AKOSUA MATTHEWS | 416-655-3044x814 amatthews@kastnerko.com

Akosua (Ah-­ko-sue-ah) is an associate at Kastner Ko LLP, leading the firm’s state accountability work. Her practice includes civil litigation, public law, human rights claims, coroner’s inquests, and advising on policy and legislative matters.

Akosua is a Rhodes Scholar and graduate of the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. Akosua completed her articles with the Ministry of the Attorney General at Crown Law Office Civil and was called to the Law Society of Ontario in 2014. Akosua holds a B.A (Hons) from the University of Manitoba, where she was the Gold Medallist in Philosophy, and an MPhil in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. Prior to Kastner Ko LLP, Akosua was a litigation associate practicing primarily state accountability law at Falconers LLP on behalf of individuals, families and First Nations governments.

Akosua has litigated in civil courts as well as a variety of administrative and private tribunals, including formal hearings before the United Church of Canada. Akosua has experience advising Indigenous communities and organizations on governance, rights, and justice issues, and has represented Indigenous parties in complex negotiations with the Crown. In 2018, Akosua was selected as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Canadian Lawyers, for her long-standing representation of the political territorial organization Nishnawbe Aski Nation (“NAN”) in the Indigenous child welfare proceedings before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. 

Akosua has visited numerous First Nations and is looking forward to her next invitation to your community.

Akosua is from Winnipeg, where she served over five years as an Army Reservist with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regiment as a bugler. She is a descendant and member of the Manitoba Métis and is also of Ghanaian descent. Currently, Akosua is the Vice-Chair and Vice-President of the YMCA of the Greater Toronto Area and the recent past-President /Chair of the Regent Park Community Health Centre Board. She cheers for the Winnipeg Jets, unequivocally.