Team Profile

Patrick J. Aulis is the founder of North York Mediation and principle lawyer at Aulis Law Firm Professional Corporation.  After being called to the bar in Ontario in 2003, Patrick has maintained a general practice with a substantial emphasis on the traditional practice of family law through the various courts in Ontario.

In 2017 Patrick made the decision to shift his family practice from the traditional adversarial family law practice into a practice focused on a cooperative approach including collaborative representation of clients with another similarly collaborative lawyer representing the other party, mediation of family disputes by represented or unrepresented parties, arbitration of family disputes either of represented or unrepresented parties and the mediation/arbitration hybrid through which mediation is attempted followed by a binding arbitration of unsettled issues.

Patrick believes that empowering people with a fair opportunity to negotiate on their own behalf in a safe environment where they can be the driving force towards the solutions to the problems they share with their former partners is generally preferable to the traditional adversarial approach espoused in traditional family litigation.  Adversarial advocacy in litigation grew out of a tradition where people at arms length sought to resolve isolated disputes (like contract or tort claims) and then move on with their separate lives.  Family disputes rarely fit well in this model and the need to address long standing relationships stretching back over many years, take non-parties into account (such as the children and their interests) both in the short term and the long term (my former law partner and mentor, Mel Antflyck, liked to say that having children was a “life sentence”) makes them poor candidates for the traditional approach which often leaves them angrier with each other, feeling less empowered as their counsel start exchanging technical and tactical correspondence, perhaps unsatisfied with the result handed down by the judge and almost always greatly impoverished by the financial drain and emotional of the litigation process.

Upon graduation from University of Toronto with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and Ryerson University with a Bachelor’s of Social Work degree, I gained clinical experience in two large GTA Children’s Aid Societies.  I then transitioned into private practice, completing Custody and Assessments with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer for over four years.  I have attained my Family Mediation Certification from York University and Parenting Coordination Certification from Riverdale Mediation.  My practice is now broadened to provide a variety of clinical interventions for children and families.

When human beings experience separation/divorce and other traumatic life changes, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel.  My great passion is bringing awareness, understanding and strategies to people who have been through these life changing circumstances.  I help my clients, who include children, adults and families, to find healthy perceptions of themselves and strengthen their relationships so they can function as families within a new normal.  My goal is to coach and mentor adults to recognize how their children are impacted and make the necessary changes to ensure they are secure and well cared for in two homes, feeling loved, without choosing sides.