Our practice is focused on appellate and trial advocacy in criminal cases before all courts including the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. We have been involved in precedent setting appeals and are routinely called upon to act as amicus curiae before the courts. We are engaged in a wide-reaching practice that includes complex constitutional litigation, acting as a referee for law office searches and litigating novel privilege issues.

We advance focused defences and creative legal arguments. We give clear, open and honest advice. We care about our clients. We are passionate about our work.

Shannon Darby was called to the Ontario Bar in 2021 after completing her law degree with first class standing at Lakehead University. Before joining Embry Dann LLP, she clerked at the Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, Ontario.

While in law school, Shannon completed a placement with the Office of the Crown Attorney, in Kenora, Ontario. She was a caseworker with Lakehead University’s community legal clinic and a pro bono volunteer with the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre’s Justice Services.

Before entering law, Shannon obtained a Masters in Community Music (2014) from the University of Limerick in Ireland, and a Bachelor of Music (2012), specializing in Violin Performance, from Brandon University in Manitoba. For four years, she worked for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, managing an after-school orchestra program for disadvantaged children.

Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Dean Embry attended the University of Calgary and earned an Honours Degree in Philosophy focusing on analytical thought and theories of morality. Dean moved to Toronto in 2000 to attend the University of Toronto Faculty of Law; graduating in 2003.

While at the University of Toronto, Dean was employed as a research assistant and as a shift leader at Downtown Legal Services; a clinic which provides representation to low income individuals charged with criminal offences. In his second and third year of Law School Dean split his time between primarily criminal law related classes and the clinic through which he had the opportunity to prepare for and conduct multiple criminal trials prior to graduation.

After completing his articles of clerkship at the criminal division of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell Dean was called to the Bar in 2004 and worked for a well-known Toronto criminal lawyer for two years before joining Schreck & Greene in 2007. Dean remained at that firm through its various incarnations until 2011 when he opened his own practice.

Dean’s practice includes the representation of clients on a wide variety of matters. A substantial portion of his practice involves complex conspiracy cases, fraud related matters, drug possession and trafficking matters, serious personal injury offences including sexual offences and matters involving accused dealing with mental health issues. Dean has appeared in all levels of court in Ontario and appears regularly before the Ontario Review Board.

Dean previously served on the Board of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association and on its Executive as Assistant Secretary.

Richelle Cickello earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Windsor in 2007. She graduated with Academic Distinction from the Accelerated Paralegal program at St. Clair College in 2012.

Richelle’s paralegal internships include the Windsor Crown Attorney’s office, Community Legal Aid clinic at the University of Windsor, Citizen’s Advocacy clinic, Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, and the Windsor Essex Bilingual Legal Clinic. She has held a paralegal license with the Law Society of Upper Canada since 2013.

Richelle has completed training in Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) procedures, and has experience in Customs and Intellectual Property law.

Paul Socka is an associate at Embry Dann LLP, practicing at both the trial and appeal levels. He received his law degree from the Queen’s University of Faculty of Law in 2018, graduating as the gold medalist. While in law school, he worked with the Queen’s Prison Law Clinic, representing federal inmates at disciplinary hearings and before the Parole Board of Canada, and participated in the Gale Cup Moot, receiving the Peter Cory Factum Prize for best written argument.

Prior to joining Embry Dann, Paul articled at the Crown Law Office – Criminal and was called to the bar in 2019. He then clerked for Justices Doherty, Simmons, and Trotter at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and for Justice Andromache Karakatsanis at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Paul is a member of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association.

Erin Dann earned a bachelor of journalism from Carleton University in 2002 and received her LL.B. from Queen’s University in 2007, graduating first in her class at both Carleton and Queen’s. She clerked for the Honourable Justice Morris Fish at the Supreme Court of Canada and was called to the bar in 2008. Erin completed an internship in Lao PDR assisting in the implementation of the UN’s Enhancing Access to Justice Project before returning to Canada to work at the Crown Law Office Criminal. She joined the criminal defence bar in 2010.

Erin practices at both the trial and appellate levels. Erin is a member of the Pro Bono Inmate Appeal Program, a co-ordinator for the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, and a member of the Queen’s Law Moot Advisory Council. She is a regular speaker at continuing legal education seminars and an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University.

