Kelly Dawson

Kelly has exclusively practiced in the criminal defence area for over twenty-four years, representing clients charged with every conceivable criminal offence, from shoplifting to murder.  He has conducted thousands of criminal cases across Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon, at every level of trial and appellate court level, including the Supreme Court of Canada.  Kelly is one of the founding partner of our firm. 

One area of special interest has been the defence of impaired driving related allegations. To better understand this often technical area of the law, Kelly has obtained instrument certification on several roadside screening devices as well as the Intoxilyzer 5000, the main breath testing device in Canada. Kelly is the editor of the firm's separate impaired driving website located at www.impaireddrivinghelp.com.  This site provides some basic information about impaired driving law in Alberta, together with weekly case summaries of notable decisions in this area.

In 2006 Kelly joined the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association, and completed their training program for International Tribunals and the International Criminal Court in the Hague. He is currently in the process of becoming certified by the International Criminal Court to conduct cases in the Hague and United Nation special tribunals. On behalf of the Assocation Kelly acted as defence counsel in a mock trial of the Sudanese president on war crimes charges in New York in late 2006.

Kelly, together with his partners and associates, provides criminal law guidance to Student Legal Services of Edmonton.  He is a past director of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and has instructed on several criminal law topics for the Law Society of Alberta. 

Kelly owns a Chihuahua, Pug and a Bassett Hound, so he still possess a sense of humour.