22 J u l y 2 0 1 4 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m
Cross EXaMinEd
After hitting the 'blue
wall,' Jim Lowry left
the police force.
F
or 33 years Jim Lowry put
accused criminals in jail.
Now he's defending them.
The personable Toron-
tonian joined the city's
police force in 1976, a year out of high
school. He rose from walking the beat
to probing complex white-collar frauds.
He loved the job, but that changed
after he started investigating fellow
officers. He hit what he calls "a blue
wall" within senior police ranks. "It
was an eye-opener, to say the least," says
Lowry. "My attitude towards the police
service changed 180 degrees."
Now he taken on a new role: crim-
inal defence lawyer.
He and his wife Lisa have moved to
Winnipeg and, at 58, he is articling with
the criminal defence firm Bueti Wasy-
liw Wiebe, having just finished studies at
the University of Ottawa law school.
He is defending accused criminals
against the "boot-heel of the state," as he
has put it, and is working to hold the jus-
tice system to account. "You might not be
able to change the system, but you sure as
heck can make a dent in it," he says.
As a police officer, Lowry played by
the rules and enjoyed helping people.
Moving to the
other side
Former Toronto policeman Jim Lowry is now defending
criminals against the 'boot-heel' of the state.
by Peter SMall