📍Wetaskiwin, Alberta
When David Paull, KC, joined Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) as a staff duty counsel in 2012, he was already 27 years into an accomplished law career that saw him practise largely as a sole practitioner in criminal law in Edmonton and the surrounding area.
LAA was preparing to open its first duty counsel office in Wetaskiwin, a small city southwest of Alberta’s capital, which had a court docket that included some of the most underserved communities in the province. Paull jumped at the opportunity not only for a new challenge, but to help improve access to justice in communities that needed it.
“Wetaskiwin at the time was the untamed frontier of Alberta justice,” Paull remembers. “I wanted to go out there and have an impact on the most vulnerable of us, so that their rights were safeguarded. I thought I could make a difference.”
Duty counsel provide a legal foundation
Duty counsel are lawyers who provide immediate legal advice to clients who need help with a court matter. In some cases, that means providing full representation to clients facing charges, but it can also mean free assistance at first court appearances, at bail hearings or over the phone like through LAA’s Brydges line for people in police custody.
Paull says one of the appeals of becoming a duty counsel lawyer was — and remains — supporting vulnerable people who need help. When he closed his private practice and joined LAA, he remembers explaining the role of duty counsel to his now late-father. The best way he could describe it was the legal equivalent of an emergency room doctor.
People come with a legal issue that needs to be assessed and duty counsel must consider immediate needs and the longer-term strategies.
“If we can stitch them up and give them the right ‘remedy’ and send them on their way, that’s what we do. If we ascertain their problems need the legal equivalent of a surgeon or specialist, then we refer them to that.”
Building trust in the community
Having been called to the bar in 1985, Paull had already earned respect among Crown prosecutors, judges and court staff, but building bridges in the community would be another matter. With a large Indigenous population in the community and overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system in general, he says there was a “very, very strong mistrust” of the legal community.
“Building that trust between the community and the legal system was paramount. That was the number-one focus for me.”
Although Paull is not Indigenous himself, he says his years of experience and his empathy helped bridge that divide.
“We can make a huge impact on vulnerable communities because we become attached to the communities that we’re serving. I think that helps us gain trust and then turn that trust into good work.”
Changing perceptions of legal aid
That good work has not only helped countless clients and families in the community, it has contributed to the organization-wide effort to change perceptions of legal aid among Albertans.
In the 14 years since, Paull says the reputation of Legal Aid Alberta has changed — for the better. LAA lawyers are “very qualified and good-quality lawyers,” and their impact on the justice system has not gone unnoticed by Albertans.
“I think we are now viewed as equals to some of the top lawyers in private practice.”