TRIBUTE: The word 'extraordinary' fits well for legendary lawyer Greg Brodsky. An extraordinary career as a trial and appellate advocate; Extraordinary impact on Canadian law. (As one journalist put it, "His fingers are all over sections of the Criminal Code of Canada"). An extraordinary, unwavering battler for his clients, including the more than 1000 clients he represented in murder and manslaughter cases - and thousands of others, struggling through life through thick and thin who found themselves in trouble with the law) - that's pretty extraordinary in itself. In short, Greg Brodsky was everything that I ever dreamed a criminal lawyer should be. (Including, as I learned from my contact with him over the years as a journalist, that he had a superb grasp of language (very useful for the nation's courtrooms) - and he was a great 'quipster; to boot. Although many of Greg's cases have appeared in the pages of this Blog over the years such as Angelique Lyn Lavallée, Thomas Sophonow and Dr. Henry Morgentaler (also, like Greg, one of my heroes) over the years, one case (James Driskell) especially deserves some elaboration because it gives me the opportunity to work in to this tribute my friend Dan Brodsky, one of Greg's sons, who I first met when we were both sharing space at 11 Prince Arthur Avenue in Toronto in a building belonging to Criminal lawyer Clay Ruby, an excellent lawyer and landlord. (I am grateful to Dan for the much appreciated support he gave me several decades ago, during a very difficult period of my life.) James Driskell was convicted of murder in 1991, but was later found to have been wrongly convicted, and was exonerated through the assistance of Innocence Canada, originally known as AIDWYC - The Association in Defence of the Wrongly convicted. One of the pillars of Driskell's conviction was RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) microscopic hair-matching testimony. (Long since discredited). As the Winnipeg Free Press reported, "Brodsky later told an inquiry into Driskell’s conviction that he believes RCMP labs are biased in favour of police. Driskell was awarded more than $4 million in compensation." I think it's really neat that Dan Brodsky, one of the founders of AIDWYC, and a superb criminal lawyer in his own right, has played a major role in AIDWYC, of which he was a founder - an organization which has played a huge role in rectifying miscarriages of justice throughout the country. Indeed, in 2019, reporter Mark Bonokoski said of Dan Brodsky: "There is no lawyer more willing to represent the mentally ill than him, as well as vulnerable indigenous clients caught up in a world they just don’t understand, and he does it with great respect to the accused as well as to the law." I have no doubt where that extraordinary quality came from.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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Obituary: "Tributes pour in for 'defence lawyer's defence lawyer,' by Reporter Kevin Rollason, published by The Winnipeg Free Press, on February 10, 2022.
GIST: "A Winnipeg lawyer for nearly six decades, Greg Brodsky represented more than 1,000 clients in murder and manslaughter cases.
His list of clients included headline-makers: Thomas Sophonow, Darren Morrissette, Robert Starr, and James Driskell. His work changed laws, including ones which help protect women who killed their spouses after years of suffering domestic abuse.
And the direction of his legal career came down to a flip of a coin.
Brodsky died Wednesday at 81, after a battle with supranuclear palsy.
Brodsky’s son Daniel, himself a defence counsel practicing in Toronto, said his dad (called to the bar in 1963) had been working at the Winnipeg Stock Exchange for two months, when his bosses contacted prominent criminal lawyer Harry Walsh.
"They said, we think he has an aptitude for criminal law," Daniel said Thursday. "(Walsh) said he’ll talk with him.
"Greg and Hersh Wolch were hired at the same time, and (Walsh) said we’ll hire both of you but one of you will be criminal and the other civil — I will flip a coin to decide."
As a result, Brodsky went on to be involved in more than 1,000 homicide cases (Daniel believes it ended up being 1,040). Wolch later went on to become a defence lawyer, too.
"Did he have any regrets?" said Daniel. "He’d say: if I choose the time to go it would be after my address to the jury and before I get the verdict.
"For more than 50 years, he had people say: you won’t win this case… He just loved the opportunity to turn the tide."
Brodsky was born in Saskatchewan and moved to Winnipeg with his family as a child. He later met his wife, Sylvia, and they were married Dec. 29, 1957. They were together for almost 62 years when she died in 2019.
