Following a 3 year career in teaching human physiology and social biology at Dawson College in Montreal from 1970-1973, and then a year of travel with his wife and young son, Dan looked for a greater challenge as a lawyer. Upon graduation from law school in 1977 and completing his Articles with the firm of Powell Cunningham & Grandy in Parry Sound, he established his own general law practice in Bracebridge in April 1979, practicing initially primarily as a solicitor.

In 1991, not challenged enough, Dan opened a second office in Parry Sound where he had developed many friends and business contacts during his Articles there and over the years since. His love of Georgian Bay was also clearly a factor in this decision. Still looking for further challenges, Dan, together with Kelly Fleming, opened a third office in the lovely village of Minden in Haliburton County in August 2002.

During his career as a lawyer, Dan has gradually shifted his preferred areas of practice to civil litigation and family law while retaining a retaining a strong and active interest in real estate issues, estate planning and administration, and corporate and commercial law.

His background as a solicitor in those areas have assisted in his litigation practice. He has a special interest in law relating to roads and easements for rights of way, and generally any legal problem of a particularly mind-challenging nature. He is also known for his ridiculously early morning starts at work.

Although he has no specific plans for retiring, Dan has hinted that he might slow down a little by bringing into his practice in 2019 two bright and energetic young lawyers, Emily Shortreed and Kim-Isabel Obenhaus.

Dan has been married to his wife, Susan, since 1970, and together they have 5 children and 7 grandchildren. In the summer, he enjoys cruising all the highways and back roads in between in his Mustang convertible or on his Virago motorcycle, and tending his massive garlic garden.

Dan keeps in shape with cross-country skiing in the winter, mowing his 1 acre lawn with a push mower in summer and working out year round with his personal trainer, but is perpetually hindered in this regard by his renowned Ukrainian appetite. He has a particular interest in weather and the issue of climate change, having maintained daily weather records local to his home since 1982, and in keeping abreast of international politics.

Dan has been an avid Rotarian since 1983 as a member of the Rotary Club of Bracebridge. He served as its president in 1999-2000 and was instrumental in establishing the new Rotary Club of Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes. He is particularly interested in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program, serving a 2 year term as the chair of his club’s Youth Exchange Committee, and has served since 2002 as a member of the Youth Exchange Committee of Rotary District 7010, including a stint as its chair.  He currently serves on the board of the Alzheimer Society of Muskoka and the Family Council of the Pines Long Term Care Facility and is a member of the Muskoka Law Association and the Canadian Bar Association.

Kim commenced her legal career in Germany where she obtained a law degree from the University of Münster. In 2015, Kim moved to Canada and completed her Canadian Common Law studies at Osgoode Hall Law School and earned a Master of Law degree (LL.M CCL). She also obtained a Certificate of Qualification from the National Committee of Accreditation of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. While pursuing her law degree, Kim worked as a legal assistant at Wylaw Professional Corporation in the Real Estate department. After graduating from Law School, Kim completed her articles with Dan Wyjad and was called to the Bar by the Ontario Law Society in June 2019. 

Since then, she has been practicing law as a Barrister and Solicitor at Wylaw Professional Corporation. During Law School Kim volunteered as a student with Pro Bono Students Canada’s Family Law Project to assist low-income, self-represented family litigants.

Kim practices in the Bracebridge and Parry Sound office with a focus on Real Estate and Estate Planning & Administration.