Ultra Vires Vol 10 Issue 3: 2008 November

ULTRA

VIRES

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3

WWW.ULTRAVIRES.CA

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

Happy Halloween: Flavelle hosts SLS party

For more pictures from the SLS Halloween Party, see the centre spread.

UV

INDEX

• GUANTANAMO BAY.....P. 5

• LAW FIRM SUMMER RECRUIT-

MENT SPREAD.....P. 6

• HALLOWEEN PICS.....P. 12-13 • RURAL LAWYERING.....P. 15

• POINT/COUNTERPOINT.....P. 18

In defence of UltraVires

Students at U of T Law are generally a highly-engaged, active group. The Faculty as a whole sustains a level of extracurricular activity that is truly impressive given its limited size. The journals are world-class publications, the clinics provide excellent hands-on experience for huge numbers of students, and views and interests of every colour and stripe find outlets in clubs that are non-lawrelated as often as not. The breadth and strength of this extra-curricular spread, above and beyond the rigours of the ac-

Love law?

BY TINA YANG (2L)

ademic program, is something in which students rightly take pride. Except for the student newspaper, apparently.

On October 20, a group referring to itself as the University of Toronto Law Union contacted UV, expressing its concerns over a number of issues, including the editorial and financial integrity of this newspaper.

Ultra Vires is not a prestigious institution. Its writing is never going to win any accolades or acclaim for the law school, and its rather narrow mandate

ensures that its impact will rarely spread beyond the U of T Law community.

For that matter, operating under time and workload constraints, UV’s content and production value don’t always reach even our reduced student publication standards. This is old news to editors, and every new issue represents nothing more than the next step in a continuing effort to improve on mistakes made in the past.

CONTINUED at page 5

And the promise of challenge, mentoring and opportunity? Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Our students know. oslerstudent.com | Toronto Montréal Calgary Ottawa New York

Masthead

Ultra Vires staff weigh in on this issue’s pressing matters

A possible end? Is this goodbye?

It’s been an interesting month here at UV, replete with intrigue and controversy. It all started approximately a month ago when a group of students, on behalf of the University of Toronto Law Union (“UTLU”), sent UV a demand letter accusing our operating practices of being “ethically unacceptable”(complete UTLU letter included at page 4).

The UTLU, with the stated mission of “promoting accountability, fairness and independence from corporate influence in academic space”, was concerned about: a) UV’s practice of raising revenue through primarily corporate advertising; b) UV’s alleged bias towards corporate-oriented content; and c) UV’s longstanding, industrystandard practice of distributing any remaining advertising revenue to the editorial team in the form of honoria or stipends.

Consequently, the majority of their many demands were for information regarding UV’s financial history and previous years’ practices. For reasons of availability and confidentiality, we could not disclose this information directly to UTLU. The letter was strongly-worded, accusatory, and at times seemed threatening, as it imposed a series of ultimatums and deadlines to be met, or else the UTLU would enlist “assistance from other students, the SLS, Dean Moran, the Faculty of Law, the University administration, The Varsity,

UTSU and/or the Canada Revenue Agency” to resolve their concerns.

As we felt that we did not have anything to hide, we decided to follow up on the UTLU’s suggestion and met with the SLS, the Faculty of Law and University Administration through the Dean’s Office. Additionally, we hope to alleviate any of your concerns by publicly bringing these issues to your attention in this issue of UV. There are a number of costs associated with producing six issues of UV each academic year. UV does not receive any money from the University administration, the Faculty of Law, the SLS or any other students or groups. We do not collect a student levy - students do not subsidize UV through their student fees. As you know, not only do we not charge for copies of UV, we also give you a doughnut to enhance your reading enjoyment! Consequently, we sell advertising space to law-related corporations, including large corporate firms. As an independent paper which has been historically well received by the student body, many firms choose to pay us money in order to advertise in our paper.

Each issue of UV is brought to you through the hard work of volunteers who devote their time and efforts to the paper, with the possibility of a stipend if the paper generates a surplus at the end of the year. The only material support UV receives from the school is the UV office

ULTRA VIRES

is the independent student newspaper of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

Editors - In - Chief News Editor Opinion and Editorial Features Diversions Production and Design Business Manager IT/Website Manager Copy Editor Photography First Year Content

Rano Daoud & Ari Kopolovic TBD Jeffrey Rybak Karin Sachar & Elie Goldberg Kalvin Sie Lisa Chuyow & Danielle Stone Sam Ault Sam Ault Tina Yang Google Images Mike Hamata & Amanda Melvin

Communications Centre, Falconer Hall 84 Queens Park Crescent, Toronto ON M5S 2C5 ultra.vires@utoronto.ca (416) 946 - 7684

space and utilities – and we are thankful for it. The computers, other electronic hardware, software and production equipment inside the office were bought by UV using the revenue collected from advertising.

Additionally, UV pays a substantial amount to an external printing company to print copies of the paper each issue.

One thing is for certain; as rewarding as being a part of the UV team may be, it’s also a huge time commitment and, at least occasionally, a big pain in the ass. We are confident in saying that nobody on the team is writing articles and working nights and weekends on production for a measly stipend that they might one day receive. However, for most of us, the indignity of being told how to run our independent publication is something that we cannot accept.

UV is here to provide a sounding board for students. All who wish to actively participate by writing or editing are welcome, as are all who wish to passively participate by reading and enjoying the newspaper. Moreover, we encourage student feedback, be it positive or not, constructive criticism is particularly welcome. As evidence of this practice and mindset, we have happily included every single submission written by a University of Toronto Law student this year.

Distressed and insulted by the allegations in the UTLU’s letter, we sought out the guidance of past editors. They were shocked at the accu-

sations, since the practice of paying these honoraria at the year’s end has been an enduring and well-publicized practice which has never before engendered any outcry. Additionally, they point out that stipends or honoria are consistent with industry standards. Bearing this in mind, they advised us to go directly to the Dean’s Office in an effort to resolve any issues in a fair and transparent manner.

The Dean’s Office has decided to form a “Task Force comprised of student and Faculty representatives who will be charged with establishing a common set of guidelines and procedures”.

While we are thankful for the steps that the administration is taking to resolve this matter, the fact remains that UV is now hanging by a thread.

Morale is very low as team members feel personally insulted by the allegations made by the UTLU. We are operating at below a skeleton staff at the moment, and many of us don’t want to go on spending all of our free time contributing to this publication particularly since it may find itself subject to outside control, robbing us of our autonomy.

At this time, we are unsure about UV’s future. We hope to continue bringing you this well-loved public service in the coming year. Thank you for your support over the last 10 years.

Should you have any questions or would like to share your opinion please contact us at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

Contributors

Rano Daoud, Rebekah Dunsmore, Elie Goldberg, Ari Kopolovic, Kate Oja, The New Anonymous Ranter, Jeffrey Rybak, Karin Sachar, Kalvin Sie, Alykhan Sunderji, Cara Valiquette, Tina Yang Ultra Vires is an editorially autonomous newspaper. We are open to contributions which reflect diverse points of view, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Faculty of Law, the Students’ Law Society (SLS), or the editorial board. We welcome contributions from students, faculty, and other interested persons. Ultra Vires reserves the right to edit contributions for length and content.

Advertising inquiries should be sent to the attention of the business manager at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

NEWS

UV under attack, animal law and charity basketball...

U of T Law founds student animal legal defense fund chapter Group Becomes the 124th Law School Chapter Working to Promote Field of Animal Law under Auspices of the Non-Profit Animal Legal Defense Fund

Students at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law have partnered with the Animal Legal Defense Fund to create a student chapter of the non-profit group.

Called the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF), its mission is to protect the lives of and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.

With the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s support, students at the school’s new chapter will join the ranks of hundreds of other student chapter members across North America. The group will host speakers, debates, panels, and conferences. As well, it will write law review articles for journals dedicated to animal law, attempt to raise awareness about animal issues on campus, and volunteer to do legal research and writing for local law firms.

“This is a very exciting time to be

BY SALDF

starting a group like this,” explains the chapter’s founder and executive director Maria Golarz. “Spain is set to become the first country to extend legal rights to apes, human health concerns have brought animal agriculture into the spotlight, and challenges to the Ontario pitbull ban are working their way through the courts; questions about the role of nonhuman animals[sic] In our society are in the news and on peoples’ minds.”

“SALDF chapters are an instrumental part of a growing national movement towards recognizing the important body of law known as animal law,” explains Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells. “A SALDF chapter can be a powerful forum on campus for education and scholarship aimed at understanding this area of law and the impact it has on animals. Most importantly, SALDF chapters are in a

unique position to powerfully advocate for changing laws to better protect animals.”

More and more law students and attorneys are looking to use their degrees to protect and advance the interests of animals, and to recognize that, despite animals’ legal categorization as “property,” there are special relationships between humans and animals for which the law should account.

Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the nature – legal, social and biological/of nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment, and animals raised for food and used in research. Animal law permeates and affects most traditional areas of the law – including tort, contract, criminal and constitutional law.

In 2000, only nine law schools offered courses in animal law; today, the list has grown to over 100, including the University of Toronto. The first SALDF chapter was established in 1992 at Lewis & Clark Law School; 15 years later, there are more than 120 chapters at law schools throughout the U.S. and Canada, including at top schools such as Yale, Harvard, Stanford, NYU, and now the University of Toronto. Students interested in joining the University of Toronto’s SALDF chapter should contact the chapter’s executive director Maria Golarz, at maria.golarz@utoronto.ca.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1979 with the unique mission of protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system. For more information, please visit www.aldf.org.

Osgoode seeks redemption in wake of Charity Bball disaster On Friday November 23, students and professors will defend the honor of U of T Law at the 2nd Annual Black and Blue Charity Basketball Game. The event will see students and professors face off against their Osgoode counterparts at the Air Canada Center at 12:30 pm.

When asked whether it was wise for the SLS to agree to a rematch, President Alykhan Sunderji said, “This event is about bringing our schools together to support a great charity in an exciting venue. Sure it was a plus that we won last year, but we hope this will be a tradition that will carry on into the future – win or lose.”

Last year’s event was considered a success, raising over $6,000 for Lawyers Feed the Hungry and spawning several new cheers mocking Osgoode.

The SLS is co-hosting an event after the charity game and an event later that night at the Loose Moose.

For more information about Lawyers Feed the Hungry, see the Law Society’s website at: http://www.lsuc.on.ca/about/a/fou ndation/feed-hungry/ Although the Raptors package is sold out, the SLS will sell tickets to the charity game for $10 on the day of the event.

BY SLS

Congrats again to the 2007-2008 UofT Basketball Team who defeated Osgoode last year at the first ever Black and Blue Chartiy Basketball Game. Let’s make it two in a row this year!

4

NEWS

Further to the Masthead: UTLU letter to UV

ULTRA VIRES

Editorial note – further to the Masthead on page 2, in the interest of fairness and full disclosure, the editing team has decided to include the complete letter received from the UTLU below for your convenience and consideration. To protect their privacy, we have not included the names of the signatories.

[Addressed to UV staff]

Former and current Ultra Vires volunteers have indicated to us that your newspaper has run a budget surplus over the past several years, which has been distributed among student volunteers at year-end in the form of a cash payout. We are told that at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, for example, your volunteers received cash payments ranging from $500 to $1500 depending on editorial seniority.

We request that you confirm this is indeed the case. If so, we further request that you disclose the names of UV volunteers who received cash payouts at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, and the corresponding amounts of money given to each. Finally, we request that you disclose your budget for the current academic year, specifying projected operating costs, advertising revenue and planned year-end honorariums.

If the aforementioned has indeed been the practice of your newspaper, we wish to plainly suggest that it is ethically unacceptable. First, we assume that the University of Toronto provides UV with Falconer Hall office space, campus mail service, telephone service and a dedicated email address at no cost. Second, we assume that the Faculty of Law permits UV free use of its name and image as well as distribution privileges far exceeding any “outside” publication. Third, we assume that a pre-payout budget surplus for UV is generated by web and print advertising revenues, the bulk of which flow from Toronto’s large corporate-commercial law firms. Please confirm or correct these assumptions.

We submit that student volunteers cannot ethically accept cash payouts (much less sell an amount of firm advertising that would make such payouts possible) while benefiting from free and/or preferred access to university and faculty resources. A payout of $500 may seem like a trifling honorarium to some, but it also exceeds the projected full-year budget of many SLS clubs. Though a perceived need for journalistic independence may exempt UV from SLS or Faculty oversight, we suggest that the editorial independence of your publication is seriously compromised if your volunteer staff members have such obvious, individual pecuniary interest in the increase of advertising sales to law firms that they may not only wish to work for, but for whom they participate in active recruitment of other law students via monopolistic access to student space.

