Flip Your Wig

Since being called to the Bar in 2010, Jody Brown has made a big impression on his colleagues at Koskie Minsky and in the Ontario legal community. The 32-year-old associate was part of the team that represented plaintiffs in the landmark class action suit, which alleged ongoing institutional abuse at the Huronia Regional Centre and several other government-run facilities, resulting in a $35 million settlement. Brown's team takes cases on contingency. Their fees are approved by the court after the case is settled or decided. "We're motivated when we look at a case and ask ourselves if it would even be brought otherwise," he says. "Sometimes it seems like justice has eluded these people for decades." Brown's bent for social justice dates back to high school in Cobourg, Ontario. He credits a teacher, Gary O'Dwyer, with bringing in social justice champions, such as Naomi Klein and Bobby Seale, to speak at his school. "That was definitely my first awareness that there are people out there getting the short end of the stick, and someone needs to stand up for them," he remembers. In law school at Dalhousie he joined the Social Activists Law Students Association, arranging and attending conferences where passionate advocates would come to speak about their work helping the underserved. "It was an inspiration and a guide that, once you were out of law school, you could keep working toward access to justice in your legal career," Brown says. And that's exactly what he's doing. In addition to his class action work, Brown also commits to volunteering as duty counsel several times a year, and to individual pro bono cases. It's an obligation he feels he assumed when he was called to the Bar. "One of the big obstacles is the cost of good legal advice," he says. "And that's not what our justice system should be. You shouldn't lose your case or be denied your day in court just because you can't afford the hourly rate." Jody Brown FLIP YOUR WIG 5

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