This is a very special edition of the podcast.
In December, we interviewed Rosemary Anderson and Sandy Kovacs. Rosemary was the plaintiff in an important recent tort case against a priest who sexually abused her in the 1970s. She also sued the diocese – the abusive priest’s employer – for negligence. The events that led to the case happened right here in Kamloops. As the trial judge said, what happened to Rosemary was “born of a betrayal of trust and perpetuated by an abuse of power.” Sandy is Rosemary’s lawyer.
This interview deals with difficult topics. Part 1 covers the case and what happened to Rosemary in some detail. Please keep that in mind if you’d rather not listen to a conversation about sexual assault, sexual abuse, and trauma – or if you have kids around or other people in earshot for whom this subject-matter would not be appropriate.
Here is Part 1:
Part 2 of the interview has less on the case itself, and moves into questions like what makes a good lawyer, client-centred law practice, the strengths and weaknesses of tort law as a way of addressing institutional abuse, and the ups and downs of career paths.
Here is Part 2 – there’s a bit of sound distortion in places, but please don’t be put off by that. It’s worth it.
Check out (time stamps are approximate):
15:30 – on what makes a great lawyer.
20:00 – on the client being involved as part of the team.
31:00 – on the effectiveness of tort law as a way of dealing with systemic injustice and institutional abuse.
41:40 – Sandy’s career journey. Note that she got into law school on the second try because she was “too busy in my 20s … having a lot of fun,” she initially felt like a fish out of water, and she found her calling in law school. As she says, “resilience is key.”
46:00 – on what Sandy and Rosemary wish law students learned in law school.
More information
Rosemary’s case, Anderson v Molon, 2020 BCSC 1247. Rochelle Leung, the articling student, is a TRU law grad!
The Globe and Mail’s Unfounded investigation from 2017, mentioned at 39:10 in part 2.
5 Comments
Add YoursIt’s amazing that after all she has gone through, you can still hear the caring person she is. It’s not necessarily caring but knowing that the church should have done the right thing by helping the priest (it’s kind of an odd spot to be… caring about your abuser for lack of a better way to phrase it). But that says a lot about her character and the lack thereof of the church.
I can’t even imagine the frustration of not having any responses from people. I would have been on a plane on their doorstep hahaha..maybe.
I’ve talked to Professor Gauthier about “bedside manner” in lawyering and the lawyer that said it was consensual needs a kick in the ass! Someone obviously needs to go back to law school.
Great podcast all!
Thanks for the comment! I agree entirely.
Great episode! Rosemary’s resilience and passion for justice is admirable; I enjoyed hearing about her working relationship with Sandy, too. The client-perspective is so important.
Powerful interview! Rosemary is incredible, and I am grateful to both of them for sharing their story with us. If this area of law interests you, read “Putting Trials on Trial”.
Rosemary’s comments about consent were really powerful, and a key component of the title I recommended above. To Rosemary’s point, it is disappointing (to put it mildly), to see Kamloops This Week describe the abuse as an “affair”.