James Douglas Foord

James Foord is a senior lawyer at Edelson Foord Law. Prior to that he was a Partner at Foord & Crawford. James completed an Honours Degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1992, and then continued his studies at Queen’s University, where he obtained his Baccalaureate of Laws in 1996. He was called to the Bar in 1998 and since that time his practice has been restricted to criminal law.

His practice is focused primarily on criminal trial and appellate advocacy, but he also represents individuals who are charged with regulatory offences and represents professionals before their disciplinary tribunals. James has successfully defended individuals charged with all criminal offences, including homicide, domestic violence, impaired driving (DUI) and Over 80, all drug offences, firearm offences, white-collar fraud, and youth offences. James regularly represents individuals on appeal, both from conviction and sentence and has successfully appeared at all levels of court: the Supreme Court of Canada; the Federal Court of Appeal; the Ontario Court of Appeal; the Superior Court of Justice; and the Ontario Court of Justice.

James teaches Trial Advocacy at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, and regularly presents at Continuing Legal Education programs and Judge’s Conferences.

James is a past President of the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa and a former Trustee of the County of Carleton Law Association. From 2009 to 2013 James was the Co-Chair of the Ottawa Criminal Law Conference in Montebello, Quebec, and has also chaired the Impaired Driving Update panel at the Ottawa Criminal Law Conference since 2009. He is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association.

In 2006, James was awarded the Regional Senior Justice’s Award in recognition of his accomplishments as an advocate.