Young lawyer helps those who can't afford it to get the legal help they need

When Renatta Austin graduated from the University of Toronto's law school about two years ago, she confronted the same challenges as her classmates: Where to set up shop? What kind of law to practice?  And how to pay off a massive student loan?

Her choices were unconventional. She opened a one-woman law firm — not in a fancy downtown office, but in the library of the Law Society of Upper Canada. 

Her specialty is unusual too: education. She represents students who have been suspended or expelled, or who have special needs…cases that don't fall under Legal Aid.  

Austin's legal practice outgrew the law library, and she recently opened an office in a low-income neighbourhood of Toronto. A national law magazine called Lexpert named her as a winner of their 2016 Zenith Award, which recognizes lawyers who promote diversity and inclusion.

Click the button above to hear Michael Enright's conversation with Renatta Austin.