However, we also wish to acknowledge that this situation may have developed slowly over time and without overt or fraudulent intent. As such, we wish to offer you this opportunity to publically acknowledge and remedy the foregoing allegations. Perhaps a meeting in-person to discuss our concerns would be the best place to start; we are also prepared to co-host a meeting with students interested in developing ideas for the reform and oversight of the UV budget.

Should you decline to participate, we are equally prepared to seek assistance from other students, the SLS, Dean Moran, the Faculty of Law, the University administration, The Varsity, UTSU and/or the Canada Revenue Agency in the prompt resolution of our concerns.

[From The University of Toronto Law Union]

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FEATURES

Summer hiring, U of T goes to Guantanamo Bay, and rural lawyering...

A formula for punishment:

Guaranteeing convictions in Guantanamo

The advice I was given by my mother before leaving for Guantanamo Bay was, “Never stop writing.” Without really knowing what to expect, the only thing I seemed to be able to plan was to record as much as possible. I felt like I was going to a different dimension – it was hard to know what to look for: Signposts indicating “egregious human rights abuses”? “Torture”? What would the “legal black hole” look like from the inside?

Going to Guantanamo Bay wasn’t eye-opening in that it changed my mind about anything. What it did do was confirm what I already knew: detainees held without charge for five, six, seven years?

Check. Perverse use of powers by the American executive? Check. An aberration of US and international due process norms? Check. US military personnel bored out of their minds? Check. One 22 year-old Canadian about to be convicted of “war crimes” he allegedly committed when he was 15? Check.

Everyone in Guantanamo, it seems, wants out.

Stephen Harper is – to give him the benefit of the doubt – playing dumb.

His position is that the “judicial process” In defence - from page 1

Every writer, contributor, and editor of this newspaper is genuinely committed to its success. Every single student who writes, who edits, who spends hours struggling with Quark (our unruly production program), who walks home in the rain after doing data entry for the OCI survey until nearly two in the morning, is truly dedicated to providing open, honest commentary on the U of T Law experience.

For this year’s much smaller UV team, the focus has not been so much on editorial excellence, as it has been on making the press deadline with twenty or twentyfour pages of content. Like every news publication, student or not, UV supports itself through the ads that pepper its pages. These ads, due to the nature of the newspaper’s audience, tend to come from organizations with an interest in reaching law students, which turn out to be primarily law firms.

Unlike for-profit news publications, student publications often struggle for financial stability. UV has been fortunate to receive office space and utilities from the law school, and to have a number of regular advertisers who take a continued

BY KATE OJA (3L)

in Guantanamo must “run its course” before he can consider changing his position about repatriating Omar Khadr.

Or perhaps he hasn’t ever looked at the Military Commissions Act. As students of the law, we have a leg up: We know

polite – medieval. By ousting the Geneva Conventions and writing its own definition of torture, the US has been busy eliciting ‘confessions’ from unlawful enemy combatants in Guantanamo and elsewhere. The Military Commissions

what makes for a judicial process: things like the right to be tried before an independent and impartial judge, as well as an impartial jury, the right to know the evidence against you, the right to have evidence obtained coercively excluded.

If you’re still not convinced that the Military Commission in Guantanamo fail miserably on these counts and more, keep reading.

The Military Commissions mark a return to a system of justice that is – to be

Act was drafted so as to make this ‘evidence’ admissible at trial and guarantee convictions. The result is that Military Commissions have the power to sentence detainees to death based on both hearsay evidence and evidence obtained through treatment which – on international standards – qualifies as torture.

Not scared yet?

In case you’re still fooled by the word “trial”, think about the length of time the prosecution has said it will need to

interest in the newspaper. This has enabled the newspaper to cover its many costs, including hardware, software, production equipment, the actual printing of the newspaper, and the token remuneration of its editorial staff.

In this practice, UV is, once again, following the lead of most other student news publications. Across the country, the majority of student newspaper editors receive some sort of recognition for their efforts, be it academic credit, an honorarium, or even a salary. At UV, the editors, as a whole, don’t commit to news writing and editing for the sake of the very limited funds that they may or may not even receive. In many ways, this stipend reflects simply the current institutional realities of this newspaper at the law school.

There is no academic credit available for working on UV. Indeed, there is very little credit in any sense for UV work, period. It’s not an activity that provides useful lawyering skills, that puts its contributors into a positive spotlight, that brings with it any sort of social cachet, or that, speaking of the bottom line, in any way helps with the all-consuming legal job search.

So perhaps it isn’t surprising, then, that this year’s UV masthead is the smallest it’s ever been. Positions which have historically required multiple students are filled by only one student, or none at all.

The contributors list, which used to occupy five or six lines, generally spans three at most. The paper has shrunk in size, and in scope of coverage. Putting out the paper thus far this year has been a struggle, and a continuous series of emailed pleadings for content, cancelled story ideas, and very, very late nights amidst the exposed piping and fluorescent lights of Falconer Hall’s oh-soinviting basement.

Also, like every news publication, student or not, the UV editorial team is in no way mindful of the content or source of these ads. Only the Business Manager and Production Editor ever deal directly with the ads, and they certainly in no way impact the editorial independence of this newspaper. Even a casual observer of UV’s content can see that we are open and committed to printing any viewpoint provided by a law student, whether favourable or critical towards “large corporate-commercial law firms”.

For example, our coverage of the

secure a conviction: four days. Four days to prove Omar Khadr guilty of 1) “murder”, 2) “attempted murder”, 3) “material support for terrorism”, 4) “conspiracy” and 5) the somewhat puzzling crime of “spying”. The architecture of the system at Guantanamo means that the Military Commission that will try Omar Khadr is almost certain to convict him of all 5 charges, despite significant evidence exculpating Omar Khadr from the alleged murder of American Sgt. Christopher Speer in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan.

There is now evidence that Omar Khadr was unarmed, on his knees, and with his back turned at the time the grenade was thrown that killed Sgt. Speer. Contrary to the story the prosecution would have us believe, three witnesses have stated that Omar Khadr was not the only person alive at that time.

There was someone else inside the compound from which the grenade was thrown, who was armed and firing a weapon. Additionally, the original report of an American witness to the firefight – named only as “OC-1”– states that the person who threw the grenade was killed in the battle,...

CONTINUED at page 16

summer/articling job search process this year has been from various angles, from those who have participated in OCIs and those who haven’t, from those who participated and enjoyed it, to those who participated and enjoyed it not a bit. This issue contains our annual post-interview week OCI spread, with rankings taken solely from student feedback, without regard for which firms are advertisers and which are not. This issue also contains a piece by two second-year students interested in pursuing rural lawyering options, an overview of the new Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter at U of T, some reflections from a student who visited Guantanamo Bay through the International Human Rights Clinic, and, inexplicably, many articles about video games.

No “ethically unacceptable” agenda is being pushed here, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be.

As always, Ultra Vires’s editorial policy remains that it welcomes all submissions from any law students, on any issue about which they care to write.

6

2008 Survey of Toronto Law Firm Recruiting FEATURES

ULTRA VIRES

The Ultra Vires 2008 Survey of Toronto male applicants. Whereas men received young but prefers the grizzled wisdom Keep in mind that a number of the Law Firm Recruiting was conducted 11.8 OCIs and 5.4 callbacks, on average, of our elders. On the whole, although law firms this year failed to respond with using an anonymous online survey dis- women received 11.9 and 6.4, respec- these numbers should be read critically, recruitment results. As well, were notributed to all second-year students at tively. Moreover, whereas 85.5% of fe- they suggest that young, male applicants table drops in the number of students the law school. 119 students partici- male applicants received at least one that are members of a visible minority recruited at Osler (24 from 36) and BLG pated. Respondents were asked to an- offer, only 63.4% of male applicants re- were least likely to secure employment in (23 from 32), as well as smaller drops at swer a number of demographic ceived offers of employment. Given the the OCI process, while older, female ap- other firms. questions, and to provide specific com- size of our sample, and self-selecting na- plicants that are not members of a visiments on the firms they met with. Re- ture of the survey in general, it is diffi- ble minority were most likely.

FULL SERVICE FIRMS spondents were also asked to rate Aird & Berlis The Big Picture: OCIs, Callbacks & Offers each firm from 1(#4) 10 on the respect For the few peoshown throughout Mean # of Applications Mean # of OCIs Mean # of Callbacks % Receiving 1+ Offer ple who decided to the process and to comment on their 22.2 11.8 5.4 63.4 give an overall Male experiences with 19.9 11.9 6.4 85.5 score. Ultra Vires Female Aird & Berlis, the then calculated Visible Minority 26 12.6 5.5 67.9 consensus was posscores based on itive. Although a Not Visible Minority 18.6 11.4 6 80.3 20% (OCI), 20% few students felt 20.4 11.4 5.3 66.7 (Call-Back), 10% 23 and Under that the firm could (Events), 10% (Re- 24 to 26 21.9 12.6 6.4 79.6 have respected spect) and 40% 27 and over them more, they 17.9 10.6 5.8 83.3 (Overall), to arrive finished fourth 2008 Entire Sample 20.7 11.8 6 76.3 at a final score among full-service 20.4 12.1 5.8 84.8 from each student 2007 Entire Sample firms.

At the for each firm.

OCIs, students felt that the lawyers were These final scores were then averaged to cult to know how representative these “very personable,” “really nice people,” statistics are. Based on the responses we Grades: The Impact of the Tran- and “easy to talk to.” arrive at the 2008 Firm Rankings.

Although the results displayed no ob- have received, however, the trend with script As we expected, the statistics suggest vious outliers, they should be read criti- respect to men is surprising, especially Baker & McKenzie (#13) cally. First, where statistics are reported considering that in our 2007 and 2006 a strong correlation between good Students were a little confused with for sub-samples (e.g. average firm rat- OCI survey, men did significantly better grades and success in the summer job Baker & McKenzie, as they had three inprocess. The average number of OCIs, ings), they are based on relatively small- than women. terviewers, two of whom were from the A similar gap is evident when analyz- callbacks, and job offers increased al- New York office, and one of whom, sample sizes. Secondly, no attempt was made to correct for selection bias. Fi- ing results across age groups. The per- most uniformly with GPA. during one student’s OCI “did not say a nally, for the firm ratings, there was no centage of students receiving at least one word.” Additionally, students took issue correction for potential biases created by offer was highest for those aged 27 or Job Distribution by School with “tricky questions… irrelevant to the other factors, such as the number of stuwhole idea of OCIs,” while another students interviewed at each firm, the numThe Effect of Grades dent suggested that a reception organber of students hired, or whether or not ized after OCIs disrespected the LSUC the respondent received an offer from a rules.

GPA Mean # of OCIs Mean # of Callbacks Mean # of Offers firm.

How did the students do?

The evidence on the whole is generally positive, although most numbers were slightly lower than last year and there were a couple of disturbing trends.

On average, respondents applied to 20.7 employers. The sample received an average of 11.8 OCIs, down from 12.1 last year, and 6 callbacks, up from last year’s number of 5.8. Most discouraging, though, was the drop-off in students receiving at least one offer from 84.8% last year to 76.3% in 2008. Additionally, the number of students who received four or more offers was a miniscule 6.3% - a huge plummet from last year’s 25.9%.

Gender, age gaps in results are concerning

On average, male applicants appear to have done significantly worse than fe-

> 3.625 3.50 - 3.625 3.375 - 3.50 3.25 - 3.375 3.0 - 3.25 < 3.0

15.1 15.1 13.6 10.76 10.9 4

older (83.3%), lower for those between 24 and 26 years of age (79.6%), and lower yet for those 23 or younger (66.7%). This is in sharp contrast to last year where 93.9% of applicants aged 23 or younger secured employment, compared to 72.7% of those 27 or older.

Also in contrast to previous years, this year, only 67.9% of applicants who selfidentified as visible minorities received at least one offer. This was well off last year’s statistic of 93.1%.

In our 2006 survey, the data closely resembled the 2007 stats. Bay Street, it seems, no longer wants us while we’re

9.1 6 6.2 6 5.2 1.3

2.5 2 1.8 1.6 0.9 0

According to the numbers gathered from firms that participated in our requests for hiring information, fewer U of T students were hired this year than last (85, down 3 from 88); the total number of students from all schools hired at these firms dropped from 446 to 406.

