Newman Barristers

About Newman Barristers

Newman Barristers is a small criminal defence firm in downtown Toronto that handles criminal and quasi-criminal matters exclusively, from minor offences through to murder charges. It doesn't take on civil, corporate, commercial, contract, or real estate work; its two lawyers focus only on defending people charged under the Criminal Code and related provincial statutes. The office is at 55 University Avenue, Suite 1100, in the city's financial core.

The firm took its current name in 2022, when Adam Newman continued the practice after former partner Justice Stephen R. Bernstein was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice bench. The two had worked together for seventeen years as Bernstein, Newman & Associates. Newman was called to the bar in 1998 after earning a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School, and one of the firm's lawyers is listed by the Law Society of Ontario as a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. Associate counsel Allison Cormie-Bowins, also an Osgoode Hall graduate, articled at a Toronto criminal defence firm and was called to the bar in 2015, then ran a solo practice and worked at a firm focused on drinking-and-driving cases before living and teaching English in South Korea; Cormie-Bowins joined Newman Barristers in 2019 upon returning to Toronto.

The firm's lawyers regularly bring Charter applications and challenge search warrants and wiretap authorizations, and they take on complex matters involving organized crime and homicide allegations.