Niamh Harraher

Looking beyond law for the answers

For Niamh Harraher, the life-changing moment came after her first year of law school. Already enrolled in the JD/MSW program, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in social justice. She just didn't know what route to take. Harraher flew to Thailand, where she spent the summer helping to set up a legal aid clinic for street kids. Her future was born.

"I was just so inspired by these kids," she remembers. "It was amazing to me what could be done, and what was being done, to help them. They were so happy and resilient."

After graduating in 2002, Harraher practiced family law in Toronto before moving to England, where she spent  several years advocating for children and teens.  There, she dealt with minors from all over the world - many of them unaccompanied - who had fled horrifying circumstances at home and landed at her doorstep looking for help. The caseload was challenging, but extremely gratifying.

"As a society we like to think that we're very child-focused and we really care a lot about kids," Harraher says. "But actually, when you're a lawyer trying to help children assert their rights, you run into a lot of resistance. You realize we're not really as child-focused as we'd all like to think."

Harraher brought her commitment to kids back to Toronto, where she now works for a specialty clinic of Legal Aid Ontario. At Justice for Children and Youth, she does everything from providing legal advice over the phone to representing children in a wide variety of cases. She believes her training in social work has given her a broader perspective, and more credibility.

"Law isn't always the answer," Harraher says. "Sometimes approaching issues from a social work background gives a better outcome than going into a courtroom."

Story by Karen Gross

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