Honouring Advocacy

Law students passing under the name sign above the door of Robson Hall’s largest classroom, may not be aware of the weight and impact it bears on the advocacy training they receive within its walls. The Moot Courtroom was named in honour of Harry Walsh, O.C., LL.D., Q.C. (1913 – 2011), one of Canada’s greatest and most respected advocates who graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law in 1937.

A fiercely dedicated criminal defence lawyer who went to his office daily, even well into his 90’s, Walsh was a proponent of the abolishment of the death penalty in Canada, and a founder of Legal Aid Manitoba. He was called to the bar in no less than five provinces and one territory, which allowed him to represent clients almost completely across Canada. These jurisdictions included Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.  All told, he practiced law for 74 years and was still a practicing lawyer at the time of his death at age 97.

According to those who knew him, although Walsh met many famous and illustrious individuals throughout his long life, the ones he considered to be the most important, and for whom he fought the hardest were his clients. 

Dedication

Harry Walsh, O.C., LL.D., Q.C.

In recognition of his contributions to the practice of law, Walsh was appointed Queen’s Counsel by the Province of Manitoba in 1954. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of the role he played in the abolition of capital punishment in Canada, his advocacy of access to legal representation, and his work in the Manitoba Jewish Community. At the foundation of these honours lay Walsh’s humble beginnings, growing up in Winnipeg’s North End on Selkirk Avenue.

When his brother-in-law Sam Stern, owner of Winnipeg Motor Products died, Walsh took his sister Sally’s son Ron under his wing, becoming even more of a mentor and role model to the young man. Ron reflected, “In addition to greatly appreciating his influence in my decision to study and practise law, my larger memory is that the times spent with our beloved Uncle Harry were very special for me, my wife Janet and our children.”

To honour his uncle – a legend in the legal community across Canada –Ron Stern supported the transformation of Robson Hall’s moot courtroom into a bright, modern and professional learning space where students learn advocacy skills like those Walsh honed over his long career. Having been built in 1969, Robson Hall was showing its age in the 2010s, and by 2018, was in dire need of upgrades to accommodate computers and modern learning methods. Stern’s contributions brought the law building’s largest lecture hall that doubles as an actual courtroom, into the 21^stCentury. Today, it is used both for student moot court practice and real-life court hearings. The Federal Court of Canada continues to hold hearings there followed by educational question and answer sessions for law students. When all nine judges of the Supreme Court of Canada visited Robson Hall in 2019, the Faculty of Law was able to welcome them to a freshly-carpeted, beautifully re-modeled lecture hall and courtroom.

The old Moot Courtroom in 2014. Photo is a screenshot from a video recording of a lecture.

The Harry Walsh O.C., Q.C. Moot Courtroom when it was newly remodeled. Photo by David Lipnowski.

“The state of the Harry Walsh O.C., Q.C. Moot Courtroom now compared to when I first started teaching here in 2016 is undeniably state of the art,” said Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of Law. “When each first-year class walks through those doors on their first day of law school for orientation, they can see they are walking into a professional space that is welcoming, accessible with moveable tables at the front, modern desktops to plug in their laptops, with great sightlines and treated acoustics.”

Moot competition students and coaches have noted the difference in the space since the renovations with the room having been transformed from a sombre brick-walled cavern to being a professional, well-lit and functional space in which to practice advocacy. While it may or may not have been related to the renovation, Robson Hall’s Laskin moot team has won the “Spirit of the Laskin” award (for fair competition, commitment to bilingualism, and professional camaraderie) four times since 2017.

Ron Stern told us: “When Law School Dean Emeritus Harvey Secter raised with me the possibility of naming the Moot Courtroom after my Uncle, I realized how very appropriate this would be as a memoriam.  Harry Walsh believed passionately in the role of strong legal advocacy to defend individuals and build our society.  He was a lawyer’s lawyer!”

A charismatic personality

A new plaque just inside the Harry Walsh O.C., Q.C. Moot Courtroom doors dedicates the space to the legendary advocate.

Both of Walsh’s children, Paul Walsh, K.C., and Arlyne Walsh, remembered him as being fully dedicated to the pursuit of justice. Having seen their father in action at the downtown Law Courts Building, they witnessed what an incredible cross-examiner he was.

Paul, who practiced law for 46 years, including 10 years with his father at the Winnipeg law firm Walsh & Company (from 1999 until Harry’s passing), described his father’s uncanny abilities to see through witnesses: “It was like he knew the truth – it was like he knew what happened and was there at the time,” he explained.

When it came to jury selection, none could compare. “He was able to find any prejudice in a possible juror,” said Arlyne. “He was really good at reading people.”

The Best Advocate

Walsh put those deadly skills into practice in the defence of saving lives from the death penalty, which Parliament finally abolished in Canada – in part due to his work as co-chair of the Committee for the Abolition of Capital Punishment in Canada – in 1976.

