John K. Lefurgey

About John K. Lefurgey

Lefurgey Law is the solo criminal defence and litigation practice of John K. Lefurgey, based in downtown St. Catharines. Lefurgey studied at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, then spent several years travelling and working across Canada, the Middle East, and India, in jobs that included irrigation supervisor on a kibbutz in Israel, physical education teacher at an orphanage in India, tree planter in northern Ontario, and bartender. An LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto followed, along with articling and early practice there, before a move to St. Catharines and a call to the Bar of Ontario in 1989.

The first decade of practice at the firm was devoted almost exclusively to criminal law. The last 25 years have also included civil litigation and construction lien work, and the practice now concentrates more on criminal cases, particularly the overlap between criminal law and mental health law; through Legal Aid Ontario's roster, Lefurgey Law takes on extremely serious matters, Gladue submissions, and Ontario Review Board hearings. The firm's trial record includes dozens of jury trials and appeals and hundreds of judge-alone trials, plus several thousand other cases resolved before trial. Lefurgey has also led seminars at the Ontario Bar Admission Course and lectured on evidence, procedure, and mental health law at continuing education conferences.