Renowned Canadian civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby, who took on some of the country’s most groundbreaking and high-profile cases, has died, his law firm confirmed Wednesday. In a statement, Ruby Shiller Enenajor DiGiuseppe said Ruby died Tuesday afternoon surrounded by his family. The Toronto company said it mourns the loss of its leader and mentor, a “committed human rights defender, a champion of the underdog and a dear friend.” Stephanie DiGiuseppe, a partner in the firm, said Ruby “loved life, loved people.” “He understood justice and fought for it. He made the world a better place,” he said in a tweet. “Clay was funny, kind and completely original. We will never see his like again. Rest in peace, dear friend.” Others in the legal, political and advocacy communities also expressed their grief and paid tribute to Ruby’s extensive legacy. Ruby was a “true giant of the Canadian bar,” federal Justice Minister David Lametty said on Twitter. “His decades of principled advocacy have left an indelible mark on our justice system and Canadian society. My sincere condolences to his family on his death.” Ruby has been involved in many landmark cases in his decades-long career. On behalf of a small group of adoptees and birth parents, she brought a constitutional challenge to a new Ontario law that would have retroactively unsealed confidential adoption records in the province, arguing that it amounted to a serious breach of the privacy promised under previous rules. As a result, the law was repealed in 2007 shortly after it came into effect. Earlier in his career, Ruby represented, among others, Guy Paul Morin, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering Christine Jessop before being acquitted in 1995. He also represented former Congressman Swede Robinson, who was present in 1994 at the then-wrongful medically-assisted death of right-to-die advocate Sue Rodriguez. Ultimately, Robinson was not charged in the case. Robinson said in a tweet Wednesday that he was “devastated” by Ruby’s death, calling him a “dear friend” and “a giant in the legal profession, a pillar of the progressive community and a good and decent man, a human being.” In Toronto, Ruby was embroiled in a conflict of interest case that sought to remove then-mayor Rob Ford from office.
