Practice Areas

Providing proactive advice & representation

Our lawyers regularly appear before arbitration panels, government boards, commissions and tribunals, and all levels of the courts, including the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada

  • The law prohibits the unlawful touching of another person without consent. These also include domestic assault of a partner or family member.

    Aggravated assault

    Aggravated assault is the most serious of these offences. An assault that wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of another person is within this type of criminal charge.

    Assault causing bodily harm

    An assault that causes injury or discomfort to the named complainant.

    Assault with a weapon

    An assault where a weapon or imitation weapon is carried, used or threatens to be used. Assault with a weapon does not require actual physical contact with another person.

  • Additionally, if you are charged with being a member of two or more people who engage in any of the above offences, you may be charged with conspiracy.

    All drug offences carry serious lifelong consequences some of which have mandatory jail sentences. However, there are a number of excellent defences available to individuals charged. We can structure your best defence to these charges.

  • Each case is a different challenge. The facts, the witnesses, the person charged. Counsel employ a series of strategies aimed at exploiting the weaknesses in the Crown’s case. These pre-trial strategies include applications for specific disclosure, challenges to the legislation, applications to exclude unlawfully obtained evidence, rulings preventing the Crown from using evidence that is too prejudicial.

    At trial, the focus shifts to the elements of the charge or charges highlighting where the evidence does not prove the offence brining out evidence favourable to the Accused. All of this is done before the Accused decides whether to testify or not. Some cases have multi-level strategies while some simply require a thorough reading of the case.

  • If you are charged with any drug offence, we can help. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Cannabis Act include the following types of charges:

    Simple Possession

    This usually refers to having in your possession a substance prohibited by law.

    Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking

    This section charges possession but with the added element that the amount or manner in which the drugs found, suggest it was for trafficking.

    Trafficking in a Controlled Substance

    These charges arise in situations where the Police have evidence of selling a prohibited substance.

    Importation/Exportation

    These charges refer to bringing into Canada or sending from Canada, substances that are prohibited.

    Production of a Substance

    The law prohibits production of substances without proper permits. In cases of marijuana, there are certain exceptions that allow individuals to legally produce marijuana.

  • In Canada, there are strict laws governing possession use and storage of firearms. There are sever penalties for certain firearms offences that may result in jail sentences even for first time offenders. These offences have many technical elements and the Crown is required to prove a number of these before a Court can convict.

    Often times, charges result from a search or seizure of the weapons that must be challenged by a motion to exclude the illegally obtained evidence.

    The Crown must also prove possession, which in law, requires knowledge and control of the weapon. There are numerous other related weapons offences including breaching weapons prohibition orders, unsafe storage and trafficking in weapons. We will defend you on any of these allegations if you are charged.

  • Impaired driving and driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood are the two most common alcohol driving related offences. A successful defence of these cases often involves filing a notice to exclude evidence based on the Police violating your constitutional rights.

    Other similar offences include:

    • Refusing or Failing to provide a Breath sample
    • Impaired operation causing death or bodily injury
    • Dangerous operation of a vehicle
    • Street Racing
    • Flight from Police
    • Failing to stop after accident
  • Luring means communicating with a child or person believed to be a child (someone under the age of 18) for the purpose aiding the commission of specific sexual offences by use of the internet or in certain circumstances texting and other social media. These sections carry minimum punishments that are actual jail sentences. It is not a defence that the person accused believes the person communicating is over 18 years old. Defence of these charges requires thorough and well researched defence strategies that may include arguments against illegal search and seizure.

  • A fatality Inquiry is a statutory hearing directed by the government into the sudden death of an individual. We have extensive experience representing Police services and Child and Family Services.

    We will help prepare our clients and represent their interest while working towards a favourable result.

  • The most serious offence with the most significant sentence in Canadian Law. Our firm has three decades of successfully defending clients charged with 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder and manslaughter and infanticide.

    Defending the most serious charge in law is often complex and requires meticulous planning. Our firm will assess the Crown Prosecutor’s case and provide a solid defence to counter the allegations providing you with the best defence.

  • If you are a professional charged under the rules of your association, you maybe facing sanctions, restrictions on your practice and possibly expulsion from your association. We have represented professionals charged by their governing body and effectively defended them. Our firm has experience in many board hearings including:

    • Lawyers
    • Accountants
    • Chiropractors
    • Nurses

    We can help.

  • Offences such as break and enter, possession of stolen property, trafficking in stolen property and the numerous related theft offences deal with proving an intention to commit these offences and in the possession offences, proving actual stolen nature of the property. Having the property is not proof of the offence which is a common misconception.

  • This broad category of offences includes the unlawful touching without consent of another individual that violates the sexual integrity of another person.

    This is unquestionably one of the fastest developing areas of the criminal law. It is complex and constantly changing due to the Courts interpretation of not only what are the elements of the offence itself, but what defences are actually available. Issues of consent actual or implied are minefields for accused persons defencing their case. As well, other related offences include: aggravated sexual assault; sexual interference; invitation to sexual touching; sexual exploitation; incest; beastiality.

    Each offence is distinct. Our office has represented individuals’ charges with all of these offences for nearly 30 years.

  • These offences deal with a wide variety of fact-based situations that involve deceit or false representations by individuals with an intention to deceive or misrepresent.

    It is important that no actual loss to any party needs to occur. It is sufficient to prove that there was a risk of loss to successfully prosecute the case. Large scale frauds are often connected to stock and securities prosecution by various levels of regulatory bodies. Separate charges may be laid in relation to allegations of fraud. Fraud charges are often document driven, meaning, the Crown Prosecutor’s often disclose thousands of documents that need to be reviewed, organized and evaluated for their significance.

    Parliament has recently increased penalties for this group of offences, that in some cases, where the value of the fraud exceeds on e million dollars, requires the Court to impose mandatory minimum sentences of two years in jail (if convicted).

Representing across Canada

We have represented clients at the Supreme Court of Canada. We will represent any client anywhere in Canada. We have extensive trial experience in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.