{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Road to Your Name Podcast","title":"Road To Your Name - Season 7, Episode 5: A conversation about justice with Jaime Stephenson, Defence Lawyer","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3240,"description":"This episode was recorded in January 2025.\nThe Road to Your Name\nJustice, Trust, and the Power of the Circle: A Conversation with Jaime Stephenson\nEpisode Description\nIs law really black and white? Criminal defense lawyer Jaime Stephenson doesn't think so — and in this episode, she joins host Lisa to unpack what that means in practice. Jaime is a partner at Stephenson and Valeri, based in Hamilton, and practices regularly in the Brantford Indigenous People's Court, where she and Lisa first met.\nAfter 18 years of practice, Jaime speaks candidly about the realities of criminal defense: how legal aid works in Ontario versus the public defender system in the US, why she screens potential clients as carefully as they should screen her, and the cases she won't take on. She shares the story of one of her first Indigenous clients — a meeting so disconnected that it became the turning point in how she approaches cross-cultural trust, education, and the role of Gladue reports in sentencing.\nThe conversation moves into the heart of the Indigenous People's Court: the circle process. Jaime describes her first circle as one of the most powerful experiences of her career, and the two discuss what's gained when the system slows down enough to actually listen — and what's lost when it doesn't. They also talk about the uphill battle to bring an Indigenous persons court to Hamilton (update:  The Hamilton Indigenous People's Court opened on June 16, 2026), the inconsistency of judicial education around Gladue principles, and the gap between knowing the law and knowing how to apply it with care.\nJaime also opens up about life outside the courtroom — her farm, her seven horses, and the role animals have played in helping her carry the weight of a job that asks a lot of the people who do it well.\nIn This Episode\n- [00:42] Meet Jaime Stephenson: criminal defense lawyer, Stephenson & Valeri\n- [00:51] Is the law black and white? Jaime's take\n- [01:31] The path to becoming a lawyer in...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/EMAPSU_o9vetcBfJJ4OU41woZtyCGFgI7d9nIXpjEOY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iMGM3/MjAxOGE0Njg1ZWVj/MWUxZTFkMzllNmI3/ZWQzZi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}