Michael Oykhman is the founder and managing partner at Oykhman Criminal Defence. He’s also a senior lawyer at Savage Oykhman Law.

For 15 years, he has successfully defended hundreds of criminal cases. His areas of expertise are in Impaired Driving and Immediate Roadside Sanctions (IRS), criminal driving offences, and domestic assault among others. 

He has appeared at all levels of Court in Alberta and at the Supreme Court – the highest court of the judicial system in Canada. This speaks a lot about the wealth of experience he has accumulated throughout his practice.

He’s also an Advising Lawyer for the University of Calgary’s Student Legal Assistance. It’s great to know that he provides legal services to low-income individuals.

Some of his past clients have mentioned their charges being withdrawn due to his level of professionalism, confidence, and outstanding work. It’s impressive that those clients can now maintain a clean record and go on to resume life on a new slate.

Oykhman Criminal Defence offers free consultation and a flexible payment plan. To help their clientele, each one is paired with the right lawyer while also considering their budget.

They require a retainer fee before any work is done regarding a case. But in certain situations, it’s possible to pay a partial retainer so the lawyer can start with the initial steps, which is greatly appreciated for those unable to pay a large sum at once.

Oykhman Criminal Defence has several offices across Canada. So you might now always get to talk directly to Oykhman when he has a case in a different city.

However, it’s disappointing to hear that after hiring their services, a client was not believed by the lawyer immediately and was told to accept the charges. We hope this incident doesn’t happen again.

Greg Dunn of Dunn & Associates has an impressive 20 years of experience under his belt. His practice areas include Impaired Driving, Drug Offences, Fraud & Theft, and Manslaughter & Murder.

He has defended clients at every level of Court in Alberta, the Provincial Court of British Columbia, and the Supreme Court. We think this clearly shows his expertise in the law.

In 2009, Calgary’s Avenue magazine recognised Dunn’s achievements when he was chosen as one of their Top 40 under 40. This is a testament to his bright career as one of the city’s accomplished individuals.

He was legal counsel on several high-profile cases including the Bolsa New Year’s Day Massacre, Rat Torture Case, and the Arkansas Death Penalty Extradition Case. We think this reflects the trust major clients have in his skillset.

We believe that he has also established a reputation in the industry because he’s regularly consulted and invited as a lecturer regarding criminal justice matters.

Dunn is an annual lecturer at the Calgary Police Service Major Crimes Investigations Course. He’s also one of CTV’s Prime Time Crime Panel’s regular contributors.

Several past clients have praised his calm demeanour, honesty, and expertise.  We understand that being charged with a criminal case can be incredibly terrifying, so we give it to Dunn and his  team for displaying cool confidence under pressure.

Dunn & Associates is open 24 hours every day through phone and e-mail. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, a booked appointment is needed first before clients can enter the office. 

We’ve heard that some clients only had phone meetings and met with their lawyer for the first time on the day of the trial. Although this might be a good option during the pandemic, some people might want to discuss the case with their lawyer personally beforehand.

Besides Calgary, they also have a second office in Saskatoon. This means that their team is divided into two locations and you might not get to hire the lawyer you initially wanted. 

With over 20 years of experience in criminal defence and over 1,600 successful cases under her belt,, Susan Karpa definitely deserves to be on our list.

Karpa graduated with a degree in Criminology at the University of Ottawa and studied law at the University of Alberta. As a law student, she volunteered her time at the Student Legal Assistance.

She assisted counsel at the crown prosecutor’s office. This gave her insight into the prosecutor’s viewpoint and police investigation which would later on become valuable knowledge as a criminal defence lawyer.

Now in criminal defence, her practice areas include assault, possession of child pornography and luring, drug offences, and firearms and weapons offences.

As her way of giving back to the community, she assists students of Webber Academy for the Law Day Mock Trial competition. She also volunteers as a mentor for law students at the Calgary Legal Guidance.

We’d like to note that she works on block fees instead of hourly rates. The cost will depend on the difficulty of the case rather than for every consultation, which means there’s no worry about being charged for every phone call or e-mail.

Regarding payment plans, we like that clients can opt to pay for her services in installments. This means full service with regular monthly payments for those who cannot afford to pay in full immediately.

They also offer legal aid services, which is of great benefit to financially-strapped clients with a decent case.

Unfortunately, they do not accept appeal cases. So you might want to find a different lawyer if you need to file an appeal.

Clients rave about Karpa’s responsiveness and sense of urgency. One previous client, Bruce R, mentioned that Karpa was on holiday when he called their office, but she still managed to contact him the very next day.

Compared to other firms on our list, they have the least number of practice areas. They also have one phone number available on the website and we think it would be better if they can add another for potential clients.

Cory Wilson has defended clients ranging from murder to regulatory offences. He graduated from the University of Calgary Law School where he focused on criminal and constitutional law.

After graduation, he articled at Bennett Jones LLP, a corporate law firm with over 500 lawyers and advisors. This shows his potential in the field of law by being hired by a big law firm after only graduating.

We’re impressed to know that Wilson will personally handle your case instead of handing it over to a junior attorney or an articling student. This will definitely give his clients the confidence that their case will not go to a lawyer that wasn’t even their first choice.

We’ve gotten word from several clients that he personally handles all cases no matter the severity. His assistant, Gina, has also been praised for her friendliness and professionalism.

Several of Wilson’s clients have mentioned that he was transparent and focused on the case, providing regular updates. He was also able to get the best possible outcome for them.

They offer free consultation with no obligation. We appreciate that they have a flat rate fixed fee, which means that you will only pay the price quoted to you – avoiding any hidden or additional charges.

For payment options, they accept VISA, MasterCard, debit, and e-transfers. Aside from that, they also offer flexible, no-interest payment plans.

Hiring a lawyer can be expensive. So it’s great to know that they offer legal aid for those who don’t have the money.

When looking for someone to represent you on false sexual assault charges, Tonii K. Roulston is a good bet. She is a managing partner at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence.

She earned her J.D. at the University of Calgary where she majored in Political Science and minored in Economics. She also volunteered for 3 years at Student Legal Assistance during her time in law school.

She was also an articling student at Calgary Legal Guidance. This is where she offered legal services to low-income individuals. 

We’d like to point out that the retainer fee will depend on the lawyer in the range of $75–$3000. On average, we think this is reasonable because some lawyers in Calgary charge a minimum of $2,500.

It’s also good to know that they offer a payment plan. But it will still depend on how the client’s charges and how it will progress.

Only certain lawyers at their firm can represent their clients through legal aid. While this implies that you have a more limited selection of lawyers at your disposal, we can’t complain as this service is offered for free.

Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence has two other locations in Lethbridge and Red Deer. With a relatively small team, it might be difficult to book her immediately.

Aryan Sadat currently practices with Llewellyn Law in Alberta, while expanding his practice in Ontario.

His expanding law practice focuses on civil litigation, family law, criminal law, corporate law, immigration law, and real estate law.

We like that he can cover a variety of cases in each practice area he focuses on.

He’s an incredibly excellent and knowledgeable lawyer, and we think he might just be the one who can help you.

He has an unmatched sense of determination and drive to get the job done at the soonest time possible.

Reliability is a trait we think describes him perfectly. We can easily get in touch with him with any concerns. And like we said, he gets us results.

There’re little information about his law background on his website, and we hope we this can be addressed. Other than testimonials about him, we’d like to see more of his experience in law.

Overall, we highly recommend!