Ultra Vires Vol 11 Issue 6: 2010 March

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW

ULTRA VOLUME 11, ISSUE 4

VIRES

WWW.ULTRAVIRES.CA

March 24, 20 l 0

Law Ballin'

For more Law Ball pictures, sec page~ 16-17.

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LPPE and Admin: Don't leave first year without them "Best'' doesn't mean you can't be better This masthead came into existence a an argument against law school rankings. It touched on problems with the methodologies employed by the most prominent ranking systems, the disproportionate import which many place on law school rankings, and the inappropriateness of using law school mnkings as a basis for making choices between law school!'. The problem was that a handful of much more pcrsuash·e- indeed, some tremendously per· suasive- responses have alr{.>ady been written regarding Canadian law school mnkmgs. Professor Ben J\Jarie's, on the U ofT Law blog, concisely and effectively dismantled the methodology used by Maclean's in its rankings. The Uni,·ersity of Windsor SLS composed an eloquent rebuttal to the1r school's poor Maclean's ranking, chscussing issues which it felt more accurately represented the value of the \'findsor La\\ cxpcnencc. Many of the factors considered in that document arc not mcludcd m rankings critena but arc ones which apply equally to Canadian law schools in general (clinical education, student legal scholarship, advocacy opportumties, transnational legal perspectives), and they comprise a thoughtful, well-articulated response to a limited analytical system.

Of course, it seems that this sort of serious cxaminaoon of the validity of mnkmgs and the relative quality of disparate law school experiences rarely comes up at V ofT La,v. This is both a positive and a negative. On the one hand, there IS no dwelling on results, no obsession with being externally accepted and well-regarded, which means no tiresome rationalising. On the other hand, we fmd the pervasive, casual acceptance of the mantle of "best law schoolm Canada" to be equally troubling.

The real problem with law school rankings as the) pertain to U ofT Law, we: fcc\, \s that the)' tcinfm:cc much \ar~er prob\cms namc\y, the flawed understanding of what 1t is that is v~uablc about this school, and the misguided idea that the strongest student body is necessarily the student body which is the strongest, academically. WhJJe this certainly isn't an idea which emerged out of whole doth with the recent arrival of Canadian law school ran kings, they do highlight the alarminglr blase way that the students of this law school view themselves as "objectivelr" the "best". This sort of attitude has engendered an attitude among the student body which does not provide for constructive improvement, but rather has fostered a sort of self-congratulatory stasis that will seriously begm to hamper the development of this law school before long. \X'e take no issue with the idea that the faculty at this school are arguably amongst the world's most accomplished, and we acknowledge that the

ULTRA VIRES is the student newspaper of the faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

Ultm Virn is an editorially autonomous newspaper. \X'c arc open to contributions which reflect dj,·erse points of vic\\, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the ,·icws of the Faculty of La\\; the Students' Law Soctety (SLS), or the editorial board. \X'e welcome contributions from students, faculty, and other mtercsted persons within the la"' school community. Citra r 'ires res~n·es the right to edit contributions for length and content.

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~chool has great clinical legal education opportunities, a hrcadth of areas of study, and more, but the academic side of things is only one part of the ,·alue added to the student experience at U ofT Law. Even if you'd accepted an offer to any another law school, you would still have learned that a contract requires offer, acceptance, and consideration, and that Oakes is the test for a s. 1 analysis. The other, non-academic side of the law school experience is an important one as well. It should, by all measures, reflect a communit) of students who arc thoughtful, vibrant, and engaged with one another. More and more, we feel that this simply isn't true.

In a prcnous issue this year, we discussed our sense that facult\- disengagement w1th student life has diminished the student expencncc. Now, we ask students to reflect on how student disengagement with student life has d1mtnishcd the1r experiences. The idea that long- -standing law school institutions hkc Follies or the Law Games team may have nobody willing to step up to the plate and take responsibility for them IS astonishing. The fact that e\·Cr} issue of this newspaper is assembled by begging, pleading, scrapmg, and no small amount of bullying and cajoling writers is often disheartening (this is not an absolute, of course- many of our wonderful writers are fan tastic volunteers). The wtdespread view of journal involvement as being "necessary" to alL resume, but not somcthlngwith which to really engage, is saddening. The fact that not a single SLS position was contested, and that not a single 3L Caucus representative posinon was e\·cn filled, is laughable. \XIe're'not suggesting that everyone should rush out and sign up.to play Disgruntled Legal Process Student #3 in next year's Follies, but it seems strange, and slightly disingenuous, that so few of the students who will continue on at thts school next year are committed to contributing to the law school environment, wh1ch plays a huge role in making rhi~ alkgcdly the best law school in the country. On page 23, we've published an impassioned "Call to 1\ction" for the incoming 2Ls and 3Ls which we wholeheartedly endorse. \Vc, too, would like to see that this school means more than simply a pair of buildings where classes are attended. You can learn about different kinds of covenants and toxic torts at any law school. If you belie,·e, and you want, U of T Law to be special, we urge you to take advantage of the opportunities you have and to do your part to make this school stronger. \X'e think that you'll be better for it; and we think that this school will certainly be better for it too.

Editor - In - Chief News Opinion and Editorial Features Diversions Layout and Production Business Manager Ad Manager

Tina Yang Jelcna Vlacic J\aron Christoff Abrar lluq Cassandra Florio Andrea Kim Laura Lam Robin Elliott

Contributors , ~arim Amlani, .Daniel Bertrand, Aaron. Christoff, Karen Ensslcn, Cassandra Hono, 1-..ara Hardm, Natasha Kancrva, Andrea Kim, Christie Kneteman, Abrar Huq, Stephc~ Hutchison, Camille Labchuk, Adnan Lambert, Pei l.J, Ryan Uss, Amanda \lelvm, Dan Moore, Andrew Pfle1dercr, Carolyn Rock, Stuart Rothman, Samantha Seabrook, Jen~fer Simpson, Steven Slavens, G1ancarlo Soppelsa, Cizan Suhman, Isaac Tang, Enc Turkienicz,Jelcna Vlac1c,Jc.nrufer W'hincup, Samantha Wu, Tina Yang

BY \~[)RI·\\' Plii·IDI·RI•.R

If you're anything like me, you began the first day of law school excited about the fine legal education you worked so hard to get to. Things change on day two.

Yesterday, you sat with rapt attention through your first Torts, Criminal, and Constitutional classes. The material looks interesting and relevant and you're excited for the rest of your year. Day two begins in much the same way, when you've just finished an exhilarating and hilarious (if you have Alarie) introduction to contracts.

Then, you enter the LPPE classroom.

As the professor sketches out the course, it dawns on you· this isn't like the other courses. The parts don't seem to fit together. Why are we domg process and cthtcs and professionalism in one course? What gives?

Each section has a tOtall} different curriculum, so different the} might as well be on different subjects. You buy the readers, which in the end have a combined page count as long as your year ·long constitutional rcadtngs.

As you strain your shoulders to drag them to class and the library in the commg weeks, the feeling of confusion and cyructsm will only grow. · E.xams come and go and most students leave LPPE feeling like they never really grasped what it w·as about, or what they were supposed to take from it. This disconnected, frustrated feeling stays with them as they enter Admin.

The new IL curriculum isn't very pupular with lLs, but it's not just us: there seems to be controversy among the faculty themselves as to the value of tcaclung LPI'E

(I 1.)

and Admin as a mandatory part of I I..

Dean Mayo \to ran i'> also optimistic and very supLPPE is a Frankenstein's monster, assembled by a poruvc of the ne\\ curriculum. I spoke to her during committee to address concerns that students were get- her open office hour-., and she contends that LPPE and ting too much process and not enough ethics and pro- \dmtn prm 1de useful material that introduces students fcssionalism. So they simply stitched aU three together, to unportant areas of law not otherwise covered in 1L. glossed over the substantial differences between the Though she will admit that Admin (as an area of law) is topics, and let professors have free rein to pick their somewhat of a mess and that the workJoad in both own curricula. Many 1Ls m1ght be ~ ; : ; cour!ieS may be a bit much for 1l~'i surp~ised to learn that LPPE was "LPP.E IS \ FRAI'.r-.11'1... s n II\ 's to handle, she believes it is a valualso Intended t~ IJ~ht~n the first year MO\ISTI .R, ASSI MBLI 0 B\ \ able exercis{. to mtroduc<. f rst w~rkJoad b) eli~matmg the second CO\i\flTfEE TO i\DDRI .SS cor-:year students to these topic . She Bndge Week. It IS unclear how they also readilv admits that the brand CI RNS THAT STL Dl "'TS WI·.RJ: . ; expected to solve the workload prob new courses rna}' require some re. . first years the content GEmNG TOO Iem by glVIng , MUCII, PROCEss~ , tooling, ·and has established a of three full-year courses. 10 a s1'nglc, AND NOT r~NOUGJI r~TillC.S... c committee 10r stud ents and f:acone-semester course. ulty to gJve feedback and make Professor Lorne Sossm is one of the most adamant suggestions about the courses. supporters of the LPPb and Admin courses. I asked first-year students seem to disagree with these posihim what he thought of the vastly different curricula tn tivc views, at least when talking about the courses ineach LPPE section. "Students benefit much more from formally. The trend seems to be that few understand the differing perspectives of various instructors, I think, the purpose of either course (especially LPPE) and than a ... one-size-fits aU approach to the subject mat- fewer still sec the value of making them mandatory. ter," he said. "I have taught both new courses this They're not alone m v01cmg thelie concerns. year .. . For me, the new first-year curriculum has been Profe!'.sor '\\artha Shaffer has taken an i.nterest \n the a terrific success." He also says that course evaluations top1c. 'l'hou~h '!'.he \s undecided as to wncthcr \ .??\:.

L

have heen hi~h in the <>\d \ .C!o!,a\ \~n~CC!'>"- cou~-.e to" a ,.,.nun\\")t;;t' ( ,f ve·.u·~u \\n<...\ \l'\'i.\\ ut\·u:. \''.\(.:\ t.\\at_ \.\\.C'!.t.C COUTS.'-"-.

differ from other first-year courses, in my view, is a strenJ..,Tth."

""'' 1\.t\n-\"' .,\'\nu\<\ \..,e ~au\',n\ \n ~'""~ 'lc"""• .,\'\c. "-"'1!}1C"' ~\'\"" \ \ . Jf. ~c..,~u\(.\ \_..,C','\t:(\\.. muc;:n '\n"--"'TC 1\:n...,U'\. -A ac'-'\'\C:."'A'-~"-' 'C.::'\• ~ research cour.,~, u\.o.c o\.n~.:.r \.._·.,.nau,an\a."" "'''"''''' '-''' .....

CONTINUED at page 5

Financial Aid Committee update

BY CASSAr-;OR;\ FI.ORIO

(3L)

their need. Unfortunatelf, this system created circumstances in which a very small change in the student's need pushed him or her out of the "tuition-free" category into a much larger pool of pe~p~e, who _then had to share the limited pool of remammg available re sources. This pool was also subject to shrink whenever another student qualified for "tuition free" status, thus taking the corresponding amount out of the remaining to

This year's Financial Aid Committee was fa:cd with a particularly challenging set of issues. I ·ollowmg the unforeseen and truly catastrophic results of last year's fo~­ mula for many students, particularly those to lL, this year's FAC tackled a host of contentious 1ssues, ~he results of which will come into effect for next years program.

The main change with which the rAC grappled was how to change the distribution scheme for bursary funds 10 avoid the now-infamous "cliff" effect that the former system created. Under the old system, whenever a stude~t's unmet need was calculated to exceed the amount of tuition, that student quahfied for a bursary in the full amount of tuition. Once unmet need was below the tuition level, however, the student was put in a pot with all other students who qualified for the program, and the rcmain1ng bursary funds were dtstributed among thc"e students accordmg

pot altogether. .

After much discussion, the FAC voted to abolish the "tuition-free" category. Next year, all stu~ents who qualify for the program be included in the same pool, and funds will be diHributed with the same proportional split of bursarv-to-loan for all eligible students. The outcome of this change is that, whether a student's unmet need IS S40,000 or $4,000, each will get the

,.,Ill

-~--

same percentage of that unmet need in the form of a bursary, and the remainder as a Joan, so Jo~g as the stu· dent meets the maximum government/tntcre~a-frcc loan threshold. Thus, in absolute terms, the neediest students will receive the largest dollar amount of burn:d The exact percentage of the bursary-to-loan sar}, .... split will be dependent on the fixed pool of rcs~>urccs available and the number of students who quahfy for the program, and will thus vary from year to year.

Once this issue had been dealt with, and the above change appro\'ed by Faculty Council, the committee moved on to a series of other proposals that had been tabled to improw the financial aid program ~eforc ~he problem posed by the "chff" ~ad ~orne ro_light. l·o~­ lowing these deliberations, the h\C ts planm~g to ~akc the following recommendations to raculty C~mnc1l. on 1\larch 31st. Until then, the proposals rcmam suh1ect to change. . . ( )f these other issues, probably the mo~t maJor IS the proposal to eliminate unc~ual trc_atment of s_tudents in the program based on their pronncc of ongm. Unt~er the pre-existing system, all funds received from prm tncial student loan programs were treated as an asset of the student, and thus decreased that student's level of umnet need. Since students in the financial aid program arc required to max out their eligible provincia_! loans prior to recci,·ing funds from the law school, this...

CONTINUED at page 6

NI \XS

4

ULTRA VIRES

R. v. Nasoaaluak: the SCC speaks on sentencing BY

Sn

\RT

Rcrnt\tA.-.: (31.)

rhe Supreme Court of Canada rarely de- twice in the head in order to subdue him sentence on the impaired dndng charge ides to hear sentencing cases, so when and then took him to the ground. While to the minimum fine but did not interthey do take one on, crirrunal law buffs the officer \\·as standing on his back, at- fere with the conditional clischarge on the flight from police charge. The tend to pay attention In R 1~ \asOf!.ullltJk, tempting to handcuff him, another offi the Court ruled dtrectl) for the first time cer punched 1\tr. "<asogaluak twice in the Supreme Court upheld their decision.

