For Professionals

Information for lawyers, therapists, and anyone else who works with victims and witnesses.

 

If you're here because you're wondering whether to refer a client to Justice Pathway — this page is for you.

 

The short version

 

I'm a former Crown Prosecutor. I now help victims and witnesses understand their legal options, organize evidence, prepare statements, get ready for court, and make informed decisions about reporting — or not reporting.

 

I'm not a therapist. I don't do trauma processing. I'm not courtroom counsel — I don't represent clients in proceedings or appear before a judge on their behalf. And I never work with the accused.

 

What I do sits in the space between legal representation and therapeutic support. A space that, before this practice existed, mostly didn't have anyone in it.

 

 

When it makes sense to refer someone to me

 

The clearest signal is a client asking informational and decisional questions rather than purely emotional ones:

• Should I report this?
• What actually happens if I do?
• I have some texts and screenshots — is that enough?
• I have to give a statement next week and I have no idea what to expect.
• I'm being asked to testify and I'm terrified I'll mess it up.
• Is what happened to me actually a crime?

 

If you're hearing questions like these and you don't have a confident, specific answer — which is completely reasonable, since it's not your area — that's exactly when to think of me.

 

 

When it's probably premature

 

If a client has just disclosed something to you for the first time and is in acute distress, she likely needs stabilization before she needs strategy. I'm not the right next call in the middle of a crisis.

 

I am a good call once she's ready to start thinking about next steps — even if she's nowhere close to a decision. Most of my clients aren't sure they want to report when they first reach out. Readiness to explore her options is a much lower bar than readiness to act on them, and that's all that's needed to start.

 

What helps when you refer someone

 

You don't need to brief me in advance, and please don't send me details about her situation before she's agreed to that — confidentiality matters here as much as it does in your own practice.

 

What helps most is simply telling her, in your own words, something like:

"I know someone who used to work as a Crown Prosecutor and now helps people specifically with this kind of decision. She offers a free 20-minute call, no pressure, and you don't have to have decided anything yet."

 

That framing alone tends to lower the barrier to her actually reaching out.

 

What the first conversation looks like

 

I offer a free 20-minute intake call. It's not a sales call, and there's no pressure to commit to anything. I ask what's going on, answer her questions, and tell her honestly whether I think I can help and what that would look like.

 

If it's not a fit — if she needs something I don't do — I'll tell her that too, and try to point her somewhere useful.

 

If we move forward, the work happens through a framework I use with every client: Clarify, Assess, Strategize, Empower. It's not therapy and it's not legal representation. It's the part in between that helps her make a decision she can actually live with, whatever that decision turns out to be.

 

Learn more about the CASE Method

 

 

Why this matters

 

A lot of women spend weeks or months turning a decision over in their heads with no one who can give them an accurate, judgment-free, legally grounded answer. Not because the people around them don't care — but because the people around them, including excellent therapists and excellent lawyers, often aren't positioned to answer the specific question she's asking.

 

If you're someone she trusts, telling her clearly that there's a next person to talk to — someone who exists specifically for this — matters more than almost anything else you can offer her in that moment.

 

I'm always glad to be that person. And I'm always glad to talk to you directly first, if that would be useful, before you make the introduction.

 

Get in touch

 

If you'd like to talk before referring a client, email me and we can set up a time to chat: info@justicepathway.ca