Mark Halfyard - Appeal Counsel Pronounce

Mark Halfyard - Appeal Counsel

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Mark C. Halfyard is the senior appellate lawyer at Daniel Brown Law and brings over 20 years of appellate experience to the table. He is widely recognized as one of Canada's most respected and skilled criminal appeal lawyers.

He obtained his B.A. in legal studies and political science from Carleton University (2001), graduating top of his faculty. He graduated from law school with honours from the University of Ottawa (2004), where he completed a clerkship with the Regional Senior Judge of the Ontario Superior Court.

The Law Society of Ontario has certified Mark as a specialist in criminal law. Fewer than 100 lawyers in Ontario hold that designation, which recognizes both experience and adherence to high standards of professional practice. Mark has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada for Appellate Litigation and Criminal Defence. In 2024, Mark was inducted as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only, peer-selected honorary society of 3,500 trial lawyers across North America — representing fewer than one in 200 of all practising lawyers. He is a member of the Litigation Counsel of America's Trial Law Institute and Diversity Law Institute.

Mark is one of Canada's most prolific appellate lawyers, having argued over 400 appeals at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He also appears regularly as appellate counsel in the Superior Court of Justice and the Federal courts. Mark has appeared more than ten times as appellate counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada.

He has successfully overturned convictions for all manner of offences including: murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking and importing, impaired driving, robbery, fraud, firearms, kidnapping, and child abduction.

Mark has a particular interest in cases involving racial bias and Charter violations and is a strong advocate for procedural fairness in the criminal justice system. He has argued leading cases at the Supreme Court of Canada on the expertise of drug recognition experts (DREs), sexual assault, the right to trial within a reasonable time, mandatory minimum sentences, the constitutionality of the sexual offender registry (SOIRA), improper Crown practices in jury selection, and the presumption of innocence. Mark has also advocated for in-custody clients' right to adequate food, the right to full and fair Crown disclosure, and against false confessions.

Mark is the co-author of Criminal Appeals (Emond Publishing). He has published articles on criminal law and appellate practice and is regularly consulted by media for commentary on appellate issues.

Mark is a Toronto Director of the Criminal Lawyers' Association (CLA). He co-Chairs the Litigation Committee, which oversees interventions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Mark also Chairs, and is a member of, the Pro Bono Inmate Appeal Program (PIAP), which assists unrepresented appellants before the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He has also volunteered as review counsel for Innocence Canada.

Mark is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School (Criminal Law LL.M. Program) and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (Appellate Externship Program). He has taught criminal law at Ontario Tech University, with a focus on organized crime, and has taught courses on constitutional law, evidence, and oral advocacy. Mark regularly appears as a guest lecturer at legal conferences for defence lawyers, Crown counsel, and judicial continuing education programs.

A criminal conviction does not have to be the end of the road.

Mark can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (416) 297-7200 x102.