Justtcc LeBel, wnung for a unanimous >n the guestion of whether a sentence back, breaktng hts nbs. J\fter the arrest, reduction is available as a remedy for a the police fatled to seck mcclical attention Court, explatncd that state misconduct breach of an offender's Charter rights. despite .\1r. Nasogaluak's complaint that that "relates to the circumstances of the Fortunately for offenders, the answer is he could not breathe. Upon his release offence or the offender", e\·en falling ·e:.. Unfortunateh· for law students, the from the:. station the following morning, short of a Charter violation, has the polr:ourt dtd not gi\'~ us a neat!) packaged .\tr. Nasogaluak attended a hospital, and tencial to serve as a mitigating factor on three-part test. The bottom line ts that was found to ha,·e suffered broken ribs sentence. .1\.o (barter application is e\·en state misconduct can be treated as a mit- and a collapsed lung that required emcr- needed. \for~O\ er, while sentencing ·gating f.'lctor during sentencing in cer- gency surgery. judges have stgnificant discretion, they :ain cases. OnJy tn particularly egregious The sentencing judge found that, may not usually lower a sentence belo'W a ascs of state misconduct will a judge be while the punches to Mr. Nasogaluak's mandatory minimum. However, the permitted to impose a sentence that falls head were justified, the police used ex Cnmi11al Code's sentencing scheme is sublbclow a statutory mandatory minimum cessive force by punchmg Mr. ~aso ordmatc to the Charter and, in a case insentence. galuak m the back when he was already volving "parttcularly egregious" state The issue initiall) arose at the sentcnc on the ground, under their control. As a misconduct, reducing a sentence below ng hearing of Lyle Nasogaluak, a young result, the judge found that the police statutory limits (the remedy sought by Albertan man who pled guilty to charges breached Mr. Nasogaluak's section 7 Mr. asogaluak) might be available. The >f impaired driYing and flight from po- right to life, Iibert), and securit) of the Court found that this was not such a icc. On .'\fay 12, 2004, the police rc- person. The judge declined to issue a case.. ei,·ed a tip about an intoxicated driYcr. stay of proceedings but did take the Gi\·en that, in the 2008 R r: Fer,guson The drh-er, :\tr. '\.asogaluak, attempted breach into account during sentencing. case, the Court held that Cbarter exempo evade the po!tcc and almost reversed Despite a statutory mandatory minimum tions to mandatory minimum sentences his car into a police car. Once hts car fine for impaired dri\·ing, the Judge im- arc impermissible for interfering with arne to a stop, Mr. 0;'asogaluak refused posed a conditional discharge for both Parliamentary intent, tt is possible to see to comply with pohcc demands. One of offences. On appeal, The Alberta Court R 1~ Nasogal11ak as the Court backtrackthe officers punched \h. · asogaluak of Appeal increased ~lr. ~asogaluak's ing from that stand -if only a little. The I

Court briefly attempted to clistinguish this case from hr;guso11, where the issue was the remedy for mandatory minimum sentences that constituted cruel and unusual punishment; here, in those rare cases where a judge goes below amandatory minimum due to scnous state misconduct, "the validtt)' of the law would not be at stake, the sole concern being the specific conduct of those state agents."

The holding m l\asogal11ak is welcome as it reaffirms that JUdges arc to be given wide latitude in crafting sentences that are appropriate to a particular offender and offence. However, it is unJikcly t< have much practical effect. The Cour gave conditional support to a practice that was already a rare occurrence and ~rovided little gu~d~ncc to sentcncin~ Judges for dctcrrrumng when state mis conduct will scn·e as a mitigating factor.

For "the clearest of cases" of very serious state miscond uct, the appropriate remedy will continue to be a stay of proceedings. For less serious cases of state misconduct, a sentence reduction migh he appropriate, but it will not be an cas) task to convince a judge that the miscon· duct is relevant to the specific circumstances of the offence or the offender.

The curious case o f Grant, red ux

Here are vlJiuable relJsons why you too should belong:

Free Membership Get Noticed & Enhance Your Profile Gain New Knowledge and Keep Informed Save Money Don't walt any longer end JOin the ever-growtng group ~ool uude~ who e•e enJOying the many benel:t:: oi compfimentary CBA-<>BA member:tup

of law

__

L'~

~DeL 'ON""AA:O .._ . . . . . . . . . Alae;

B' STI\ 1.:-\ SiJ\Vl.~S (31.)

In December of 2009, the Supreme. Court released its rea~ons for Gra111 t: Tors/or Corp., which created the responsible communication 1n the public interest' defence for defamation. While defamation law may seem to be a rclath·cly minor concern, it is important to remember that the law around defamation has major implications for freedom of the press and the public's right to access of informacion. You may not know it, but the articles that you read every day in online or print publications arc reviewed by lawyers to make sure that the publication can report the news without incurrtn~ liability for defamation.

Normally, a party \\ill be considered !table for defamation where it publishes a statement that would tend to damage the plainoff's reputation. The scope of liabilit)' for publishers is quite broad - e\·en re-publishing a defamatory quotation may lead to a finding of liability. The nC\\-" defence allows publishers to escape liability where they have satisfied a two-part test: 1) \\'as the communication made in the public interest?

2) \\'as the communication made responsibly?

The first inquiry has no single test, and is to be dccidc<i by the judge. 'Ibc definition of what constitutes the public interest, however, is broad. The court suggests that the definition of public interest used to establish the fair comment defence for defamatory statements of opinion can provtde guidance. For fair comment, the public interest has included pri111a facie public issues such as government affairs. Book, film, and restaurant reviews ha\'e also been held to he within the pubhc tntercst.

The ~econd inguiry is an eight factor analysis that is left to the jury: i) The Seriousness of the Allegation: \X'hLrL the allegation is more serious, more diligence wtll be re4uired on the part of a publisher. ii) The Public Importance of the Matter: \\'here a matter is of grave tmportancc, a publication tS more likeh to be found responsible. ' iii) The Urgency of the Matter; ' lbts factor is not about the need for a scoop. It is, instead, meant to sen·c the...

CONnNUED at page 6

M\RCH

24, 2010

1L CURRI CULUM

NI \\S from page 3

... Further, she savs, "most students come out of LPPE without a clear senst.' of what the course was about and that gives me some cause for concern." She is also worried that first-year students rna\' nor be fully equipped to grasp the complcxi tics of 1\dmin law.

An outright critic of Administrati\·L Law is Professor .\farkus Dubbcr, who teaches one of the course's sections.

Professor Oubber has become notorious for routinely arhruing during class that the enure area of law is ill-dctincd and arbi· trary. He approaches the course with a wry sense of humor to hclp students understand and engage \dth the otherwise opaque material. This tends to polarize class opinion, but certainly makes lecture more entertaining.

Other professors, such as Jennifer Nedclsky and Lornc Sossin, approach the topic more seriously, to mixed student reaction. Though many students have less trouble grasping the purpose of Admin Law than they did with LPPE, tl.·w can truly turn the rat's nest of factors and principles into any sort of coherent whole.

Overall, the new curriculum has left many 1 Ls overworked, confused, and frustrated, with what seems like nothing to show for it. Does rhis mean the nt..•w curnculum is a failure? l\laybc it is too early to tell. !3oth co u r ses

CO'- er

topics that a r c broadl y im

portant to modern legal pra<--ucc and there arc good reasons to provide this instruction in li rst \'L'Uf. f:!.ven though the introduction has been excruciatmg, per· haps we arc better off havtng this "reality check," as Professor Sossin calls it.

On the other hand, students at other Canadian law :;chools aren't burdened by such dense, inscrutable, and poorly defined courses in their first year. lnstc:ad, thev have a stand-alone introduction to leg~! research. U ofT Law students, on the other hand, arc expceted to pick up legal research and writing skills in thctr small group seminars. \X ho is getting a better education? Is the Class of 2012 simply the unlucky guinea pig or will it benefit from this experiment? Does LPPE make u_s m~>re ethical, responsible lawyers, and ts thts a benefit in our line of work? Does Admin really matter? Profc~sor Duhbcr has only this to say on the subject: "Admin Law; Don't )ea\·c first year without it."

The first criterion by whtch the Cur riculum Committee bound itself when creating the new courses was mtcllectual coherence. .1\.tany tirst-ycars claim the school hasn't fultillcd thts critcnon in LPPE, despite the m~my equivocal claims that it is obvious how all the pnrts fit together. Further, the entire area of Administrative I _,.w is a mess- one that may be too complex for inexperienced 1 Ls to understand fully. \\'hen it comes to the fina-year eurnculum, there has to be a better way.

5

Considering both sides ... of a piece of paper

BY Dr\Sihl. BFRTRA:-\1)

At a recent meeting of Faculty Council, the aptly named Professor 1\ndrcw Green recently announced a handful of tntttatives recommended b~ the law school's Environmental Sustainability \X'orking Group. Over the last year, the working group was comprised of professors and administrative staff, as well as members of the SLS, (J LS, and the Em·ironmcntal Law Club. The goal of the working group ' has been to sec the enactment of environmentally friendly policies to reduce the ecological footpnnt of the Ia\\ school. In years previOus, the \X(>rking Group oversaw the mstallation of the school's compost-green bins.

This year, the most stgnificant of the initiauvcs announced was that attempts will be made to transition towards double-sided printing at the law school.

Printers capable of double-sided printing should have their default settings set appropriately, and, in the future, only those pnntcrs capable of double-sided printing should be purchased. Unfortunately, there currently seems to be a myth that professors only accept single-

(II.)

sided essays. Although those professors attending the Faculty Council meeting denounced this myth, they acknowledged that there may be the odd Profes· sor with such a policy. 1\s such, students arc encouraged to press professors on their views regarding paper usc. .\1uch to the delight of cash-strapped students, and those aware of the utility of "ctrl-f", the Working Group also endorsed the practice of making spiral bound casebooks accessible via blackboard other electronic means.

Of course, paper coptcs will remain avat!able in the bookstore, and, unfortunate!), not all casebooks may bL comerttble to e-format due to copynght and publishing issues.

Although these initiaovcs were not officially endorsed by Faculty Council through a \'Otc, there seemed to have been a general consensus that such initiatives were destrable. Ultimately, their success and failure will depend upon the actions of the school's administration, faculty and students.

InJustice for Ih '\,

There is much work which net.'<ls to be done at U of T Law in order for it to catch up to the progress that'~ h~.:en made by other schools on cnvironmcnt:tl issues. For example, recycled paper and double-sided pnnttng ha\'e been the norm at certain \'\'tst· ( oast competitor institutions for yc:trs, wtth many Uni\·crsity of Victoria professors adopting the ar~;uably cco·draconian measure of penalizing students who turn in singlesided essays.

Ambitions for the Working Group'~ agenda next year include: meeting more than once, drawing on the strength and ideas of the community, investigating the potcnttal and long-term impact of electronic paperless solutions, establishing a presence on the racult)·'s website and in this vtry publication, and, of course, maktng the school an environmentally friendlier place.

On.:~.ar'-.o~s "\::-\:r~t "Na.t'-~~~

\1 \.'>llA

KA:-.;1 R\~\ (21.) A.'T> Rl".r\;-.; l.t'S (21.)

This artie/( JJ/tJS originaljy wnllm.for, andp11b- go~ernmcnt came into power ,I;Jys aFter the intcrn:Jtiona/ treaties ro wlltcll lisbed i11, the IHRP Rights Renew. the .A ccord was Fmalized and cruelly re- Canada is a parry• and is further m.mRrpri11ttd 1titb per1JJissio11. fee »"U'Il:llloroll- neged on the commitment, slowing toihrp.coiJJ/ i11dex.pbp/p11blicanons/the-rights· down our capacity to remedy the situation, lowering the standard of m·ie»•!Jfll'S!etterfor further details. living on rcscn·e communities, and weakening Canada's already tenuous Throughout Canada, Aboriginal people living on reserves endure conditions commitment to improving the soakin to those m some of the poorest de- cial and economic conditions of veloping countncs in the world. 73% of First ~auons arc in need of affordable · d nn · k" houstng; 121!-'o have to b ot·1 th etr ·tng~

First '\lattons.

The social and economic conditions on all reserves in Canada not

water; and the unemployment ratL among First "\,attons is nearly four times r h f (' di greater than it is 10r t c rest o .ana ans. Since 1996, the federal government

only violate the Constitution of Canada, they also represent grave \ 10 Jations of civil, political, social,

2o'

has maintamcd an arbitrary ~o cap on · r spending increases for core sen·tces ~or Aboriginal peoples -less than onc-t h lrd of the average 6.(>0;{, increase t hat mos t Canadians enjoy. In 2005, average Abo-

economic and cultural rights en · s. hrincd in the Internation,t/ Cor·mant on Cit·il and Political Riohls, the llllt:rtltl· ...,

tiona/ Corman/ on Social, F.co!lolllic and Cullum/ Riohts, the lntemational Con· <:> t'mfion on tbe Eltmi11alion of f)iscrimi· ..__ _ r d 11ulio11 of All Forms of Racial h f riginal per capita fun d ing rom t. c JC J dated by s. 35 of the Co11strtution Act, 1 f)i.rcri11iination, and the Conmrtion 011 tbe era! government was approxtmate y 19R2. I~AC funding ts essential to the <==SillDJ Ri._~bts of the Child. $8500, whereas non- . social and economic development of rc· \fJC Canada is party to Aboriginal per "TilE SOCI,\1. A:-.;D H:o:-.;o. • . scn c communities, as dehncated in Del:ci"R\'I·s these treattcs and, as cor-:DITJO:-;S 0~ AI.!. RJ..., ~ '-' . .

C'lpita funding from !,dlllllllk ~~ Hritisb Colrtmbia. It is en tical to · · · ' · • , . . .. , such, bears tntcrnamuntctpal, prO\ m- ~INC \N,\D,\ ... \ 101 ..\ r 1-. ~~ ~lh , tiona! legal obliga· the protection of the social and ecoeta! and federal govCo:-.::sTITllTIO:-.: OF C\...:AD,\... tions to comply nomic interests that arc integral to the distincti\'C cultures of First ~ations, as crnmcnts wlas with their terms. approxim ate Y fr · (' 1 defined in R. H Van der Pttl. Also at Indian and '\,orthcrn A ratrs .anal a S15,188. stake is the honour of thc,Crown in liv11\. \ C) fundmg ts essential to the pro· The 2005 Kclowna Accord was deing up to its m:at:y obligations that structtctton of the ci,·il, political, social, ecosigned to address some of these dispa~CONnNUED at page 7 nomic and cultural rights enshrined in .JtiCS. · 1iowevcr• Stephen llarpcr s

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DEFAMA nON - from page 4 the author's intended meantng can be taken into ac- early 1960s. In S11/lil'tm, the L'.S. Supreme Court created public's interest in gemng mformation while it is still count in some cases. The area that has drawn the most a "liability free space" for publicanons about public ofrelevant. critical interest, though, is the judgment's treatment of ficials so long as the statement was made without maliv) The Status and Reliability of the Source: The malice. In a poorly drafted section of the dec1s1on, the ice. S1nce the 1960s, that conceptual 'space' has less reliable a source, the more ...... incumbent It IS on Court notes m the first sentence that the 'responsibility expanded to include an) public figure. publishers to veri£\ their information from that source. factors' obviate the need for a separate mguiry into mal The CK. courts took a different route and created a v) Whether the Plainicc, and then, later 1n the paragraph, suggests type of due cliligence defence for journalists. The 'r<. tiff's Side of the Story ~ ~ that a malicious defendant sponsiblc journalism defence' reWas Sought and Accu'GR. I.YfC \ ' Bf: cou:-.:TFD \S \ will, by definition, not meet quires that the publtcatlon be in rately Reported: This fac\ IC.TOR\ I UR TilE Pl'BI.ISIILRS the responsibility requirement. the public interest, and that the tor 1s central to the ,\:\'D C< f\SL \IERS Of '\.I \'fS. IT ~I alice v.·ill be a highly conreporter act responsibl} in invcsanaly~is. \\!here, however, \\' 11 L Al.l.O\\ n If' PRI :ss T<> PL Btested part of this inquiry tigat1ng and reporting the story. the plaintiff could not I.ISII ,\lORI r·RU L\, .\:\D... [f'\ountil some appellate level The court in Grant has esse~havc added anything new SL'RESJ Til \T rllOSI: \X'IIO Sf 1 1-judgments on the issue clarify tially adopted the U.K. defence, to the communication, this TO RI P< >RT 1, n IE PL'Bf.J( I'"this potnt, but it does seem but changed the name to 'rcfacror will be of ltttle ~IIR/SI \\11.1 BI:JI\\'E RI$P<"S tho<,. b"'d on the ,;mplc 'pon,;b!e commumcat;on ;n the weight. ,, '>VOrcling of first sentence, that public interest' in o rder to allow BI \... r vi) Whether Inclusion of m ali cc \VI·11 not d ereat th e d enew. med ia publishers, such as the Defamatory Statefence. bloggcrs, to usc the defence. ment Was Justifiable: Editors are to be given a lot of This new defence is a maJor developThis broader conceptualization lce\\a)., but there will still be times where defamatory ment in Canadian law. Unttl Gra11t, the rccot,>nizes the fact that newspastatcmcnts arc gratuitous. only defence a\·ailable for defamatory pers do not have a monopoly on vii) Whether the Defamatory Statement's Public statements of fact (as opposed to opinmatters in rhc public interest.