  • R. v. Wirkkunen, 2015 ONCA 140
  • R. v. Campione, 2015 ONCA 67
  • Re Furlan, 2014 ONCA 740, 123 O.R. (3d) 287
  • R. v. Capano, 2014 ONCA 599, 314 C.C.C. (3d) 135
  • Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Harkat, 2014 SCC 37
  • R. v. Parris (2013), 300 C.C.C. (3d) 41 (Ont.C.A.)
  • R. v. Martin, 2013 ONCA 210
  • Conway v. Darby, 2013 ONCA 538
  • Nadarajah v. United States of America, 2012 SCC 70
  • R. v. D.A.I., 2012 SCC 5, [2012] 1 S.C.R. 149
  • R. v. Kobzar, 284 C.C.C. (3d) 330 (Ont. C.A.)
  • United States of America v. Gionet, 2012 ONCA 622, [2012] 4 C.N.L.R. 305
  • R. v. Pittman (2011), 270 C.C.C. (3d) 387 (Ont. C.A.)
  • R. v. Reid (2011), 26 M.V.R. (6th) 1 (Ont. C.A.)
  • R. v. Cascagnette, [2011] O.J. No. 1354 (S.C.)
  • R. v. Janjic, 2010 ONSC 5013
  • Criminal Lawyers’ Assocation, Mental Health Issues and the Criminal Law, “Mental Illness and Criminal Trials: NCR and Sentencing,” Panelist, March 7, 2015
  • 8th Annual  Intensive Course on Drafting and Reviewing Search Warrants, Osgoode Professional Development, “Informers and Tipsters: The Use of Anonymous Sources,” Panelist, March 5, 2015
  • “’Holding the Not Criminally Responsible, Responsible’”: Federal Government Introduces Bill C-14: the NCR Reform Act”, with Anita Szigeti, For the Defence, Criminal Lawyers’ Association Newsletter, Vol. 35, No.2, May 2014
  • “Fitness and Criminal Responsibility,” For the Defence, Criminal Lawyers’ Association Newsletter, Vol. 34, No. 5, December 2013
  • Criminal Lawyers’ Association, Annual Fall Conference, Speaker, “Practical and Ethical Considerations of Raising an NCR Defence,” November 2013
  • “Mental Illness and Criminal Trials: A Primer on Assessment Orders, Treatment Orders, Fitness Hearings and NCR Hearings”, with Bob Richardson and Riun Shandler, Mental Health Issues and Criminal Law, Law Society of Upper Canada, Program Materials, September 2013
  • Justice of the Peace Initial Education Seminar: Good Judgment, Speaker, “Ethical Obligations of Lawyers and Paralegals,” September 2013
  • “United States of America v. Leonard: Why Gladue Principles Matter in Extradition,” For the Defence, Criminal Lawyers’ Association Newsletter, Vol. 34, No. 3, August 2013
  • Written and Oral Submissions on behalf of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding Bill C-54, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code in respect of the Mental Disorder Provisions, June 2013
  • Six-Minute Criminal Defence Lawyer, Speaker, “The ethics of raising the issues of fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility,” May 2013
  • Ontario Bar Association, Nuts and Bolts: Litigating Charter Applications and Appeals, Panelist, Crafting and Responding to Charter Applications, November 2012
  • “iSearch – There’s an App for That: Searches of Cell Phones, Smartphones and Other Electronic Devices,” with Joseph Di Luca, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Practical Challenges of Criminal Law, Program Materials, September 2012
  • “Best Practices Where There is Family Violence (Criminal Law Perspective), with Joseph Di Luca and Breese Davies, Report to the Department of Justice, FPT Ad Hoc Group on Family Violence, 2012
  • Law Society of Upper Canada, Criminal Law, Practice Essentials, Panelist, Sentencing Issues, June 2012
  • “Bedford v. Canada (A.G.): The Dangers of Prostitution Laws,” Toronto Law Journal, June 2012
  • “Privacy Rights after R. v. Gomboc,” with Joseph Di Luca, Osgoode Hall Law School, Professional CLE,  7th Bi-Annual Symposium on Search and Seizure Law in Canada, Program Materials, January 2012
  • “Reference re Assisted Human Reproduction Act: The Supreme Court’s Ruling on Fertility Legislation Delivers Mostly Confusion,” Toronto Law Journal, 2011
  • Criminal Lawyers’ Association, Spring Conference, Domestic Violence: “All in the Family,” Speaker, Peace bonds in Domestic Violence Cases, May 2011
  • “Emerging Patterns: The Exclusion of Evidence Post Grant,” Ontario Bar Association Criminal Justice Institute, “7, 8, 9 Stop, Search and Silence,” Program Materials, February 2011