Author Archives: stephenpitel

Annual Meeting 2019

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On October 26, 2019, CALE/ACEJ held its annual meeting of members as part of its conference at the University of Windsor. In her report to the members, President Amy Salyzyn highlighted the association’s formal name change to a bilingual name, the revived process for the two annual awards, and CALE/ACEJ’s role thus far in the Canadian Judicial Council’s efforts to create a new version of Ethical Principles for Judges.

Treasurer Jula Hughes reported that the financial position was unchanged from the prior year and that CALE/ACEJ is current with all corporate and tax filings.

Elected as directors of CALE/ACEJ for 2019-20 were Basil Alexander, Brent Cotter, Richard Devlin, Jula Hughes, Andrew Flavelle Martin, Pooja Parmar,  Stephen Pitel, Marie-Claude Rigaud, Alain Roussy, Amy Salyzyn and Noel Semple. At a subsequent meeting of those directors, the following officers were appointed: Chair of the Board Richard Devlin, President Amy Salyzyn, Vice-President Stephen Pitel, Corporate Secretary and Treasurer Basil Alexander, Chief Information Officer Amy Salyzyn and Conference Coordinator Frances Chapman. Members thanked departing director Elaine Craig for her service.

Lakehead University has agreed to host the 2020 CALE/ACEJ conference.  The plan for 2021 is to hold the conference in western Canada.

The members warmly thanked the University of Windsor and conference coordinator Jasminka Kalajdzic for hosting this year’s conference.

Call for Papers: ILEC 2020

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The next International Legal Ethics Conference will be held July 23-25, 2020 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  This major legal ethics conference is held every two years.  Recent previous conferences include Melbourne (2018), Fordham (2016) and City University London (2014).

The organizers have now issued a call for proposals (available here), which includes both papers and other kinds of presentation such as panel discussions.  Proposals are due by January 31, 2020.  The theme is “Lawyers in Divided Times”.

It would be great to see a strong Canadian contingent in California next summer.

Nominations Open for CALE Awards: Paper and Lifetime Achievement

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CALE has two annual awards.  The first is for the best paper written by a junior scholar.  The second is a lifetime achievement award.  The terms for each award are available on the website (here).

The deadline for nominations this year is August 15, 2019.  Nominations are to be submitted by e-mail to CALE’s Corporate Secretary and Treasurer, Professor Jula Hughes of the University of New Brunswick.  The paper must be submitted in an anonymized format (so that the author will not be identified to the selection committee) and the lifetime achievement award must use the nomination form.  This form was circulated to the CALE mailing list and is also available on request from Professor Hughes.

The selection committee for both awards is Pooja Parmar, Darrel Pink and Stephen Pitel.

Upcoming Public Lecture by Canada’s Former Governor General

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On Wednesday, March 27, 2019 the Right Honourable David Johnston, former Governor General of Canada, will deliver a public lecture on the lawyer’s commitment to professionalism and the rule of law, entitled “Seeking the Good”.  The lecture, which is the tenth annual Coxford Lecture, is at 12:30pm in room 38 of the Faculty of Law at Western University in London, Ontario.

OBA Fellowships for Ethics and Professionalism 2019-20

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The Ontario Bar Association is calling for applications for two Fellowships for 2019-20: The OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Research and the OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Studies.  Details about the two Fellowships and the application process are available here.  The deadline to apply is July 2, 2019.

These Fellowships were started in 2011 by the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism.  In 2013 they were assumed and continued by the OBA. 

Update on CALE Awards

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.