Interest Lay in the Fact That it was Made, Rather ions) was to prove that the statement was Courtney Love: the first celebrity to be The Court did note, however, Than its Truth (Reportage): Th1s factor gives some true. In practice, however, the truth desued for Twitter defamation that the form of communication protection for defamatory quotations that appear in ar- fence can be difticult to make out- sources rna} hesitate will inform the application of the eight factors used to tides, where the statement is noteworthy without regard to testif) in court, reporters' notes may be lost or in- determine whether the communication was made reto its truth content. In order to fall under the category complete, and memories of participants rna} be hazy. sponsibly. of reportage, the statement must be attributed to a In addition, publishers- particular!) newspapers- often Grant can be counted as a victory for the publishers speaker, the report implies that the statement's truth has make mistakes while trying to report on matters of pri- and consumers of news. It will allow the press to pubnot been \'crified, both sides of the story must be pre- vate interest. \ story containing some falsehoods, how- lish more freely, and will have the added benefit of ensen ted, and the context in which the statement was e,·er, can often prompt the disclosure of more suring that those who seek to report in public interest made must be presented. information, and a fuller understanding of the true state will behave responsibly when they publish articles that vili) O ther Considerations: Here, the court notes that of the facts. may hurt a party's reputation. an article's tone may be relevant to the inquiry, and that The U.S. answer to these problems was crafted in the

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FINANCIAL AID - from page 3 interest in pedagogy at the Jaw school, and his work at the Centre for the Legal Pro- ... created inequitable results between students from provinces with d ifferent amount~ . which has a mandate is to ''deepen our understanding of professionalism >f aid available. The most extreme case is that of Alberta, which provides loans nearly twice the lc\·el of those available tn Ontario. \X1hat this meant in practical and public sen·ice, and the relationship between them."

When asked about what moti\·ates his \\."Ork, Professor Sossin explained, "It ""'Ju.~•u1 terms was that a student from Alberta would have to take on a much larger deb a more inspiring thought, but it's actually just one of the most natural things oad before being eligible for a bursary/loan split from the financial a1d program will experience if they haven't yet- just throw yourselves into jobs and than would a student from any other prm·ince. that you enjoy. This is just a walk of life that I have been extremely fortu In light of this inequity, the committee's student members proposed that the fi. to have thrown myself mto. ~o nancial aid program should be changed to recognize that student loans are not assets ter what headaches or... )Ut rather liabilities which must be repaid. The FAC has accepted this in principle come in, I try to never lose sight o and will be looking into tailoring the program to each individual province's student the fact that we are in a position loan realities over the next year. This will require more research into each province'. give back." The fact that "ndividual policies with respect to debt repayment (as any amounts that a provinet Sossin loves doing what he's doing forgh-es as a matter of course will still be treated as a bursary, and therefore an asset). abundantly obYious to anyone \s a stopgap measure while the Financial 1\id Oftice looks into this issue, the system has interacted with him. rwill treat everyone uniformly next year by treating a basic level of student loan (with It is also abundantly clear that the baseline being Ontario) as an asset for all students, and any amount of provtncia dents have been the fortunate nan above this amount as a loan (not an asset). The students' financial aid awards ficiaries of Professor Sossin's from the program will then be tailored to rccogmze the loans they arc already takinp and enthusiasm. There is hardly >n. law student at ti11S school who 1\dditionally, a decision was made to exclude international students from the elinot come into contact with him ~bility pool for tinancial atd. Since international students must already affirm tha one capacity or another. One stu they have sufficient ftnancial resources to cover their costs as a conclition of their stu· dent exclaimed, "Professor Sossin · ~ent Yisas, the committee felt it was reasonable to bring the program's policies in line the most accessible and ;\"ith those already in place at the Cniversity level, as well as those of OSA P. Still professor I think 1\e ever had; other changes undertaken by the committee include a proposal to take account ot always willing to go the extra mile, a student's at home/ away-from-home )j,1ng status in the calculation of their deemed ·h1le anotl1cr nostalgic student opined, "Whither will professor fashion be withou savings from summer earnm!,~ (in keeping with the current during-the-year differ· leading light of camel hair coats? It will never be the same..." .Another studen ntiation between these ru:o categories for living expenses); the addition of a section y summed up Sossin as "a gentleman.'' in the application where a student will have to indicate in-kind support and contriDespite Professor Sossin's list of accolade~. it is his unique ability to build relation- lbution~ from family (for example, living in a parent-owned, and thus low-rent apartthat Will be ffi0St greatly missed. \\'hether it's putting his family nni"Hn<rr'l lment or condominium); an updating of the computer allowance to reflect decreases his resume or capth·ating a first-year administrative law clas~. his approachabili in the costs of technology; and drafting a ckarcr section (In the tinancial aid poilg nd charisma have left a lasting impression on the V ofT Law community. If booklet) (ln the steps available to a students who encounter problems with their rformance is any indication, Professor Sossm will surely thrive in his new role Scotiabank credit limit. of Osgoode Hall. \\"c wish him the best of luck.

7

I NJUSTICE PROJECT - from page 5 brought to light and remedied. As a result of this work, turc Canada's constttut1onal relations...... with Reserve thq founded an l\GO called The InJustice Projectcommunities, as established in R zt Stfllon and affirmed \dvocaring for lnd1genous Justice, and filed two com I in R z: BatJ.~er. platnts on behalf of four of the five largest Firc;t '\a 1 This situation has been aggravated for select First l\.a tions to Ontario- the .Mohawks of the Ba~ of Qutntc.., tions tn Ontario by arbitrary funding formu Oneida ~atton of the las. The funding formulas used b} INAC ~" ~ Thames' \X 1kwcmikong b . ...TilER! IS "'0 JUSTIFIC.\1"10!\. . . th were e su JCCt of a 2008 study by Pncewa Unceded Ind1an TcrriterhouseCoopers LLP, wh1ch found that the orn·RI·.D BY OR AV\JI \BI.r TO torr, and Six "--atJons of five largest First Nanons receive substan lNAC FOR THESI\ SIG'\Jif'IC.Al\T the Grand R.lver. tially less funding per capita than smaller FL ~DING GAPS....TIIE\ DISTI The first complaint First Nations. The study concentrated on GUSII BrT\X'I El\. MI!.MBr,RS \X 110 was filed With the t:nited four areas in which there arc s1gnificant disB£·I.ONG TO LARGER \NO Nations Special RapporS\t.\LIJ~R FIRST NATIO-....:S IN ~RBI teur on the R.lght~ of Increpancics in per capita funding between larger and smaller First Nations: education TRARY Al'-.0 LNJUS'nr:IABU. \\ 1\YS." digenous People, funding, major capital funcling, minor capital requesting that he review funding, and infrastructure funding. The Canada's international study established that even after accounting for and constitutional obligations to remedy the social and economics of scale and urban proximit}, significant econorruc conditions of reserve communities. funcling gaps remain between the per capita funding of The second complaint was filed with the Canadian larger and smaller First Nations.

Human R1ghts Comm1ssion, requesting that the ComSignificantly, the study demonstrates that there is no m1ssion work With the L"!\1 Special Rapporteur in his rejusttfication offered by or available to I~AC for these \iew. Despite the government's open hostility to the Si!,'Tlificant funding gaps resulting from the distribution ( 71\ Declaration of lbl' Rif!.bls of Indigenous Peoples, the Canaformulas. Instead, they distinguish between members d1an I fuman Rights Commission recentlv endorsed the who belong to larger and smaller First • ations in arbi- L',\J Declaration and the work of the L l\ Special Raptrary and unjustifiable ways. This constitutes discrimi- porteur. Hopefully, these initiatives will begm to hold natory treatment in relation to the prov1sion of funding the government to account for itc; discriminatory underthat is essential to the protection and promotion of in- funding of First Nations. ternational and domestic civil, political, social, eco- To learn more about tbese mitiatives and Tbl' Injustice Project, nomic, cultural and incligenous rights of Ontario's First visit its Facebookpageat: bttp:/ /WI~7vfacebook.com/pages/Tbe­ Nations.

In] us ti ce- Project- ad vo ca ti ng-Jo r- indigenousIn October 2009, Natasha Kanerva, Ryan Liss, Joss JUstice/ 285421587179.

1 Opie and N icole Simes began working wit.h Professor I P at.nck Macklem and First Nation s i.n Ontario to dc.tc~\

SOSSIN - from page 1

NEWS

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ULTRA VIRI-S

Moot madness: the round up BY joh H1.111 R (31.)

Ah, mooting; there's nothing quite like it! award, with strong speaking scores This year, o\·er forty b ra\·e student souls Corporate Securities Moot among all our oralists and C hris Yung jumped out of the classroom and into The Canadmn Corporate Secunoes :Moot placing third overall! the courtroom to represent U of T on is the o nly moot exclusively devoted to the competitive mootmg Circuit. Behind corporate and securities law in Canada. Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Rights the scenes we re our coaches, helping the Th1s year's moot saw A rden Bed does, Moot teams every step of the way - from furi- Helen Burnett, Cameron F unnell, and The K awaskimbo n (speaking with ous factum-writing sessions to rowdy Roy Bornm ann gtve U of T's take on knowledge) Aboriginal Rights Moot is a run-throughs and eye-popping perform- mming companies, fiduciary duties, and national forum where aboriginal rights isances. So, without further adieu, here's confidential ity agreemen ts. sues are debated by law students fro m the 20092010 Roundup! across Canada. This year, K1m Condon, Gale Cup Ma rk Gufstafson, and Maria Golarz all Callaghan Moot First-degree murder, double-crossing in- made the trek to Ottawa to represent the On \farch 5-6, sixteen of U ofT's finest forma nts, jumbled jury charges ... all in a First Nanons Band in two days of argugathered at the Court of . \ ppeal to argue day's work for thJs year's Gale C up team, ments and negotiations. this year's Callaghan cnminal constitu- who re-lingated the notorious "head in a tional problem. Judges from the Ontario bucket" case of R Jt Illes. Congrats to Labour Arbitration Moot Court of Appeal, Superior Court, and Patrie Senson and Sinziana Tugulea for At this year's Canadian Labour ~\rbitra­ Ontario Courts of J ustice watched the arguing a ncar-impossible case, and three tion Competition, M1chael Laskey and duke-out with pleasure. Kathryn Beck cheers for Adam Tanel and Cher rine Lauren Posloski argued a complex mix and Elizabeth Coyle emerged as the over- Chow for fearlessly arguing that their of labour law; the law of defamation, and all first-place team in the final against client was "not the devil". administrative law. Panels comprised of 1-.:anm Malani and \laona Mihalj. Kate leading arbitrators and Ontario Labour Jonson, r\lanna ~Iihalj, Stuar t Rothman, Jessup Cup Relations Board members commended and Samanrha Seabrook were top oral- Ryan L1ss, Brendan Morrison, Christo- l\Iike and Lauren for their exceptional ists. Carlo DiCarlo, \ria Kashefi, Victo- pher Yung, and '\atasha Kanerva made a advocacy and impressive research. ria Prokhovora, and Samantha Seabrook strong showing at this year's Philip C. Jestook home the Best f"actum prizes. Spe- sup International Law Moot, with the U Laskin Moot cial thanks go co Clea Amundsen, I mte· ofT team winning fh·e of six rounds and On to the Quebec Court of Appeal, nan .\bd-LI-Raz1k, and Professor advancing into a final round against the where Kathr} n McGoldrick, Jeremy H arnish Stewart for all their hard work in University of Ottawa (Civil Section).

Maron, Chns Shendan, and Padraic Ryan making the moot a success!

Overal,l the team received the 6th place won high praise for their Cbarter argu-

ments fo r (and against) making an oath of allegiance to the Queen part of Canada's citizenship requirements. Chris took home the 4 th Place Oralist Prize.

Wilson Moot \Vbo says there are no winners in equality law? Congratulations to Becca McConchie, Dave Forsayeth, Dan Rohde and Lindsay Beck for winning First Plac~ Overall at the Wilson Moot! The team was also awarded the prize for the second-best factum, while Dan and Lindsav were best and second-best oralists, r;spectively.

The award-winning Wilson mooters from LR: Dan Rohde, Dave Forsayeth, Lindsay Beck, and Becca McConchie.

Congrats, team!

Osgoode upends U ofT at Black & Blue Charity Tip-O ff

BY ABR,\R HL'Q (2L)

For the first time in the history of the Black and Blue Charity Ttp Off, Osgoode Hall O'Neal. Alane outscored Osgoode alone, finishing the game with a double double has emerged victorious, postmg a decisive 29-17 victory over C of T this year at the with 10 po10ts and 12 rebounds. Alarie showed no signs of being fazed by the repAir Canada Centre. The charity basketball game capped off an exciting week where rehenstbly thuggish behaviour of former Osgoode dean Patrick :.\lonahan, who cornU of T and Osgoode Hall worked together to raise money for Law·yers Feed the mitted foul after foul on Alarie in an effort to slow down the beast.

Hungry. U ofT was the overwhelmmg winner 10 thepreceding \X'ednesday night's ~otto be outdone, Professor Ed Iacobucci showed that his old man is not the only talent show, but Osgoode came out on top on the hardwood on fridav afternoon. one 10 the family who ts Supreme on the Court. The "lac Attack" put on a virtuoso Patrick Lupa (LL:.\1) was named \ I:VP of the game for U ofT, after an-outstanding performance at point guard for U ofT, finding his teammates for easy baskets with performance that included a superb steal and layup sequence. Twin towers, Eric his pinpoint passing. Iacobucci was no slouch on the defensive end either, playing Wa~-,rner (3L) and Steve Oakey (3L) are a tough guard for any bod); but neither player spectacular Jockdown defense that resulted in several steals. Professors Anita Anand was able to get tnto much of a rhythm and Andrew Green rounded out the U of against the stifling Osgoode defense.

