. I have a huge sense of responsibility to my clients. I want them to be informed of
cases that may impact them and to have an arsenal of cases that support various legal positions.
Secondly, I have worked on many complex parenting and financial cases. Some of those cases have even been reported and cited in secondary sources.
Thirdly, as a lawyer, your reputation is one of your most valuable assets that you can provide to your client. No client is worth my reputation and why I won’t take on unreasonable clients. For example, I won’t represent a client who wants to marginalize the other parent from his or her child’s life because s/he is angry. Everyone wants what is best for the children.
Fourthly, I take my obligation to present cases to judges very seriously. I always consider what a judge needs to know, what evidence s/he needs to make a decision, and what law needs to be relied upon. I will work tirelessly to draft polished court materials that are persuasive and easy to understand.
Fifthly, I advocate fiercely, but respectfully. Judges do not like theatrics.
Finally, I always treat clients as I would want to be treated. Every case matters, so I never cut corners. I’ll stay up all night to make sure the job gets done and done right. I’m driven that way.
MB: Are there any misunderstandings that people have when they first meet you?
BR: Sometimes.
People will look things up on the Internet and that’s not often helpful. It’s the same when people look up medical advice on the Internet: your advice is only as good as the facts you have. People often have preconceived notions from others, who aren’t lawyers, who have told them things. I am brutally honest with my clients. It’s not my job to tell them what they want to hear,
but what they need to hear. They’ll appreciate that much more down the road.
Seeing the big picture is critical. It’s important for my clients to see beyond the separation. I am a problem solver and strategic thinker. I ‘roll up my sleeves’ right away - and will work methodically and quickly to move clients’ cases ahead. I’m their biggest advocate. And, this approach has helped me
achieve great success for my clients' cases ahead. I am their biggest advocate. This approach has helped me achieve great success for my clients.
Dave Gordon has penned more than a thousand articles, and more than five hundred editorials, on every topic imaginable. He writes regularly on domestic and international politics, current events, culture, relationship issues, and much more.
He has spent time in the newsrooms of the Toronto Sun, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun, National Post and eye Weekly.
Belinda Rossi
Managing Partner | Rossi Rodriguez McNeill & Lee LLP
Tel: (289) 845-9000 ext. 201 | Direct Fax: (289) 845-9001
81 Zenway Boulevard, Suite 2, Vaughan, Ontario L4H 0S5
Email: brossi@rrmlfamilylaw.ca
Website: www.rrmlfamilylaw.ca