Charney Law

About Charney Law

Charney Law is a small Toronto firm built around police accountability, criminal defence, protest defence and firearms law. Founder Davin Charney points to mistreatment experienced from police as a student as the reason for going to law school. Charney studied at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, and a small claims lawsuit against Waterloo Regional Police, filed as a third year law student, settled out of court for $9,000 in 2006 and led to co-founding the Police Accountability Small Claims Collective with fellow students. Charney began practicing law in 2008 and has since handled more than 100 lawsuits and complaints against 15 Ontario police forces and other public authorities, including the Chief Coroner's Office.

The firm works from a single office on Spadina Avenue in downtown Toronto, though its cases regularly reach communities well beyond the city, including Waterloo Region, Guelph and Blind River. Lawyer Tamar Friedman was called to the bar in 2016 and articled at the Ministry of the Attorney General's Crown Law Office (Civil), then served as Crown Counsel from 2016 to 2018, gaining experience in Crown liability, police liability and proceedings before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Charney Law also takes on firearms licensing matters and prepares Gladue submissions for Indigenous clients in the criminal courts.