T squad and were also spectacular in the Robert Faibish (2L) and Charlie Hatt (1 L) \'ictory, with Anand showing off her imran the point ski lfully throughout the prcssivc jump shot on several occasions, game. The unlucky shooting of the entire and Green complementing Alaric in the U of T team, however, which saw basket~~~·:~:~io;r:M low post. ball after basketball rim out of the hoop, ~~~~~~iJ~!fj~~~~i1'·· Although the faculty game may ha\·e was their undoing. c==~~~., na:~ been the highlight of the afternoon, it was It was not all for naught for U ofT fans, nonetheless certainly an mspired effort by who had to he thrilled after the U ofT f.'lcthe U of T student team throughout the ulty wiped the Air Canada Centre floor E9~ t,ramc, although the result was not in their with the Osgoodc faculty during their fan>ur. Furthermore, the unfavourable regame at halftime of the student charity sult did nothmg to deter the rabid U ofT game. Traditionally, the faculty game has students in the stands. Despite being outbeen a comedy of errors, with the two prenumbered by their Osgoodc counterparts, vious iterations of the event ending in a 2U of T fans were equally enthusiastiC in 2 stalemate and a 4-2 U of T victory last U of T Law's dynamic studen t team in action. For more pictures from the Charity T ip-O ff, cheering on their classmates and heckling year. This year was completely different. check o ut page 18. the Osgoodc players. The animated U of Led by "Big Ben" Alaric, the undermanned T crowd held signs advising Osgoode stuU of T squad looked like a well-oiled machine despite playing without substitutes, ut· dents to "get out of our library" and to "stop stealing our profs". The proceedings terly dominating ( )sgoode from start to finish, and ultimately drubbing their rivals 18- may have taken a more poi~-,rnant significance with the news breaking just days earlier 6. Despite fighting off the remnants of a pesky cold, Professor Alaric shone in an that beloved U of T professor Lornc Sossin would be lea\·ing to become the new inspired effort closely resembling Michael Jordan's "flu game". ,\Jarie was a force to de-.1n of Osgoode llall. They may have Professor Sossin on their side now, but at be reckoned with underneath the basket, pulling down rebounds, bullying his oppo- least rest assured that our faculty iS still more accornphshed on the basketball court. nents, and scoring at will with a dominance comparable to that of a young Shaquille

Notes from abroad: Sydney, Australia

Dress for success 3t insights into building an effective summer wardrobe

BY CASSANDRA FWRJO

If .rou were

.... 1 \'<>lunta ny·1

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to make a ranking of places to go on exchange, Sydney, it a p p e a r s' would be at thc bottom of the list.

took an entire semester of .Administrative Law - definitely not the course sdcction of a

Since arriving in Sydney a month ago, I ha\·c not met any other students from U of T cenatnly none from U ofT Law. In fact, I don't know of any other law students from our school that chose to head to Australia this semester. It's like I am an early explorer, adYcntunng in an unknown land. \\'ell, except that I'm not a British convict, and I'm hopmg to aYoid dying a slo\\ death in the harsh outback.

Besid<..s, Sydney is exceedingly popular

sanl man.

Nonctheless, I ha\'e been enjoying my time here despite my tlucstionablc course choices. ( )thcr than the weather, howcYer, Sydney is actually not that different from Toronto. Sure, they dri,·c on the lefthand side of the road, which, when combincd with my reckless cycling tendencies, will likely result in my early demise. ,\nd they do na\·e distinctive accents, but the~ 're not at all difficult to un derstand, unlike, say, Glaswcg1an. They

as a traHJ destination, cspl'cially among

also :tttend classes as if they were hl'ad-

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Jlcmisphere (for those who arc not from dab, and sporting dark suntans. l~ut 1t l' of T l..m,v. at least). ( >ftcn, Sydney is rnakc:. ~ensc when you think about tt! 0<..'thc destination of choice for one major Clllst' th~1t's probably exactly where reason: the weather. Anu for good rca- they're hcadrng after class. <>thcr than son. Jlere, bot and sunny doesn't de- that, 1\ustralia is much the same as scribe the weather, it describes the Canada. After all, 1\ustralia is just anclimate. 1\ high in the low 20s feels other former British colony. downright cold. The sun is so strong And you never can be that far from the that 1 can get a tan by standing in the U ofT La\\~ 1 am still receiving my daily shade.

"Today's Events" cmails, so I'm aware of Knowing full well that the hear and the manr activities I am missing back sunshine were waiting for me, my origi· home- j_'l\\' Ball, Com·ocation, and the nal plan was not to attend class until I controversial bar admission test rc~chcdhad learned uling. ~1issing how to surf. these things is uite likely the q Unfortunately, reason for the I never did get conspicuous the courage to absence of fcltry my hand at low U of T law the sport, and students. \\'ho my obsessive would go to tendency ne,·cr Australia for to miss a class the last term of quickly took school and over. miss it all? l decided to , ___..-. \'\'ell, appartake classes Yes we know that there are non-marsupial animals in ently it's just that focus on ' Australia. We ust don't care. me. 1\gain, my jurisprudence.

1 have never taken courses that focused sanlt) bas been put into question. )ou might ask: arc you worried that specifically on legal theory and l thought you might miss an important requirethat the\' would be interesting. ,\s a result, th~ Australian students think I am ment, fail to graduate, and he forced to come back tn September? I would probcraz\'. For them, jurisprudence is a ablv respond, 10 true Aussie spirit, "no muc-h -despised required course. They wo~rics, mate!" 1\ftcr all, that'd giw me only need to take one such class - a nc~­ the time l need to learn to surf. essary evil to overcome in ord~r tc~ ;>hta~_n a degree. From their perspccuvc, Its as If

(31.) \\'lTtt

IIHP 1 Rmt GtANCARI.O SoPPILS..-\

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''fht !xller)'O/J look, the 1noreyon ret."- Bret Easton Ellis, Glomora!IM

it is actually hard to go wrong with a suit.

You should probably make sure you're well stocked with at least 2-3 tn ba ic t'.:tcer weather is finally upon us, and, as colours (black, na\ ), posstbl} gn.')'), stncc classe<; draw to a close, students around you'll likely be wearing them a lot, and the law school arc starting to shed the you should always keep one at the office layers of winter for the short c;lcc\'CS, just in case. It's also a good idea to pick shindresscs, and non-sock-re<1uinng up a variety of piec~s- tf you're bu} ing shoes of spnng. There·~ something lib- the pants and jacket, try to pick up a skirt eraung about getting back into a \\arm in the matching fabric. It won't take too \\'Cather w:~rdrohe, but, for some much extra, and it sa\·cs you the hassle of students, this pt:riod of lighter fare may tr)~ng to find a complementary piece in be somewhat limited, for along with the same fabric six months down the line summer comes the summer job. when it may no longer be a\·aifable. \\'e \\; hilc we would never suggest that law hke Club ~lonaco (hello, permanent 20 students don't dress per cent student dis well (okar, maybe count!) and Banana not all the time), the Repubhc for these fact remains that basJCs, or places like dressing well for Femme de Carnere school and dressing at a s\ight\y higher well for work arc price point or Espri.t twu completely difat a \owct: one. \)c fercnt

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good array of suiting nptwns if·' ou rc unfik" any dwy h:t\'C w111ing to put m n ever encountered bit more lcguork. before. we han: de\\'/len it comes to c1dcd to provide you sl!ircs, the collared with a basic briefing button up is a clean, on bow to be classic look, al proper, pulled to- L---=::;:.:J.;::.;;;;.;;.;.;;.~~..;L~ a "--~B~aU.-:--:- though we 'n: found gether, and maybe even still true to your it to be kind of annoying and hard to own personal style, as you enter the cor keep totally pulled together (Ironing isn't ridors of power. that much fun). If you're gomg this Before we get down to it, howe\er, \H' route, try to get a non-wrinkle f.1hric want to make a brief d 1sclaimer - then• (Brooks Brothers has nice shirts that fit arc certamly no absolutes in style. We're this bill), and make sure it fits properly! not :;aying you need to approach a P:~trlck 1'\othing is worse than an ill-fitting shirt Batcman-esque level of ohsess10n with that gapes in the front. As a nice altcrna\·our wardrobe and the labels that fill it, the, stores like Club, Banana, Tnstan, and but dressing sharply and seriously can ~lcxx arc also pretty good for shortcertainly help you make a favoumble im- sleeved blouses and camisoles that can pression on your r.mturc coII C3!-,1\JCS as you also serve the under-suit jacket role well. get ready to enter the ever-elusive "real world" that lies 10 wait for you outside FlaH:IIc's protccti\·e shell. 'l'akc your appcarancc seriously, but not too seriously, and you ~hould be fine!

Ladies It ts often observed that women have a much trickier task in h!-,1\Jring out what's work-appropriate and what isn't, since there arc so many options on the Suit ot Suit spectrum that seem to be open to us. This hadng been said, there arc some basic rules and guidelines to follow.

First off, as unoriginal as it may seem,

Bold (though not gaudy) tones like emeraid or aubergine make a nice statement without going too far off the rails. You can also find nice shirts at a slightly lower price at places hkc Jacob, Zara, or 11&.1\1, although, at a certain point, it becomes painfully obvious that the shirt you're weanng cost Sl 0- tr}' to compromise as little as possrhlc on t)uality 1f you're going this route.

Then you can get into the stuff that's sligbtl} more fun. Dresses and skirts that arc not explicitly part of a suit are a great option, parncularly in the summer. A ...

CONTINUED at page 13

10

FEATURES

ULTRA VIRES

Searching for articles during a recession (and why you shouldn't pin your hopes on the CDO) Most people go to law school to become lawyers. \s we pro!,rram, which would give students the opportunity to all know by now, joining the Bar requires more than a meet with lawyers from different practice areas one at a law degree; it also means passing the bar exams, as well orne, who would then be able to prO\ ide specifics about as a ten month articling term. So what happens when hfestyle, educational reguiremcnts, the actual work, and you've dropped tens of thousands of dollars into the tnformation about the job market. However, this IS a first step- and possibly the second- but haven't yet se- program which is more beneficial to 1Ls and 2Ls, rather cured articles? than 3Ls involved in a search for articles. Moreoyer, It's a recession, and the number of U of T L-.w stu- complaints from the student body about the CDO's dents now in this awh1.:ard and stressful position is performance indicate that adding additional sess1ons higher than usual. While it's unsurprising that there is and e\·ents to the CDO's annual schedule is not suffigeneral anxiety, cient. A fairly maJOr re working of how the CDO frustration, and r. operates (perhaps even changing the incentive "\X'Hf~ THf' !',\CUI: rY OF .AW' . _ . confusion among structures for employees), IS worth cons1denng.

1'-.CRI \Sf D TUI'rTO"< TO A . .

•.. thi~ group, what is · However, the SLS has not been 1n a posttton to surprising is ho\\' litI.EVJ :L TH \T GL: \R.\N rr f'D suggest or impose such renovations. Rather, the de practical support L \RGh \..\fOL'\ TS or DI BT FOR orders would probabl) have to come from the top they have rcceh·ed \L\1\.Y GR \DL \TES... \ JJ·:C,AL are you listening, Dean \.foran?

J•.DUCATIO~ lH Rf BU U1E \ For 3Ls and those students \\ho ha\'C a fairlr from the Jaw school. \X" ha\·e a Career STRO:'\GLY f''\,fRl·PREJ',;E(}RI \L good idea of what they want, complaints arc more D cvclopmcnr OfTR\."'SACfiO'\ \\IIERf" TilE STuspecific. These students arc look.Jng for more inDf· "'';T [IS} " HIGI 1-ST \J...f'.') 1'\ dividual, practical help from the CDO, and they fice (CDO) com-

Regardless, for the unluck} students without articles lined up, waiting for an overhaul of the CDO is not an option. For what It's worth, the CDO offers the following advice to those still searching:

?;

pri'cd of 'emal L 'ESTOR 1~ \CARl ER 1111 ~ . 1 HL do~'t see.m to be recei~·.ing it.. ~ne _student ~efull-tJme staff, some LAW SCH OOl. IS SF.l.Ul'\iG." scnbed what sounded like a frurl) typtcal meetmg of whom have their with the CDO- she mdicated her interest in menown J.D. or LL.B. tal health law, and wanted ad\'ice on where to look, degree. Ther host etiquette events and organize U of who to talk to, and what to do. At the appointment, T's involvement m the OCI process. They have lunch the CDO lawyer suggested that she Google "mental time panels on corporate law and the public interest sec- health law", and ask her family for networking contacts tor. They also allow students to m ake appointments for (assuming, incorrecdy, that she would have family mcmone-on-one consultation. So then, why are many stu- bers in legal practice). dents in each year - students with above average grades Other students have stated that their COO appointat "Canada's best law school", excellent extra-curricu ments were "a waste of time", "insulting", or "useless".

Jars, and amiable personalities- unable to find a job? Many students have said that CDO representatives were Is it the economy? And why are these students so pessimistic, and encouraged students to "give up on [their] dream" of starting practice in certain legal areas angry?

The CDO reports that about ten more 3Ls than usual are wtthout a set articling plan this year. \Vhile this is hardly an insignificant number in a class of about 200, it's not a masstve change either (although, this number may be larger smce some students choose not to proc · ) . Sowh at's h o \d'mg vi'de t he CDO wt'th ·IOLOrmatlon these students back?

Unemployed students, particularly 3Ls, have voiced both specific and general complrunts about the school and the CO O's approach to the job hunt. One common complaint is that the school supports, to some extent, - students interested in corporate law jobs and public interest jobs, but stays fairly silent and unsupportive of careers within the rest of legal practice (e·l!.· per- ~ sonal injury law, general practice, family la\1.!, real estate law, etc.).

Others comment that multiple etiquette sessions and career panels arc of limited practical value and don't provide the specific information and advice students need if they aren't intending to follow a corporate career path. The SLS Career Working Group worked with the COO this year to create an additional

Evidently, "just Google it" is the surefire way to get yourself a shiny new job interview!

Contact Suzanne Bambrick at suzanne.bambrick@utoronto.ca and sign up for the CDO listserv to receive articling postings immediately; -Contribute your application materials to the CO O's " Resume Booklet" fo r Stuuc m~ Scekmg Articles; - Check the LSUC job postings and JOin the articling registry at: http:/ I articlingregistry.lsuc.on.ca/ ArticleRegistry/article/Login.action; -Consider lobbying smaller firms to allow you to divide your articles between two or more firms or to ar-

or to give up on articling in 2010-2011 altogether. tide part-time; Moreover, students who have ap- ~ ~ proached the CD O at various times - "So THEN, wHY ARE l\t\NY STIJthroughout their legal studies have DE \ITS I EACH YEAR- STuDf.!'.;TS been told that they were out of luck .

WITH ABO\'I•. AVERAGE GRADLS \T b ecause th e}· h a dn't come t o the "CANADA'S BEST LA\X' SCHOOL", CDO earlier. Some students ., . bXCbLLbNT EXTRA-CCRRICL LARS, · eli h th c 1 h tn cate t at ey lCC t e ~SD AMIABLE PERSO"JAUTl:J:S CD O has been supportive . , - ularIy Shannon 1..eo) , UN,\BU~ TO FIND A JOB? (partie but not in any practical way.

When the Faculty of Law increased tuition to a level that guaranteed large amounts of debt for many graduates, they altered the dimensions of the transaction that takes place between this institution and its students. Instead of being a largely knowledge-oriented transaction, where students pay a limited fee to rece1ve academic instruccion, legal educauon here has become a strongly entrepreneurial transaction where the student becomes a high-stakes investor in a career that the law school is selling. It was the administration's choice to define themselves as the purveyor of lucrative law careers, and it shouldn't be surprised when its "customers" demand return from their investment. U of T's law stud(;ntS are smart, independent, and generally competent. \ 1ost students without articles are not hoping the CDO \\111 do their job !'earch for them. \\'hat they arc intcrc:;ted in IS practical help from their school. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be rccci,·ing it.

