PETERBOROUGH CRIMINAL LAWYERS
Meeting Place
263 Charlotte Street
Peterborough, Ontario
K9J 2V3
Phone / Email
Office Hours
Monday – Friday: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM by appointment
After Hours & Weekend: by appointment

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION
We offer free 30-minute initial consultations to individuals in Peterborough. Our criminal defence lawyers are available to review your case with you.
Some of the Criminal Allegations We Defend Against in Peterborough
Drinking and Driving
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Domestic Assaults
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Other Assaults & Threats
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Sex Assaults
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Internet Crimes
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Bail Hearings
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Dangerous Driving and Traffic Charges
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Driving With a Suspended Licence
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Drug Charges
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Theft Charges
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Mischief Charges
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Young Offenders
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Aitken Robertson Criminal Law Office in Peterborough
Located east of the Otonabee River, the Peterborough location of Aitken Robertson is the home office of founding lawyer Richard Aitken and hosts a large number of Aitken Robertson employees.
Lawyer Dan Lemaire handles the majority of our clients in Peterborough. After graduating from Queen’s University with his J.D. and several awards, Dan returned to his hometown of Peterborough and articled under Richard Aitken. He continues to work with his mentor in his hometown as a fully licensed lawyer. Dan is directly assisted by paralegal and law clerk Carol Betz. Carol also handles some Highway Traffic Act charges and Provincial Offences for Peterborough clients.
Administrative, accounting assistant and receptionist Shan Burns is often the first point of contact for Peterborough clients. She handles incoming calls and takes care of the banking in addition to managing much of the day-to-day traffic of the office, Shan handles the firm’s bills, accounts, trial and reporting letters and also is the administrative assistant to lawyer Phil Stiles. Administrative assistant and content editor Kim Playford manages the firm’s data and records of written content. With nearly twenty years in the publishing industry, Kim is a valued editor with an eye for detail. Accounts receivable clerk Lorie Palombo has been a Peterborough local for over thirty years. She handles bookkeeping and many aspects of the firm’s finances.
While most of your experiences with Aitken Robertson may be with Dan or Carol, all Aitken Robertson clients can rest easy knowing there is a large team with a variety of skills working behind the scenes. On top of the Peterborough staff, our lawyers and paralegals have the support of many of our other legal professionals across the province.
We are proud to provide the good people of Peterborough with quality and affordable legal services. We feel strongly that no one should be barred from hiring experienced lawyers for financial reasons, and so we offer a flat fee billing system. We tell you from the very beginning what the cost will be, so you do not have to worry about “billable hours” adding up or unexpected expenses such as travel time being tacked on. If a lump sum payment would be difficult to make, we also offer customized interest-free payment plans, allowing you to fund your legal service with small payments over a period rather than all at once.
To begin working with our team you can meet with us at 263 Charlotte St for a free 30-minute consultation. Alternatively, we can meet by way of telephone or virtually by Zoom or Google Meet. We will listen to your side of the story and let you know, based on the facts of the case, what outcomes, and costs you can expect. If you are satisfied with what we tell you then you can retain us as your lawyers, and we can begin fighting the charges on your behalf as quickly as possible.
Our Peterborough Criminal Law Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Technically yes. Anyone can also fix their car, but if you have a major problem with your car it is usually safer and more effective to hire a mechanic. Criminal defence lawyers have spent their careers learning the ins and outs of court proceedings, offences, available defences, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and advocacy. Our team has decades of collective experience defending clients against a full range of charges from driving under the influence of aggravated assault and beyond. If you want to know what we can do for you, come see us for a free 30-minute consultation and we can go over your case entirely free of charge.
It depends on what you are going to court for. Many of your court dates will be to handle more administrative tasks, like adjourning while we await disclosure from the Crown or requesting a modification to a bail condition, that sort of thing. For these things, you may not even need to be in court once you have retained a lawyer. We can go on your behalf and act as an agent, leaving you free from interruptions to your personal and professional lives. If you need to be in court we will let you know in advance. In that case a few things you should keep in mind:
- Turn your cellphone off before you go into the courtroom.
- Sit quietly in the provided seating, try not to stand unless you are leaving, or the court calls on you to speak.
- Try to stay quiet unless the court calls on you to speak.
- Let your lawyer do most of the talking. The court might ask you simple yes or no questions, or to state your name, but detailed answers should come from us.
