Justice for All

Katrina Pacey, Barrister and Solicitor

Pivot Legal LLP / Pivot Legal Society - pivotlegal.com, pivotlegal.org

by Larissa Buijs

photo by Jaime Kowal

Some might see it as a conflict of interest to spend part of their day defending criminals and the other fighting against the injustices faced by sex workers. But criminal defence lawyer Katrina Pacey, a partner in Pivot Legal LLP and staff lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society, envisions a better life for all. “The law is a powerful tool for change, and at the same time, I often see people being treated unfairly within the system,” says Pacey. “I feel very strongly about representing people within that framework.” The Pivot Legal Society was founded in 2000 to provide representation to the marginalized. In 2003, Pacey, then a volunteer, was assigned to its sex-work law reform campaign. It took only one sitting with 30 women in the Downtown Eastside to persuade her to confront the criminalization of sex work in Canada and the view that prostitutes are a “scourge on society.”

“I didn’t want to wade into that debate,” says Pacey. “I thought it was too hard, too controversial. But these are women who keep on fighting every single day… They had very concrete opinions, so it made my job easier in terms of being the messenger.” The campaign led to a presentation in Ottawa and an in-camera session with a Parliamentary subcommittee in Vancouver.

Last November, Pacey and three other lawyers launched Pivot Legal LLP, a social enterprise law firm that funds the work of the Society. Imagining a decriminalized life for sex workers, she says, “It’s amazing to see their faces light up and not feel like they have to be part of the black market.”