- Explore articling opportuni-

~~s. outside of Toronto if your truttal search was confined to .

Toronto (for example, tf you are 'd · · li · BC const enng artie ng. m , .con-.. _ sult the BC CBA artlcling rC!-,'lStr} · http· //www. c ba org/ BC/bc ar0· . . . .. . . . - . . clmg/aroclings/ mrunlogtn.aspx), Network · Tell people }'OU are

looking for an articling position, get back in touch with lawyers you have met throughout law school for input and advice, and follow up with potentialleads. _ - Conduct information interviews to meet people 10 areas of law vou arc interested in (sec the CDO's "Information I~terview" handout in the Document Libraq of UTI..awcareers.ca); - Some students have expressed an interest in defernng their articles and participating in the articling recruit for 2011. If you arc interested tn pursuing a graduate degree, or want to travel, volunteer, or work in a different field next year, this may be an option to consider.

~fARCfl 24 2010

FEATURES

11

Designing a financial aid system for substantive equality I belic\·c that some of the recent changes to the way ursaries are distributed will exacerbate substantive in'qualitics amongst law students, funnel low-income stucots into certain career ch01ces, and result in a ong- term decrease in the cliverslt} of the student body. y bnnging forth some criticisms of the nC\\ distribution structure for financial aid, I hope to promote '~'reater discussion among the student body and the law chool generally about the vision we have for the law chool and how the financial aid system should be structured to achie,·e it.

Despite statements from the administration that the new system is "progressive and e{)Uitable", the system essentially imposes a flatrate tax on all students who qualify for financial aid, with disproportionately negative ·ffccts on needy students. The system is excered to result in roughly a 60-40 bursaryloan split for all students, with the exact breakdown \·arying from year to year depcndmg on av-ailable resources and the number of )tudents who qualify for the program. While this means is that the neediest students will ·ontinue to receive the highest dollar amounts 1n bursary funding, they will also be required to rake on the highest debt burden. The benefits that students With little unmet need will gain in thi:. m:w system 1s not proportionate to the 1ddcd burdens It places on students with the highest evcl of need. Should high-need students be asked to .ICC<-'pt an extra $10,000 of debt so that low-need :-tulcnt~ can receive a $600 burs:\ry? tn n\}• opinion . fo r lal equality i~? bursary/loan distributi<ln will result in substantively une<.Jual o utcomes for law srudents from Jiffercnt backgrounds.

The new system will also have consc<-Jucnccs for the iversit}· of our student body in the long-term, and for the freedom of low-income students to choose the inds of careers the} find meaningful in the short-term. fhe idea of accumulating $60,000 to $100,000 in debt to attend law school is daunting for anyone, but for those students who can take no comfort in their farni-

lies helping them out in the worst circumstances, the risk of accepting this debt is especially great. In particular, for low-tncome students who aspire to work public interest jobs, the possibility of receiving back-end debt relief may not sufficiently lower the risks inherent in assuming this debt-load while pursuing a career that holds out neither high wages nor JOb security.

In the short term, it is not unreasonable to expect that a higher proportiOn of the most-needy students will seek high-papng Ba} Stn.:et jobs or high-security

I. Minimum loan-burden requirement·. In our in· come tax system, we exclude all income below a certai Je,·el from taxation at any rate. Imposing an analogou need-floor in our financial aid system would require all students who have unmct needs to take on a minimu level of debt, freeing up the remaining funds to di:.trihute amongst those whose needs exceed this threshold .

2. Progressive distribution. This principle IS also em bedded in our income tax system. Those with the low est need will be asked to take on proportionately mor debt th:tn those with the highest need. In dol· Jar amounts, lo\\'-need students would still tak< on less debt than high-need students, but tht progressive system would gram high-need students more bursaries than the propo ed fb.t·ratc structure. While calculating a progn.'S· sive distribution system is difficult, since spending-neutral distribution depends on the: gross lncl of need as well as the exact distri bution of nced-Ie,·els among recipient students, these calculations are not impossible Indeed, the current system of financial aid at tempts to do JUSt this.

3. E{)Ualisation of debt-burdens. The tinan cia! aid system could he structured so that all students, regardless of their need-le\'cl, lcav' law school with the same debt burden. \\'hil< this kind of system is not necessarily substan government jobs rather than pursuing more precarious tiv·c\y equal, ~incc those students with less ability to pa~ work in clinics, small puhhc interest firms, or non·profit back their \oans wi\\ fcc\ the hurden of tepa-;ment mm<-: organisations. ln the lonv,·tcrm however. l th\nk that t\ccov\y, \t t\ocs have the a~\vant'a\!.C o\ p\ac\n\!, a\\ \!,'l'a~\u· "' ~"'Y of thc,;c

"'tudc"ts w\\\ \ncrc"s\ng\v c.hnu"c \av.r

schools ·whose lUillon anu fuy.u,<.."l\~ atu pohd<::~ uo no\. force them to assume such a h1gh debt-load. In either event, U of T'~ reputation as a school that takes students from privileged backgrounds and molds them into Bay Street la\vyers will only be reinforced.

If we want U ofT to be a place that attracts highlygualified students regardless of need, Including those who will pursue public interest work, there are a number of policy options that would better align with this

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feel. \ h viswn for U of Tis that it will continue to pro· duce );m-yers w·ho come from a dil·ersit)' of b.1ckgrounds ;nd who practise in all areas of Ja\\: Absc:n downward pressure on tuition levels, a financial aid sys tern that is focused on subsranri\·e equality is essentia to achieving this goal.

goal:

The other side of the Street

BY ARI KOPOLI)VJ( ('O<>)

ThiS is tbe second ;11 0 senrs of articles in u•hkh rmntgraduates share their 11ni~uc or 111/JIJIItl!post· '/atl' Hhool e..-..perimm. Ari is ajom1er Edilor-i11-Chr~( of Ultra \~ircs,prowrg that here ts hope 'lhatlhe rut of 111 mqy also some dq_y be produdit'e mt'lnbm rf soaety.

~vcn during law school, I km:w that I was more passionate about busine~s ~han law. always interpreted my legal studies ~sa means to an end, ~ot as an end~~ Itself -I saw law as being contextuali7.cd within a more comprehensive frarnc\~or~.

I'm presently working at a Toronto-based im estmcnt. bank and enJoymg myself reatly. Since being there., I've been given the opportunity t~ do several ad_ hoc ro~-.rions, getting exposure to transaction-base~! advisory work, mternal opcrattng metrics speclal project<;, and most recently, equ1ty research. . ' · 1 d th · · mazing degree of vancty as lt pcr' lbe wvrk is dynamic, fast-pacec , an ere 1s an a , . . .. . · h k I d o, 1)() th between and within the vanous rotattons. I he ~'\Ins to t e wor . work ts waried enough that attempting a compr('hcnsive descripnon wou~d b_c fuulc. !lowever, renerally speaking, one can say that "valuati,_m., of compant:s, -~~ one fo,rm ·o~ nnoth~r is a vital clement of the business. Valuatton can b~ descnptt'c or prescnp . d ' d. h. ntext but is common to both adv1sory and research work. uve, cpen tng on t c co , For those in law school and hoping to g('t into finance at some point, her(' is what can recom mend: (1.) Numeracy: Comfort with num bers and an understanding of financial mathematiCS is an absolute must (e.g. bond yields, CJ\r;\1, IRR. ROE).

(2.) Experience & Education : The importance of havin~ prior cx~ericnce m finance is something that cannot be over:;tatcd. For those lack1ng cxpcne~ce, courses like the Series 7 or the Canadian Securities Course arc :1 good start, hut If you want to prove to people that you're serious (especially if you have a_legal background and lack expcrienc(' in finance), you might want to start on the Ch\ .

(3.) The Tools of the Trade: Don't just learn to use. Excel; learn to ~ovc it. Other than in sales & trading, Excel is going to be somethtng you work wtth constand}· J\ lso, get familiar \\~th Capital IQ and Bloomberg.

(4.) Co ntacts: In business, "who you know'' is important- but don't think of it as comprising anything sinister. 'l11c point of finance is to tran~f~r resources from n~t savers to net users of capital. Knowing people helps you facthtatc that process. ltnance is a business where p('oplc with ideas reguire capital from those\\ ho "l.vant to invest it and expect a return on it. Knowing people helps with that.

Some suggested reading: Barl1ariam allbe Gate (Rryan B~rrough & .!ohn llelyar), Monkr; Hllsimss Qohn Rolfe & Peter Troob), Uar~ Pokrr (.\ltchacll..t:wts), and I louse

of Ca;ds (\'\'illiam Cohan).

I

FEATURI ~

12

ULTR\ YIRES

Doing w ell by doing good: How class action lawyers can simultaneously collect large counsel fees and serYc the interests of society

BY CHRI~mL KNt tNI.A.'

In Canada's complex capitalist economy. corporations produce a dizzying array of consumer product~. Regulatory agencies ha\'C insufticient stnfi and resources to pohct· corpnmtt' compliance with consumer protl·ctJon legislation. The rcf..rulatory sys· tem therefore relics on pri\·atc ci\'il suits hy \'ictims of corporate misconduct to supplement government enforcement. I lowevcr, given that many consumer claims :trcn't individually viable, the ac.lvcnt of cla!'s action legi~lation was nccess;try to "rescuje] consumer protection in Canada from its comatose state" O:tcob /.tegcl).

Critics of class actions often claim that, rather than advancing consumer JUStice, such class procccdinb~ arc just a way for 'ambulance-chasing' lawyers to make more money. I lowe\ cr, achieving redress for consumers and :;ecuring sizeable counsel fees arc nor necessarily mutually exclusi,·e. By inccnu,·izing la\\)'ers with chc prospect of large class counsel fees, class action legislation improves access to justice and promotes behaviour modification. Ultimately, it's the court's rcsponsibtlity to balance the financial reward of these entrepreneurial lawyers with the social interests they serve.

Individually non -viable claims Many- if not most- consumer clmms arc indi,·idually non-viable. The costs of individual consumer actions often exceed their potential for recovery, especially in Canada, where there are conservative puniove damage awards, hm1ts on damages for pain-and-suffering, and the risk of fees shifting to the losing party. Some consumers may be unaware that they have been \-icoms of corporate misconduct. Various social and psychological barriers may also prevent potential plainoffs from asserting claims.

In addition, representative plaintiffs are usually not compensated beyond their original claim for their effortS in adYancing a case. Courts arc concerned that class actions should not be pcrcei\·ed as a way for plaintiffs to seck personal gain beyond the ments of their case.

Rcalisocally, most plaintiffs will not pursue a claim where their recovery is fixed and below the cost of litigation. It is also unlikely that the} will have the resources or inclination to contact and represent all other potential class members without a reason-

(3L)

able prospect of additional compensation.

Incentivizing lawyers Lawyers haw an incenth·c to pursue class action litigation precisely because their recovery is not limited by the indhidual amount of loss. Whereas indi\'idual claims arc non-viable, the number of potential claimants creates economics of scale for legal fees and makes it possible to attract counsel on a contingency basis. Class counsel, in pursuit of large fees, become the driving force of the action and thereby also scn·e the social interests of access to justice, bcha\'iour modification, and- to a lesser extent · Judicial economy.

Class actions improve access to justice by consolidating individually non-viable claims and extending class coverage to all individuals who may have suffered from a particular misconduct. By initiating a class action, cntrcprencuriallawvers extend the possibility of redress to many consumers who would otherwise be unable to bring claims and be compensated for their losses.

In addition, class action lawyers strengthen the deterrent functton of the law in cases o~' mi~or harms. A~ explained by McLachh~ C.J. in ll"'estem Canadian Shopph{~ Centres, (w]tthout class acoons, those who cause widespread but indtvidually minimal ha~m might not take .in.to account the full costs of their conduct." When a corporaoon knows that all InJured purchasers may eventually s.uc for compensatory damages, legal fees and possibly punitive damages, persisting in misconduct becomes much more nsky. In modifying their behaviour or "internalizing" these costs, corporations become more cognizant of potentials for harm and quicker to act when there is even a small risk to consumers.

Finally, judicial economy may be served by inccntivizing lawyers to pursue class actions, although to a lesser extent than the other two goals discussed above. B\' initiating class action proceedings, entrepreneurial lawyers may help consolidate individual cases and resolve common issues, though this benefit is less relevant in actions...

CONTINUED at page 19

MARCil

Fr~\TURES

24 2010

DRESS - from page 9 ... basic sheath dress can be dressed up in any number of ways by pairing it with the right belt and shoes- a personal favourite outfit from last summer (if a little on the daring side) was a black Zara dress with a fairly bright green belt from Club, and a (miraculously) pcrfccth matching set of green pumps with tan heels from '\Jtnc \\'est. A white belt and black pumps with a cardigan would also do the trick m a slightly more toneddown variation. The possibilities arc trulv endless.

Sktrts can also be a great option for usin~ a lighter colour palette- a khaki pencil skirt that falls just below the knee looks just as pulled-together as any darker, suited ,·crsion.

As you've probably guessed from the paragraph above, accessoncs can make or break an outfit. Again, there arc the baste musts (black pumps, a good belt for your dress), but there's a lot of room to play around.

Just make sure you're going to be comfortable- in our experience, the slightly more expens1ve shoes arc often much kinder on your feet, and you should nc\'cr get a heel you can't walk more than a couple of blocks in (plus you realh shouldn't be wearing anything much over 3.5-4" TOPS at the oftice- 2-3" is usually a safe bet). Flats ar<.. totall} tine, though they do have a tendency to look much more casual, so make sure they don't look hke the 2-for-$30 s~ nth vic pairs you sometimes come across. In general, 1\.me \\'est and ;\ldo provide a good variety of viabk options for not too steep of a price. For a broader range of styles and pnccs, just check out any large shoe store like Browns or Town Shoes. As a general rule, it's a good idea to steer clear of sandal-type shoes or anything that shows your toes. \X'hile we certainly don't think you need to wear stockings during the summer if you don't want to (ick!),

th~·rc's

something about putting your feet on uis

pl:l.y at the office that is still m<~n! than. a htt\c offputnng.

Jewellery has one basic rule - keep it simple. No shoulder-grazing earrings, no noisy bangles, basicall) nothing that is going to draw an insane amount of at· tcntion. When you're a respected partner at age 50, you can start wearing the crazy-funky plastic and meldedmetal options, but your first summer is definitely not when you should start going this route.

Last, but certainly not least, comes the purse-age.

This is another area where there arc some basic guidelines, but some options to play with. You're going to want something big enough to carry papers and all your

At our firm, the tea1n always lises to the top.

Collaborative. Cooperati\·e. Collegial.

13

to ~.)~ once a year to stock up on BB button-<IO\\'IlS, and hey- if it's good enough for a guy who had a fling with Jackie <>, It' probably good enough for }OU! \'\ hen It comes to pairing your shin to your tic, it's probably overkill to go for a p:utcm on both - if one has a stripe, leave the other solid. Pocket squares arc abo a nice touch, though these should also complement your tic. L;:;ing the exact same fabric may be a bit matchy-matCh)~ but the colours should go well together and not be distracting. Also, get bonus pomts for pairing French cuffs \dth cool Paul Smith cuftlinks.

