When Farrah Jinha’s 15-year marriage failed, she never imagined it would result in an eight-year legal battle, culminating in 2021 with an 18-day trial pitting her — alone — against her ex-husband’s professional legal team.
But faced with a $200,000 retainer fee that needed to be paid to keep her lawyer, Jinha says she was forced to take over her divorce proceedings in B.C. Supreme Court.
“I was scared, for sure, but I was also very determined to get this done, because the sense of injustice was just too big,” said the 53-year-old, who now lives in Toronto. “I gave up my career. I stayed at home and I raised my kids and my former husband was going to leave with everything. That just didn’t seem right or fair.”
In order to represent herself, Jinha ended up missing work in order to prepare chamber applications and evidence, and taught herself
