Legal Aid Boycott Continues To Grow

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Posted By: David Shulman September 14, 2009

Bryant_TonyThe 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.

About the Author

David Shulman
David Shulman holds a B.A.(hons.) from Queen’s University, having majored in Philosophy and minored in History. There, he founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, a successful student academic magazine called Syndicus. The magazine still publishes regularly, and has interviewed such intellectually and socially noteworthy individuals as Noam Chomsky, Arthur Erickson, and Peter Mansbridge. At present, he occasionally advises the current editors. David also holds an M.A. from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), with a specialization in Analytic Philosophy (“PHILMASTER”). His studies and thesis focused on Philosophy of Language and Logic. He is currently a first-year law student at the University of Windsor. His interests include social justice, analytic philosophy, French language, politics, reading, writing, editing, squash, and paintballing.

1 Comment on "Legal Aid Boycott Continues To Grow"

  1. LegalTuber | October 11, 2009 at 11:22 pm |

    So the issue here is strictly a financial one? $96/hr really ain’t much to defend a murder case.

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