Gents don't often think that acccssorr·talk extends Gents ltrst off. fellas, if you're still reading this, thanks for to them, but it's at least as important as it is for the sticking it out and waiting your ladie , 1f perhaps a little more turn. You might think that after straightforward. Sleek, elongated all the stuff we've told the ladies, lace-up shoes in black and bro\\'11 you're totally in the clear, and arc always a good call, and, as \\ith you'd be half nght. It generally the ladies, you'll probably get what is a lot easier for guys to stick to you pay for in terms of comfo rt a dressing formula (formal= suit, and longevity. Cole I laan has a nice series that c,·cn incorpo rates business casual = take off the tic), although there's still plenty ~ike's athletic supports into dress of room for personal input. It's shoes, and, while we haven't tried not as hard to stand out as a styl· them, we imagine they're amazing. ish gentleman in T.O. than It In general, when it comes to acwould be in downtown '\,, \ , ccssorics, you should stick to a London, UK, or Ia Defense, but couple of _schemes - a black set again, we\·c got some tips to help and a non-black set (mo~t likely you on your \\Ill): brown). Pair your blacks with a Once again, we'll start with the chrome/ sih·er belt buckle and suit. It's an essential. Just like the watch, and your browns with gold ladies, try to get a few colour op· highlights. The black scheme tions going (black, navy, maybe a should work with any colour su1t, subtle pinstripe or a charcoal while the brown will go best v.ith grey). You can splurge on a nice '---~;.;;,;;~~;.;;,;;~:..;;.:~;,;;..;;.:.;,;;;;._ _....1 your nav)'. As another ~ood add·

various day-to-day needs, but nothing that looks like a formless sack. l.ongchamp bags arc a mce mid-range option while )ou're waiting for your first paycheque to clear, and will put up \\'lth a lot of \\'l'ar while still look~ ing professional. One of our favourite wcbsitcs, corporettc.com, did an enure artJclc on bags that arc appropriate for summer students, and we recommend you check it out if you\·c got questions on this (or anything, really - the site is a great resource for "o\'crachieving chicks" of all stripes).

set of Boss suits at l \aHy Rosen (havinv, at \ca':'ot one ~ca.l\y good t;u\t.

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a slightly more afford;tblc ,·ersion. E\en an H&M suit no·onc WI\\ know that tn\s \>nc. \s \ \~\.. may do the trick, on a onc-wcaring-:1 week basis. If you Briefcases arc always a cool option, though we beg want ro ha\·e a little more uncon\'cncional fun, or exude of you to please :n·oid at all costs using any of the cor· a bit of power from day one, nothing does this quite pomte-Jogo emblazoned shoulder/messenger bags you like the double-breasted suit (though be sure never to may hm·e picked up during OCls- e\'cn if it doc~ han: unbutton it unless you're sitting down!). your firm's name on ir. It:~ really best to just san.• these \\' hen it comes w dress shirts, take ad,·antage of the for the gym ... which brings us to our final bit of addcc fact that Toronto finally has a Brooks Brothers in Royal to you as you start your summer. and a true rule to J,,.e Bank Plaza. They generally offer a deal when you buy by: GTL, lac.lies & gents. GTL* three at a time (we rccommcnc.l wh 1te, blue and off*note: for those not familiar with the Gospel of the white), and you can get them in a slim or rcf,>Ular fit. Gi- Jersey Shore, this tran~lates to Gym, Tan, Laundry. You anni Agnelli, the former head of fiat 10 Italy, used to go

gotta stay fresh.

Peter Henein: RuMIIl9 to a se<urilles lillqetion prodite group meetinq.lunchl Secunlies' Does It qet better tllen thrs?

lnw nno lift flT

GflSSflS {)flOC~ ...

Ambie Edqtsr-Chano: At ned:ly tax groupmeetinq dist!Min(j the tctest deasron rele~:ed by tt:e Till Court of Canada on c!uel residence end the tie-brreker n: es in the Cer.ec!.,-uS till trtaly

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0 Susan Marsh: Worldngthroughowmemotodelermnewhenloeedto ll;jJ ~ 1111 !Wimited l.illblity Colnpllny U1 A: bette

Chris Bartlett: Reqtr.J:nq a seord1 of saneone wtxxn we~ b sene Wilt tr.a'~ on. but who rs no longer ot the lcl known~ Be wamed. \'{;!!1 olllhe ~out there no. ycu m.'tlOt tUde lor

14

ULTR\ VIRE$

Remember how innocent you were, before the stress, the torts, and the nights at Gracie O'Malley's? Check out UV's long-lost pictures from the ...

Orleni:ai:lon eek Semi- ormal If you've been looking for a mental image of our intrepid hero, you finally got your wish. No, not the one on the left. The right. Just read the story.

Watertight compartments: a Huck Jennings adventure

BY DAN MooRH (3L)

Previously, on Huck Jennings: I l uck Jenrungs ts not your typical first year student at U ofT Law. He is also an undercover agent for CSIS, the Canadian spy agency. In November, Huck was ordered to assassmate a rogue agent. But he then learned that his victim was Tatiana - a colleague '\vho was not only his mentor, but also the woman he loved.

With her dying words, Tatiana warned Huck that their supervisor at CSIS, known on\y as D uplessis, was somehow rcspon!\1b\c. lluck was then captured by a man fro m "the .A ssociation", who torrured him. After Huck was released, he swore that he would have vengeance for Tatiana's death. The months afterawrds were rough for Huck: his grief was overpowering, he didn't care about law school or believe in the so-called "rule of law", he was kicked out of his study group, and he couldn't ftnd D uplessis.

In April, Huck learned that the Association's plot had something to do WJth Alberta's oil wealth. After he began to doubt his opposition to the r ule of law, Huck went to the law school to get some advice. Just as he sat down to talk with his admirustrative law professor, he learned that Duplessis was 1n the building, holding hostage a room full of Huck's classmates. Armed with a katana, Duples~is swore that if I luck didn't show up, he would start taking scalps.

And now, the conclusion: Huck Jcnnmgs ran towards the Bennett Lecture Hall, ninja star in hand.

Every step took him closer to Duplessis - every step took him closer to the final reckoning. But his thoughts were drawn back to his last real conversation with Tatiana. lt had been a warm August evening, just a few weeks before he had started law school. !luck was lea'\·ing the orientation barbeque, walking down the back steps toward Philo so pher's Walk, when the wind changed direction and he

smelled a familiar perfume wafting from above.

Blinded by the setting sun, he didn't see Tatiana's shadow until she had already fallen on top of him, knocking him to the ground. Tatiana placed herself on his chest, her strong legs pinning Huck to the ground.

"Thought I'd drop by."

Tatiana claimed Huck's ninja star, and gave him the look that got him every time. "Say Uncle." lluck struggled in vain to get loose.

"But senousl)~ I luck - you really need to work on your situational awareness. I could have been anyone."

"Tatiana, I don't think that there're viilams waiting to drop out of the sky at the law school and kill a CSIS agent."

Her face suddenly became strained.

Huck noticed that she was tired and worried; she looked as if she hadn't slept or bathed in weeks. He saw his opportunity, and scrambled free. She rose to her feet quickly as well, and the two circled each other like pnze fighters.

"Huck, that's why I'm here. You need to be careful. I've learned things in the past few days things that would make a newly ·admitted law student forget his LSAT score." \X'orried, Huck lowered his fists and . moved to comfort Tatiana. She punched htm m the face. "~c'\Cr let down your guard!" Huck returned to the defensive position. "This is important, Huck. I can't tell you any of the details. I can't put you in danger."

"Then why don't we just run away somewhere, where we can be free of the burden of keeping Canada safe?".

"Because, dam nit I luck, you know that's against protocol! We can't be fratermzmg and what could be more important than our country?"

"My love for you, Tatiana, that's what's more important. Forget the standard operating procedures; we're not standard people. Those Treasury Board pencil pushers don't understand the strain we're

under." A tear ran down his bruised, swelling cheek. "They don't know the love between a man and the woman who taught him h ow to operate a flamethrower."

Her eyes softened, but she remained in the defensive stance. "Tatiana, why won't you let our distant love become something more? Sometimes loving you makes me feel like the girl from T».ilight."

She put down her hands. "Huck, I'm sorr), but not now. Maybe in a few months, o n ce l 've figured out what the

Associatio n is. For now, you n eed to know that if anyone kills me- even if it's someone from within the D epartmentit's because I'm gcmng too close to the truth. You need to promise that you will take up the cause."

Tatiana looked into his eyes. ''And if you 10\·e me, you must swear that if I am killed, you will find bloody vengeance."

That day, Huck had sworn that he would. '\ow, eight months later, rushing toward BLH, the ttme had come. The time fo r the truth. The time for bloody vengeance.

Huck burst into the lecture hall. Duplessis stood at the front of the crowded room, holding his shimmering, sharp katana to Kara's throat. "Duplessis!"

Huck shouted, ''Your duplicity stops nov.:" "hnally, Agent Jennings decides to join us. You're lucky that real life is a 100% final, because you haven't participated at all so far toda)."

"Let her go, Duplessis." Huck realized that he hadn't thought this through; he didn't have a plan.

"Take a scat. I have the upper hand and you know it." 1luck moved cautiously to an rusle seat several rows from the front. "~ow let's sec how much Huck Jennings has learned in his first year at law school."

A ripple of suppressed laughter moved across the lecture hall. Everyone in first

year knew that Huck had learned nothing. "SILENCE!" Duplessis sho uted.

He turned back to Huck. ''We're going to discuss a particularly interesting case, and if you haven't been doing your readings, I'm going to slit Kara's throat."

Huck looked at Kara. She was holding up okay. Then Huck noticed that she was holding something in her right hand, pressed up against her side- it was a nail file. Kara winked at Huck. He knew that he just had to keep Duplessis talking and sh e would give H uck an <>p c ning.

"Huck, I want you to gtve m e the fac ts of Huck. jmnings n Dtrplems. Let me know what I ever did to you." ''You sent me to kill Tatiana. Yo u tncked me into killing another agent.

Then you had me tortured . .:\Iy claim against you is that you turned me into a shell of the person 1 once was."

"But you can't just look at those facts out of context." Duplessis pressed the blade of the katana tighter against Kara's neck. "Maybe one of your classmates can help us with this. Docs anyo ne know what a spy is trained to do?"

Kara replied, "Kill? Is a spy trained to ktll?"

"Exactly! A spy is a trained killer. We keep Canada safe. It's my job, and I do it with pnde. I plucked you out of obscurity, Huck. I paid for your training and now for your law degree, I treated you like a son, and now you suddenly haYc some kind of emotional problem with being a killer?"

"I loved her. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together."

Duplessis' eyes popped. "You m ean that the issue in this case has actually been love? You knew better than that, Jennings- you're not supposed to mix your business wtth your personal life. It gets in the way."

II uck rose to his feet. "But I can't keep my life in watertight compartments anymore; you\·e asked for too much.

Yes, I'm a spv, but I'm also a law student..

CONTINUED at page 19

~L\RCH

Black & Blue Charity Tip-Off

24 2010

HUCK JENNINGS - from page 14 ... and I'm also a man." I luck's e\cs began to water with steely resohe. 'r\nd now I tind out that Tatiana's dl"ath was all part of some plot about Alberta's oil wealth?" ''That's right, Agent Jennings. I'inalh; we get to the core underlying conflict of values in JrmJin..e,s 1~ Duplessis. The \ssoclation had it all planned out. \'\'e were going to tinish what Trudeau started thtrty years ago, and claw back Alberta'~ oil wealth. The East Coast elites can't have Alberta getting so powerful."

Duplessis pushed Kara to the ground, and began pacing across the front of the lecture hall. Kara looked to Huck, who ge~tured at her to wait for the perfl'Ct time. Duplessis continued monolob>uing: "But your little girlfriend caught on that something was up. She started pokmg around where she didn't belong. So we had to write Tatiana out of the story. We sent a team of three agents after her ..." " ... \nd?"

"Well, Huck, those were our best agents. ~trong guys, who had just emerged from deep cover along the Afghan1stan-Paktstan border. Three days after we sent them after her, we received their disembodied heads v1a Purolator.

Things were spiralling out of control."

"So you sent me, because I was her protegee, the only one who knew all of her n1o\·cs."

"Finally, he catches on! I just didn't K:now thlit you were... familiar with all of her moves."

"But tht:n why did you blow up that dam in the Alberta tar sands, causing ma:;sive pollution of wetlands?"

Karen raised her hand. Smiling, Dup lessis pointed to her, and she said, "\X'ell, if the Association wants to repeal the Co11slil11tion Ad, 1930, then it makes sense to turn the rest of Canada against 1\lberta and make it look like they can't manage their natural resources."

"E.xccllcnt. Thank you, Karen." Step· pmg too close to Kara, Duplessis pomted CLASS ACTIONS - from page 12 ... for small consumer cla1ms that would not otherwise be brought.

Lawyer fees The mam concern with entrepreneurial class action lawyers is that their fees ut into the compensation of class members. Some critics go so far as to accuse lass counsel of settling class claims with defendants for less than thev arc worth n exchange for inflated counsel fees.

However, these counsel fee concerns arc •xaggerated in Canada. lt's ultimately he court's responsibility -and within its capacity - to approve appropnate compensation for class counsel.

Canadian class action legislation requires court approval for the settlement )f anv class action whether or not the ' action is certified. Typically, courts determine the fees for class counsel using a combination of a multiplier of billable

.

19

FEATURES his k:ttana at Karen, ''Ten points to Gryffindor. l\Jow this h a law student who rt"ally applies the facts to the iss-" I luck saw his chance. lie nodded at Kara, who lept to her feet and plunged her nail file through Duplessis' hand.

I luck leapt from his scat, as Duplessis dropped h1s katana and fell to the floor.

Kara thre\V the katana to I luck, but Duplessis was already running out the door. I luck grabbed the katana and ran after him.

Duplessis was waiting just outside the li hrary. "Is this how It ends, II uck Jennin!,rs. with you cutting me down when I don't e'·t 1 ha L a weapon? \\'e taught you the ('~IS honour code, and now you're acung \\lth all the ethics of a •.. well that one's too easy. If you're going to kill me, then do so in accordance with your vaunted procedural fairness."

I luck threw the katana off to the side.

"Duplessis, I think it's time for a final judgment in our case."

"Well one final dung, then: what's your real name, Huck Jennings? Stop hidang behind your code name. A man deserves to truly know just who it is that claims to be his rightful executioner."

Huck Jennings searched deep into his memory. It had been years srnce he had used that name; he now felt like a differ· ent person. "My name is Carelli. Ron Carelli. If you hear a whistle off in the distance, that's the pain train coming into the station. Prepare for boarding.

"Duplessis, I will not have you coming into this law school - my law school and hurting people. This year has taught me at least one thing: the danger of men like you who thlnk that public officials can act without lawful authority."

Duplessis smiled dangerously. He was up to something. Duplessis pulled K.ara's nail file out of hand, and licked the blood off of it. He reached down to his ankle, and pulled out a dagger that had been sheathed under his pants. "But that's the weakness of lawyers, Huck Jennings. hours and a percentage contmgency tee.

The multiplier is based on considerations such as the complexity of the case and counsel's degree of success.

