📍Fort McMurray, Alberta
Legal Aid Alberta’s Bobbi Jo Hennigar describes her role as a duty counsel as the legal equivalent of an emergency room doctor. But instead of triaging several patients every hour, she helps clients with little to no legal knowledge navigate a complex and, often, overwhelming justice system.
Duty counsel are lawyers who provide on-the-spot advice to clients with a criminal, family law or immigration legal issue. It can mean helping a client understand what to expect at their first court appearance, offering legal advice on their matter or in some cases, full representation.
“People come into the duty counsel office and I don’t know them, they don’t know me. They tell me what their problem is, and I try to find a quick, immediate solution,” Hennigar says.
If there isn’t an immediate fix or if their legal issue is too complex, just like an ER physician, she will refer the client to a specialist — another legal aid lawyer with a specific area of practice.
“Just like in an emergency department, my role is to try and put you on the right path and solve the immediate, bleeding-out issue and then get you set up for the next stages. The law is a long process.”
Protecting access to justice in the north
Based in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Hennigar joined LAA in 2019 after previously articling at the organization’s Edmonton offices. Born and raised in Alberta’s capital, she enjoyed helping clients who otherwise couldn’t afford a lawyer. When LAA decided to open its first office in the Wood Buffalo Region, she embraced the opportunity to move north and serve as the area’s lone full-time staff duty counsel.
The role has the benefit of being relatively close to her hometown of Edmonton, which she often visits to see family, while also allowing her to serve clients from diverse communities in ways that just aren’t possible in a larger centre.
“Being in a rural jurisdiction, I get a little more consistency with my clients because it’s just me. I’m an office of one,” she explains.
Hennigar enjoys that continuity and getting the opportunity to advise clients through what can be a long and complicated journey in the legal system. The work can be hard, even downright ugly at times, but she knows the role is essential to protecting access to justice, often with life-altering stakes.
“Lots of these people, they don’t want to be involved in the criminal justice system. They don’t want to be here. They have no one. They have limited supports in the community, and I get to be that person on their side. It’s that reflection that keeps me going.”
Finding rewards in restorative justice
Fort McMurray is in Treaty 8 Territory, the traditional home of the Dene, Cree and Métis. Working with Indigenous clients and being part of non-traditional courts and restorative justice has been life-changing, she explains.
She’s witnessed clients who have cycled in and out of the courts find a path to peace and healing through restorative justice. Not only is it one of the most effective ways to help people break that cycle, “It gives you a lot of hope,” she says.
Drug Treatment Court is another example of a specialized court that changes lives. One of the worst parts of being a duty counsel, Hennigar says, is the fear that can take hold when a client misses a court date. When you work with clients battling severe addiction, not everyone recovers.
“It can be really hard because you see people and you’re like, those people will probably die at some point while I know them.”
Healing and thriving
But Henniger has also seen clients heal and thrive.
One of the first people she represented at Drug Treatment Court was living under a bridge and had lost custody of her children during one of her lowest moments. After putting in almost two years of hard work, she remembers running into the woman while she was out shopping for a kiddie pool for her children, who were back home with her.
“When you get to be part of these systems in which you see change, it’s really amazing.”