Tessmer Law Offices

 

 

Welcome to Tessmer Law Offices

When your liberty, livelihood, family or assets are on the line, think of Tessmer Law Offices.  Our philosophy, 'When losing is not an option' really says it all.  We are a small group of highly motivated and skilled lawyers who work with you to get the results you need. Whether the government is trying to take and keep your assets or whether they are trying to put you in jail, we do whatever it takes under our constitution to make sure that doesn't happen. We leave no stone unturned to fight your legal battles. Browse the site to meet the lawyers, hear about some of our battles, and get updates on important legal issues of our time. Or, join the dialogue on Twitter and check out our Facebook page. While no lawyer can guarantee a win in Court a wise person makes sure he has a skilled advocate by his side to ensure the best possible outcome. 

 

Civil Forfeiture Law

This is the newest weapon in the British Columbia government’s arsenal   to take your assets. Even if you don’t get charged with a crime, the police may seize your money, your valuables, and even your house, if they can prove that it was probably used for a criminal purpose. The Civil Forfeiture Act gives wide powers to the ‘Director’ of Civil Forfeiture to commence lawsuits against your property to lead to a forfeiture.

In a recent case where the police tried to seize our client’s home, we were able to get the case dropped because the police violated our client’s rights in the process of executing a search warrant for a marihuana grow operation. The law of civil forfeiture is evolving and in order to protect your assets, you need someone knowledgeable in this area.

If you have a legal issue you want a Civil Forfeiture lawyer to help with, ASK NOW!

 

Criminal Law

Criminal defence is our passion and we defend against charges of all kinds.  If you are facing charges for assault, theft, impaired driving, drug-related offences, driving while prohibited, or any other crime, we can help. 

Our criminal defence practice has successfully defended our client’s at all court levels in Canada including the British Columbia Provincial and Supreme Courts, the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. 

We are at the forefront of “cutting edge” law and our criminal defence lawyers keep apprised of new developments in both statute and the common law.   We are constantly researching new laws and even have our own internal library filled with case precedents and authorities that we will rely on when we defend you. If you have a defence, we will find it and we will get you results. 

We also understand that financing can be a concern for many people facing criminal charges. One thing clients often worry about when deciding whether to get a lawyer is the “hidden costs” that other firms may charge. You can put this concern aside when you come to Tessmer Law Offices as our criminal defence lawyers offer “flat-rate billing”. This means that the amount we quote you at the outset is the amount you’ll pay for our services when we resolve your matter. We also offer three highly capable criminal defence lawyers with varying experience; we surely have a lawyer who can suit your financial constraints and satisfy your legal needs. 

To find out more information from one of our criminal defence lawyers, ASK NOW

 

Civil Forfeiture

Lately you've probably heard a lot in the news about the Civil Forfeiture Act and how the Director (arguably an extension of the Province) is now regularly applying to seize the houses of persons found growing marijuana illegally.  While the seizure of someone's property would seem to be punitive and criminal law in nature, technically the Civil Forfeiture regime is not considered to be an area of criminal law and therefore it is veiwed as independent of a prosecution by the Crown.  What that means is that even if you aren't actually criminally charged, or if charges are ultimately dropped, the Director of Civil Forfeiture can still apply to take your house under the Civil Forfeiture Act.  Seems sort of unfair, right?  Well the Courts don't think so and as long as the law is there, it will continue to be used.

 

We represent a number of clients who are subject to this regime and whom we've been fighting for to help keep their houses.  Last week we had a case where the Director was attempting to seize a house despite the fact that the client had not only been acquitted in the criminal trial, but the reason for the acquital was that the Judge found a large number of Charter breaches and ruled all of the drug evidence inadmissible.  No surprise - the police were not happy about the Judge's verdict so they referred the matter for Civil Forfeiture in spite of the acquittal. 

 

We argued that  it would be 'clearly contrary to the interests of justice' to allow the Director to use the drugs for a Civil trial after another Judge had already ruled the evidence inadmissible on account of the plethora of Charter breaches.  Before getting an official ruling from the Judge as to whether the drugs would be admissible on the Civil trial, the Director elected to abandon its case.

 

If you are dealing with similar issues and your house is subject to seizure by the Director of Civil Forfeiture, then give us a call.



Contact Us

 

Tessmer Law Offices
272 Bernard Avenue,
Kelowna, British Columbia
V1Y 6N4

 

tel. 250-762-6747
fax. 250-762-3163

email. [email protected]

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