While not perfect, Canadian courts have been moderatel} successful in achieving appropriate class counsel remuneration with this approach. Unlike the United States, where class counsel routinely receive up to 40 per cent of a settlement, fees for class action lawyers in Canada arc usually below 20-25 per cent. In addition, Canadian courts have refused to certify settlements in cases on the basts that the fee scheme was inappropriate.

There exists legitimate concern that class counsel arc under a conflict of interest when negotiating a settlement and therefore may not present a judge with an appropriately ad\·ersarial discussion of its merits. Although courts in Canada appear to be adjudicating such issues competent!~·. the addition of court-ap·

You think within the box. You forget the power - the ddicious unpredictability of arhitrarine s."

Duplc:;sis moved toward I luck, who could only step back. "In these last moment.;, i\lr. Jcnnin!,>s-slash-C.trelli, do you regret that you killed the woman you loved? I hope y<,u do." !luck bumped into something. It was Bora's head. lie turned around, pulled it from its pcdc:;tal, and held Bora l.:tskin\ head in front of him. ''You can't usc the law as a shtcld forC\Cr, I luck. This is what happens to spies who can't kill--who can't do what they're trained to do with< >Ut turning mto a mopey teenager."

Then !luck saw Tatiana's face in his mind: "You must swear that if I am killed, you will find bloody \'engcancc."

I Ie had made a promise, and he intended to keep it.

Huck threw Bora's head at Duplessis, who was knocked to the ground. Huck knelt on top of Duplessis, threw the dagger to the s1de, and held Bora's head over h1s own.

"Duplessis, I've come to my decision.

There aren't any dtssenting opinions. In the case of Ron Cartlli v. D11plmis, constdcr yourself quashed!" The head of Bora Laslon came crashing down wtth a bang, landmg to Duplessis' side. Duplessis looked into I luck's eyes m confuston.

Summer stress?

8\ KAH I IARl>t" (31 )

The first thing to remember is that 11' just n summer }Ou\e had them before and ) ou '11 ha\ e them again \\ben you're figunng out how to spend that summer, the question )OU need to ask )OUrself is: what wdl make me happ)?

If }OU alrcad} know what rou \\ant, find someone who docs it and speak to him or her. Ask e\ e.rything rou can think to ask. talk to the CDO, do )OUr own research, and go after it! If )OU don't have the answers }et, kno\\ that this is completely common, too. Just be cause you aren't sure where }Ou're gomg and what you want to do doesn't mean that your path will be any less e.xciung or more difficult than that of your peers.

When I got to law school, I had no idea if I wanted to be la\\"}Cr. I fell into corporate law a~ part of my attempt to prove to myself that there was a way to go through law ~chool without ha,·mg my grades count. In pur:;uit of this glonous goal, I did "East meets \\'est" OCis early in the year and secured a job with a Calgary firm a full two months before December of first year. I ·was convinced l was set, and that I was ageruus. My glorious life-plan was foiled, however, when I reali~ed, upon being offered an articling posttion, that I "I've \earned too much this year, Dup couhln't accept. l v.-as still not con\ess1s, not to know that the b~.:st kiml of vinced that \ was \n~testeO. \n bcin{l; a revenge would be to put you in the hands lau-ycr. 1 had no idea wh:lt I wanted. It of the justice system. I believe in the culc was frusrmring, petrifying, and exof Jaw, not the rule of men." rn·mcJy annoying.

I luck Jennings w1ped his bloody hands 1\t some point l got the advtce Jm on Duplessis' shirt, got up and turned to passing on to you: break it do\\71 to the present moment and ask, "W'hat do 1 the wamng police officers.

"Make sure to inform him of his right want today?" 1 knew l wanted to exto counsel. I've got exams to study for." plore somethmg that interested me, And Huck walked off into the library. work with great people, and have time for yoga, my friends, and (of course) The end eating delicious food. I focused on Based on lht charader "1 luck jtnnin/!,S ·; maltd those !'eemingly minor hopes, had faith I!J Derek. Bryant, Dan Moort, and Brn '\olan. m mysell: and trit•d to relax.

Then one day, while YouTubing- not pomted tndependent counsel to adv1sc tn class, of course -1 came upon a video on the fairness of a settlement may assis of some students protesting politic.1.l isin the resolution of these issues. sues at York University. Intrigued by the issue of free expression on campus, I Conclusion spoke to some professors and found Courts have explicitly recogni7.ed "tha that the arL"a needed some legal attenthe success and survival of the class action. \X'ithin a week ,I had found an ortion res.,,.jme depends upon risk-taking b) gantzation interested tn pursumg the lawyer-entrepreneurs who must be given topic.. and received the Donner Public a premium fee when they win." Con· Interest Fellowship. Thi past summer 1 sumcr torts, in particular, often inn>ln researched something that interested me individually non-viable claims. In the ab with the help of great people. I had sence of class actions, many consumer~ plenty of time to do what l care about. would never be compensated for thei Though I'm not sure if public interest is losses and corporations would have les~ for me, I know I had a great summer. incentive to cease misconduct. It's pre· Your ~~:com! summer is an opportuciscly because class actions offer the po· nity for you to do something that makes tenual for substantial counsel fees tha you happ}- That opporturuty will be they have been so effective in furthering uniquely yours, and the path to it will be social goals of imprm·ing access to jus· equal~, no\·cl. Good luck on the hunt. I tice, modifying corporate behaviour and hope all of you find the courage to increasing judicial economy. dream, and to believe in those dreams.

IT

11

A baby seal walks into a club ...

BY A\ROJ\ CIIRISTO!I r (2L)

Apparently, the Canadian seal hunt is still 1\nimal \\'clfare (IFAW) contend that as hasty and unmanageable. They claim a live political issue. In a recent YouTube scaling is cruel, unsustainable, and unncc- that "s~als arc routinely clubbed or shot inten·ie\\; one questioner challenged the Prime .\tinister to cancel the 2010 commercial hunt. He declined. In fact, Fi~h ­ cries Minister Ga1l Shea just announced on March 17 that the harp seal guota will be boosted from 280,000 to 330,000.

The Gmernment's position on the issue is crystal dear, and is closely followed by that of the Ofticial Opposition. Liberal Senator Mac f !arb's recent motion to ban the seal hunt was met \s.·ith stony silence in the upper chamber, unable to find a seconder. \Ieanwhile, in a recent shO\\ of support, Uberal Senator Cehnc llcrvieux-Payette held a seal luncheon in the Parliamentary dining room. '\eyerthcless, wme of the usual poliocal JOUsting has taken place, with the Tories accusing Michael Ignatieff of allowing his party to waftle on the issue and the Grits highlighting the cheapness of the Seals ... too cute to eat? attack.

Why ban the seal hunt? Animal ri~hts cssary. Most of the animals killed arc ba- and left to suffer on the 1ce, before being gnm\ls \i.kc the lntcrnationa\ Fun(\ for bic~, and the hunt it!'.c\f is characterized dubbed again some time thereafter.

Some seals are still skinned before being rendered fullv unconscious...". IF\W scientists fear that the current approach to the hunt is unsustainable and "risks depleting the harp seal herd by as much as 70% in the next 15 years". Though the harp seal population has tripled since the 1970s, prior to that, it had been cut significantly by large-scale hunting. ~fore­ over, increasmgly poor ice conditions also threaten the survival of seal pups. \nd all this for a product nobody needs. l\.~.:cdlcss to ~ay, the government and other seal hunt proponents see the hunt as humane, sustainable, and necessary.

There seems to be a real disconnect between factual perceptio ns on each side.

Nobody wants to sec animals treated with cruclt)•, but not c\·erybody believes that that actually happens. A 2002 report in the Canadian Veterinary Journal fo und that "the large majority of seals taken during this hunt. .. are killed in an acceptably humane manner." The hakapik, ...

CONTINUED at page 22

Citizens United v. FEC: a VIctory

BY CI:I.A~ SUU.IM \..'11 (2L)

!'here has been much criticism of the .S. Supreme Court's decision in Citrzens United t~ FEC. President Obama took he unusual step of criticizing the deciion during the State of the Union adlress, ~tating that "the Supreme Court evcrst.'ll a century of law to open the floodgates for

not spend any money is essentially t limit my speech to whoever is in m} vicinit). As the court rightly noted, al speakers, includJng the media and indi viduals, usc money they have accumu lated tn th economic market place to fund thei speech. pcclal interests ~ ~ panied by .. to spend with'\X'HY SHOULD NE\\'S CORPORA'fiO.:-\ c r i m_i n a J A third line of ar>ut limit in our IE PARE.N'r CO~!P,\~Y OF P< >X) sanctrons, gument pornts ou the corrosive Jnflu· lcctions. \\"ell 1 A0:D GE~ERAL ELECTRIC (Pt\REi'-JT making ex lon't think emptions aimed at it~ recognience of money i merican clecOF 11SNBC) Bh ALLOWED VIRTUfor medi:l tion that corporathe current politica ions should be ALLY U~LI:O.IITED POLITICAL RHETOcorpora- tions ha\ c the same system and th speech rights as grave consequence >:tnkrolled by RIC W'HILE CO~tPA~IE..'i SUCJI AS tions. of further opcnin \X'AL-i\IART A~D ORGA~II'~TIO~S In Gti- human beings, and America's most the tap. The rule o owerful inter- ~ ~ zens Umted, that spending money sts..." In light UKE THE ACLU ARE Rf!.STRICI1ill?" t h e is equivalent to law, hpwc,·er, doe Sup rem c speech. The l 'ir.rt f this critiasm, not allow unconsti t is important to review the merits of Court held that limits to independent Atnmd111mt, however, tutional laws or ac his decision. corporate expenditures arc unconstitu- does not make a distions to be mad The case stemmed from the actions of tiona!. \X.riting for the majority, Justice tinction acceptable bccaus itizens Umted, a conservative non- Kennedy ar!,rucd that corporations arc persons and nonthey produce goo rofit corporation, wh1ch released a doc- free to exercise their nght of free speech persons! merely proresult.~. Proponent umentary critical of Hillary Clinton (then under the First l\mendmcnt, and that viding that of the indetirute de (above) The documentary in question running £i>r president in the Democratic these rights cannot be suppressed on the "Congress shall tention of sus nmar} elections) and wanted to run tel- basis of their corporate identity. Tlus de make no Ia\\: .. abrrdging the freedom of pccted terrorists argue that prov1dm \is ion ad,·ertisements promoting the cision overturned the court's 1990 prcce- speech.'' Furthermore, arguing that them\\ ith the writ of habeas c01pu.r migh fl.lm. The Bipartr.ran Can!J>aigll RtjomJ Ad dent in 11f.rlin t~ Michr,gatl Chan~her of mone) does not equal speech docs not lead to bad results, but this does no of 2002 (BCRA) banned corporations Con111mre, which had allowed such limits make sense when any attempts to bu} make the dental of such a remed) an} nd umons from using general treasur} due to " the corrosi\ e and distorting ef wide media coverage requires one to pay more conc;titunonal. As the court held funds to pa} for speech that c.xprcssly ad- fects of immense aggregatio ns of wealth for ad\ crtising costs. Saytng that I ha,·e since poliucal speech 1s an ... ·ocated the election or defeat of a cand1- that are accumulated v_,ith the help of the the right to speak freely as long as I do CONTINUED at page 27

tn

date or for "electioneering communications,'' defined by the BCJV.1 as any "broadcast, cable, or satellite communication" that refers to ''a clearly Identified candidate for federal office" made either 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary election. The ban is accom-

corporate form and that have little or no correlation the to public's support for the corporation's political ideas.'' Thus, following Citizens United, as long as corporations do not give to candidates directly, they are allowed to spend whate\ cr they wish to support oppose candidates. i\lost of the popular criticism of this

i\1AR(l-1

24,2010

OPI'\10'-.S

&

21

EDI10RI \LS

Women's issues at U ofT Law:

#voteTOin416, and why you

a femi~ist retrospective

should care about reforming Toronto city council elections

\\'hen I was in 1L, the gtndcr issue of the year (raised in an issue. of ( TJtra I 'im ) was that the law school's culture was masculine and hostile to women - a re-

hard-working women who work at Grounds of 1\ppcal - all immigrant women of colour who arc supporting themseh-cs and their children on limited

(L-R) Professor~ Nedch•ky, Prado, Weinrib, and Dawood of the Status of Women Committee

flection of the legal professio n itself.

This hostility takes many forms, including pressure on women to "fit m" by drinking heavil}, laughing at sexist jokes, and taking on traditional roles/ beha\·iours that maintain unegual gender rcla· tions.

Unfortunately, this \·ery impo rtant point was lost in a kerfuftle about one of the examples in the aroclc: some female srudents had dressed up as cheerleaders at the U ofT/ Osgoode charit)· basketball match. The cheerleaders defended themselves, asserting that they were smart, successful law students, and, thus, it was unproblematic for them to have dressed as cheerleaders. Of course, this argument does nothmg to refute the broader point: dressing like a cheerleader, no matter how smart and successful the woman doing it, docs not challenge the masculine culture of law school, but rather expresses, supports, and maintains it.

From m} feminist perspective, not much has changed. I'm not surprised; change takes a long time. I've seen some change, but there's still a long wa} to go.

There are two main areas where I see problems with gender relations: extra curricular activities and pedagogy/ curriculum. These can be linked back to one, overarching problem: a Jack of gender/feminist analysis at U ofT Law.

Extra-curriculars The most positive changes have occurred in cxtra-curnculars. The best news: this year's \X'hite Ribbon Campaign, which raises money to end male violence against women, was a smash success. It highlighted that our own community isn't immune from this epidemic and, for the first time, was widely attended. Complementing this success are the egually well attended events held by Women and the Law and the Pcminist Law Students Association.

There arc, however, ongoing problems with extra-curricular eyents. First, Law Follies consistent!) includes sexist (not to mention homophobic and racist) jokes.

This year, jokes were aimed at the bright,

salanes by serving pri\ileged, mostly white, law students. Follies is a great example of how being a smart, successful woman is not automatically eqUivalent to having a feminist perspective: the team mcludes several women each year, but caters almost entirely to a (white, straight) masculine worldvie\v.

Furthermore, many of the e\·ents that focus on women's issues take a particular tone how to achieve work-family balance. \X hy this is an issue for women students IS clear: women still do most pnmary care work. However, these events do nothing to undermine unequa\ gender relations in the legal profesSion.

It would be remarkable if we could think of more complex questJons co ask women hogators than when to start hav ing children. Also, why shouldn't men be concerned with work-famil} balance, too?

Pedagogy/ Curriculum There simply aren't enough classes being offered that focus on gender issues. Furthermore, enrolment in the classes that do focus on gender 1ssues is low. These courses arc seen as unnecessary, unimportant, and fluffy, particularly compared to "real" law courses like Tax and Business Organisations. It's a shame because gender issues arise m every area of the law, from tax to criminal to cor· porate. What's more troubling IS that students perceive employers to undervalue courses that focus on gender issues.

The views of an employer should never dictate what courses a student takes.

Rclatedly, most classes do not include a gender or feminist perspective on the legal issues involved. This can be evidenced b) the tone of classroom discussions about gender issues. Sadl}, it has become obvious that law students do not generally have the skills to engage rn gen der analysis of legal issues. It is also obvious that they are not going to gain these skills in law school, since teaching 1s largely focused on one perspcctl\·c: law and economics. Thankfully, the Status of Women Committee is making head ...

