Age: 33
Occupation: Lawyer and founder, Prison & Police Law
When lawyer Amy Matychuk opened Prison & Police Law, a practice offering legal services to anyone mistreated by the justice system, word spread quickly. In fact, some clients-to-be found Matychuk’s phone number written on the walls of their prison cells. “All you really need is to tell inmates that someone is out there who wants to help them, because they’re desperate,” Matychuk says.
Her work includes writing letters of advice, helping with parole and human rights complaints, assisting with police misconduct matters, and more. Since 2021, more than 400 Canadians have benefited from Matychuk’s unique expertise. Many of her clients belong to marginalized groups, as people mistreated by the police or prison system often are. Several are trans women who are being denied their right to be incarcerated in a women’s institution.
Matychuk is working to bring one such case to trial, with the end goal of forcing changes to federal policy so that other trans inmates don’t have to endure the same injustice. Another of her 100-or-so open files involves a woman who reported domestic violence to the police, only to have the investigating officer send her texts trying to solicit sex.
In addition to serving her clients, Matychuk educates the public through her writing on Law360.ca and ABlawg.ca. She sits on the executive boards of the Canadian Prison Law Association, the Alberta Prison Justice Society and the Alberta Police Misconduct Database Association. The type of law she practises isn’t glamorous, but it’s making a difference that matters more to this young lawyer.
“The idea of going to work every day and doing work that didn’t have some kind of bigger, symbolic significance, that just felt like a way that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life,” Matychuk says.
Thank yous
“My husband Peter, my staunchest ally and fiercest cheerleader (he’s going to be an amazing dad).”
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