Ryan Handlarski

I live and breathe it. At some point, being a criminal lawyer became part of my identity. Criminal law is something that I talk about at all hours of the day and think about at all hours of the night.

I am a person who believes deeply in the principles of the presumption of innocence, proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the right to a fair trial. I have devoted my life to these principles and to the clients that I advocate for. It is the only life that I could live.

I attended law school at the University of Ottawa where I won the criminal law award and was the teaching assistant for criminal law and procedure, clerked for a criminal court judge and worked for the firm of Greenspan Partners before I went out on my own. I have experience defending charges from impaired driving and domestic assault to more serious charges like drug trafficking, gun possession and murder. I accept Legal Aid and am on the Extremely Serious Matters panel.

My articles have appeared in Law Times, the Lawyers Daily and I have been quoted in NOW Magazine, the Toronto Star and have appeared on CBC’s the National.

Since starting my own criminal law practice, I have continued to defend individuals charged with a range of offences, from less serious charges such as assault and impaired driving to very serious offences such as trafficking cocaine, sexual assault and sexual interference, break and enter, aggravated assault and murder.  I believe that every individual charged with a criminal offence deserves a thorough and vigorous defence and deserves to have a lawyer that is accessible to explain the criminal justice process at every step of the proceedings.

I am a member of the Ontario Bar Association, the Criminal Lawyers’ Association and the Toronto Lawyers’ Assocation.

For more information, please check out the media section and my reported decisions.