Karim U.
1/5
I will never forget the terrible experience I had with Chelsie McKay, and I feel it is important to share my story so that others going through divorce do not face the same situation. Divorce is already stressful enough, and instead of helping, she only added further complications. In my experience, she was unprofessional, greedy, and unsupportive.
For context: I have been dealing with a divorce since 2021. My first lawyer, Ashla Naidu, wasted both my time and money due to her lack of professionalism and confidence. Hoping for a better outcome, I hired Chelsie in late 2023 based on a friendâs recommendation. In our first meeting, I explained everything, including why I had left my previous lawyer, and I asked her about costs and timelines. She assured me the process would be resolved within six months â a promise that was never kept.
Instead of moving toward resolution, she dragged the case, kept billing, and pressured me into agreeing to a Judiciary Case Conference (JCC). She insisted my presence in court was not required and said she would handle it alone. To my shock, on the day of the JCC, while I was at work, she repeatedly called me and even contacted my boss directly, leaving me embarrassed and confused. When I finally spoke with her, she told me we now had to move to a pre-trial because my ex-wife was seeking full custody and other claims. This left me blindsided and betrayed â something that could have been avoided had she simply advised me to attend the JCC in person.
On top of everything, she acted like a complete scammer. She called me in to sign the JCC briefing, but instead of a quick process, she kept me in her office for nearly four hours, claiming that the JCC draft wasnât ready. This made no sense because every detail had already been exchanged through emailsâshe had been receiving my screenshots, pictures, and even videos, and charging me for all of it. Why hadnât she organized those documents into a proper file?
When I arrived at her office, instead of having the draft prepared, she began asking me to provide old emails, messages, and pictures as if I should have them on hand. Obviously, I hadnât brought all of that with me, since I went there with the expectation of simply signing the JCC briefing. When I told her the files were on my laptop at home, she insisted that I go all the way back to get it. At that time, I was living in Stonebridge, so I had to rush back from downtown, wasting at least 30 minutes.
This was nothing but a tactic to stretch the meeting and inflate her billing. She ended up charging me thousands of dollars for more than four hours of completely unnecessary hassle. Honestly, does someone like that even deserve to be called a lawyer? To me, her actions were entirely misleading and unethical, and I canât understand why the Government of Canada allows lawyers like her to get away with this. Itâs still shocking to me.
To make matters worse, she then demanded $8,000 to continue representing me. At that point, I refused and told her to stop working on my case. With no money left and no legal experience, I decided to represent myself. I prepared my own pre-trial brief and successfully submitted it to the court, though I was extremely nervous but achieved my goals.
As an immigrant unfamiliar with Canadian divorce law, I had placed my trust in Chelsieâs guidance. Instead, I learned the hard way that justice here can feel out of reach, and that most lawyers seem more focused on financial gain than their clientâs best interests.
At this stage, Iâve even contemplated taking my case to the Human Rights Tribunal or the International Court of Justice. My primary objective is to pursue justice and hold lawyers like her accountable.
For anyone considering hiring Chelsie McKay, my strongest advice is: stay away. My experience with her was not only disappointing but also prolonged my suffering and further eroded my trust in the legal system.
