Caitlin Pakosh is an assistant Crown attorney in Newmarket and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) forensic science program, with experience researching and writing about the intersection between the forensic sciences and criminal law, most notably in her award-winning book, The Lawyer’s Guide to the Forensic Sciences (Irwin Law, 2016). She is also co-author of The Annotated Ontario Mental Health Statutes, 5th ed (Irwin Law, 2022), and The 2023 Annotated Mental Health Provisions of the Criminal Code: Part XX.1 (Irwin Law, 2023), the latter of which will be updated annually. In her role as an assistant Crown attorney, Caitlin prosecutes a variety of offences and has a range of experience in adult and youth matters, including with respect to bail hearings/reviews, guilty pleas, trials, sentencing hearings, and Charter applications.

Prior to joining the Ministry of the Attorney General, Caitlin spent six years as a criminal defence lawyer, opening an appellate practice after working for several years at Innocence Canada (formerly AIDWYC) as its case management counsel, then as its senior staff lawyer. At Innocence Canada, Caitlin worked exclusively on homicide cases from across Canada, provided advice to the organization’s team of volunteer lawyers, and helped to organize new forensic expert opinions and private investigations.



Caitlin has appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. She has co-authored Federal Ministerial Review Applications and worked on cases that have been heard at the Supreme Court of Canada. Caitlin was called to the Bar in Ontario in June 2012 after receiving her law degree from the University of Calgary in 2011. She graduated from UTM’s Forensic Science program in 2008, specializing in forensic anthropology with a minor in biology.