So, although fewer U of Ters were hired, a greater percentage of 2009 summer students will hail from Queen’s Park’s finest (20.9% compared to 19.7% last year). While law firms tend to be hiring fewer students in general, U of T has barely felt it.

Bennett Jones (#14)

According to some U of T students, Bennett Jones’ OCI interviewers were “oddly defensive,” “awkward,” and “very aggressive.” Others had a more pleasant experience, but their opinions are less interesting. Students who attended events with this firm were mostly impressed by the professionalism and organization shown.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon (#8)

This firm can be summed up in five words: tell me your life story. Seemingly everyone interviewed by Blakes was asked this question, and most seemed to echo the comments of one U of Ter who exclaimed “tell me you life story – what the hell is that?” Other than that weird question, most students were very impressed with the firm’s “ability to

Baker & McKenzie LLP

0

2

0

Other

1

Dalhousie

3

Windsor

1

McGill

1

Ottawa

2

Queen's

10

7

Western

Toronto

Aird & Berlis LLP

Total

Firm

Osgoode

FEATURES

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

0

Bennett Jones LLP

4

15

1

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

0

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

37

16

8

2

0

2

2

1

2

4

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

23

5

4

1

0

2

Bereskin & Parr

Blaney McMurtry LLP

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP Davis LLP

Department of Justice Canada Dimock Stratton LLP Epstein Cole LLP*

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP Fogler, Rubinoff LLP

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP Gardiner Roberts LLP Gilbert's LLP

Goodmans LLP

Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Heenan Blaikie LLP

Hicks Block Adams LLP

Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP

6

4

3

2

1

1

2

1

0

1

2

0

14

4

4

1

0

0

0

3

2

0

5

2

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

3

0

0

0

2

0

0

1

0

0 candidates,” “their professionalism,”

15

5

1

2

3

1

0

2

0

5

0

2

0

0

0

0

3

0

4

0

0

1

1

0

0

2

0

0

11

2

2

3

3

0

0

1

0

0

14

4

2

1

0

4

1

1

0

1

19

3

10 3

18

2

1 1 1 2

8

1 1 0 4

1

1 3 0 1

0 3

0 0 0 3

4 0

0 2 0 2

3

0 0 2 0

0

0 2 0 0

2

0 1 0 1

0 0

0

0 0 0 5

2

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Koskie Minsky LLP

3

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Lang Michener LLP

8

1

3

0

2

0

0

0

1

1

Lerners LLP

3

0

0

1

0

0

1

1

0

0

27

4

3

4

6

1

3

Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP*

McCague Peacock Borlack McInnis & Lloyd LLP McCarthy Tétrault LLP McMillan LLP

6

1

2

0

2

0

0

0

2

0

1

1

3

13

2

6

0

2

2

0

1

0

0

Minden Gross LLP

3

0

0

0

1

1

0

1

0

0

Ministry of the Attorney General - Crown Law Office Criminal

7

2

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

Miller Thomson LLP Ministry of the Attorney General - Crown Law Office Civil Ogilvy Renault LLP

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP

Pinkofskys Criminal Trial and Appeals Lawyers Ridout & Maybee LLP

8 7

14 24

2 3 1

4

0 3 3

3

1 0 5

5

0 1 2

4

1 0 0

1

1 0 1

0

0 0 2

2

0 0 0

4

3 0 0

1

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Shearman & Sterling LLP

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

2

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

14

2

4

0

1

1

2

3

1

0

4

0

1

1

0

1

0

1

0

0

Sherrard Kuzz LLP

Solmon Rothbart Goodman LLP* Stikeman Elliott LLP Thorsteinssons LLP

Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP Torys LLP

WeirFoulds LLP

Wildeboer Dellelce LLP

3

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

22

6

5

3

2

1

0

0

2

3

4

0

1

1

0

1

0

1

0

0

7

1

4

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

2008 Totals

406

85

92

42

49

34

23

37

18

26

2006 Totals

407

91

86

47

42

35

26

34

25

23

2007 Totals

2005 Totals

446

355

88

96

93

74

43

39

48

32

42

30

19

15

37

33

32

16

form an emotional connection with the

Blaney McMurtry (#16)

Students thought Blaney interviewers were exceedingly nice, but “they needed to tone down the desperation.” One student also accused the firm of “playing dirty” after the firm called, late on the Tuesday of interview week, and asked the student to attend a make-orbreak event that night even though students obviously had other commitments by then. Blaney rose from 25th last year to 16th this year.

Borden Ladner Gervais (#17)

While many had a positive OCI experience with BLG, many felt the setup, and the interviewers were “awkward.”

At the callback, most students experienced engaged, friendly lawyers, although one student described it as “hit and miss; some interviewers were great and others confrontational.” Overall, students generally had positive experiences with BLG, but that didn’t stop them from dropping from 2nd last year all the way down to 17th.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell (#10)

Many students found the interviewers

1 to be extremely friendly. According to

3

0

Other includes: University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of New Brunswick, Yale University.

“great commitment to the recruiting 1 process,” and more. They jumped from 13th last year to 8th.

Klippensteins

Keel Cottrelle LLP

* These firms were either unable or unwilling to release their hiring data to us.

1

0

0

0

NOTE: statistics include returning first-year students

1

7

1

1

Job Distribution

by School and Firm

33

20

one, they were “the friendliest, most likeable interviewers in Toronto!” Another student, though, found that friendliness to be excessive: “One of their interviewers…was extremely flirtatious. I know for a fact that I wasn't the only person who thought this.” Of the three people who commented about the cocktail party, two enjoyed it, while the other described it as “hell.” As evidenced from the differing opinions from the OCI and cocktail party experiences, students didn’t seem to agree about their feelings towards Cassels Brock. Some called it “misleading” and “too social,” while others loved the “friendliness” and how “accommodating and fun” they were.

8

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg (#18)

Although there were some good experiences too, the funniest anecdote was, without a doubt, the student who was so bored with his/her Davies interview that the student “considered pretending I had an emergency hospital call.” Generally, students were split between good feelings from this firm and the feeling that they were cold, unfriendly, and disinterested in the students. Their rankings portrayed this split, too, as some ranked the firm very highly while other gave it the lowest marks.

Davis LLP (#20)

Congratulations Davis: U of T students found your OCIs to be overwhelmingly “weird and awkward.”

Among full-service firms, Davis was ranked 20th overall, a sharp drop from their 3rd place ranking last year. It’s unclear why the firm dropped so far from last year’s positive result. Maybe it was because they were guilty of “pretending they’re Davies,” or maybe students just didn’t go for the firm’s overemphasis on “being nice.”

FEATURES

Filion Wakley Thorup Angeletti

Again, this survey received only one comment, so that voice gets the final say: “I had a great interview - very relaxed and conversational.” There wasn’t enough data to properly rank this firm.

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (#22)

A couple of students found the interview to be awkward, but most left thinking the interviewers were friendly and polite. Two students complained that, at the callback, Fasken’s was guilty of “monopolizing students’ time” – one student spent four hours there and the other was invited back for another event even though the firm had seemingly no interest in them. Nonetheless, the consensus was that this was a friendly place and an excellent working environment.

Fogler, Rubinoff (#27)

No, they’re not related to Folger’s the coffee brand, and one student may have made the mistake by “pronouncing the name of the firm wrong.” Students who were wise enough to get the pronunciation down, however, were subjected to

“boring” interviews. Based on this feedback, Fogler was one of the lowest ranked full-service firms; aside from having interviewers which resembled “corpses”, the firm was accused of “not knowing the LSUC rules” and having “bipolar” personalities.

Fraser Milner Casgrain (#23)

This was another firm that didn’t do terribly well in the rankings. Some students felt the firm was polite and friendly, others thought them to be oddballs who asked inappropriate questions like “who else are you interviewing with and are we your top choice.” FMC dropped quite a bit from last year’s rankings.

Gardiner Roberts (#26)

Those who commented found their interviewers to be “enjoying the process more than some of the other interviewers,” and “easy to talk to.” However, one person complained that there was no official rejection, and another whined that there was a “lack of communication to those they did not intend to contact on call day.” Not surprisingly, they were one

ULTRA VIRES

of the lowest rated full service firms.

Goodmans (#9)

Goodmans had the exact same score, 7.4, as they did last year, but U of T students were split whether the “campy” vibe given off was a good thing or not.

One student moved the firm to the top of their list after receiving candy at the OCI while another student felt that giving out loot bags with Disney princess Pez dispensers was “not going to help the "Camp Goodmans" rep go away any time soon.”

Gowling Lafleur Henderson (#28)

Gowlings for finished second-last overall among full service firms. Their OCIs were deemed “uncomfortable,” “unexciting,” and, this survey’s favourite, “awkward.” The callback was “weird,” “strange,” and “a complete waste of time.” The lingering question that one student had was: “how do these guys attract clients?” Seems like they won’t be getting too much business from U of Ters any time soon.

7.7 9.0 9.1 8.0 8.6 7.9 6.8 7.1 7.9 8.4 7.5 7.7 8.3 5.0 7.3 6.5 6.9 6.6 7.0 7.4 6.6 6.8 6.7 4.3

-

-

3 1 11 9 5 11 5 10 9 5.00 4 10 4 2 11 13 7.00 8 6 11 5 5 3 4

15 3 4 8 19 19 9 19 12 19 17 11 8 14 9 4 27 19 12 13 20 20 15 17 3 3 7 15 3

8.2 8.0 8.0 7.6 7.6 7.8 7.3 7.4 7.2 7.2 6.8 7.4 6.3 7.0 6.3 7.0 6.9 6.7 6.5 6.6 6.8 6.4 6.4 6.2 5.5 5.3 6.3 5.9 4.4

# of Responses

8.4 8.3 8.0 7.0 7.2 7.7 8.0 7.5 7.1 6.8 6.9 7.4 5.5 7.4 6.4 6.8 7.4 7.0 6.2 7.1 6.7 6.5 6.4 6.5 8.3 4.3 6.1 6.5 6.0

Overall Scores

10.00

# of Responses

8.7

Respect Scores

10 13 3 13 14 5 11 5 10 11 8 2 9 4 2 20 16 6 9 17 12 6 8 2 155 2-

# of Responses

8.5 8.0 7.0 7.7 8.2 7.6 8.4 8.6 7.8 7.5 8.1 7.0 10.0 7.1 8.5 7.5 7.2 6.9 7.2 7.3 6.3 6.7 6.7 6.5 5.5 7.0 4.8 2.8 5.0

Events Scores

31 6 5 10 31 30 19 36 25 31 26 26 12 26 21 7 44 24 27 22 29 29 28 26 7 6 11 26 13

# of Responses

7.8 7.7 8.6 7.9 6.9 7.4 7.0 6.6 8.0 7.7 7.2 6.2 6.7 6.0 6.6 7.6 6.5 7.1 7.4 6.1 6.4 6.6 6.3 5.6 6.7 7.5 5.7 5.9 6.2

Callback Scores

Torys LLP Minden Gross LLP Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Aird & Berlis LLP Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP McCarthy Tétrault LLP Lang Michener LLP Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Goodmans LLP Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Ogilvy Renault LLP WeirFoulds LLP Baker & McKenzie LLP Bennett Jones LLP Miller Thomson LLP Blaney McMurtry LLP Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP Stikeman Elliott LLP Davis LLP Heenan Blaikie LLP Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP McMillan LLP Shearman & Sterling LLP Gardiner Roberts LLP Fogler, Rubinoff LLP Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP

OCI

# of Responses

1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Firm

Scores

Rank

* Certain firms did not have receptions, dinners or other events and/or an insufficient number of responses were received from candidates.

For these firms, "events" was removed from the formula calculating the Composite Score.

15 3 4 8 23 20 10 21 13 21 19 12 6 15 10 6 29 19 13 14 19 19 16 17 4 3 8 14 5

Composite Score

Full Service Firm Rankings

82.5 79.7 78.9 77.7 76.8 76.8 76.6 75.5 74.5 72.0 72.7 71.9 71.7 71.2 70.1 69.9 69.7 68.5 67.0 67.2 66.3 65.0 64.5 62.2 61.4 60.7 57.9 51.6 51.5

**We did not receive a sufficient number of responses to the following firms to include in our Recruitment Review: Epstein Cole, Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti, Hocks Block Adams, Klippensteins, Keel Cottrelle, Koskie Minsky, McCague Peacock Borlack McInnis & Lloyd, Pinkosfkys, Ridout & Maybee, Sherrard Kuzz, Solmon Rothbart Goodman.

student, while another “literally cannot remember a single thing about this interview.” Aside from the students who were bored, could not remember a thing about them, or were turned off because they had an office in Mississauga, the majority of responses were very positive.

