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Choosing the right lawyer: Civil law vs criminal law

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Canadian law can be an opaque, labyrinthine affair. The interplay between federal and provincial laws, Indigenous concerns, and the spheres of criminal law vs civil law create so many unique cases and situations that it is difficult if not impossible for any law firm, let alone choosing the right lawyer, to have the appropriate expertise for every situation.

Choosing the right lawyer

This can lead to a lot of confusion. Only a very small percentage of the population will have a personal lawyer on retainer — most people who find themselves in need will turn to google, or in criminal cases might rely on a lawyer provided by the province. Friends or family may be able to recommend a firm, but that is only useful if the situation involves the same legal specialization.

Increasingly, Canadians are choosing to self-represent, but that is a very risky move: one analysis of legal cases in Ontario between 2012 and 2016 found that just 14% of self-represented cases won. Far better, then, to find a lawyer with the expertise needed. The first step in that process is to examine the difference between criminal law vs civil law in Canada.

Criminal Law

In Criminal law, the plaintiff is the state (either the federal or provincial government) and the defendant is the individual on trial. Criminal law relies on the presumption of innocence; the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. This means that in criminal law, the defence has more options, as the burden of proof is higher than in civil cases.

To give one of many potential examples, if Toronto criminal lawyers had a client charged with an offense, but could show that the Toronto Police Service obtained evidence unlawfully, the case would be either dismissed or ruled a mistrial. This is the kind of specialized knowledge that a lawyer trained in criminal vs civil law would have at their disposal.

Civil Law

When comparing civil law vs. criminal law one of the big distinctions is just how many more specializations there are in the civil field. While a criminal lawyer might specialize to some extent in one type of crime, in civil law a lawyer (or even a firm) might fully focus on just environmental law, or bankruptcy law, or labour law, or a host of other areas of expertise.

Since civil law governs disagreements between individuals or corporations, rather than the state prosecuting an individual, the standard of proof is the balance of probabilities instead of a presumption of innocence. In other words, the plaintiff only has to show that it is likely that the defendant is liable, not prove it incontrovertibly.

Of course, in both civil and criminal law, any decision can be appealed, as can the sentence/remedy; and they can be appealed by either party. But grounds for appeal in criminal law vs civil law can differ.

It is in this deep, specialized knowledge that lawyers are distinct from one another, and it is why finding the right lawyer with the right knowledge can make all the difference in the success of a case.

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