Are you a lawyer in your first few years of criminal law practice? Or, are you looking for an opportunity to get back to the basics?
Join us for Criminal Procedure Fundamentals in Calgary (September 21) or Edmonton (September 28) and develop the confidence to carry a criminal file through from beginning to end.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Explore key topics, including:
- Preliminary Matters
- Trial Preparation
- Trials and Trial Strategies
- Sentencing
Get answers to important questions, such as:
- What do I do when my client calls and has been arrested?
- What do I need to know for my client and by when?
- What steps should I consider?
Receive a helpful list of do’s and don’ts from the Honourable Judge S.E. Richardson, and consider the Bench’s perspective so you can represent your clients more effectively.
Click here to learn more about this program.
MEET THE FACULTY
In a recent interview, we spoke with program chair, Shannon Gunn Emery, to learn more about the program and faculty. Here’s what she had to say.
“We’re going to be discussing bail and sentencing, how to prepare clients for trial and examination-in-chief. That one is rather exciting because we have a person who was Defence Counsel and is now Crown Counsel, who’s going to be offering that one, and I like that in particular because Marissa Tordoff was Defence Counsel. So, if Defence Counsel happen to have a hard time examining-in-chief—we don’t do it every day, and we’re very good at cross examinations, but not necessarily examinations-in-chief. Marissa, having become Crown, now understands, a lot better how to do that, and probably understands the mindset of the Defence Counsel who have difficulties with it. I think she’s well-suited to be able to assist people with the art of examination-in-chief.
Chris Millsap is going to be talking about cross examinations. Attendees will likely be less familiar with criminal law than practitioners who practice it all the time, so Chris is a well-seasoned criminal defence lawyer who definitely knows how to cross examine, and s that will be of benefit to people.
Laura Marr is covering bail and sentencing. She is a Crown Prosecutor in Edmonton, and she’s very approachable and knowledgeable. She’s also got a great sense of humour, and I think she’ll be able to give us some great ideas.
We’ve also got Joe Mercier and Richard Muenz, and we’re hoping that they’re going to fill in some of the gaps, like Charter notices, subpoenas, interviewing witnesses, assessing whether disclosure is complete, etc.
I’m covering trial preparation sheets and how to provide advice to newly charged clients in custody. I’m really excited about the trial preparation sheets. I never go to trial without them. It’s my little golden tool I use all the time. It’s a whole case on one sheet of paper, and I like sharing that with people. I think it’s really practical, because you don’t have to flip through pages madly trying to find things. It really helps organize and focus your thought.
We’re also really lucky that Judge Richardson agreed to join us. In court she has a very distinct idea of how things should go and how people should do things—and she’s not shy about telling people how they should be doing things. I thought it would be helpful for everyone to have her thoughts in a condensed format and I’m very interested in hearing what she has to say.”
We also asked Shannon what she thought attendees would benefit from the most.
I think that there is something in this for everybody. In fact, there was one very senior lawyer who contacted me and recently and said he’d like to sign up for this program. I asked why, and he told me, I know there’s going to be something that I’ll get out of it, and he’s right. It’s a practical, hands-on sort of program with scenarios and audience interaction. With criminal law, there really isn’t a nice, clean handbook about how to do everything. Instead, you learn a lot by doing, and unfortunately, you learn most when you’re making mistakes. That’s hard, because they’re usually very public—it’s not for the faint of heart. This program is one that makes criminal law a little more palatable. It’s interesting, practical, easy to digest, and it takes the edge off that fear of what’s going to happen.”
REGISTRATION
Register online to attend Criminal Procedure Fundamentals in Calgary (September 21) or Edmonton (September 28). Register today and save!
