My Profile

I have held memberships with the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, as well as the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. I also ensure that I have enough time in my practice to provide services to Legal Aid Ontario.

My practice is focussed on Criminal Law representation. In addition to my formal university schooling I have taken training in Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. In addition to my private practice, I have presented numerous seminars on issues in criminal law and have mentored new lawyers as they begin their careers.

As a trial lawyer I have conducted numerous criminal trials. My court experience includes bail hearings, trials both with judge alone and judge and jury, sentencing, preliminary motions/applications, charter applications, and preliminary hearings.

My criminal trial experience has included both jury and judge alone trials at the Provincial Court and the Superior Court levels. Some of the charges that I have defended clients on are as follows:

Theft, Assault, Assault causing Bodily Harm, Assault with a Weapon, Uttering Threats, Domestic Assault, Fraud, Possession of Stolen Property, Impaired Driving, Sexual Assault, Arson, Mischief, Manslaughter, Attempted Murder, Sexual Interference, Dangerous Driving, Driving While Prohibited, Fail to Comply with Probation and Recognizance, Possession of Weapons, Possession of a Controlled Substance (Drug Offence), Trafficking, Counterfeit offences, Obstruct Police Officer, Forcible Confinement, Firearms offences, Personation, Obstruct Justice, Escape, Criminal Negligence, and more.

My experience in defending individuals has involved a number of high profile cases that have necessitated dealing with all forms of media. These unique experiences have allowed me to develop the necessary skill set to represent the best interests of my clients in the court system as well as in the court of public opinion.

As a criminal lawyer I have been accepted on the Extremely Serious Matters Panel of Legal Aid Ontario. I I regularly appear in the Courts for Halton, Peel, Hamilton, Kitchener and Toronto serving the municipalities of Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Acton, Hamilton, Waterdown, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Toronto and the surrounding areas.

I received both my Bachelor of Human Kinetics and Bachelor of Law from the University of British Columbia. After a year of articling at Feller Drysdale, one of the pre-eminent personal injury litigation firms in Vancouver, I was called to the Bar of the Law Society of British Columbia.

In British Columbia I also practiced in the areas of Criminal and Family Law with my practice based in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Prior to leaving British Columbia I was commissioned as an officer in the Canadian Forces and came to Ontario as a lawyer for the Judge Advocate General. My role was as a legal advisor to the chain of command of the Canadian Forces on such issues as military justice, criminal law, administrative law, contracts and general law.

Throughout my years of practise I have appeared before numerous courts and tribunals while representing clients of all backgrounds and walks of life.

My Approach

It has always been my approach to put myself in your situation. This enables me to work on finding solutions to your specific problem as if it were my own. In order to properly represent you it is vital that you are my focus. It is my practise to be in contact with you regularly in order to keep you abreast of your case, answer any questions you may have, and to ensure I am aware of your concerns.

You will have many reasons why your case is important to you and it is essential that I know these reasons. When we meet we will go over your case as well as your concerns. I will explain my understanding of the matter and ask you to confirm my understanding. We will also go over the possible consequences of your case and what effect they may have on you.

I am well aware that people look at things differently and that you may regard your case much more seriously than another client. Whether your case is serious or not depends on you and it is important that we work together in order to achieve the best possible outcome for you.

After our first meeting you will have a clearer idea of your situation and what the potential consequences of your case are.

In any legal matter it is important that you are kept informed at all stages so that you are able to make decisions along the way. In this way I provide advice in an educational manner. By listening to your needs and incorporating them into the case strategy I am able to aggressively represent your legal interests. It is important for you to remember that while I will give you advice and sometimes I may even try to convince you to take a certain path you are the decision maker. I am merely a resource for you to use in order to make the right decision for you.

It is very important that you feel comfortable with your lawyer and that you are able to talk freely with whoever represents you. My role is to help you get through the process that is the justice system and to guide you along the way. In order to achieve this it is important that we treat each other with respect and dignity. At the end of our first meeting I will ask you if you feel comfortable with me, if you are not please tell me. I will not be offended and it is important that you bring up any concerns that you may have at the earliest time possible. I feel so strongly about this that if you do not feel comfortable with me and my approach you should not hire me.

While working on your case I will explore every possible strategy and option. You will find that I am tenacious when working on your file and will do everything in my ability to get you the result that you deserve.