Minden Gross (#2)

Finishing in second place is surely a great achievement for Minden Gross,

callbacks, however, were enthusiastically positive. People stated that “This is a great firm, with truly wonderful people” and that “Ogilvy would be a great place to work.”

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt (#5)

Comments on the Osler OCIs were varied. While most were positive, some people pointed out that “They think they’re the shit.” There was more than

Lang Michener (#7)

Lang Michener saw a big Rank Firm 1 Torys LLP bump in their rankings from 2 Minden Gross LLP last year. Most students liked 3 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP the OCI, although one “almost 4 Aird & Berlis LLP fell asleep. Twice.” They scored 5 McCarthy Tétrault LLP well in the callback, respect, and 5 Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP overall section of the survey, 7 Lang Michener LLP and mostly did well in the 8 Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP events part too. One female stu9 Goodmans LLP dent, however, complained that 10 Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP she wasn’t given the opportu11 Ogilvy Renault LLP nity to meet with any women 12 WeirFoulds LLP employees, and another was 13 Baker & McKenzie LLP wary of the working environ14 Bennett Jones LLP ment after hearing yelling in the 15 Miller Thomson LLP halls.

16 Blaney McMurtry LLP

McCarthy Tétrault (#5)

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP Stikeman Elliott LLP Davis LLP Heenan Blaikie LLP Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP McMillan LLP Shearman & Sterling LLP Gardiner Roberts LLP Fogler, Rubinoff LLP Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP

8.3 7.0 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.0 6.0 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.2 6.1 6.1 5.8 5.2 5.1

7.4 (9) n/a n/a 4.9 (26) 6.7 (17) 7.6 (6) 6.7 (20) 7.4 (13) 7.4 (12) 7.7 (4) 8.3 (1) 6.7 (18) 6.5 (21) 6.5 (22) 6.3 (23) 5.7 (25) 8 (2) 7.4 (10) 7.2 (14) 7.7 (3) 7.5 (7) 7.7 (5) 7.4 (11) 7.5 (8) n/a n/a 6.9 (15) 6.9 (16) 6.7 (19)

2006 Score (Rank)

Full Service Firms Historical Rankings

2007 Score (Rank)

Heenan Blaikie is another firm with a much lower score than last year. At the OCIs, many students felt the interview was too formal, rigid, and overproduced.

At the callbacks, most students felt that they were matched with young articling students or associates who had no say in the process, or with lawyers in fields distinct from their interests. Some students had good experiences with HB, others did not, and one student had a bone to pick with a particular recruiter. I’m not sure exactly why that recruiter got on this student’s nerves so much, but Heenan, in general, seemed to rub the majority of students the wrong way.

2008 Score

Heenan Blaikie (#21)

8.4 (1) n/a n/a 7.2 (7) 7.1 (11) 8.0 (2) 6.8 (18) 7.3 (6) 7.1 (11) 7.9 (3) 7.0 (14) n/a 6.9 (16) 7.4 (5) 5.7 (23) 7.0 (14) 7.2 (7) 7.6 (4) 5.9 (21) 6.9 (16) 6.0 (20) 5.4 (25) 7.2 (7) 7.2 (7) n/a n/a 7.1 (11) 6.8 (19) 5.5 (24)

9

“Absolutely awful! I should've left after 5 minutes. The guy was drinking a RockStar and checking his blackberry.”* Another commented that “dinner was very strained in that it seemed like the guys from the firm didn't really get along all that well.” To top it all off, one applicant stated that “Despite having a potentially huge salary, they were the last choice of the 6 firms I did callbacks with.” *Note: this respondent may or may not have been commenting on a Shearman & Sterling interviewer from the New York OCIs. 2005 Score (Rank)

FEATURES

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

6.2 (14) n/a n/a 6.7 (6) 5.3 (24) 6.8 (4) 6.7 (7) 6.9 (3) 6.8 (5) 5.9 (19) 7.2 (2) n/a 5.6 (23) 7.3 (1) 5.9 (20) n/a 6.0 (17) 6.6 (9) 6.5 (11) 5.8 (21) 6.2 (13) 5.6 (22) 6.6 (8) 6.5 (10) n/a n/a 3.3 (25) 6.3 (12) 5.9 (18)

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (#3)

Students seemed to find the OCIs very enjoyable, with several saying that they laughed out loud. During the callbacks, “one woman working for them got upset when I complained about UT law (she is a recent graduate, and apparently liked first year a lot more than I did).”

Reflecting Skadden’s 3rd place finish, students were extremely positive, putting Skadden at the top of their lists of job choices.

Stikeman Elliott LLP (#19)

Stikeman dropped from 14th to 19th this year. The consensus was that the OCI was awkward, unfriendly, and not terribly concerned with, you know, actually getting to know the student they were interviewing. At the callback, though, students enjoyed the people they met, and especially enjoyed the smoothies and espresso machine. Overall, some students were impressed, but many were not and “could not see working for Stikeman.”

Tying as the fifth-highest full service firm, McCarthys jumped up significantly from last year’s 17th place finish.

Other than one response, everyone had a good experience with the friendly OCI interviewers, and the callback too.

One person called it “refreshing” to hear from them that Torkin Manes Cohen they fire most of their young Arbus (#29) lawyers after two years. Overall, And last place goes the consensus was that this was *All 2008, 2007 and 2006 Composite Scores have been divided by 10 for comparative purposes to…Torkin Manes! Maybe it to previous years. one of the better ‘big’ firms. was because the interview felt like a “cross-examination”, or McMillan (#24) because the interviewers were “unpreMcMillan dropped far from their 8th even if their score was based on just a one comment that interviewers were pared”, or because students felt like they place finish a year ago. The OCI was few votes. Students loved the interview- suspicious of applicants’ public interest wasted their time during callbacks by more “HR-oriented” than other inter- ers and felt that their questions were an- leanings and interrogated them as to why “just going through the motions,” or beviews, which caused students to “make swered in depth. One student could only they would want to work on Bay Street. cause they disrespected students by “takstuff up.” The consensus was that describe them as “okay,” but another felt Applicants were unanimous in their ap- ing the interview as a joke.” Whatever McMillan treated students respectfully that he/she was treated with the “utmost proval of the dinner events, citing great the reason, it can be hoped that they and nicely throughout the process, but respect throughout the entire process.” food and large numbers of lawyers who look into improving the process for made great efforts to include all of the one astute student summed up two reyears to come. students in interesting conversation.

Ogilvy Renault (#11) curring problems for U of T students: Ogilvy Renault slipped from first When asked about respect, one student Torys LLP (#1) “in the end they (a) were just too nice for me and (b) are not a top-tier firm.” place to 11th this year. The reviews of said “They treated me like the goldAfter a 9th place finish last year, Torys That’s U of T: only looking for the cold- OCIs were mixed, ranging from people plated billing machine that I will some regained the top spot which they owned who thought they were “super-nice and day be.” Enough said. hearted best. in 2006, too. Everyone loved the OCIs, patient” through “generic” and “weird” especially because they had “the best all the way to “Terrible. Awful. I thought Shearman & Sterling LLP (#25) Miller Thomson (#15) looking people.” At the callbacks, a good Entering the fray this year in 25th Finishing right around the middle of that they tried to hide the monsters durtime was had by all (other than one stuthe pack, this firm was described as “to- ing the OCI process instead of showcas- place, the comments were not too posi- dent who found it hard to believe that tally bland and uninteresting” by one ing them.” The comments at the tive. One student wrote the OCI was there was “buzz” circulating the office

10

about their interview: “there isn't buzz about me in my own apartment, let alone in a big firm interviewing hundreds of students”).

At the events, a middle-aged lawyer trashed all the other firms and hit on the Rank waitress, but all that didn’t stop Torys from reclaiming top spot.

FEATURES

BOUTIQUE, SPECIALTY FIRMS AND GOVERNMENT

ally willing to engage into conversation.

Overall, it was one of two the worst interviews I had.”

Boutique Firm Rankings

ULTRA VIRES

priority list before meeting them.” Guess flowers and magicians get you only so far.

Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie (#11)

Dimock Stratton (#9)

All who commented on their OCI experience with Dimock “hated it.” One student, after asking about the wide discrepancy between men and women employees, was immediately asked if they did that type of research on every firm.

One student spent the entire interview discussing octopus. And one student felt that “they had already decided they did not want me before the interview.”

No wonder they scored, by far, the lowest among all boutiques.

Gilbert’s (#10)

Overall

Scores # of Responses

Scores # of Responses

Respect

Scores # of Responses

Events

Scores # of Responses

Callback

Scores # of Responses

OCI

These guys got top marks for their overwhelmingly “friendly” interviewers, and the fact that they had flowers on their desk in the OCI! U of Ters are so easy to please – if only all the other firms knew that two smiling interviewers and fresh flowers would get them top marks. And not just that – there was a magician at the cocktail party! One student, though, felt that the firm was very disrespectful; not only did they “interview ad nauseam” for only 2-3 spots, they also barely read the student’s resume before the callback. This led one student to conclude that: “Future students should not put the firm at their

Composite Score

This firm tried something different during the OCIs: actually asking traditional interview questions.

1 Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP 7.4 11 8.5 2 10.0 1 9.1 7 9.2 6 87.5 WeirFoulds LLP Shocking, right?

2 Thorsteinssons LLP 9.0 3 9.0 18.3 3 8.0 4 84.9 Most of those sur(#12) We i r Fo u l d s 3 Bereskin & Parr 7.0 6 10.0 18.0 3 8.0 3 82.3 veyed appreciated jumped from 18th in 4 Lerners LLP 8.1 8 7.0 1 6.0 1 8.7 3 8.0 4 76.9 this, although one the rankings last year student felt that 5 Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP 8.1 17 6.8 8 5.3 4 6.9 11 7.7 12 72.6 to 12th in 2008. The this was “one of 6 Wildeboer Dellelce LLP 7.9 10 7.5 4 8.3 4 7.0 6 6.2 5 70.8 my worst intermajority of students felt that the OCI was 7 Ministry of the Attorney General 7.0 9 6.0 2 6.3 9 6.9 9 67.0 views” because of “painful,” or that the 8 Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP 6.3 3 8.0 17.0 1 6.0 2 66.5 that. One student interviewers “were complained that 9 Dimock Stratton LLP 4.0 5 8.0 1 5.0 1 7.7 3 6.7 3 63.3 mean,” or “unprethe firm pressured 10 Gilbert's LLP 7.5 6 7.0 14.3 3 5.3 3 60.7 them into saying pared.” At the call11 Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP 5.2 9 7.5 26.3 6 5.7 7 60.6 why they were inback, a couple of students had 12 Department of Justice Canada 5.1 14 5.8 55.9 8 5.1 8 53.6 terested in Hicks “GREAT” experiMorley, which disences, but others were put off by the Bereskin & Parr (#3) respected the position the student was “stiff ” interviewers, the “unstructured in; another student was frustrated that, Only one person commented on their Department of Justice Canada interview,” or when “they insulted a for- experience with Bereskin & Parr, so that (#12) despite giving the firm their cell number DOJ did not perform well in this poll. numerous times, the firm called the stumer employee of one student.” Overall, person is the foremost authority. Acthough, the results were mostly positive, cording to our helpful contributor: “(It Students found the OCIs to be “harsh,” dent’s home number. and students enjoyed meeting everyone was a) very serious discussion! Both in- “horrible,” and “intimidating.” Among at the firm. terviewers were not smiling and not re- boutiques, specialty firms and govern- Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith ment, DOJ had the lowest composite Griffin (#5) ranking, and a much lower score than They were rated in the middle of the last year. A couple of students had pos- pack for boutiques. At the OCIs, stuitive experiences, but the majority came dents loved their friendly interviewers away unimpressed and “knowing I did who actually demonstrated an interest in not want to work there.” getting to know the students. Although Firm

the OCI scores were high, a couple of students were turned off by their ‘married-to-your-job’ attitude, complete lack of respect, and “laughable” disorganization regarding mixing up the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ when dealing with callbacks.

Probably not the best time to confuse those two words, guys.

Lerners (#4)

They were right above Lenczner Slaght in the boutique rankings. U of T students, well at least the ones who took the time to comment, had pretty generic things to say about Lerners. You know, “friendly,” “polite,” and other boring adjectives.

Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark (#8)

The fourth-lowest rated boutique, Mathews Dinsdale didn’t do too well among U of T students. Then again, not too many voiced their opinion. Those who did felt that the interview was “forgettable” or, worse, strange because “some office gossip came out from the interviewers.” Hmm, I wonder what it was - surely it was more exciting than the actual interview apparently was.

canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be bothered to comment one way or another.

Rankings

2008 Score

No one commented on this firm.

The feedback for the MAG inter- Only one person gave them any rank at views included some useful advice, in- all (it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too hot) so we decided not cluding â&#x20AC;&#x153;MAG interviews are notoriously toughâ&#x20AC;?, â&#x20AC;&#x153;preparation Boutique Firm Historical needed for Crown Law Civil was more substantive than advertisedâ&#x20AC;?, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;summaries for Evidence and Crim Pro got me the job.â&#x20AC;? While some people loved the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and experience, others found the interviews formalistic and unfriendly.

One person had a bad experience with an interviewer who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Rank Firm 1 Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP make eye contact and started eating 2 Thorsteinssons LLP a muffin out of a paper bag as he 3 Bereskin & Parr spoke. In terms of events, Crown 4 Lerners LLP Civil had a surprisingly good party 5 Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP with an appearance of the A-G 6 Wildeboer Dellelce LLP himself.

Paliare Roland (#1)

7 8 9 10 11 12

Paliare Roland moved into the number one spot for boutique firms this year. The comments about OCIs were varied, from â&#x20AC;&#x153;impoliteâ&#x20AC;? to â&#x20AC;&#x153;informativeâ&#x20AC;? to â&#x20AC;&#x153;drastically underwhelming.â&#x20AC;? One student noted that they were respectful and let applicants know in advance if they wouldn't be calling.

Ministry of the Attorney General Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP Dimock Stratton LLP Gilbert's LLP Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP Department of Justice Canada

to gie them an official ranking. Ridout and Maybee hired 2 students, both from Ottawa. It seems that they must have either a very selective hiring process, or one that is so uninspiring that students

8.8 7.1 (5) 8.5 n/a 8.2 4.6 (9) 7.7 6.1 (n/a) 7.3 7.2 (4) 7.1 n/a 6.7 n/a 6.6 n/a 6.3 6.1 (8) 6.1 6.9 (6) 6.1 7.3 (3) 5.4 6.4 (7)

8.0 (1) n/a 6.1 (9) n/a 7.0 (5) n/a n/a n/a 7.3 (3) n/a 6.3 (8) 6.7 (7)

Thorsteinssons LLP (#2)

11

tive and a great way to compare Toronto (unfavourably) to Montreal. The level of respect that they showed, according to one student was â&#x20AC;&#x153;great - although I did not get a callback, I got a letter explaining why, and I understand the difficulties a boutique faces.â&#x20AC;? In general, there were only positive comments about the firm.

2005 Score (Rank)

Ridout and Maybee

2006 Score (Rank)

Ministry of the Attorney General (#7)

FEATURES

2007 Score (Rank)

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

n/a n/a 5.4 (9) n/a 6.0 (7) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 7.4 (1) 5.1 (10)

Wildeboer Dellelce LLP (#6)

Wildeboer finished in the middle of the pack among boutique firms.

Mostly, apathy seemed to rule the day at the OCIs, but at the callback they made their mark: one student concluded after the experience that it was â&#x20AC;&#x153;clearly their first summer program,â&#x20AC;? but another raved about the â&#x20AC;&#x153;best and most inconvenient swag by far: A pool cue with its own carrying case.â&#x20AC;? Other than the pool-related swag, students got the impression that this was a firm that knew what it was and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try to hide it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;a very focused business firm with very long hours.â&#x20AC;?

While only a few commented, those that did placed Thorsteinssons as the second-best boutique. Students liked the interview, finding it to be very informa-

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FEATURES

ULTRA VIRES

The SLS: Using mass email way before Barack Obama

Joel Hechter isn’t the only person wearing hiking boots. It’s dark when you get to school in the morning and when you leave at night. And more and more people seem to be living at the library. That’s right – it’s November.

For the SLS, October and November are really busy months. On the Affairs side, students have the time to let loose before the onset of exams, so we’re trying to provide as many social events as possible. On the Caucus side, this is the best time to collect feedback because you are past the “back to school” honeymoon but are still a few weeks away from becoming a bitter, disgruntled, book transporting law student.

SLS Caucus

On the Caucus front, we have been taking advantage of high levels of engagement to initiate the Upper-Year Survey and Emerging Issues Survey, and for the second year in a row, the SLS will distribute a First-Year Survey.

The hope is that the Upper Year Survey – like the First Year Survey – can be completed every year going forward.

This will allow us to track student opinion over the years. Probably because we deal with words so often, survey data can act as a powerful tool when advocating on your behalf to the administration and faculty. As this paper goes to print, Cassandra Florio, head of the SLS Survey Team, reports that the Upper Year Survey has a response rate of nearly 80%.

That is an impressive number and says something about the students at this school.

The Emerging Issues Survey is being used a bit differently. This survey will focus on issues that aren’t necessarily suited to an annual tracking poll.

The Emerging Issues Survey is a key component of another Caucus initiative – SLS Working Groups. This year we have working groups looking at the law school’s mission statement, satisfaction with student services, the opportunities for career diversity available at the law school, and what students mean when they say they want more internationalism.

Working groups have already met with students and admin and are laying the ground work for potential recommendation to Faculty Council (the law school’s governing body).

Faculty Council Committees have also started their work and we should have more to report in January. You can find SLS committee assignments on the SLS notice board.

SLS Affairs

SLS Affairs had one of our busiest October’s ever.

The first ever U of T Law Rock Band Contest was a smashing success. Lindsay Kantor, Mark Radelescu, and Nikki

BY ALYKHAN SUNDERJI, PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENTS’ LAW SOCIETY

Mantini will be drinking out of that trophy for a while. We raised nearly $1000 for Lawyers Feed the Hungry at a joint pub night with Osgoode. And nearly 300 students and guests attended the annual Halloween Party.

This month we are set to face down Osgoode in the annual charity basketball game at the ACC. As this paper goes to print, we are sold out of Raptor packages, but should have tickets for the charity game available on the day of.

SLS Communications

On the communications side of things, Director of Communications Josie Wong has introduced a bi-monthly email update. It will inform students of upcoming events and provide more detailed updates of Faculty Council Committees and SLS Working Groups. We want students to know how their school is being governed and we hope this will help us achieve that goal.

The SLS is really excited to finish this semester with a bang and head into exams knowing we’ve laid a great foundation for the second term. As usual, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, fears, or dreams, feel free to contact myself or any SLS rep for further assistance.

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

The draw of big city firms is obvious: big money. But to some, giving up freedom and a balanced life is too high a price to pay for extra cash in the bank.

However, those who are pondering practicing law outside of cities will find a dearth of information. According to Anne Carbert at the Career Development Office, if you’re looking for opportunities to work outside of the major urban centers, “you’re on your own.” It’s just you and the phone book. There are, as of yet, no resources such as informational sessions or networking events for students searching for an alternative to urban practice.

The LSUC’s 2005 report from the Sole Practitioner and Small Firm Task Force identified a “greying of the bar” outside of major cities, with the average age now around 55. These lawyers will be retiring in the next ten years, leaving gaps in regions that are already experiencing a shortage of legal services. The LSUC, the County and District Law Presidents' Association (CDLPA) and other organizations have indicated a growing concern over access to justice for people residing in rural communities, especially in certain practice areas such as family law. It sounds like there is ample opportunity for those interested in leaving the city, and this does not necessarily mean living in the middle of nowhere; even small tourist-oriented cities such as Stratford, Orillia and Owen Sound, with populations of 30,000 are in need of young lawyers. So then why the shortage?

The roadblock, according to some, is in getting information and opportunities to law students who may be interested in summering and articling. This is based on the belief is that if more students “tried out” the non-urban professional lifestyle, some of them would likely enjoy it and want to stay. The CDLPA has suggested a number of solutions, including the development of regional mentoring committees and the use of joint articling resources to help small

FEATURES

Bright lights, big city?

BY CARA VALIQUETTE (2L) AND REBEKAH DUNSMORE (2L)

cash-strapped firms share articling students. Unfortunately, these ideas have not yet come to fruition.

Given the lack of available informational resources, we collected interviews from rural lawyers as a starting point for those who are rural-curious. We asked them to weigh in on issues such as lifestyle, salary, and finding opportunities.

Work hours vary for rural practitioners but the lifestyle is more laidback overall. At the extreme end of laidback is Lloyd Greenspoon, a sole practitioner in Northern Ontario. He worked 20 – 30 hours per week throughout his career in

“IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK OUTSIDE OF THE MAJOR

URBAN CENTERS, ‘YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.’“

criminal defence and lived on an off-grid farm. “It presented an opportunity to farm, raise children and practice law. I was very interested in living on the land and leading a more simple life.”

Derek Miller of Huntsville reports, “In terms of practical lifestyle benefits, there is a lot less commuting. The environment is less polluted than the city. It’s more laidback, more relaxed. The demands on your time are definitely more flexible, and as well you have all the amenities of living in a town.” Miller has used this flexibility to get involved in several entrepreneurial ventures outside of his law firm. In terms of the small town legal community, “You get to know local lawyers and other professionals very well. There’s a certain element of camaraderie in the legal community, as opposed to just knowing of several leading members of the bar in which you practice.” As for salary, Miller says that students “certainly can’t expect to go to

a small firm and pull in $70,000.00 for articling.”

That being said, low wages are not always the case. Austin Acton, a recent U of T graduate, is currently articling outside of North Bay and receives a salary competitive with Bay Street firms but admits that this is unusual. “You'd likely expect $10-20k less for articling than in Toronto but almost everything is cheaper here, except gas.” For Acton, “Most days are 8:30-4:30. That said, it's still the practice of law. There are lots of 9 and 10-hour days. There are allnighters before court. There is reading case law in bed.”

Jessi Stanfield, a graduate of UWO, articled in Stratford in 2004 and ended up staying. She feels that the small town articling experience was well-rounded.

“You get immediate court experience, you learn on your feet and you learn how to manage all aspects of a file rather than just being assigned piecemeal work on big files and not being able to see the big picture.” She points, however, out that many small town firms are reluctant to hire articling students because, with minimal support staff, they can’t afford the time to train someone. “You need to be resourceful and a self-starter to make a go at it. Also, firms in small towns tend to look for someone who expresses a strong desire to relocate permanently to their area. It helps if they can demonstrate some sort of connection to the area.”

Miller agrees: “Traditionally, most small town lawyers don’t think about hiring articling students. They are seen as overhead, an expense, unless there is potential for a long-term relationship with the firm or a succession plan to take over the firm when a lawyer retires. Most small firms who hire articling students are in a situation where the student has some connection to the area.”

One possible solution is to take advantage of joint articles, an arrangement whereby firms share an articling student and split the cost. It takes more planning

15

and networking on the part of the student, but Stanfield insists that it a viable option, “I have seen one articling student here do four months with one lawyer and six months with another. He learned real estate and family law with the first, and criminal law with the second, so it was a reasonably well rounded articling experience.”

Acton agrees that the rural articling experience is well worth the effort. “I don't know any articling students who went elsewhere and have expressed regret about not staying in Toronto. In fact, several of us try to avoid going back [to Toronto] at all, if possible.”

So where do you start? Acton suggests a straightforward networking approach: “Every job offer I got in the North was from e-mailing the firm, preferably to a specific person. Walk through the front door. Make phone calls. Hang out at the local court house.”

Stanfield suggests contacting the local legal aid office for a list of names of lawyers who do legal aid work, as “they are generally community-minded individuals who want to see their community benefit, and if there is a potential prospect, they would likely be able to point the student in the right direction.”

If an opportunity to article outside of the city does not arise, you may want to make the move later, as an entrepreneur. Miller points out, “One benefit of small town practice that students may not recognize is that it’s one of very few areas where you can walk in and buy a ready-made business by buying out the practice of a retiring lawyer. Anyone seriously interested in rural practice needs to learn about business management, cash flow, and accounting. A small law firm is a business. It’s about being a smart business person, not a smart legal mind. We all have the legal skills, the ability.” Gain some business experience, save up a little capital, and freedom could be just around the corner, down the gravel road, around the lake next to the pine grove.