Don’t be so fast to assume the police have an easy win in your case. Often they make mistakes following procedure when they gather evidence, and if we can show that those mistakes violated police guidelines or the Charter the evidence can be deemed inadmissible. This could completely ruin the Crown’s case and leave them little choice but to withdraw the charges. For example, if the police waited too long after arresting you to give you a chance to retain a lawyer, the evidence taken after the moment of arrest can be found inadmissible. You have a Charter protected right to retain a lawyer, and if the court finds they violated this right even a full signed confession could be deemed unusable as evidence. These are the sorts of things we look for so talk with us before you make a decision.
Aitken Robertson firmly believes that all those facing criminal charges deserve quality legal services and should not be impeded by finances. We offer three things designed to make our services easier to pay for:
Free 30-Minute Consultations: These consultations allow you to discuss the details of your case with a member of our team free of charge. We’ll let you know what kinds of outcomes you might expect if your goals in the case are realistic, and what the cost would be. We want you to know all the details before you make this major decision.
Block Rate Billing: Many law firms still rely on the “billable hour”. That means as lawyers, paralegals, clerks, and law students work on your case, they track their time spent in detail so that their client can be billed as much as possible. This means you wouldn’t know the cost of your defence until after the case had concluded and the hours and rates calculated. Aitken Robertson believes you should know from the beginning what the cost will be, so we hear the details of your case and provide you with a total. This typically only changes if you decide later on that you’d rather go to trial, and so the amount of work we need to put in increases. We can provide you with his figure shortly after our free consultation.
Custom Interest-Free Payment Plans: Most people do not pay for expensive services or products like cars or university tuition in a lump sum payment. Having that amount of money upfront in at once can be difficult. Instead, you make small payments over a period, paying off that item or service. We offer the same for our legal services and without interest. Our team will consider your financial situation and create a custom plan that works for you. If you would prefer to make bi-weekly payments over a few months to fit with your paycheque schedule then we will gladly set that up for you.
You can have the Interlock Ignition device installed at:
LifeSafer Ignition Interlock
675 The Queensway
Peterborough, ON
Telephone: 1-888-769-6080
Apple Auto Glass
494 The Parkway, Unit 1
Peterborough, ON
Telephone: 705-745-7772
Peterborough Area Criminal Law Resources
Superior Court of Justice, Peterborough
470 Water St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 3M3
Telephone: 705-876-3815
Ontario Court of Justice, Peterborough
70 Simcoe St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 7G9
Telephone: 705-876-3846
Criminal Youth Court, Peterborough
70 Simcoe St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 7G9
Telephone: 705-876-3846
Traffic Court, Peterborough
99 Simcoe St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 2H3
Telephone: 705-742-7777
Crown Attorney’s Office, Peterborough
470 Water St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 3M3
Telephone: 705-755-5360
Accessibility Coordinator, Peterborough Courthouse
70 Simcoe St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 7G9
Telephone: 705-876-3846 Extension: 726
Legal Aid Ontario, Peterborough
364 Water St
Peterborough, ON
K9H 3L6
Telephone: 705-743-5430
Superior Court of Justice, Cobourg
For criminal offences
860 William St
Cobourg, ON
K9A 3A9
Telephone: 905-372-3751
Ontario Court of Justice, Cobourg
For criminal, provincial, and youth offences
860 William St
Cobourg, ON
K9A 3A9
Telephone: 905-372-3751
Crown Attorney’s Office, Cobourg
860 William St
Cobourg, ON
K9A 3A9
Telephone: 905-372-8784
Accessibility Coordinator, Cobourg Courthouse
860 William St
Cobourg, ON
K9A 3A9
Telephone: 905-372-3751
Legal Aid Ontario, Cobourg
860 William St
Cobourg, ON
K9A 3A9
Telephone: 905-377-9159
Superior Court of Justice, Lindsay
For criminal offences
440 Kent St West
Lindsay, ON
K9V 6KV
Telephone: 705-324-1400
Ontario Court of Justice, Lindsay
For criminal, provincial and youth offences
440 Kent St West
Lindsay, ON
K9V 6KV
Telephone: 705-324-1400
Crown Attorney’s Office, Lindsay
440 Kent St West
Lindsay, ON
K9V 6KV
Telephone: 705-324-1420
Accessibility Coordinator, Lindsay Courthouse
440 Kent St West
Lindsay, ON
K9V 6KV
Telephone: 705-324-1400 Extension: 207
Ontario Victim Services
Telephone: 705-755-5150