About
Deanna Harris embarked on her law career after almost 10 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. Her time as a young woman in the Armed Forces gave her perspective on how marginalized communities experience injustice within Canadian institutions. As a result, she focused her legal career on criminal law, and on helping marginalized communities. After beginning her career in private practice in Ontario and working for Legal Aid Nunavut, Deanna moved to Saskatchewan, where she has spent much of her time working in rural areas. She is now legal director at Legal Aid Saskatchewan (Yorkton area office) where she also does duty counsel work. Deanna says duty counsel has always formed one of the foundational blocks of her work in legal aid. “Duty counsel is the first contact for someone who has been arrested,” Deanna says. “In some jurisdictions, you might be the person who is taking the phone call from the arrestee and providing legal advice before they are questioned by police. You are also the first contact when they appear in court.”