Be careful who you drink with!

[jeffsmith]

I just hope I never need to hire one.

Maybe not for legal defence, but everyone pretty much hires a lawyer at some point in their lives. For example, when buying a home. Those high hourly rates sting everyone. It's kind of insane to have someone explain a contract to you for ten minutes, and then sit in the room signing papers for an hour and come out with a crazy huge bill at the other end…

[sleepyjamie]

I just hope I never need to hire one.

Maybe not for legal defence, but everyone pretty much hires a lawyer at some point in their lives. For example, when buying a home. Those high hourly rates sting everyone. It's kind of insane to have someone explain a contract to you for ten minutes, and then sit in the room signing papers for an hour and come out with a crazy huge bill at the other end…

and most of the work is done by the legal assistance making $15 / hr.

[bluenose]

Any time that a guilty person walks free, the justice system has failed.

I disagree... Anytime an innocent person goes to jail, the justice system has failed. In order to avoid that we have to accept that the burden is on the government to PROVE that a person has done something illegal. This means that guilty people sometimes go free due to lack of evidence.

I still believe that even after being on the losing end of it.

I also agree that the middle class gets shafted in this area, just like in most areas

[Jayme]

Any time that a guilty person walks free, the justice system has failed.

I disagree... Anytime an innocent person goes to jail, the justice system has failed. In order to avoid that we have to accept that the burden is on the government to PROVE that a person has done something illegal. This means that guilty people sometimes go free due to lack of evidence.

I still believe that even after being on the losing end of it.

I also agree that the middle class gets shafted in this area, just like in most areas

Well I don't disagree with your first statement entirely - let me rephrase. Anytime that a guilty person walks free or and innocent person goes to jail, the justice system has failed.

Have to agree to disagree on the middle class being shafted in this area. I don't think the poor are necessarily better off having access to legal aid (although it does potentially give them a leg up on someone who cannot afford representation yet makes 'too much money' to qualify for legal aid). I think the real disparity is the rich vs. everyone else. It's not that dissimilar to the medical system in the US.

I've been on the end of being innocent and being charged but not able to afford representation. Luckily the justice system was sort of successful that day and despite the highly paid crown attorney on the other side, I walked away free of charges. All be it on a technicality, not because of the fact I actually didn't do what the police accused me of (passing illegally). Correct result, but for the wrong reason.

[Jmac00]

Jayme, i must say, i'm kinda shocked you've never heard about Pink before.

[Jayme]

Jayme, i must say, i'm kinda shocked you've never heard about Pink before.

Not sure what to tell you... I haven't! Could be if he's had some high profile cases that have been on the news I just didn't pay attention/care to who the lawyer was.

[Jmac00]

Yeah, it seems many high profile cases hire Pink...alot end up on the news for sure. One of the main one that stands out in my mind is the Mcdonald's murder in sydney river 20yrs ago. But since then, there's been many others....i think he represented one with the recent MLA expense scandal? someone can correct me if i'm wrong...and the list goes on.

[Jayme]

For Pink, there are two types of criminals that are represented by defense lawyers. The “hardened” criminal who has multiple convictions. Then there is the first or second-time offender. That’s who Pink represents. “Those are the kind of people you can help,” he said. That help is provided in a legal system today that looks very different from the landscape in which Pink began to practise. “When I started,” he said, “there was one provincial court judge in Halifax, one provincial court judge in the county and one in Dartmouth. There were two Crown prosecutors.”

Today, there are 26 Crown prosecutors and almost 15 Provincial Court judges. But while those numbers have increased, access to justice has actually declined, Pink noted. “With the increasing cost of overhead and the time required to prepare for cases, it’s got to the point where the low-income person can no long afford hiring a lawyer... legal aid is extremely limited,” he added. “They’re under funded and under-resourced.”

Based on that article, sounds like a decent enough guy. Kind of stating some of the same points. I didn't mean earlier to insinuate this guy is a bad dude - I'm sure he's getting some innocent people who deserve to walk free off the hook too.

[Jayme]

Yeah, it seems many high profile cases hire Pink...alot end up on the news for sure. One of the main one that stands out in my mind is the Mcdonald's murder in sydney river 20yrs ago. But since then, there's been many others....i think he represented one with the recent MLA expense scandal? someone can correct me if i'm wrong...and the list goes on.

Haha well I can explain why I don't remember the Mcdonald murder you speak of... I would have been 7 years old! I was aware of the MLA expense scandal but I couldn't name a single lawyer involved in that case. I really don't pay attention to that sort of thing... I do the 10,000 mile overview of the news - usually don't look into the details unless it's something that really interests me. I'm too busy reading about brewing beer!

[Jmac00]

Haha well I can explain why I don't remember the Mcdonald murder you speak of... I would have been 7 years old!

I was only 10 yrs old at the time, but i also grew up in CB...i lived a half hour to 45 mins from the restaurant, no matter if you were 2 mins away, or an hour away....being a small place, the news was everywhere and you couldn't escape it...even as a young feller. Plus i was an information sponge trying to grasp any info i could...

[Jayme]

Yeah being in the locale would help. I didn't watch TV at that age and my parents didn't really pass on much info on murder cases haha. I guess if it had happened closer to home (Mahone Bay at the time) it would have been a different story.

[derek]

Based on that article, sounds like a decent enough guy

Yeah - that was pretty much the circumstance when I met him. My friend's son had been charged with assault after ["allegedly"] decking someone who was bullying a younger kid. My friend was pretty proud of the kid, actually I never did find out whether Pink got him off.

[derek]

Yeah, but what did he drink?

It was the MicMac (you peninsular types probably don't know it, since it's on the dark side, but think the old "Midtown" without the atmosphere and better bathrooms), so the odds are pretty good it was Keith's. I'd have been drinking Garrison Brown.