Update on CALE Awards

In 2017 CALE created two awards: a Best Paper Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Nominations will be sought for these awards each year, commencing in the spring, and the awards will normally be announced at the annual meeting of members in the fall.  In 2018 the selection committee determined that neither award would be made that year.

For 2019 the selection committee is Pooja Parmer, Darrel Pink and Stephen Pitel.  CALE expects to call for nominations in early May 2019.

Wickwire Lecture at Schulich School of Law

On January 31, 2019, David Layton QC will deliver the F.B. Wickwire Memorial Lecture on the topic of “Criminal Lawyers, Hired Guns & Junkyard Dogs”, looking at the ethics of being a criminal defence lawyer. 

The lecture is at 4:30pm in room 105 of the Weldon Law Building at Dalhousie Unversity, Halifax.  It is open to the public.

New Director and Officers

Professor Amy Salyzyn of the University of Ottawa is the new President of CALE.  She succeeds Justice Alice Woolley who resigned as President last fall when she was appointed to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.

At a meeting of CALE’s board of directors held by phone on January 28, 2019, changes were made to CALE’s directors and officers.  These tend to only happen at the annual meeting of members, but the appointment of Justice Woolley necessitated some mid-year changes.

Justice Alice Woolley having resigned as a director, the board of directors appointed Professor Stephen Pitel (Western) as a director.

Justice Alice Woolley having resigned as President, the board of directors appointed Professor Amy Salyzyn (Ottawa) as President.  This created a vacancy in the position of Vice-President, which the board of directors filled by appointing Professor Stephen Pitel (Western).

The directors also appointed Professor Jasminka Kalajdzic (Windsor) as the Conference Coordinator. 

Dates and Venue for 2019 CALE Annual Conference

The 2019 CALE annual conference will be hosted by the University of Windsor.  It will follow its traditional schedule, starting on the evening of Thursday, October 24 and ending mid-day on Saturday, October 26, 2019.  Professor Jasminka Kalajdzic is the Conference Co-ordinator.  The CALE annual meeting of members will be held at the conference.  Calls for papers will go out in the spring.

CBA-FLSC Ethics Forum 2019

The Forum will be held from 9am to 4:30pm on March 1, 2019 at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto.  The Forum is an annual discussion between lawyers, academics and regulators who are interested in legal ethics and professional services regulation.  Registration information is available here.

This year the Forum will focus on four topics: modernizing legal regulation, current issues in judicial ethics, entrepreneurial ideas for improving access to justice, and obligations to unrepresented and self-represented parties.

Speakers include Chief Justice Robert Bauman, Dean Adam Dodek, Lisa Eisen, Irwin Fefergrad, Gillian Hadfield, Jacqueline Horvat, Lena Koke, Taryn McCormick, Jacqueline Mullenger, Andrew Pilliar, Darrel Pink, Stephen Pitel, Amy Salyzyn, Darcia Senft, Associate Chief Justice Deborah Smith, Justice Lorne Sossin and David Swayze.  The Forum is co-chaired by LSO Treasurer Malcolm Mercer and CALE Vice-President Amy Salyzyn.

CALE 2018 Annual Meeting of Members

On October 27, 2018 CALE held its annual meeting of members at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, in conjunction with its annual conference.  The meeting elected CALE’s directors and appointed its officers for 2018-19, including appointing Professor Alice Woolley for another term as President.  The current directors and officers are indicated on CALE’s website.

Approved minutes for the 2017 annual meeting of members (and for prior years) are available on CALE’s website. 

Report on the 2018 CALE Annual Conference

On October 25-27, 2018 the Annual CALE Conference was hosted by Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.  It was also supported by the Law Society of Ontario, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, LawPRO and McCarthy Tetrault. 

The conference featured two sessions on research in progress, two sessions on developments in the teaching of legal ethics, a session on the issues technology raises for regulation of the provision of legal services and a session on judicial ethics.

Congratulations are due to conference coordinator Professor Trevor Farrow and his team at Osgoode.  In addition to its stimulating sessions, the conference featured some great social events including dinner at the Law Society of Ontario hosted by Treasurer Malcolm Mercer.  The conference was also an opportunity for many attendees to take their first subway trip from downtown Toronto to York University.

Two Legal Ethics Professors Appointed as Judges

CALE warmly congratulates Professor Alice Woolley and Professor Lorne Sossin on their recent appointments as judges.  Justice Woolley serves on the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Justice Sossin serves on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.  Justice Sossin recently was the Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and Justice Woolley was, at the time of her appointment, the President of CALE.  She had also served as ethics advisor to the City of Calgary.  See the Canadian Lawyer coverage of both appointments here and here.

Ontario Judicial Council Decision Regarding Justice Donald McLeod

In December 2018 the Ontario Judicial Council released its Reasons for Decision (available here) regarding a complaint against Justice Donald McLeod (of the Ontario Court of Justice).  The conduct in question involved his role as Chair of the Interim Steering Committee of the Federation of Black Canadians.  The Reasons found that Justice McLeod’s conduct was “incompatible with judicial office” (para 92) but that public confidence in his ability to serve as a judge or in the judiciary generally had not been undermined as a result (para 94).  Accordingly, the complaint against Justice McLeod was dismissed.