Category Archives: Notices about

Conference Season in Canada

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Thanks to Noah Semple and Jasminka Kalajdzic for alerting the CALE listserv to the following conferences:

  1. March 19 (next Tuesday):  Panel on Access to Justice and Early Childhood Education (Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Costs of Justice Project).  Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto. Link: http://issuesofcostandaccess.eventbrite.com
  2. April 25-27: CBA Envisioning Equal Justice Summit. Vancouver. Links: Website.  Program.
  3. May 30 – June 2: Law and Society Assoc. Annual Meeting. Boston. Links: Website; Program.
  4. June 4-5:  Canadian Association of Law Teachers Conference.  University of Victoria. Links: Preliminary Program
  5. July 1-4: Canadian Law and Society Association Annual Meeting. University of British Columbia. Link: Website.
  6. July 2-3 Windsor Law is hosting a conference on Commercial Litigation Funding: Comparative, Ethical and Regulatory Perspectives. There are panels on access to justice, ethics and other themes. For further info: www.uwindsor.ca/law/fundingconference.
  7. Aug 5-7: International Conference of Legal Regulators Meeting. San Francisco.  Link: website.  I am told that this conference is open to researchers. If you contact them via their form they will put you on the mailing list.

Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP Essay Prize in Legal Ethics

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Please circulate and encourage students to apply.

Print Version

The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism, with membership spanning from across the Bench and the Bar, the Law Society and the Academy, focuses on a number of initiatives to support the teaching of professionalism in our law schools and throughout the profession.

As part of this effort, the Committee established an annual award in 2010, sponsored by the law firm of Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP, to encourage law students to think and write about the legal profession and acknowledge the best student papers on any subject relating to legal ethics and professionalism.

The prize is awarded annually by the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism to three law students registered in a JD or LLB program at a law school in Ontario for the best previously unpublished papers on any topic relating to legal ethics and professionalism.

Papers must be at least 2,000 and not more than 6,000 words inclusive of footnotes or endnotes. Submissions must be in a Microsoft Word compatible format. The applicant’s name and university should be noted on the front page of the essay, but must not be shown on any other pages of the essay.

The author of the best paper will be awarded $3,000. The authors of the other two award winning papers will each be awarded $1,000. The first-prize paper will be published in a suitable venue. Additionally, all winners will be invited to a dinner with the Chief Justice of Ontario and the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Papers for the 2013 award should be submitted by email to Jacob Bakan in the Office of the Chief Justice of Ontario [at jacob.bakan at ontario.ca] no later than February 28, 2013. The awards will be announced following the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

 

Event: Does Zealous Advocacy have a Future in Canada?

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When: Thursday December 6, 2012 from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM EST Add to Calendar

Where: Heenan Blaikie Bay Adelaide Centre 333 Bay Street, Suite 2900 Skyfold Boardrooms Toronto, ON M5H 2T4

To register, go to the website by clicking HERE

What are the appropriate limits to “vigorous”  advocacy?  When and how does it  constitute professional misconduct in the form of “incivility”? What  is the role of the Law Society when the presiding judge has not objected to  counsel’s conduct? In June, the Law Society of Upper Canada ruled  in its high profile discipline hearing that Joe Groia crossed the  “civility” line during his successful defence of John  Felderhof. Groia’s case, now on appeal, has sparked wide and heated  discussion. On Thursday, December 6, a panel of leading  Canadian jurists will debate the impact of this and other developments on  lawyers and their clients across the country.  Come and join the  discussion, either in person or by live-stream, in what promises to be a  spirited and informative evening.  Wine and cheese will follow at the live  event. Continue reading →

The Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism

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Announcement

The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism established The Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism. The Committee is pleased to announce that:

Professor Brent Cotter of the University of Saskatchewan and Professors Richard Devlin and Jocelyn Downie of Dalhousie University have been awarded the Chief Justice of  Ontario Fellowship  in  Legal  Ethics  and  Professionalism   Research for 2012-13.  This Fellowship is for full-time faculty teaching at a Canadian university or college.

Ms. Hanna Askew, student, of Osgoode Hall Law School, has been awarded the Chief Justice of  Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Studies for 2012-13. This Fellowship is open to students, licensed paralegals, and lawyers.

First Annual General Meeting of CALE

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Please take notice that the first AGM of CALE will take place on Friday, July 13, 2012 at 745am in the Vistas Dining Room at the Banff Centre.

Please see the attached agenda and below.  All members in good standing are entitled to vote at this meeting.  All members of the CALE listserv are considered members in good standing of CALE (if you would like to join the listserv, contact Adam Dodek at adam.dodek – at – uottawa.ca).

Please find attached CALE By-Law No 1.  The incorporating directors of CALE are Brent Cotter (Chair), Richard Devlin, Adam Dodek, Jasminka Kalajdzic and Alice Woolley.

Adam Dodek

Corporate Secretary and Treasurer Continue reading →

The Lawyer’s Responsibilty to Clients and Access to Justice

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University of Toronto Faculty of Law

“The Lawyer’s Responsibilty to Clients and Access to Justice” 

This “great debate” features two accomplished advocates staking out their position on the “cab rank” rule, under which a lawyer is obliged to take on the next client “in line at the queue,” irrespective of the lawyer’s view of the morality of the client or the client’s conduct. Faculty of Law event – Nov. 3, 2009

Chair: Robert Armstrong with Edward Greenspan Q.C. and Alan Hutchinson

To watch the video of the debate, click  HERE

Professionalism Lecture Series at the University of Ottawa

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University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

Professionalism Lecture Series at the University of Ottawa

In 2009, the Faculty launched a Professionalism Speakers Series with the support of the Law Foundation of Ontario.  In 2009 and 2010, the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Mr. Derry Millar, spoke on the subject of “Your Law Society: Professionalism in the Public Interest”.  In 2010, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General of Canada and the inaugural Public Servant in Residence, Elizabeth Sanderson spoke on “Women at Justice: An Inside View”.  Get Podcasts of all lectures!

J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics

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University of British Columbia Faculty of Law

J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics  

From the UBC Website:

The J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics was established by donation in honour of J. Donald Mawhinney, Q.C., to recognize his outstanding contributions to British Columbia’s legal community, his commitment to legal education and his dedication to practicing with the very highest standard of professional ethics. 2006 was the inaugural J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics. Each year the Faculty of Law will host an individual from the judiciary, the practice of law or academia to come to UBC as the J. Donald Mawhinney Lecturer. During the visit, the lecturer will present two lectures, one to students and one to members of the bar, the judiciary and the general public.

This lecture commemorates Mr. Mawhinney’s dedication to professional ethics and legal education, and recognizes those whose contributions enabled the Lectureship in Professional Ethics. A special thank you to family, friends and colleagues whose generous contributions have made this lecture possible.

Click HERE for a list of previous lecturers

F.B. Wickwire Memorial Lecture in Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics

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Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society with Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

F.B. Wickwire Memorial Lecture in Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics

Previous lectures:

2010: “Conflicts of Interest: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly“ at Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, co-sponsored by the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. This panel discussion featured the Hon. Joel Fichaud of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, Ms. C. Kristin Dangerfield of the Law Society of Manitoba, and Prof. Paul Paton of the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific, with Society President Marjorie Hickey QC as moderator. 

2009: “‘Doing Wrong’ to Do Right: Legal Ethics on the Margin”, Allan Hutchinson.

2008: “Executive Branch Lawyers in a Time of Terror”, Bradley Wendel.  SSRN link HERE