They begin sitting in Newmarket, Brampton, and Toronto, respectively, on June 18
The Ontario Court of Justice has welcomed new judges Boris Bytensky, Carson MacDonald Coughlin, and Vincent André François Paris.
They begin sitting on June 18. Chief justice Sharon Nicklas has assigned Bytensky, Coughlin, and Paris to Newmarket, Brampton, and Toronto, respectively.
Early in his legal career, Bytensky founded a practice in Toronto’s Russian-language community. He focuses on criminal trials and appeals for all types of charges as well as professional discipline and tribunal proceedings.
He eventually became a partner at Bytensky Shikhman in 2010. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, and the Ontario Court of Justice.
Bytensky once presided over the Criminal Lawyers’ Association of Ontario and was on its governing body for 16 years. He also chaired the board of Downsview Community Legal Services, a Legal Aid Ontario-managed legal clinic.
He teaches trial advocacy to upper-year law students at Osgoode Hall Law School as an adjunct professor.
Coughlin commenced his career as an assistant Crown attorney with the Peel Crown Attorney’s Office in Brampton prosecuting serious and complex criminal cases. He was named general counsel in 2023; in this role, he advised colleagues and various police agencies on complex legal matters.
He joined the Mega Case Team out of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Complex Prosecution Bureau last year. As counsel, he has contributed to legal education for Crown counsel, police, and bar members.
Coughlin has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice. He chairs the board of the Victim Services of Peel agency, which provides victims of crime in crisis with community support.
Paris started his legal career in Toronto as an assistant Crown attorney prosecuting trials at courthouses downtown. He was appointed Crown advisor to the Toronto Police Service’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force in 2004; in this role, he developed a firearm testing program and held trainings across Ontario.
He was also involved in trainings in the US and Mexico, leveraging his knowledge of wiretapping, search and seizure, firearms, and organized crime. He backed the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Research Institute.
The Ministry of the Attorney General appointed Paris as general counsel in 2019. He took silk in 2023.
Ontario attorney general Doug Downey announced the new judicial appointments.