When Brodsky was called to the bar, he was just 22 and the death penalty was still an option for homicide cases.
Brodsky was the junior lawyer on his first homicide case.
Winnipeg police detective Ron Houston was on a stakeout in June 1970 for a sex assault suspect, when he was fatally stabbed by Thomas Shand.
Shand took the officer’s gun and shot him, also firing at and missing another officer. Later that year, Shand was found guilty.
"He got to hear his client was going to be hanged," said Daniel. "It was later commuted to life imprisonment."
Daniel said his dad always worked hard on cases and was working on future ones, even when he was waiting for a jury verdict.
"There was always one rule in the house," said Daniel. "You can do what you want to do, but not halfway. Don’t do anything halfway. Do what you love."
While Brodsky was synonymous with representing people charged with homicide, for a number of years, Brodsky represented pro-choice advocate Dr. Henry Morgentaler during his push to convince the federal government to legalize abortions in Canada.
He even represented Bertha Rand, known as Winnipeg’s cat lady, who was charged numerous times in the 1960s and 1970s with having too many felines in her St. James neighbourhood house.
The province recognized Brodsky’s contributions to law, appointing him a Queen’s Counsel in 1977.
Outside the courtroom, Brodsky was a president of Skills Unlimited and Shaarey Zedek Synagogue.
Veteran lawyer Robert Tapper, who knew Brodsky for more than 50 years, said his death was "the end of an era."
Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Brodsky’s death also marks a time "where these lions of the bar, as they were, are beginning to pass."
"There has seldom been a murder case in the city for a long time where the name Greg Brodsky wasn’t in some way associated with it… He was dogged, hard, hard working. He could be annoying in his insistence and sometimes ponderous approach to detail, but he didn’t distinguish between cases. He would work as hard on a seemingly banal and mundane case as he would, some would consider, a much more exotic and serious case," Joyal said.
"I had great respect for his integrity and ethical approach to his practice…. He really was old-school honest."
Defence counsel James Lockyer, a founding director of what is now known as Innocence Canada, said: "Greg was the defence lawyer’s defence lawyer… He lived it, breathed it, loved it, enjoyed it."
"He is one of those who you know would never have prosecuted anyone and would never have wanted to be a judge. He always wanted to be there defending people, ideally in front of a jury if he could. There will never be anyone like him, certainly not in Manitoba and probably not in Canada," Lockyer said.
Lawyer Danny Gunn worked with Brodsky for 2 1/2 years, starting in 2001, after a half-decade with the Crown’s office in Ontario.
"He basically gave me a crash course in what it was like to do defence work," Gunn said Thursday.
"The thing about Greg was he never gave up," he said. "He was such a strong believer in the job that we do and the idea that everybody deserved to be represented with dignity, that it was about the fight, that for the first time, people had someone fighting for them."
Brodsky was "more dedicated to the law than anyone I have ever been exposed to," said criminal defence lawyer Matt Gould, who joined Brodsky and Company in 2009, and is now a partner in the firm (Brodsky, Amy & Gould).
"Even when he was in the hospital the last couple of years… he wanted to jump into whatever cases were going on," Gould said.
"It was always entertaining to be next to him when he’d be discussing issues with the prosecutor, because he wasn’t in your face about this stuff. He wouldn’t say, ‘That’s ridiculous, you don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He would just calmly go along but stick to his position, like a pit bull: very clear, but totally respectful, and you could see the Crowns walking into a trap sometimes."
Defence counsel Martin Glazer called Brodsky "the super star of the defence bar."
"He was always there for lawyers to seek advice. He was a trendsetter and a fighter to the finish. He was fearless, formidable and forceful… I greatly admired him, and his passing is a great loss to the criminal law bar."
Lawyers Scott Newman and Ryan Amy said Brodsky’s legacy is also throughout the province’s legal system.
"It is hard to understate the impact he had on the criminal bar and the bench — he had close to 50 years of articling students," said Newman.
"At one point, eight judges on the bench had articled with Greg," added Amy.
Brodsky’s funeral is Sunday at Shaarey Zedek Cemetery.
He is survived by sons, Aaron and Daniel, four grandchildren, and other relatives.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