16

FEATURES

strain within our criminal justice system ... supporting the theory that it could and within all America’s DNA of retrinot have been Omar Khadr. The US bution ... Retributive justice is about who had doctored this report to say that the we are. Punishment matters to us. Murperson who threw the grenade was not der is as big as it gets.” killed – the wording of the original was America’s “DNA of retribution” only discovered because it was leaked to sounds pretty creepy. Creepy, but accuthe press. What is more, Omar Khadr rate: in the context of terrorism, the rule was severely of law is a sliding wounded in the eye scale. The crimes by shrapnel early on Omar Khadr is “AMERICA’S in the firefight, essencharged with aren’t tially blinding him, ‘DNA OF RETRIBUTION’ just bad, they’re really which would have bad. They’re as bad as SOUNDS PRETTY CREEPY. made it nearly imposit gets.

People CREEPY, BUT sible for him to charged with crimes throw a grenade acACCURATE...” of terrorism don’t decurately. serve fair trials. Why? Increasing eviClearly, because dence indicating that they’re terrorists. In Guantanamo Bay, a Omar Khadr is in fact not guilty of mur- charge is as good as a conviction because der is likely to make those Canadians 1) using techniques that qualify as torwho don’t support repatriation think ture or inhuman/degrading treatment again. As law students, however, we means getting confessions and 2) the shouldn’t need evidence that Omar Military Commissions Act was designed Khadr “didn’t do it” to be outraged by to ensure that such evidence is admissiGuantanamo: it is the antithesis of judi- ble at trial, meaning that 3) people who cial process. are tried will invariably be convicted.

A former Pentagon official was Punishment for terrorism is clearly quoted recently as saying that “[Omar something that “matters” to the US. Khadr] is entitled to a fair trial and I What the Military Commissions formula hope he gets a fair trial, but when you makes obvious is that what matters less have blood on your hands it is a far dif- is punishing the right people. ferent situation than being the limo Although the Military Commissions driver, in America’s eyes. There is a Khadr - from page 6

system in Guantanamo is likely to be shut down by incoming American President Barack Obama, the timing of Omar’s trial – which is scheduled to begin only six days after the presidential inauguration – means it may slip under the wire before “Gitmo” is closed for good. Canadians must increase pressure on Prime Minister Harper in the coming months to take the first step and ask for Omar Khadr’s repatriation. and hope that Harper will see the change in US administration as offering him a way out of his position. Guantanamo Bay, after all, is now the vestige of a dead Bush administration. Stephen Harper is clinging to a corpse. Now that’s creepy.

Guantanamo Bay is about to go down in history as one of the most shameful human rights violations of our generation. Canada is about to go down in his-

ULTRA VIRES

tory as having been complicit in it.

The Omar Khadr Project has so far collected signatures from about 40% of U of T’s law students supporting repatriation. This means that 60% of us either 1) support Canadian complicity in Gitmo, 2) don’t really care, or 3) didn’t know there was a petition going. Visit www.omarkhadrproject.com for more information.

Also, the CBC’s new documentary “The US vs. Omar Khadr” provides a reenactment of the 2002 firefight in Afghanistan as well as interviews with one of Omar Khadr’s interrogators at Bagram, who admits to using techniques with Omar Khadr he now sees as torture: visit http://www.omarkhadrproject.com/News/OMAR-KHADR-NE WS.html for the link.

OPINIONS & EDITORIALS Work/life balance needs to start now

These last few weeks I’ve caught myself in a disturbing trend. In addition to my proper homework, I find I’m even taking home the volunteer work I do at my legal clinic. For various reasons that don’t need to appear here, I’ve been calling clients in the evening, taking their calls on my mobile, etc. Whatever kind of work/life barrier I was trying to maintain is crumbling fast. And I realize these kinds of pressures are only going to increase in real work contexts.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve never been a nine to five student. Every once in a while you hear about some student who approaches school that way, but that’s the rare exception. Like most students, I think, my schedule is highly erratic. I write papers at 4am. I work at cafés in the evening. I

BY JEFF RYBAK (2L)

have five windows open at one time on my computer and bounce freely between my schoolwork and my e-mail. That’s normal, right? I think almost all of us do that sometimes.

What I realize, though, is I always expected this to change at some point. I’ve approached school as a kind of abnormal environment where everything gets mashed together but that’s because of assignments and procrastination and cramming for exams and so on.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I always imagined this would end when I left school and found a permanent job.

And I’ve used that as an excuse to enable all kinds of bad habits.

We talk a lot about work/life balance.

Many law students cite that as an important factor in their career goals. I rate it

pretty highly myself. But I have to admit doing it to themselves. Maybe it isn’t that I have an awful school/life balance. even the pressure of the work that drives I fail to maintain barriers. When I get them to it. Maybe they got into those busy I forget to make time for friends habits long before, on what they always and relationships. Under the pressures assumed was a temporary basis, and then of work, my diet and exercise routines just couldn’t break them. fall apart. All the things you’d normally So here’s my observation for the look for as symptoms month: finding a of bad work/life balfunctional balance ance – I’m a victim of isn’t something that it all already. But becan wait until you’re “A HEALTHY BALANCE cause it’s about school out in the workI never realized before. place. There will alHAS TO START SOONER Yes, I want to find ways be another RATHER THAN LATER, OR some kind of reasonproject to finish, just IT’S LIABLE TO BE PUT able work/life balance as now there’s alOFF INDEFINITELY.” out there, just like most ways the next exam other law students. But or paper coming it isn’t only about finddue. A healthy baling the right job. ance has to start Whatever job it may be, keeping these sooner rather than later, or it’s liable to things straight is going to require the be put off indefinitely. right attitude. As much as we complain Now, if only I could have written all about how jobs in the legal field can be that at a reasonable hour, instead of at 5 all-consuming and life-destroying, we am. also hear constantly that lawyers are

Murder in the 1st degree with parole in 7 years

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

It has been a little more than 5 years Justice Blacklock ordered Morton to since the murder of Eric Levack by be transferred from Syl Apps Youth Justin Morton. It was on April 1, 2003 Center in Oakville to Millhaven peniten(the very day that Levack died) that the tiary, a maximum security prison. While Youth Criminal Justice Act was enacted. at Millhaven, Corrections Canada has Morton would said that Morton in 2004, go on will be held in an to be the first assessment wing person at age 15 and not in the “... WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO to be convicted wing that is usuHAS TOLD A PSYCHOLOGIST of first degree ally reserved for THAT KILLING GAVE HIM THE murder. He was this country’s SAME THRILL AS OPENING also sentenced worst offenders. to life imprisonF urther more, CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AND NOW ment with no federal prison ofTHAT HE KNEW HE COULD KILL, parole for 7 ficials have HE WOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE years. His name agreed to accelerhas somewhat ate Morton’s time ENTERING A GYMNASIUM faded in these 5 at Millhaven so FILLED WITH PEOPLE AND years and time that he can be COMMITTING MASS MURDER.” has rolled by transferred out to quickly, as socia medium secuety tried to forrity facility. Inget or ignore mates convicted that Morton actually existed in our so- of first degree murder are usually reciety (albeit locked behind iron bars and quired to spend at least two years in the concrete walls). Safe for the time being maximum security wing. was something that we could live with.

Where’s the public outrage? This is a On November 13 however, Morton’s person who, by his own admission, posname resurfaced as he was once again in sesses extreme homicidal tendencies and a Brampton court room. should be considered among the world’s

worst offenders. It does make it difficult for me to swallow all of this information relating to Morton’s future in our country. Many people are questioning this decision and the effectiveness of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in general. Is seven years too little? Should it be the full 25 years? Perhaps the appropriateness of this legislation needs to be reevaluated and reassessed in light of this case. Here, we have someone who has told a psychologist that killing gave him the same thrill as opening Christmas presents and now that he knew he could kill, he would have no trouble entering a gymnasium filled with people and committing mass murder.

That statement alone has incited much discussion on deterrence, rehabilitation and the place of capital punishment in Canada. At what cost should we keep our society free of danger?

Now would seem like an opportune time to re-evaluate our criminal justice system. It is often difficult to balance “society’s thirst for revenge” and comments like “what a wonderful country where you can kill someone and still be out on the streets at age 22” with what is truly in society’s best interest.

It is particularly difficult in a sensitive case such as this one, where the wounds are still fresh.

I suppose the best thing to do in the meantime is to hold our breaths and try and re-examine this decision with the utmost objectivity and rationality. I sincerely hope that our faith in these experts and our criminal justice system is not misplaced. We cannot afford to make mistakes in this line of work when people’s lives are at stake, including our own.

18

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Point: The downward evolution of video games

BY CARA VALIQUETTE (2L)

I was taking Estates at Osgoode this fall. Twice per week at 8:30 am and a 1.5-hour commute in each direction sounds like a bad idea but Professor Howard Black brought life into the classroom. He opened each class with a cheery death-related joke. He was not afraid to use the blackboard or any other method to get a point across. He even managed to work in a ten-minute clip from Seinfeld so that Cosmo Kramer could help us navigate the tricky world of living wills. Sitting in his classroom made me remember why I used to like school. Also, the washrooms at Osgoode are clean and they don’t smell like anything in particular. It was a good time, but on November 7, York University went on strike and I suddenly had too much time on my hands.

“I think I need a new video game,” I said to my companion.

“Nude video game!?” he replied.

“What an intriguing idea” I thought, jotting it down in my notebook of inventions for some future purpose.

But not today. Today is a day for a new video game, be it nude or otherwise.

Last time I visited a store to buy a game I picked up Sid Meier’s Pirates. Naturally I thought the legendary Sid Meier could be trusted to create an addictive pirate adventure but I was disappointed. Repeatedly sinking treasure ships and wooing governor’s daughters gets old pretty fast.

This game can’t hold a candle to good old Lucasfilm’s pirate adventure The Secret of Monkey Island, and its sequels.

The Monkey Island series featured an unlikely hero, Guybrush Threepwood, who washes up on the shore of a Caribbean island and decides to become a pirate. He searches for clues and treasure while mastering the art of insult sword fighting (choosing the wittiest comeback to a burn). Along the way he meets Stan the used boat salesman, a pirate with no hands called Meathook, and three shifty characters known only as the Men of Low Moral Fiber. Threepwood’s aim is to defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck while, of course, wooing the governor’s daughter, all to a soundtrack of reggae music.

During my childhood, I spent a sickening amount of hours playing a ridiculous number of games. The most memorable by far are the early Lucasfilm classics Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle and of course Zak McK-

racken and the Alien Mindbenders.

These were adventure games with humour at every turn. They were addictive in their own way, but they weren’t violent and never caused kids to fly into a rage if they were asked to stop playing and do something else for a while. The only thing Zak McKracken had to blow up was an egg in a microwave.

Looking through the PC game bins these days, I can’t help but notice that some of the most popular titles look like military training programs. America's Army: Special Forces is the latest in a series that was actually designed by the US Military to help boost recruitment. I guess once kids see how fun it is to shoot people they’ll want to sign up to do it in real life. Then there’s Terrorist Takedown 2: US Navy Seals, and the Call of Duty series. Fifteen-year-old Brandon Crisp of Barrie was playing Call of Duty 4 on Thanksgiving when he got into an argument with his parents about his addiction to online gaming, ran away from home, and died.

Games have changed a lot since I was around that age. Sure, there are more than 16 colours now, and the pictures actually move but it’s more than that. Games are a lot more involved than they used to be. They’re more realistic, more violent, and they’ve gone online. Video game addiction is a growing concern among psychologists. According to a recent study by Media Research Lab at Iowa State University, 8.5% of 8-to-18-yearold gamers fit into the category of pathologically addicted. Sadly, it’s not only kids who are taking things too far.

Last month a 43-year-old Japanese woman was jailed on hacking charges after killing her online game husband’s digital character because he “divorced” her character in the interactive online game Maple Story.

My trip to the game store was disturbing and I decided to forgo buying a game for now lest I too become addicted and skip studying for exams. Or perhaps I would suddenly feel the urge to drop out of law school and join the armed forces. Worse yet, I may become a pathetic virtual world divorcée, dumped by the dragon knight who said he loved me. I can’t go back to the days when games had a sense of humour so I will have to find some other way to fill my extra time until York is back in business, because games just aren’t funny anymore.

ULTRA VIRES

Counterpoint: In defence of today’s video games

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

For almost anything to be successful in society, it needs to change and evolve. Few things have changed in such a degree, in such a short amount of time, as video games. It’s funny to think that only 36 years ago, the biggest video game involved two white bars at different ends of a screen going up and down to hit another white blob. But of course this evolution has brought on mass criticism. Video games are to be blamed for the deterioration for our society. They cause our children to be violent, anti-social, and they warp their brains.