A 2011 article in the Jewish Independent titled “Full Commitment to Justice” by Rebeca Kuropatwa quotes Walsh as saying that we cannot participate or stand by when a life is taken. “Are we gods?” he asked. “You don’t look up to God and say ‘Dayeinu’ [enough] […]. I’ve never turned anyone away on account of what they’ve committed.”

Ana Santos was Walsh’s assistant for the last 29 years of his life, and recalled his response to people who would ask how he could possibly represent the accused persons who came to him for help. “Because I’m a lawyer and because I have to work the law,” she remembered he would say. “I am their advocate to do the best I can.”

“I only have to work the law and represent my client to the best of my ability,” was his mantra.

Despite having been asked to be a judge, Walsh declined. “He wanted to be the best advocate for his clients,” Arlyne emphasized. “He didn’t want to be a judge. Judges loved him because he knew the procedures and was an excellent lawyer, and he respected them,” but his heart was devoted to advocating for the underdog. On this topic, he once had the opportunity to warmly converse with Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter during a chance meeting.

The new plaque shares Walsh’s legacy with future generations of lawyers.

For nearly 30 years, Santos watched Walsh in action – what she described as “his generous heart” as he worked pro bono for many clients. He would ask her to, “just send ‘this’ to the client” – with ‘this’ being an invoice for a minimal sum – “they may not be able to afford much but they have their pride and self-esteem.”

“He was respectful of them in their most vulnerable state,” she said.

Founding Legal Aid Manitoba was another act of Walsh’s dedication to advocacy and to “never turning anyone away” by ensuring that everyone should have legal representation. The 2011 article in the Jewish Independentdescribes how Walsh encouraged Manitoba lawyers to take cases up north, quoting him as saying, “I’ve represented communists, Jews, [Indigenous people] and others who’ve been discriminated against for one reason or another. I represented one [Indigenous person] who couldn’t afford his fees. He paid me with a work of art he painted, which I’ve hung behind my office desk. [Indigenous people], like everyone else, must have their fair rights respected as Canadians.”

The artist in question became one of the most famous Indigenous artists in Canada, whose work is highly regarded even today (but due to solicitor-client privilege, which extends even beyond the grave, his name cannot be revealed).

True to form, Walsh held firm to practicing what he preached, even into his 90’s. Santos recalled how Walsh would talk to anyone and everyone, including his Handi-Transit drivers who she would recognize coming into his office as clients. “He became friendly with all his drivers, she said. “He appreciated the care he got from them, and in return he offered his services pro-bono.”

Advocating for Manitoba’s Jewish Community and beyond

Even though he served Canada in the Second World War as a lance-bombardier in the Royal Canadian Artillery, obtained a BA in 1932 an LLB in 1937 and became a well-respected lawyer, Walsh still experienced antisemitism. He was once invited to be a guest speaker at Manitoba’s Blackstone Club, but upon learning that it did not allow Jewish membership, he formed the Jessel Club for Jewish lawyers (The Jewish Foundation Book of Life). He was also a founder of The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, having drafted the Foundation Agreement. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) was very important to him, and he went to Israel every year for 38 years for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. According to The Jewish Foundation’s Book of Life, Walsh and his wife Irene’s visits to Israel were “primarily as founders of the Winnipeg based Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.” Winnipeg and the city of Be’er Sheva where the university is located, were named twin cities through Walsh’s connection with the BGU. It was through his many visits to Israel that Walsh met and befriended Gideon Hausner (chief prosecutor in the Eichmann Trial). Their friendship arose out of a mutual respect and admiration they had for each other.

A Mentor of Mentors

As close as Walsh was to his nephew Ron, he also mentored some of Winnipeg’s most notable criminal defence lawyers.

When Walsh died on February 24, 2011, Greg Brodsky told CBC, “He’s the reason I am what I am…. He was there for me every day.”

A 2021 article in Canadian Lawyer Magazine noted that Jeffrey Gindin, Richard Wolson, and Saul Simmonds, once all partners at the same firm, were each mentored by “legendary Winnipeg criminal defence lawyer Harry Walsh.” The article quoted Gindin as describing Walsh as “one of the top criminal lawyers in Canada.”

Mentoring was another indelible part of Walsh’s personality. He had an “open door policy” where he would make himself available to anyone at any time. If there wasn’t a client in his office, other lawyers in the firm would step in to consult with him about their cases.   

As those who knew him would emphasise, the lesson Walsh’s legacy leaves for law students today, is that when they are helped, they then have an obligation to help others in turn.

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A lecture in Walsh’s memory focused on advocacy, featuring prominent Toronto lawyer Marie Henein, will take place in the Harry Walsh O.C., Q.C. Moot Courtroom in Robson Hall, 224 Dysart Road on March 3, 2025 at 5:30 p.m., with doors opening at 5:00 p.m.. The lecture is free but seating is limited. Please register to secure your spot

Story submitted by Faculty of Law.