Serving clients across British Columbia, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Surrey, and other major cities throughout the province.
Years as a Crown prosecutor gave Michael Bloom a unique inside understanding of how criminal cases are built. He quickly identifies the weaknesses in the Crown’s case, assesses whether full and proper disclosure has been provided, and pinpoints exactly which applications to the Court must be filed to hold the Crown accountable.
His background sets him apart, pairing firsthand Crown experience with sharp analytical thinking to develop a defence strategy and trial plan focused on winning your case.
Michael started his career as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.). For years, his work was to design and build systems that couldn’t fail. That training shaped the way he thinks about every criminal case he takes on.
He left engineering for law at the University of Western Ontario, graduating with multiple first-in-class academic awards. The Supreme Court of British Columbia recruited him as a Judicial Law Clerk straight out of law school. He was then selected for the trial Crown prosecution team at Surrey Provincial Court, the busiest courthouse in Canada, where he litigated hundreds of criminal cases for the Criminal Justice Branch.
Today, Michael brings that engineer’s discipline to every file as one of Vancouver’s leading criminal defence lawyers. He pulls the Crown’s case apart, stress-tests every component, and builds a defence designed to win.
Once his time with the Crown came to an end, Michael Bloom pursued mentorship from one of Vancouver’s best defence lawyers, Russ Chamberlain, Q.C.
Chamberlain was a giant of the Vancouver criminal bar. Across a career that spanned decades, he won more criminal trials than any lawyer before or since. He defended some of the most high-profile cases in the city’s history, including the Bindy Johal murder trial.
He also famously won the 1976-1977 prosecution of the Penthouse nightclub owners, the Philliponis, who were charged with running a bawdy house and prostitution offences. In an act of advocacy that became legendary, Chamberlain convinced Judge William Traynor to visit the Penthouse himself before deciding the case. The Philliponis were acquitted on every count.
Michael spent the final years of Chamberlain’s career working at his sidev and was the last lawyer to ever practise with him. When Chamberlain passed away on March 17, 2019, Michael took over his practice and the cases he had built it on.
Michael spent the final years of Chamberlain’s career working alongside him, gaining exposure to complex criminal matters involving organized crime allegations, gang-related prosecutions, and cases arising from the same criminal landscape that produced figures such as Bindy Johal. The experience provided insight into the strategic, evidentiary, and reputational challenges that often accompany serious and high-profile criminal cases.
No two criminal cases are alike. The evidence is different, the facts are different, and the strategy that wins one case can lose another. For his clients in Vancouver and surrounding areas, Michael builds every defence from scratch, shaped around the client and the facts in front of him.
Before any plan is set, he works through every detail of the case: police notes, disclosure, witness statements, surveillance footage, communications data, every piece of evidence the Crown is relying on, and every piece it should have produced and hasn’t. From that groundwork, he designs a strategy with two clear goals: to have the charges dropped before trial and, if the matter goes to court, to win.
Michael takes the trust his clients place in him seriously. When your future is on the line, the only acceptable standard is total preparation and total effort, and that is what he brings to every file.
If you’re facing criminal charges in B.C., call 604-603-5513 or submit a form here to arrange a confidential consultation with Michael.
If you have been charged with a criminal offence, or are under investigation by police, time matters. Michael is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to review your situation, explain your options, and tell you exactly what comes next. All inquiries are strictly confidential.
