What you do next matters
You have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay when arrested or detained, and you generally have the right to remain silent. Do not try to talk your way out of a serious allegation before receiving legal advice. Keep release papers, police documents, messages, photographs and names of possible witnesses. Do not contact a complainant if a condition prohibits it.
Bail and release conditions
Release terms can affect your home, work and family before trial. We advise on police release, bail hearings, no-contact terms, weapons prohibitions and applications to change conditions. Breaching a condition can create a new criminal charge, even when the original allegation remains unproven.
Assault, threats and family-related allegations
We defend allegations of assault, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, criminal harassment and offences arising from intimate or family relationships. These files often involve competing accounts, messages, injuries, 911 recordings and urgent family consequences. A criminal case and family case may affect each other. Advice should account for both.
Theft, fraud and property offences
We defend theft, fraud, mischief, possession of stolen property, break and enter and related allegations. The case may turn on identity, intent, ownership, electronic records, surveillance or the reliability of a witness. Employment and immigration consequences can also matter to resolution.
Drug, weapons and search cases
Search and seizure law can determine whether evidence is admitted. We review warrants, police grounds, detention, statements, handling of exhibits and Charter compliance. These cases require close attention to the record, not assumptions about what the police were entitled to do.
Driving-related criminal charges
Criminal driving matters can affect liberty, licensing, work and insurance. Early deadlines may apply to related administrative prohibitions. Bring every ticket, notice, demand and release document to the first consultation.
Negotiation, trial and sentencing
Not every case should go to trial, and not every case should plead guilty. We assess disclosure, possible Charter applications, available defences, collateral consequences and the Crown’s position. We then advise whether negotiation, a peace bond, a plea, a contested hearing or trial best serves your interests.
Prepared advocacy in Provincial and Supreme Court
James Lee has focused heavily on criminal and civil litigation and appears regularly before the Provincial Court and Supreme Court of British Columbia. He serves clients in English and Korean. George Lee and James Lee work within the firm’s experience in criminal defence, negotiation and courtroom advocacy.