Molly Reynolds

Counsel, Torys LLP
Called to the bar in 2009

Molly Reynolds is the go-to expert on privacy law at Torys LLP. The 34-year-old got her first taste of the practice area in 2010 when she worked on one of the first major internet-privacy cases. Alongside Sheila Block, a top litigator at the firm, she represented Lori Douglas, an associate chief justice at the top trial court in Manitoba, whose husband had — without her consent — uploaded intimate images of her to a pornography website. The Canadian Judicial Council had launched an investigation into whether the presence of these photos compromised Douglas’s credibility as a judge. It fell to Reynolds and Block to defend Douglas before the council.

Reynolds found the case appalling. “From the get-go, it was so obvious there was a double standard,” she says. “If that had happened to a man, it wouldn’t have damaged his reputation in the same way.”

After five years, Douglas moved into early retirement and, as a result, the judicial counsel decided not to pursue the complaints further. Though the dust has settled, Reynolds and Douglas still keep in touch. “Molly never let me down,” says Douglas. “She was incredibly empathetic and always kept me on an even keel.”

During that case, Reynolds stopped working in commercial litigation and, instead, built up a digital-privacy practice. Over the past decade, she has represented victims of cyber abuse. But she also works with corporations and government agencies to ensure they’re in compliance with the latest privacy and cyber-security legislation.

Her schedule is non-stop, but Reynolds unwinds at home with her wife, Michelle Walker, and their three dogs. And she still finds the energy to offer guidance to junior lawyers at the firm. In fact, Torys has twice named her the firm’s best mentor. “I want students and young lawyers to feel like they have an ally,” says Reynolds. “Sometimes, that just means listening.”

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This story is from our Summer 2019 Issue.

Photography by Luis Mora, hair and makeup by Michelle Calleja.