William Luke Classification
We are very pleased to introduce our new member, William Luke.
William Luke, Barristor and Solicitor, is the owner of Luke Law Firm, a criminal law firm in Toronto. Prior to setting-up his own practice, William worked with a prominent Toronto boutique criminal law firm as well as the Trade Division of the US Consulate General in Toronto. William holds a LL.B (Honours) from the University of Leicester and a LL.M. in International Trade and Commercial Law from Durham Univeristy in England. He completed his legal studies at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.
William started by shared his desire to become a lawyer from a young age. He was inspired by Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Hon. Justice E. Livesey Luke. His goal was to practice business law. He never expected, or desired, to go into criminal law, but to quote Steve Jobs “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Williams parents are originally from Sierra Leon and they moved to Halifax, NS where he grew up with his two sisters. However, at different times in his life, his father’s job had them living in many parts of the world. This included Manchester, Geneva, Pretoria, Addis Ababa, and Harare.
William graduated with a Political Science degree from McGill before getting a law degree from the University of Leicester, England. He also has a post graduate degree from Durham University in Business law. He then went on to acquire work experience in the areas of law, trade, finance and diplomacy in several cities and countries that include: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; London, England; Kampala, Uganda; Castries, St. Lucia; and Geneva, Switzerland.
He eventually came to Toronto to work for the US Consulate department of Commerce. From here, he started working for a small Toronto law firm with several different practices, including criminal law. Up to this point, William was only interested in business law. However, that all changed when he attended court and realized that most defendants were not well represented by people of the same race and culture. He felt a calling to go into criminal law and he changed his focus away from business law.
William is fascinated by criminal law and passionate about access to justice issues. Unfortunately, for many in the legal system there is a lack of access to quality representation. Many that are trapped in situations where they are not poor enough to qualify for publicly funded legal representation, but are unable to afford the expenses of hiring a qualified lawyer on their own.
Approximately two years ago, William started his own criminal law practice called Luke Law (lukelaw.ca). The focus of his firm is to ensure effective access to justice by engaging in the wider social context of our court system, and the systemic barriers faced by different members of the community. They combat the problems associated with a justice system that can be inaccessible, slow, unequal and alienating.
In his free time, William likes to workout, play tennis, run, and read.
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