GC Boyle Law Firm’s moto is “Cultivating Change” and Gwendolen Boyle and her staff are committed to making every client’s experience a positive one.
They are an inclusive and accessible business that welcomes everyone regardless of race or sexual identity.
Gwendolen graduated from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, where she developed an interest in education law and equality.
She brings to GC Boyle Law Firm a wealth of experience and knowledge and has spent countless hours working with kids diagnosed with mental and physical disabilities.
The firm’s areas of expertise include real estate, landlord and tenant issues, wills and estates, family law, municipal government, environmental, small claims court and corporate law.
With estate planning, she stresses the critical importance of having a will.
“A will is very important to have. It doesn’t matter how much you have. A lot of people think that they don’t have anything, but they still have a car or a bank account. A will is very important to those people as well as everyone else. Just to make sure that what you want happens after you pass away.
“If you don’t have a will, then the government gets to decide who your money goes to with a pecking order. When you have your will, you’re able to decide who your trustee is, who you want your beneficiaries to be, and how much they get. And this is very important that you want to leave your legacy behind to someone that you care about and that you know is going to appreciate it.”
In the area of real estate, Boyle Law Firm handles home sales and purchases in addition to commercial transactions.
“So we do commercial buildings. We do corporation sales with the shareholders. So sales and purchases, we basically want to try to make your life better as a law firm.
“We help you to purchase a new home or to sell or upgrade or downgrade. We want to make your life better.
“We walk you through everything. We tell you every process that you need to know. And we will let you know of any mistakes or any problems that arise right away so that you know and we’ll tell you how we’re going to fix them or how to deal with them in that case. We’re there to try to take the stress off of you and to make your life easier.”
Gwendolen and her staff will also assist in family matters, whether it be adoption, separation or a variety of other family issues.
In particular, divorce or separation can be complex and emotional times for couples.
“Some of them are quite the adventure. It depends on how your partner is or your ex-partner is. But it can be very time-consuming and it is also a very stressful time for my clients. And that’s something that I like to help them with.
“I also have a psychology background. So I do try to use that to help my clients calm down, to help them take a step back and breathe and look at everything. So we are there to try to help people in law as much as we are just to help them as a person.”
On the corporate side, Gwendolen points out, “We do up the corporation books, we help incorporate companies to start, we can dissolve companies as well.”
That also includes issues related to a family farm or agribusiness.
Her takeaway from the conversation is the importance of having a lawyer.
“Like I said, over 95% of self-representations lose their cases. And normally it’s because they don’t know the process and they don’t know what to ask for or what to look for. And in this case, that’s where your lawyer comes in.
“A lot of people are trying to use artificial intelligence right now. AI is not the answer. AI is wrong in some cases. And there has been a case where a lawyer used AI and all the cases were made up. So AI is not the way to go at this point. You do need a knowledgeable lawyer and you need one to help you through almost every part of legal aspects in your life.”
GC Boyle Law Firm is located at 15 St. Catharine St. in St. Thomas, Unit 306. Call 519-284-2112 to schedule an appointment.They also have offices in St. Marys and New Hamburg.
You can listen to more of our conversation with Gwendolen Boyle below.
Written by Ian McCallum
