Category: Criminal

Step into my world for a moment. Listen to the stories, see the snapshots of the lives I see at Court. Sit with the humanity in all its colour, and glory and sadness and hope. A man looking at more jail time, pleads with a Judge to release him, so he can take care of his cat. Another begs for the return of a photo of his child. A woman rocks with worry, as a broken child testifies. She is

One of my clients went to jail yesterday. It was expected – he understood when he entered his guilty pleas that he would probably be sentenced to jail. But it still came as a dreadful shock, as it invariably does for almost all clients. Somehow he had convinced himself that this sentence he had prepared himself for, would not happen. When it did, his face crumpled in on itself, his body shrank as though he were trying to disappear inside

On the wall in my office is a photograph of Martin Luther King Junior, over the words of one of his quotations: “Our lives begin to end the moment we remain silent about things that matter.” It is a principle I live by – and one I often have to draw to the attention of clients. The criminal justice system can grind slowly. When a client is on strict release conditions, or living with the potentially serious consequences of charges,

I read with pleasure and respect an article this weekend by Edward Greenspan. Mr. Greenspan is a very senior member of the criminal Bar. He most recently defended Conrad Black against charges in the United States. Mr. Black has been highly critical of Mr. Greesnpan, commenting about his work on the case in the verbose and self-serving manner which characterizes Mr. Black. It is not unusual for clients to blame their lawyers when things don’t go their way. You need