Before I get into video games, I’d like to recap some of the other things that have caused this deterioration of society and of our children. Rap music, hiphop, Power Rangers, rock and roll (although I do have to say, I do get violent when I see that damn Elvis hip gyrating), movies, Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter (this combined with D&D are making our kids into witches and warlocks), Marilyn Manson, swing music, dancing in general, miniskirts (so glad that one won the fight), high heels, coed schools, Halloween, feminism, multiculturalism, beer (you better not make me give that one up), businesses open on Sundays, religion, technology, the internet, Disney, Barbie dolls, reality TV (though this one has some merit), comic books, Ninja Turtles, Micheal Jackson, dating and of course, the most hideous of all, the Teletubbies.

But of course you’re going to ask me, what about all those cases with violent kids who played violent games, the ones who fought over virtual items, and the ones who even died playing them?

Doesn’t this prove something? My answer is no for two reasons.

First, video games have gone from childrens’ toys, to a massive industry, whose revenue in North America exceeds that of Hollywood. There are bound to be some people who just take it too far. That is a phenomena that will happen to anything in life. World of Warcraft alone has 11 million current prescribes (that means 11 million people who are currently paying monthly to play the game). You take 11 million people from anywhere, and you are bound to find a few nutbars in there.

Second, even if higher cor relations were found, basic statistics show us that these correlations don’t mean anything. A positive correlation does not prove a cause and effect. If a higher number of violent people play video games, it does not mean that violence video games cause children to be violent; it could be that violent children are more likely to be drawn to play violent video games. It may even reduce the chance of this resulting in real world violence, as they have an outlet for their aggression.

Yes the army uses video games as a way to recruit, just as they used to use billboards, movies, and monetary incentives.

It’s also very powerful to use specific instances from the media of extreme behaviour, such as the teenager who died when he ran away. I’m very confused here; are children running away a new phenomena? Yes this case (and every case of child runaways) is a tragic and horrible loss. But can this really be blamed on video games? Children run away for many reasons, such as fights over friends, dating, curfews, cloths, chores and even allowance. I do not know why some children choose to runaway and some do not, but to simply blame video games misses the real issue. In fact, considering how much the media loves to jump on video games, it is surprising that this is the first instance (to memory) which linked video games to a runaway. This may be because video games actually provide incentive not to run away,...

CONTINUED on p21

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

“It’s not fair”. What a phrase. We’ve been saying it since we were kids, and continue to do so today. Of course we have come up with a multitude of ways to say it. We have refined it, given it many names, and all of us have different ideas of what is fair. As a kid, when I used that phrase, my parents would always respond with “who said life is fair.”

As we are in law school, we are taught (and sometimes rightfully so) that we should fight for fairness. Lawyers have fought and achieved many great things for gender equality, minority rights and religious freedom, all in the name of fairness. But when does the fight for fairness, translate to a fight for wanting everything to be the same? When does it go so far, that the fight for fairness actually becomes the fight for unfairness?

I’m not going to hide it; this article is mainly motivated by the recent attacks on the UV for giving stipends to volunteers. A long standing practice that has been advertised for many years. This comes up because of the issue of money. Some of us have money, some have less. Some of us after law school want to get high paying jobs, while others are willing to make less money and take positions that are more interesting to them. But the topic of money will al-

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

What really grinds my gears

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

ways be sensitive, because we all need it for one purpose or another.

Yes, Ultra Vires has money. Ultra Vires gets this money when firms advertise in the paper. This is Ultra Vires’ only source of money. While much of the

“SO GREAT, WE’VE MADE THINGS THE SAME. NONE OF US HAVE ANY SKILLS, CREDIT, MONEY, ANYTHING TO BE PROUD OF, ANYTHING TO GET A JOB WITH, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE A FEW CONCUSSIONS.

BUT HEY, AT LEAST IT’S FAIR.”

money is spent during the year during production, not all of it is. As such, Ultra Vires pays the editors, staff and some of the large contributors (in terms of content), a small sum of money at the end of the year for all the work they put in.

This is done because of the hours required for the production of each paper, and the lack of interest in these positions. Some monetary incentive is needed because there is little motivation

to get involved with the newspaper. We do not get school credit for this, we are not learning great skills that we will use as lawyers, and it does not have great prestige with the law firms that is going to land us that perfect job.

In fact, many of the senior staff on UV joined this year not because this is what they wanted to do, but simply because it needed to be done. No one wanted the work involved in these positions, but we couldn’t just let the paper die. So we took it and tried to provide the school with a service. This has required us to stay in the office until 4 a.m. on many nights, and even miss classes.

In return, we are called fraudulent, unethical, and self serving. This was a shock, as if we wanted to make money, working at McDonalds would pay 10 times the amount for the same number of hours (I am not even exaggerating).

But, we want things to be fair, and if we can’t fight to give things to those that deserve them, we’ll just fight to take things away from others, who also deserve them. No other student organization in the school pays its organizers money. The lack of funding for student groups is a serious problem, yet somehow, the solution for this is to take away the money from UV which UV raises

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(and needs)? Is this fair?

Let’s see what’s next in this definition of fairness. Student editors in Law Review and many of the journals get credit; this is not fair as other student organizations do not get credit, let’s remove the credit. Students involved in DLS get some recognition from having this on their resumes and transcripts when applying to law firms. This is not fair, all DLS students are no longer allowed to put it on their resume or talk about it in their interviews. Students involved in organizations which provide practical work get real world skills that they can use when they become lawyers. This is not fair, not all student organizations give you these skills, we are going to hypnotize them and remove any knowledge gained. Students involved in activist groups can get a great sense of satisfaction after helping someone who truly needs it. This isn’t fair, not all of our endeavors grant us this great satisfaction; we’re just going to beat the crap out of them until they feel bad.

So great, we’ve made things the same.

None of us have any skills, credit, money, anything to be proud of, anything to get a job with, and some people have a few concussions. But hey, at least it’s fair.

Hang Your Hat Here…

We are looking for students with diverse backgrounds, eclectic interests and entrepreneurial spirit to hang their many hats with ours.

Be a part of one of the most dynamic legal practices in Canada. Contact our Assistant Director of Student Programs, Leigh-Ann McGowan at lamcgowan@casselsbrock.com or visit our student website at www.casselsbrock.com

© 2008 Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. Cassels Brock and the CB logo are registered trade-marks of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. All rights reserved.

D I V ER S I ON S

The Wrath,The Money and The Power, and the longest rant yet...

Wrath of the Lich King or wrath of the ban hammer?

The World of Warcraft (WoW) is a place of magic and fantasy, a place where Gnomes and Night Elves battle against Tauren and Orcs, a place where 11 million people world-wide sink their free time. It is also a place where there is no accountability and unfettered discretion, where regulatory bodies make and break the rules as they please, and where your due diligence means jack.

Here’s a semi legal analysis/QQ of the story behind Athene’s world first level 80 in WoW. In the early morning of November 13, 2008, WoW fans from around the world, in their respective time zones, lined up at gaming stores and boutiques to purchase the 2nd expansion pack to the world’s best selling MMO game: World of Warcraft the Wrath of the Lich King. Judging from all the media hype and the crazy lineups to purchase this game, you wouldn’t think that the world is in economic turmoil at all. WoW > global recession.

Mr. Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) has done it again. No, it’s not another platinum selling album (although his new album ‘Before I Self Destruct’ hits stores December 9, 2008), no it’s not Get Rich or Die Trying (although he has a self-directed, self-starred movie coming out also titled ‘Before I Self Destruct’ to accompany his new album), it’s a brand new MTV unscripted reality television series! Just when you thought 50 Cent and G Unit were out of tricks, think again!

The Money and The Power premiered on Thursday, November 6, 2008 and it stars 50 Cent as the host, and 14 young wannabes trying to earn a top spot to be 50’s bitch. The show is about finding one person among the contestants with the best combination of street smarts, skills, ambition and fearlessness that will outshine the rest and possibly end up being a successful mogul like 50 Cent. It follows roughly the same format as The Apprentice. Here, the candidates must complete certain tasks for 50 Cent every week and learn the tricks of the trade that he has acquired. They must follow in 50’s teach-

BY KALVIN SIE(3L)

There were two things on people’s minds after the actual purchase of the game and rushing home to install it: 1) How long will it take me to get to level 80; and 2) Who will be the first to reach level 80? Achieving a world first of this magnitude gives you the ultimate bragging rights available on the internet.

Adults and kids alike all struggle to power level their characters to the maximum level in the shortest amount of time. It’s almost

like a worldwide 24-hour marathon. The Euro gamers seem to be the most hardcore about this, as many have taken as much as one weeks worth of vacation time just play this game non stop for seven days. So who got the world first? Technically a French Human Warlock by the name of N y m h achieved level 80 in 27 hours or so. Who really got the world first? None other than Athene, the best paladin in the world – in less

The Apprentice, 50 Cent style

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

ings as they are pushed to limit complete the challenges presented to them. The person who is least qualified is kicked off the show and humiliated more or less on national television (“Get the F*** out ma face son”).

I must say that his show is much more entertaining than The Apprentice (as

solutely worthless and that they could be potentially worth a lot all at the same time! This show has special guest appearances from likes of Lloyd Banks and LL Cool J (who doesn’t want to chill with LL?). Also, this show has got that raw ghetto feel to it that makes it funnier to watch – the grittier the better, right?

much as I loved staring at The Donald’s rug and hearing those hilarious boardroom deliberations). This show has 50 Cent talking crap to people and trying to get them to realize that they are ab-

The funniest thing however, has to be the fact that the reward money at the end for the successful person is *drumroll* fifty cents! Just kidding, it’s $100,000 (which is arguably not much different

than half the time, clocking in at 13 hours – but technically he was not able to reach level 80. Here is where the controversy lies.

Apparently, Athene leveled up with his friends with questionable use of WoW game mechanics. First off, let’s get something straight here: what his team did was not cheat per se, but use the rules to their advantage to achieve a desirable result. We legal scholars should think of it as Tax Avoidance as opposed to Tax Evasion. The funny thing is that in the World of Warcraft, there is no high court to ultimately achieve justice and make a ruling to see who wins. In WoW, the government always wins.

Athene’s leveling tactics were deemed to be acceptable by the rules but after reaching level 79 in only 13 hours, his team got banned from the game and their levels reset to 70. While most people are laughing at this, I was busy thinking of the legal issues...

CONTINUED on page 21

than fifty cents). Wow Mr. Jackson!

You’re a real generous person. $100,000 big ones aren’t really that big in this day and age, especially coming from Forbes Magazine’s most successful rapper in 2007, earning $150 million. The best part is that in the commercials and trailers for his show, it shows 50 Cent saying numerous times “I will personally invest one hundred thousand dollars of my own money in one of you.” Thanks 50, that’ll get me real far homie.

Can you at least give me $400,000 more and we’ll call it even at half a million?

So if you are in need of a television show which has all the crassness and humour you need for one night, this is the reality series for you. It consists of 10 episodes of intensity, raw humour and glory. And don’t forget the added bonus: it also has 50 Cent’s words of encouragement and wisdom for those ever so lucky candidates on his show trying to make it big: ‘Is that all you got? Now you’re a f****** loser in front of the whole world.’ Nuff said, son. Peace!

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

LICH KING- from p20

... involved (just kidding…): how can this be fair?

It’s too bad that the rules in the WoW universe are made by Blizzard and in the end, they can kick you out of their universe (by simply banning your account and making you non-existent). Rules are good and needed, please don’t get me wrong – but when these rules are unclear or broken on a whim by the people that make them bothers me. It also makes me uneasy when there seems to be no real way of redress other than posting about the unfairness to everyone on the internet and going on an online GNERD rage.

What is most unsettling about this situation is that Athene received confirmation that what he was doing was within the rules. The net result of his actions as a result of his due diligence was that he got the penalty regardless. Furthermore, what he was doing was no different in my eyes than what the truly credited “world first to level 80” Nymh did. He too was engaged in tagging mobs and having outside healers help him level his character.

