Our Philosophy
At Real Family Law, the people you work with matter just as much as the process. Our team is dedicated to creating a safe, supportive space where you can move through difficult transitions with confidence and dignity. We combine legal skill with emotional awareness to help you rebuild, reconnect, and redefine your next chapter.
Catherine Koutsogiannopoulos
Founder & Principal Lawyer
Catherine is the Founder and Principal Lawyer of Real Family Law and Mediation, where she helps individuals and families navigate separation, divorce, parenting disputes, and complex life transitions with clarity, compassion, and strength.
Catherine supports clients in creating customized domestic agreements through negotiation, mediation, and other settlement processes. She also regularly advocates for clients in court, including at trial. While she is a strong litigator, she believes litigation should be a last resort in family matters and is committed to exhausting every opportunity for resolution before commencing an application.
She is known for working effectively on high-conflict, high net-worth matters and takes a highly collaborative approach whenever possible, believing that working constructively with opposing parties and counsel often leads to more creative, durable solutions that serve the best interests of everyone involved – especially children. She often helps clients de-escalate conflict, navigate challenging personalities, avoid prolonged litigation, and reach meaningful resolutions.
Through her decade-long volunteer work with Peacebuilders Canada as a Restorative Youth Justice Circle Keeper, Catherine helped divert youth away from the criminal justice system through accountability, healing, and reintegration. This restorative lens continues to shape her trauma-informed approach to family law, where she prioritizes physical and emotional safety, protects children, and helps families move forward with dignity.
Her work is grounded in the firm’s R.E.A.L. Family Law™ approach – being restorative, empathetic, accountable, and love-led. Catherine believes family law has a broader social impact: preserving parent-child relationships, fostering understanding after conflict, and helping families reintegrate into their communities without shame.
She is especially passionate about supporting clients who view conflict, separation, and major life transitions as opportunities for self-reflection, growth, and transformation. She meets clients wherever they are in their journey and often connects them with trusted professionals who can support their broader emotional, financial, and personal goals.
With an academic background in social and cultural anthropology and religious studies, Catherine brings deep empathy, cultural awareness, and a commitment to serving clients from all backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, and identities without judgment.
Elizabeth Ionita
Director of Operations & Client Experience
Elizabeth brings a unique blend of operational leadership, behavioural insight, and client care to Real Family Law and Mediation, where she leads the firm’s internal operations and client experience strategy – helping ensure every client interaction feels seamless, supportive, and aligned with the firm’s values.
With a degree in Psychology, Elizabeth brings a deep interest in human behaviour, relationship dynamics, communication, and the ways people navigate stress, conflict, and major life transitions to the forefront of how she leads within the firm.
Alongside her role at Real Family Law and Mediation, Elizabeth’s work in the human performance space focuses on nervous system regulation, stress management, and helping individuals build resilience during difficult life experiences. She understands that separation and divorce are not only legal events, but that they are often emotional, psychological, and physiological experiences that can leave people feeling overwhelmed and dysregulated. Her approach is rooted in helping clients feel grounded, supported, and equipped to make thoughtful decisions from a place of clarity rather than fear.
With over a decade of experience in operations, relationship management, and strategic growth across both private and public sector organizations, Elizabeth has built her career around helping people through periods of uncertainty with empathy, stability, and thoughtful guidance.
At Real Family Law and Mediation, she helps bring the firm’s R.E.A.L. Family Law™ approach to life by ensuring clients feel heard, supported, and cared for throughout every stage of their journey. She believes that how people move through difficult transitions matters, and that with the right support, endings can be handled with dignity, clarity, and compassion.
Robert McNeillie
Senior Associate Lawyer
Robert McNeillie is a family lawyer with extensive experience representing clients in complex family law matters, including parenting disputes, child and spousal support, financial issues, and property division. He has appeared before both the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and is known for his strategic, compassionate, and practical approach to advocacy.
Known for his thoughtful, client-focused approach, Robert is particularly passionate about advocating for children and families while helping clients move through difficult transitions with dignity and confidence. His work is grounded in ethical advocacy, practical legal guidance, and a commitment to supporting clients through some of life’s most challenging moments.
Robert is committed to helping individuals and families navigate separation and divorce with clarity, compassion, and human-centred legal support.
Gurneet Saini
Associate Lawyer
Gurneet was called to the Ontario Bar in 2022 and has built a well-rounded legal career grounded in family law research, writing, advocacy, and dispute resolution. She began her legal career articling in family law before expanding her expertise as a legal editor at Thomson Reuters, where she developed a strong foundation in legal analysis, writing, and interpreting complex legal issues. During this time, she also worked as a research lawyer, further strengthening her ability to approach matters with precision, thoughtfulness, and care.
In 2025, Gurneet joined Real Family Law and Mediation, returning to practice with a renewed passion for helping individuals and families navigate separation, parenting matters, support issues, and domestic agreements with clarity and confidence. She works closely with clients throughout negotiation, mediation, settlement discussions, and litigation matters, helping them understand their options and make informed decisions that support their long-term wellbeing.
Gurneet is committed to resolving family disputes in a supportive and amicable manner whenever possible, while also advocating strongly for her clients when court intervention becomes necessary. She understands that family law matters are deeply personal and often emotionally complex, and she takes pride in helping clients feel heard, informed, and empowered throughout the legal process.
Her calm and thoughtful approach allows her to support clients through difficult transitions with empathy, practical guidance, and steady advocacy.
Nova Reitsma
Paralegal
Nova brings a unique combination of leadership experience, operational excellence, and a genuine passion for making family law more accessible to clients navigating difficult life transitions.
Before entering the legal profession, Nova spent over 20 years in retail management, where she built a strong foundation in leadership, communication, organization, and problem-solving. Leading teams, managing complex operations, and supporting people through high-pressure situations taught her the importance of patience, efficiency, and clear communication – skills that now serve her well in family law.
Nova pursued a career as a paralegal with a clear purpose: to work in family law and help make legal services more accessible and affordable for families. Long before family law became an expanded area of practice for paralegals, she was passionate about entering this space and has been working toward becoming a designated Family Legal Services Provider since 2020. She is currently completing the final registration requirements with the Law Society of Ontario and looks forward to obtaining her designation early in her legal career.
At Real Family Law and Mediation, Nova works closely with clients on uncontested divorces, domestic contracts, child support matters, and Family Responsibility Office proceedings, helping make legal services more accessible while ensuring clients feel informed, supported, and empowered throughout the process.
Nova was drawn to Real Family Law and Mediation because of its commitment to protecting children, reducing unnecessary conflict, and embracing alternative dispute resolution whenever possible. She believes families deserve legal support that helps them move forward with dignity while minimizing disruption to their lives. She brings unmatched enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, and a deep commitment to serving clients with care and compassion.
Why Our Approach Works
A collaborative, human-centered approach to family law.
At Real Family Law, we believe the best outcomes come from partnership, not opposition. We take the time to listen deeply, communicate clearly, and guide clients toward solutions that reduce conflict rather than escalate it. By combining legal expertise with emotional intelligence and compassionate advocacy, we help individuals and families navigate life transitions with clarity, confidence, and dignity.
