RSS FeedLegal Aid Boycott Continues To Grow
The legal aid boycott, which began in June, continues to grow. Today, Toronto-based lawyer Tony Bryant asked to be removed from a first-degree murder case being held in Kitchener, Ontario. Outside of court, Bryant cited the inability to properly prepare for the case given Legal Aid’s compensation of $96 an hour as the reason.
According to Bryant, the case requires the examination of witness testimony and documents, and possibly forensic experts to be brought in. ”You don’t get these experts for a dollar ninety five”, he says, adding that he would normally charge $300 an hour on a major case like a murder.
Bryant, who has represented notorious murderer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo for 15 years, says he is joining the growing list of lawyers, firms and law professors boycotting homicide cases and cases involving guns and gangs.
The boycott has continued despite an additional $60-million in annual funding promised recently by the province.
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So the issue here is strictly a financial one? $96/hr really ain’t much to defend a murder case.