Perhaps part of the problem is blaming the game masters (GMs) for inadequately policing or enforcing the rules properly. It has been said that those people involved with the administration of justice at the front lines have an even

DIVERSIONS

more important role than the legislatures in fostering a sense of hope and belief in the legal system. They are the ones that allow for a symbolic representation of justice that is crucial. That being said, cases of proven racial profiling by law enforcement officers quite obviously makes the public lose faith in our justice system (and rightfully so). So here in this case, do we have an instance of online Athene profiling? There is no doubt that he is the most famous paladin player in the world and is this one of the reasons why the GMs banned him and not others, just to make a statement? Perhaps it’s Blizzard’s way of saying: “sure Athene, you pwn WoW but in the end, we pwn you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Where’s the Charter when you need it? Where is the transparency of laws?

Where is due legal process? Even when you think what you are doing is permissible, you still get blasted in the end.

Where is the justice? There is no hand of justice, there is only Blizzard and Blizzard IS god in the World of Warcraft. It’s what the terms of service agreement says, and you accept it when you play the game. It’s that simple. It’s a good thing that IRL (in real life) there is fairness and that we do live in a country where justice exists…or do we?

COUNTERPOINT - from p18

... since you’d essentially be cutting yourself off from all video games.

Some kids may be psychologically addicted, but even that term is incredibly subjective (like the rest of the DMS-IV). And personally, I’d rather have my child addicted to video games than cocaine, alcohol, or even marijuana and cigarettes. Though I would prefer them not to be addicted to anything.

So don’t worry, you will not become addicted, or turn into a loser for playing one video game (though I would personally think that a women who actually kills her husband for divorcing her in real life is more pathetic than a women who just deletes a virtual toon).

I’ve been playing video games most of my life, and playing World of Warcraft since it launched. I finished undergrad, I’m in law school, I’m finishing law school (I hope), and I have been in the same relationship for over 4 years (just a little bit longer than I’ve been playing Warcraft). I have a lot of great

21

friends and a great social life. But most importantly, I am not the exception.

This describes the vast majority of video gamers.

Yes, there are a lot of violent video games. This is simply because they are easier to produce. It takes a lot less time to make a game involving one person shooting others, than to make a truly innovative or funny video game. Right now, there is actually a severe decline in PC games, so to can find a ton of funny and non-violent video games, you just might need to buy a Wii (and even the Wii is under attack for apparently making people swing their arms widely…). But if you do not want to buy a whole new system for just one game, try Puzzle Quest, Civilization IV, Black and White and Sims 2.

There are A-rated non-violent video games, and some can be quite funny. You can also go to webistes like Armor Games, Addicting Games, and F l a s h Games, for some great free games that can be incredibly fun, funny, non-violent ,and best of all, free.

At our firm, the team always rises to the top.

Collaborative. Cooperative. Collegial.

To find out more about our unique culture, visit theogilvyrenaultdifference.com

DIVERSIONS

22

The Anonymous Ranter:

ULTRA VIRES

Seventeen short rants about pretty much everything

In honour of the fifteenth anniversary of the National Film Board’s Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, directed by Francois Girard, we proudly present Seventeen Short Rants about Pretty Much Everything. Why seventeen, you ask? Thirty-two less fifteen makes seventeen. Dumbass. Those of you with English degrees, feel free to check a calculator.

1. Misuse of the Allure of the Ninja

There is nothing funny about academic dishonesty. That’s why I was saddened to see posters around campus for a new ‘essay-research’ service called Essay Ninja. Essay Ninja is an attractive and engaging name that could tempt frosh, weak of will from the general malnourishment and dumbness, to make a very bad decision. As we all know, you can’t get to heaven on the back of a ninja, because a ninja don’t jump that high.

2. Misuse of Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression is about many things. It is about hate speech, and pornography, and child pornography. If you’re the National Citizen’s Coalition or a member of the Alberta Court of Appeal, freedom of expression is about laws that restrict election spending. One thing freedom of expression is definitely not about is injecting a paralytic bacterial toxin into your face to reduce wrinkles.

Hence, I say nay to the new advertising campaign for botoxcosmetic.ca, which tells us that Botox is about freedom of expression.

And by the way, what lazy PR exec came up with the name BoTox? It stands for botulinum toxin. That doesn’t sound sexy. As we all know, pharmaceutical names should be sexy, like Prozac. And Cocaine.

Come to think of it, Wrinkle Ninja would be an excellent trade name for botulinum toxin.

3. Canadian Blood Services

Speaking of advertising: Canadian Blood Services. Of course, I do not take issue with their mandate. But their slogan is just factually wrong. Blood is not in you to give. Blood is in you to circulate

oxygen, nutrients, hormones and waste.

4. Ben Alarie and the Inability to Stand in His Office

No, this one won’t be the title of a major motion picture any time soon.

But, let us refer to the leading animated film on statutory interpretation, Disney’s Aladdin: “Phenomenal cosmic power.

Itty bitty living space”. Aladdin teaches us that such a combination is appropriate only for the wicked. Ben Alarie is the personification of brilliance and goodness. (As well as the innocence of a child’s glee living inside the body of a superhero.) Not only is he the fount of goodness, he’s also very tall.

In the alternate, there is an imperfection in the market for faculty offices.

Apparently the traditional concept of willingness to buy has been commuted into willingness to crouch in your own office.

The guy’s like six-foot-four. For the sake of all that is good, won’t someone please find him an office he can stand up in?

5. The Limited Appreciation for Spork Humour.

Sporks are funny. Most people do not appreciate the inherent humour of the spork. This makes me sad.

I am happy to note that spork humour is experiencing a revival. First there was Wall-E, and a visual gag illustrating the eternal cosmic question: Is a spork a spoon or a fork. Then there was a key exchange in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the masterwork by Joss Whedon that ‘broke the internet’ – Penny: “Billy, you’re jamming a spork into your thigh.” Billy: “So I am.

Hilarious.” And finally, during coverage of the Obama-McCain election, the masterful wit of Jon Stewart: “You brought a spoon to a spork fight”.

Rise, you lovers of spork humour.

Rise.

6. SLS Caucus

The working group on career diversity. Doesn’t this sound an awful lot like something the Career Development Office should be doing? You’re only encouraging them.

I note in passing my love for the SLS affairs, who recently brought us the sketchiest bouncers this side of the actual mob.

7. The Career Development Office

I largely have respect and admiration for Lianne Krakauer, who was until recently the Assistant Dean of Career Development Programs. A February 28, 2008 article in the Globe and Mail by

Diana McLaren quoted her as follows: "Students will say they're not going to be able to afford to work in government," Ms. Krakauer says. "They don't know that government salaries and articling rates are very good."

Well, Ms. Krakauer, thank you for implying (inadvertently I’m sure) that all us students who want to work in government are just whining about massive debt. I accepted your challenge and informed myself. As an articling student for the Ontario government, I will be making $1150 per week. My colleagues on Bay Street will be making $1450. Assuming 42 weeks in the 10-month articling term, this makes $300 X 42 = $12,600. Let’s add the $5000 signing bonus that government does not offer.

And let’s add the fee for the LSUC licensing process, which firms pay – let’s be overwhelmingly optimistic and assume that without the in-class skills program it will only be $1500. Don’t forget getting paid while studying for the barristers’ and solicitors’ exams. At two weeks, that’s another $2900. This makes $22,000. In ten months, I will be foregoing $22,000. Not to mention benefits. I do like the occasional dental appointment and/or pharmaceutical drug and/or semi-private hospital room. Now, I’d love to be in a financial place where $22,000 did not seem like a big deal. Oh wait, I’m remarkably poor, and $22,000 is a little less than a year of tuition.

In this case, it seems knowing is in no way half the battle. In fact, it just makes me more bitter.

Maybe if the CDO spent less time talking to reporters, the SLS working group on “Doing the CDO’s Job For Them” would be unnecessary.

8. Parental Deeming for Financial Aid

Don’t complain. You knew this rant was coming.

They say deeming parental contributions is the only way to distinguish between us. How about astrological sign – that’s about as relevant and much easier to determine.

9. Kettles from Canadian Tire

Apparently there is no market for a kettle that may or may not be imbued with the power to end relationships.

10. Criminalizing Everything is a Crappy Policy Decision

Uh oh, people think we’re weak on the environment (Maybe because our en-

vironmental policies are a joke.) Quick – announce dramatic new changes to make pollution a crime. Uh oh, a bunch of people died from tainted meat. They might remember a bunch of us were in power during Walkerton. Quick – announce dramatic new changes to make dangerous meat a crime. Uh oh, the Toronto Star revealed that numerous children’s items contain ridiculously high levels of lead, including pacifiers. Quick – announce dramatic new changes to make unsafe products a crime.

All the criminal prohibitions in the world are useless unless you provide the money for meaningful enforcement.

Come on, at least some of you guys went to law school.

11. Courses Taught by Practitioners

As a grotesque overgeneralization, courses taught by practitioners suck. We all know it (I make no comment about the remainder of the adjunct faculty, many of whom are fantastic.) Why do you let these people keep teaching us?

Where’s the humanity?

In the interests of transparency and fair warning, may I suggest that all practitioner-taught courses contain the word Disaster in the title. For example, “Trial Advocacy” could be renamed “Administrative Disaster”. Now, there may be some confusion with courses in administrative law taught by practitioners. I suggest calling these “Disaster in Administrative Law”.

12. Carpetbagging Politicians

Ontario

I’m tired of washed up provincial politicians who systematically destroyed the infrastructure of Ontario and broke the spirit of our province. Instead of quietly moving to the private sector,they just Carpetbagged to Ottawa where they are proceeding to try again. In many cases, the same constituents who voted them out as Ontario MPPs proceeded to elect them as federal MPs. What were you thinking?

CONTINUED on page 23 RANT - from p22

13. Hating Toronto without Learning From Our Mistakes

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

I love my city and my province. I get that you might hate Toronto, Ontario, and everything they stand for. Especially if you’re from Alberta. But for goodness sakes, learn from our mistakes. There was an emphasis on deregulation and privatization, and then there were numerous deaths in Walkerton. A policy decision to be “tough on crime” may have led to the death of an unarmed man at Ipperwash. Maybe these are not the best experiences to be emulating.

14. Ignorance of Science.

No I don’t mean all you creationists out there, I mean some in the legal community.

Example: if you’re going to write and teach about legal issues in vaccination policy, do not assume that your audience failed grade eight science. And if your audience did, maybe there’s a bigger issue of scientific literacy.

P.S. See recommendation 128 of the Goudge Report: “Law schools should be encouraged to offer courses in basic scientific literacy and the interaction of science and the law.” (I obviously mean no disrespect to The Honourable Mr. Justice Goudge by mentioning him in this space, nor to imply that he holds or approves of my views.)

15. Bias Against Science

Just because I didn’t do a master’s in political science or an undergrad in economics does not mean I am stupid or that I never learned to read or write.

Let’s see if you can grasp the fine points of microbial pathogenesis without any sort of context whatsoever. Now do the same with economics. Oh, wait – lots of the faculty –and pretentious students without reason to be pretentious– do that all the time. Plus economics rarely has anything to do with what they’re talking about. Except Ben Alarie. When he talks about economics, it is legitimate.

DIVERSIONS

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16. Mayo Moran and the Institutional Facade of Niceness

Dean Moran gets her street cred, if you will, from her reputation not only for brilliance, but for being a good person. This personal niceness is undermined if one surrounds herself with some people who are mean. I for one would happily give up my muffins if the administration agreed to stop being cold and unfeeling and sometimes just plain mean.

17. Criticism of the Ranter

He or she whines about everything, they say. Suck it up, princess, they say. Kidneys grow back, they say. The law school is a great place, diminished only by 1) the fact that Professor Ed Morgan is not available to teach every single student 2) the overwhelmingly disappointing year-long absence of Bonnie Goldberg who brings sunshine compassion & joy into all of our lives, they say.

Maybe I’m just lonely.

It’s very difficult to find a member of my chosen sex (or the other one, for that matter) who’s looking for a funny, smart, warm, dependable guy. Or, for that matter, one who is looking for a terrible human being. Let’s just say it happens once every non-zero number of years x, where x is a saddening number.

And that’s without finding one who thinks sporks are funny. The last prospect I had for a serious relationship did think sporks are funny. She left me not only crushed, but also the proud owner of fifty-nine bags of tea. I don’t drink tea, and I’m certainly not going to start now.

Or maybe I feel underappreciated. I enjoy making children cry, but there are only so many socially acceptable opportunities to do so.

But ultimately, all that matters is this: as we all know, a $20,000 tuition is your licence to complain about everything.

So, to all those of you who do not appreciate my work, I give this thoughtful, eloquent, perhaps even erudite response: Shut the hell up.

Could we be looking for you? fmc-law.com/students