Sam Pazzano practices as a Licensed Paralegal in Toronto. After 26 years on the Justice Beat at the Toronto Sun — the longest tenure of any reporter on the beat — he now walks into the same courtrooms he once covered, this time as the person standing beside the accused.
Dubbed the Michael Jordan of court reporting at a 2012 Ryerson University panel of journalists and lawyers, Sam covered some of the most-watched court cases of our time — including the Jian Ghomeshi trial, the Marco Muzzo sentencing, and the Bernardo appeal. He also broke the Bride of Bernardo story in 2014, when a London, Ontario real-estate agent had her sights set on marrying Paul Bernardo.
He retired from Postmedia in 2020 and continued as a freelance journalist for the CBC, Global News, and the Toronto Sun. He produced the Global Crime Beat episode Fatal Facade: The Murder of Dr. Elana Fric, Farogh Sadat's story on CBC, and Jasmine Fric's story on Global News.
Sam broke the stories on COVID-19-triggered mass release of inmates from Ontario provincial jails, and on gang members cashing CERB cheques to buy guns during a Toronto gang war declared on social media.
From the byline to the bar.
Sam graduated from Ryerson's Journalism School in 1979 and started his career at the Grand Prairie Daily Herald Tribune in Alberta, before returning home to write for the Welland Tribune.
In his 37 years at the Sun, Sam reported from City Hall, Queen's Park, the police desk, and as a general-assignment reporter. He covered the World Series in 1992 and 1993, Hurricane Andrew, the Yonge Street riots, and the first gay marriage in Canada.
He has appeared as a featured courts expert on several American and Australian true-crime TV shows — including Killer Couples, Snapped, and Behind Mansion Walls — on cases such as the axe-murdering lesbian love triangle, Doctor Joseph Roncaioli, and the Jennifer Pan murder trial.
Practice today.
Sam's practice is built on what he watched work — and not work — over a quarter century of court reporting. He defends:
- Traffic tickets — HTA and POA charges, from speeding through stunt driving and drive suspended.
- Summary criminal — offences a paralegal is authorized to defend under the Law Society of Ontario's permitted scope.
- Regulatory discipline — with a current focus on Law Society Tribunal cases involving paralegals and lawyers facing conduct, good-character, and capacity proceedings.
The byline is gone. The instinct for what actually moves a courtroom isn't.