Our Lawyers

Jonathan Quaglia

Jon started practicing law in Chatham-Kent in 1994 with his partners Gabe Benoit, John Van Raay, Sergio Spisani, and Stephen Fuerth.

Jon is a big personality with much experience in many areas of the law. Jon will extract relevant legal issues from clients, provide them with his opinion as to the outcome, the steps required to achieve their goal, and the likely costs of proceeding.

Jon manages the firm’s real estate department. He has guided developers through the creation of many of Chatham-Kent’s residential and commercial subdivisions. He acts for builders, commercial property owners, and residential home buyers and sellers. With more than 10,000 deeds registered, Jon is a local wealth of knowledge about closing a real estate transaction in Chatham-Kent.

Jon also manages the firm’s family law and estate litigation departments. Jon focuses on the legal issues over the drama. Jon will explain how the law applies to your circumstances and the various steps it takes to bring a conclusion to the legal problem. Jon has significant training in mediation in addition to considerable Superior Court of Justice trial experience.

Jon is married to Christina, and he has two wonderful children Noah and Jack. Jon is occasionally found lumbering around the local high school track where they call him “gramps.” Jon served on the first Chatham-Kent CCAC Board of Directors, the Board of Directors for the Chatham-Kent Children’s Services, and the Lambton Kent District School Board, Special Education Advisory Committee. Jon is presently a member of the local Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA).

Kurtina Hammerlein

Kurtina started her own general practice law firm in 2003. Kurtina joined Jon in 2013. Kurtina is an extrovert who quickly develops a genuine affection for people within the first few minutes of a meeting.

Kurtina manages the firm’s wills department. Kurtina takes the time to speak with every person contacting our office with a will enquiry. Kurtina explains the process of developing a plan to address a client’s future incapacity or physical/mental decline. She takes time to understand the client’s unique family circumstances and explains the process of developing a tax efficient plan to administer the client’s affairs on death. Kurtina collaborates with our client’s accountants, business lawyers, and business valuators to develop family trusts and complex dual wills in order to address the distribution of business assets or farm properties on death. Kurtina is uniquely well suited to preparing a will for existing clients or new clients.

Kurtina also manages the firm’s estate administration department. Many guardians, attorneys under a power of attorney, and Estate Trustee’s appointed under a will have no idea about the tasks that lie ahead of them or the perils they can find themselves in if their administration goes “sideways.” Kurtina has more than a decade of dedicated experience and training solely in this area of the law. Kurtina has an incomparable depth of knowledge about the steps that are required to be completed by a Trustee, how record keeping is to be undertaken, and the local accountants or other experts that can be counted on to provide solid tax advice. As a result, Kurtina is often hired to guide Estate Trustee’s through the administration process even when our office did not draft the deceased’s Will. Lastly, Kurtina is a trained real estate lawyer and as part of her duties she manages the sales of estate and non-estate properties for a variety of clients.

Kurtina is an active member of the Wallaceburg community. She represented the community on the Board of Directors of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. Kurtina is now a long time member of the Board of Directors of The Family Centre in Wallaceburg. Kurtina is also the member of the local Community Association of Gift Planners (CAGP). Kurtina is married to Steve and the mother of two active primary school age kids who are often found 10 to 15 yards ahead of her running into arenas, dance studios, and the Wallaceburg swimming pool.

Kurtina Hammerlein

Kurtina started her own general practice law firm in 2003. Kurtina joined Jon in 2013. Kurtina is an extrovert who quickly develops a genuine affection for people within the first few minutes of a meeting.

Kurtina manages the firm’s wills department. Kurtina takes the time to speak with every person contacting our office with a will enquiry. Kurtina explains the process of developing a plan to address a client’s future incapacity or physical/mental decline. She takes time to understand the client’s unique family circumstances and explains the process of developing a tax efficient plan to administer the client’s affairs on death. Kurtina collaborates with our client’s accountants, business lawyers, and business valuators to develop family trusts and complex dual wills in order to address the distribution of business assets or farm properties on death. Kurtina is uniquely well suited to preparing a will for existing clients or new clients.

Kurtina also manages the firm’s estate administration department. Many guardians, attorneys under a power of attorney, and Estate Trustee’s appointed under a will have no idea about the tasks that lie ahead of them or the perils they can find themselves in if their administration goes “sideways.” Kurtina has more than a decade of dedicated experience and training solely in this area of the law. Kurtina has an incomparable depth of knowledge about the steps that are required to be completed by a Trustee, how record keeping is to be undertaken, and the local accountants or other experts that can be counted on to provide solid tax advice. As a result, Kurtina is often hired to guide Estate Trustee’s through the administration process even when our office did not draft the deceased’s Will. Lastly, Kurtina is a trained real estate lawyer and as part of her duties she manages the sales of estate and non-estate properties for a variety of clients.

Kurtina is an active member of the Wallaceburg community. She represented the community on the Board of Directors of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. Kurtina is now a long time member of the Board of Directors of The Family Centre in Wallaceburg. Kurtina is also the member of the local Community Association of Gift Planners (CAGP). Kurtina is married to Steve and the mother of two active primary school age kids who are often found 10 to 15 yards ahead of her running into arenas, dance studios, and the Wallaceburg swimming pool.

Emilee Kloostra (student)

 

Emilee was a full-time student at J. Quaglia Law during the summer of 2021. She continues to be a part-time employee while completing her law degree (JD) from the Faculty of Law – University of Windsor in the spring of 2022. After graduation, Emilee will begin full-time employment as an articling student at J. Quaglia Law in anticipation of her call to the bar in June 2023.

Emilee grew up in Chatham. She is a graduate of Ursuline College (the Pines). She then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University. As an articling student, Emilee will be involved in a variety of matters under the direct supervision of Jon and Kurtina.