The DNA of a Criminal Defence Lawyer
"Being a criminal defence lawyer is in my DNA".
early litigation experience
David Chow is a graduate of the University of Calgary, where he studied both Philosophy and Law. As a graduate student in the Department of Philosophy he had the opportunity to teach both Ethics and Elementary Formal Logic.
David’s legal career began in 1999 while in law school with Student Legal Assistance (SLA). He successfully defended his first criminal trial in 1999 and ran several trials as a first-year law student. Included within this resume was an acquittal for assault (an incident at a gas station), an acquittal for impaired driving (a straddle case) and a win in small claims court (a case heard by then Judge Hunt-MacDonald).
David's litigation experienced continued in 2001 as a student with Calgary Legal Guidance (CLG). With CLG David padded his litigation resume with several more hard fought successes.
alberta department of justice
David Chow's professional career started as an articling student in 2002 with the Office of the Attorney General of Alberta (Alberta Justice). As a student-at-law, David prosecuted dozens of cases in traffic court. He appeared on behalf of the Public Trustee and tutored for months under lawyers at Alberta's Civil Law Branch. David also worked with then Judge Ann Brown in Special Prosecutions on her last case as a Crown Prosecutor.
In 2003 David was hired as a full-time Crown Prosecutor where he assumed the day-to-day conduct of criminal trials. In addition to prosecuting cases, he participated in teaching classes in criminal law at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T.).
joining the criminal bar
In 2005 David departed the Crown Prosecutor’s Office, joining the office of Patrick C. Fagan, Q.C.. While working with Mr. Fagan, David learned how to vigorously defend criminal cases. He also learned the many nuances to properly defending against complex drug prosecutions.
The firm eventually became Fagan & Chow. In 2009 the firm dissolved and transformed into Roulston Chow, where David practiced with Tonii Roulston, Andrea Urquhart, Robin McIntyre and others. David was the senior lawyer at Roulston Chow, where he remained until 2015. From 2015-2016 David practiced with lawyers Allan Kay and Darren Mahoney. In 2016 David moved his office out of Calgary's Downtown Core to practice at his suburban Northwest location in Varsity. He continues to enjoy this space.
With nearly two-decades of experience defending criminal cases, David Chow has defended the entire spectrum of criminal charges, including drug trafficking, domestic assault, conspiracy, possession for the purpose of trafficking, impaired driving, criminal negligence, all driving cases involving death or bodily injury, kidnapping, theft, fraud, all property offences and serious crimes of violence including manslaughter and murder. David Chow is one of a handful of Calgary criminal lawyers who has secured verdicts of "not guilty" of murder in multiple cases.
Working in our criminal justice system
David Chow strongly believes in the importance of protecting our right to live in a free and democratic society. In his view, truly valuing Constitutional principles requires an acute appreciation of the core values underlying Canada’s system of criminal justice. In his view, the presumption of innocence, proof beyond a reasonable doubt and civil liberty must be assiduously protected.
Ironically, it is most often through the defence of persons charged with criminal offences that the most important tenets of a free society are recognized.
Evidence of David’s devotion is highlighted by numerous hard-fought success; many of which that can be located in various legal databases, including Lexis-Nexis Quicklaw, Carswell, CanLii and Westlaw.
David Chow is not merely a Calgary defence lawyer, he is a Calgary impaired driving lawyer and Calgary drug lawyer. He routinely appears in Calgary Provincial Court, Calgary Provincial circuit points, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the Alberta Court of Appeal. David has also appeared at the British Columbia Provincial Court, the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. David regularly practices out of Cochrane, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.
If you need a criminal defence lawyer, let David Chow put his unique perspective, skill and experience to work for you. Call 403.452.8018.
Calgary Domestic Violence Offences | Impaired Driving Lawyer in Calgary | Calgary Drug Lawyer | More