Award honours lawyer for support of access to justice
Published: April 15, 2025
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is pleased to announce that David Baker is the 2024 recipient of the Sidney B. Linden Access to Justice Award. Each year, this award recognizes an exceptional individual who has demonstrated a commitment to access to justice for low-income Ontarians.
David’s legal career spans more than four decades, and he is renowned for his legal support of persons with disabilities. He is described as a dedicated advocate whose “name has become synonymous with precedent-setting litigation that has advanced the rights of individuals with disabilities and other marginalized communities.”
On learning of the award, David said, “I’m very, very pleased. When I first went to law school, I started working in student legal aid and saw how difficult it was for people who lack the necessary resources to make their case and get the kinds of judgments we were being taught about. I felt that access to justice for these individuals was an area where we fell short. I’m now thinking about where we have made progress, as well as areas where we still have a ways to go.”
A history of service
While at law school, David took a summer job at a legal aid organization and worked to set up a clinic in a psychiatric hospital, a novel approach. He saw a lack of options for people seeking legal representation, and he enjoyed the challenge. After graduation, David continued this pioneering legal aid work because “the phone kept ringing, and I felt there was a real need, so I developed ways to become more involved in disability law going forward.”
In 1979, David brought together a coalition of organizations supporting those living with a disability that eventually led to the creation of the ARCH Disability Law Centre, where he subsequently served as executive director for 20 years. He has continued to advocate for community legal clinics throughout his career and has engaged in teaching and outreach. He is one of the founders of The Inclusive Commons, a human rights organization that conducts inclusion research, drafts barrier removal standards and pursues precedent-setting litigation.
Today, as associate counsel at Ross & McBride, David focuses largely on constitutional cases that have the potential to shape Canadian society for generations, including class actions that address disability discrimination in education and public policy.
He has appeared successfully before all levels of court provincially and federally, as well as at senior administrative and regulatory tribunals, including the Supreme Court of Canada. David has lectured at law schools in Ontario, Alberta, and France, and at the Law Society of Ontario, and the Canadian Bar Association. He was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Toronto (U of T), where he taught an Access to Justice course focused on enabling disadvantaged litigants to achieve a just outcome against more advantaged opponents.
Over the years, David’s work has received numerous awards and accolades, including membership on the UNESCO Panel of International Human Rights Experts, the Law Society Medal, an honorary Doctor of Sacred Letters from U of T’s Trinity College, and the Gerry Bloomfield Volunteer Award from Autism Ontario.
Tributes to the recipient
Several leading Ontario lawyers and legal educators wrote letters in support of David Baker’s nomination. One describes him as “a towering figure in human rights law, celebrated for his profound impact on fairness and equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
“David is an exceptional person who has had an important, lasting impact on the ability of low-income Ontarians and many others, notably persons with disabilities, to access justice,” writes one nominator. “He is both a visionary and a ‘feet on the ground’ doer. His intellect and knowledge of the law is wide ranging, and he uses these creatively, often thinking ‘outside the box’ to develop strategies for the advancement of rights, whether in court or in advocacy and negotiation with government and other organizations. He has contributed to the development of systemic change in Canada and internationally. At the same time, he has been a fierce advocate for individual clients.”
“David has always taken a collaborative approach, engaging with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and in all contexts,” writes another colleague. “He has worked not just for people living with disabilities but with them. He has also been able to influence policy, legislation and practices in key areas.”
“David has taken on big, complex, seemingly impossible cases that few other lawyers would be willing to consider, and very often won, on many occasions, including cases that went up to the Supreme Court of Canada, thereby improving the lives of people with disabilities,” writes another nominator.
Legal Aid Ontario will present the award to David at a ceremony in May.
About the award
Legal Aid Ontario created the Sidney B. Linden Access to Justice Award to recognize exceptional individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to helping low-income people and who have given their time and expertise to promote access to justice in Ontario.
The award is named in honour of Justice Sidney B. Linden, Legal Aid Ontario’s first chair of the board of directors. Justice Linden has been involved with legal aid for over 37 years, and his distinguished professional career has been characterized by a genuine commitment to issues concerning access to justice.