Former Prosecutor turned
Criminal Defense Lawyer
Jonathan J. Israels is a Vancouver
Criminal Defense Lawyer (and former Crown prosecutor at both Provincial and Supreme Court), who represents individuals being investigated and/or charged with all types of criminal offences.
Former Prosecutor
Mr. Israels is a former Crown Prosecutor of 5 1/2 years at both the Provincial and Supreme Court level in British Columbia. During that time, Mr. Israels prosecuted strictly criminal matters ranging from drunk driving / impaired driving, to domestic assault, sexual assault and murder. As a former Prosecutor, Mr. Israels considers himself fortunate to have had the opportunity to conduct hundreds of prosecutions as he was in Court on almost a daily basis - dealing with bail, sentencing and trials of both summary and indictable matters. In other words, Mr. Israels was carefully instructed and taught to know what the Crown must prove in order to obtain a conviction. Having switched "sides" to do defense work as a Vancouver Criminal Lawyer, Mr. Israels now uses that valuable knowledge and trial experience he gained while a Prosecutor, to the Client's advantage when defending your case. It is notable that Mr. Israels is thus able to provide a unique perspective on the law and legal issues, because he analyzes your case first from a Crown viewpoint and then from a Defence perspective - allowing the Client to have the benefit of both sides.
Mr. Israels maintains his ties with the Crown office and in doing so, he continues to be hired at times by both Vancouver and North Vancouver on an "ad hoc" basis - contracting out his services to prosecute on the Crown's behalf. That said, the continuing benefit of having a former Prosecutor such as Mr. Israels as your Vancouver Criminal Lawyer, is the simple fact that Mr. Israels knows the law from both sides. He uses his valuable knowledge and trial experience he gained as a Prosecutor, when defending your case.
Should your matter proceed to trial, preparation is key. Mr. Israels is detail oriented and will carefully and thoroughly review the Crown's case with the Client many times prior to trial. Not only will Mr. Israels be well prepared, but the Client will be too. Being a former Prosecutor gives Mr. Israels the knowledge and experience of what sorts of issues will likely arise and more importantly, the types of questions that will likely be asked by the Prosecutor. That said, Mr. Israels is in the fortunate position to not only prepare the Client for his questions on direct examination, but he also has the knowledge and experience to discuss and prepare the Client for the types of issues and questions to expect from the Prosecutor under cross examination.