CONTINUED at page 22

g,

C\~lll .l ll L ABf:lll

Not on 'J \\•itter, and not fnllo\\ ing the 20 I 0 Toronto mun1cipal race? 'J'hen rou're hkcly wondenng what the h~..-adhne means. Let me explain.

In recent months, chatter about Toronto's municrpal election has heated up, especially on Twitter- the hot new social media network. (~eriously, folks.

Jf you're a news junkie/care about current affair-./lm·e politics, you need to join). It was through Twitter that n group of en~-,ragcd Torontonians came together, umted by the view that the 20 I0 municipal election should be one focused on the issues facing our city, instead of merely the personalities participating in the horse race. Rather than despairing over superficial media coverage, like the drama surrounding a certain former mayoral candidate's sex life, they decided to take action.

Under the name #voteTO (the # i~ called a hashtag, used to organize toprcs of conversation on Twitter), this group organized its first public event in February: #votcTOin416 - an urban Issue~ forum featuring presentations from various community gn>u\l~. or as i':()\1'1 \1agazi11e put it, "an jcJca bonanza for civic ncnh" and a "rock concert for city council 'unkics". Each presenter was given a mere 4 minutes and 16 seconds (get it?) to make the case for their ballot issue. The Annex Live venue was packed to capacity with hundreds of eager urbanites, while speakers made their cases on issues as OiYCr~e aS cycling Janes and infrastructure, the city's bed bug infestation, fixing the stray cat problem through spaying and neutering, a cit)·-wide fair trade purchasing poliC); and a licens1ng system for landlords. A common theme from many speakers was the need to change the way we elect city councillors. I carried the flag for Fair Vote Canada, a national multi-partisan group dedicated to voting reform, with a presentation on the need to bring in proportional representation to Toronto elections.

Why should you care about ch:mging the way we elect city council? Because Toronto democracy is in crisis and our antiquat~.:d tirst-past-thc-post voting system is the cause. \\'hat arc the symptoms of our democratic illness? Just look at the face of cit)• council - it just doesn't.retlect multicultural 'l(>ronto. Cnlcss you are a middleaged, white man, you're dramatically

"' (JL)

underrepresented on Toronto Cit) council. Although we arc one of the mo t culturnll} dh erse cities on this planet, the di turbtng fact IS that nine out of ten councillor are white, eight out of ten are men, and only one is under 40. Further, it's 'irtually impossible for incumbent cit) councillors to lose their seats: onl} one out of 37 incumbents lost last nme around. TI1is clearly illustrates the enormously disproportionate advantage conferred by incumhcncr, and it's a major hurdle to getting fresh blood and new ideas onto city council. The dismal mu· nicip<tl voter turnout - 41 per cent last time around - rctlects this disillusionment that I know many of us feel.

Far too many Torontonians will cast ballots that never elect anyone to city council because of our \'1>ting system, which only elects a single candidate m each ward. \\7Jlere there are more than two candidates, thi~ means that a majorIt)' of voters in that ward did not vote for their elected council member. So what's the solution? With a proporoonal voong system that uses multi-member wards, the \ar~c maiority of voters wi\\ actua\\-y b~::

ab\1:. to

~.:a~t

a

ballot that ckcts a councillor. 1\s a result, our council will have more women, more ''isible minorities, and greater age diversity. Electmg new voices to cit)' council will no longer he an impossible task and incumbents won't always skate to victory. In short, city council will actually reflect the 'otcrs it represents, and w1ll finally give a voice to those whose voices have traditionally been shut out of the democratic process.

Judging by the strong audience response at the #voteT< )in416 forum, the idea of municipal voting reform is a popular one. It's an issue law students should get behind: our student!)( >ely IS multicultural, skews young, and definitely isn't rctlccted on cit)· council.

Visit www:fairvotc.ca and ""'-'\\~bettcr­ ballots.ea to learn more about cit} voting reform, and to find out about upcoming #votcTO municipal election events, follow @.,voteTO on Twitter, join the #\(>tcTO Faccbook group, or check out www. votcto.ca.

0PI~IO:NS

22

Law and order:

ULTR.\

& EDITOR! \LS

Vrru:s

24, 2010

0PINIOt-..S & EDITORIALS

23

A call for action

SEAL - from page 20

· to our ur ban se · nSJ'bi1 an efficient killing tool... \\'hite... IJru tal as ·It ts . 1'u'es. , is· apparent!}· • coats. the adorable fuzzy baby harp seals featured prominently in anti-sealing imagery, have been off-limits since 1987 (along with blue backs, baby hooded seals). The seals . . killed arc still young, but notably less cute.

Cuteness seems to be the major unspoken factor: we love arumals, espectally baby B' SnPHI :-.; HtTrC HJ~os (21.) \ 10lent crime has steadily declined in more mandatory minimum sentences, animals, because the\' arc cute. \X'e like to anthropomorphize our animals - my Canada over the past decade. You and harsher sentencing overall. "CanadJ· famuritc example is ~he chimpanzee. Cute and hairy mini-me, right? Wrong.. A wouldn't know Jt from Canadian politics. ans," pollster Frank Graves told The chimp will rip off your face, hands, and genitals if you cross it. I'm not sug.gcstmg Smce their rise to power in 2006, the Globe a11d Mail, "want to see criminals that seals pose any sort of threat to humans, but simply that nature has a different I Iarpcr Conservatives have promoted a punished more severely." To author ethic about violence. Polar bears, another favoured cause of animal rights advocates, "tough on crime" agenda. Last year, the} Gerald Caplan, Harper's triumph repre- don't care about the humane treatment of seals. All the same, I think it's fair to say introduced the so-called Tadelin.g Violmt sents the failure of Canadian democracy, that we hold ourselves to a higher standard than polar bears.

There's Jess to be said about the sustainability issue, since each side seems to have Criflle Act, introducing numerous new a symptom of an increasingly immature its own scientists making competing claims. I'm not a scientist myself, but when I sec mandatory minimum sentences for \'ari- system's inability to digest complex iswea~cl \\'Ords like "risk" or "as much as", I'm not inclined to trust the analysts. \'\'herous crimes. They sues. Crimlnallav.rycr abolished the Frank I\ddario ever the ~eal population is going, suffice to say current estimates put it at close to six practice of E-,.-inng agrees.

He sees million in Canada. If current practices prove unsustainable in the longer term, there Harper's agenda as is enough leeway to correct them in the fun1rc. accused indi\iduSeal products arc not strictly necessary, but then again, most things aren't. Animal als additional "another attempt to credit for simplify what's real!) advocates decry the hunt because seal fur is a luxury item. Last May, the European spent in pre-sena complex social Parliament banned the import of seal products since the hunt is ''inherently inhumane", then promptly adjourned to force-iced corn to their ducks. This, combined tencing custody. issue in order to con They created a dense it into a dJ- with rising seal (jUOtas, has driven down the price of a good pelt from S lOS in 2006 ''three strikes'' gestiblc election to $15 now. According to the government, the hunt is still an important economic issue". Harper's pro- activity in certain Canadian (including Inuit) communities on the cast coast, providing prodsion, forcing courts to consider gram sweeps a ,-ariety income for around 5,000 people. None of this is "necessary". but it is an in<.lustr} whether the acof difficult social that is frurly important in certain small parts of the country. It rna} welJ decline into cused is a "danquestions under the nodtin!-,7JlC~s m·er time in the face of internauonal opposition. ~erc>Us offender" mantle of "law and Seals arc harve::.tcd mostly for their pelts, but also for their oil and meat. The oil is afrer his or her order," and proposes converted to an ( )mega-3 fatty acids ::.upplcment. The meat is not available 10 the suthird offence. the criminal law as a permarket, but it is apparently popular enough in South Korea and Japan, and now They appointed panacea to solve with Canadian politicians. Fser since our Governor-General made headlines by depolice officers and law and order ad\·o- them all. And Canadians are buyin~ it, vouring a seal heart, eating seal has become a hit of n cause celebre on Parliament Hill.

Bcs1dcs the recent Liberal seal luncheon, there has been talk about putting sc.'ll on th catcs to iudicia\ <;,c\cction pane\s. Ear\icr hook, \inc and sinker. \ n my view, Cap\an und.crc~timatc~ the regular menu of the P:u·\iatncntary n~stauram. Apparently the meat smdl5 l1ke fish tn\'::> month, the·y beg,an a nmt \\n~\ ·.ttcn~tn and potential of the oppo~ing hut aMes kin~\ of1like moo:;c, and i~ qu1tc dry been usc the unappealing fat has to he \~twr,c.n <'"""'n·.,u\ <,\ \\,..,_ Y<mth <.nminal Jus lice Act. Proposed changes would publi- side. Bala effectively refutes the govern remo\'t:d. Michael lgnatieff described it as "tastlingj good." It doesn't :;ound like cize young offenders' names, provide mcnt's deterrence argument, no doubt. much of a delicacy ro me, but it does seem to bring our politicians together in the harsher sentencing guidelines, and force The criminal law, however, has two pur warm glow of bloody Canadianness.

Crown attorneys to justify their decisions poses: to deter and to denounce. All the Considering the level of scrutiny brought to bear on the seal hunt, the ,·cry large not to seek adult sentences for offenders expert studies address the former, but seal population, and the importance of the hunt to certain communities, I'm glad to as young as 14. none addresses the latter. As Graves em- see it supported by our politicians. It may not be the best of Canadian symbols, but The Tories argue that these measures phasized, Canadians want to see crimi- it has become one, and, for that reason, is worth defending. are necessary to protect the public. nals pumshed more severely. In other Criminal justice experts disagree. words, they feel that current sentences FEMINIST RETROSPECTIVE - from page 21 Queen's Universicy Professor ~1cholas do not adequately express society's de...way on this Issue. Due to increased interaction wah female students, the SWC is Bala denounces the new legislaoon as yet nunciation of crime. Opponents of !compiling resources for professors and students who w1sh to include gender and another example of "pandering to public }larper's agenda must refashion their arfeminist perspectives in their classes. mispercepnons" about crime. BaJa guments to address this concern. They pomts to numerous studies showing the should explain the sentences that violent Recommendations decline of violent and youth crime in crimes typically receive. They should I'd llkc to close with some recommendations for changing gender relations at law Canada, and disputing any connection emphasize the totality of the conseschool. between harsher sentencing and reduced quences of a crimmal conviction, even r:or the administration: crime. Virtually every expert echoes his beyond the sentence ttself: travel restricConsider hiring more female and feminist professors. It makes a difference to be views. J Iars her sentences do not deter tions, denial of employment, social a~ght by women and everyone benefits from the development of femirust reasoning crime. Prime l\finister Harper replies to stigma, ruined relationships, and often, r;k1lls. these arguments with sneering anti-intel- poverty. They should detail the nature ~~or the faculty: lectualism. In a speech to the House of of prison life and parole. Opponents Consider teaching from a feminist perspective; consider teaching courses tha Commons in 2007, he confidently pre- must make Canadians understand the focus on gender issues; consider being more involved m student acO\ities. remalc dicted that "self-appointed experts" - full extent of the punishment that the aw students need mentors and allies and faculty members are in a great position t< "academics in their ivory towers and legal system exacts on offenders. each out. lawyers in their Bay Street boardrooms" Canadians have got it into their heads For the students: - would disapprove of his crime crack- that the legal system treats criminals leDevelop feminist analytic skills. Ask for courses about gender issues. Speak ir1 down. This opposition, however, was a nient!). Until opponents address the delc~ass about gender issues, being mindful that one in four women experience sexua vanity of the out-of-touch elite. "Ordi nunciation issue, Harper will win- again [VIOlence. Go and see your professors when a gender issue is not explored. Don' nary Canadians" he asserted, understood and agam. tell sexist jokes, in the halls or on stage. Ask firm representatives what they arc domg the pressing need for harsher legislation. to support women's equalit} through their policies..Men, ask about parental leave _ Thus far, Harper's arguments appear ~nd take it. to have carried the day. A recent poll placed public support for the death penalty at over 50 percent for the first time in two decades. An overwhelming majority- almost two thirds - supported

Conservative intent

MARCH

BY IS...,,\C 1:\~tG (3L)

I almost chose not to come to U of T for Jaw school.

Having just completed my undergrad in Kingston, and having strong personal reasons for staying in the city for a few more years, I was content to stay at Queen's. In addition, like a number of students whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Welcome Day, I was, to be blunt, inormdated by L' of T. 1 was intimidated by the price tag- in 2007, the tuition was $19,600. 1 was in timidated by the cit}', as I had no strong ties to Toronto and had never really lived 10 a large city outside of my early childhood years.

But most of all, I was intimidatc<.l by the students.

Coming from Queen's, where the col · legiality was a large part of the und~.:r· graduate experience, 1 was appreh~.:nsJ\·e of a law school whose reputation was built on its success at placing students on Bay Street rather than on its strong student communi()·. Although I wished to study law with the best and the brightest, I did not look forward to an atmosphere where competition trumped cooperation, where self-interest triumphed over solidarit)•, where the struggle for that elusive W could cost much more to one's wellbeing than could be justified.

Three years later, I am pleased to say that m} initial perceptions were inaccurate. My year has not cltsappointcd me.

I have had the pleasure of meeting some incredibly honest and hard working students who have dedicated their time to improving the welfare of those in our community and abroad. I have met some brilliant students, who will undoubtedly have impressive careers in practice, academia, and the judiciary. I have also met friends- students without whom I would have become lost in the shuffle and may never have had the opportunity to continue along this JOurney with confidence.

Over the last few weeks, I have heard the same question over and over again: ''You're graduating in a month or so, are you excited?" My answer is that I am excited in the sense that 1 will have completed yet another milestone in mr life, but I am also concerned, not for my own future, but for the future of the law school. Without significant philosophical changes from the faculty and the student body, I am concerned that the school from which I w1ll graduate \\ill be significantly different from the school which I will call my alflla !llaler in years to come.

The problem with the SLS and faculty engagement Ha\lng been mvoh·ed with the Stu dents' Law Societ}· since my first yLar, I have had the opportunttics to work closely with the admimstration and Fac-

ult)'. I have seen, at the ground level, changes m financial a1d policies, a rcvampmg of the first year curriculum, and various other initiatives focused on stu· dent concerns.

During my first year on Caucus, we helped distribute the first SLS survevs, so that our advocaq efforts could be backed up b) hard, incontestable data. In mv second year, I saw the formation of SLS working groups, where students outs1de of the SLS helped research and prep a r e comprehensivc reports and recommendations targeted at issues of career diversity and internationalism at the law school. This year, after the financial aid debacle which affected a si!,rnificant num bcr of first-year students, the SLS pushed for financial aid reforms so that this situation would never occur agam in the future.

To say that there have not been changes would be inaccurate. The fac ulty and administration have been supportive in certain respects. But, In general, despite the heavy student effort, the mobilization of policies on these stu dent concerns have been concentrated over very few faculty members. Those few faculty members are burdened Wlth a highly disproportionate amount of re sponsibilit)• in improving our student community. In addition, despite bemg an institution which prides itself m being at the forefront of legal philosoph), the views of many faculty on student-raised concerns remain conservative.

Without a general increase in support, anJ minds open to change, spread amongst a greater number of facult) members, I am convinced that our school Wlll remain stagnant. U ofT rna~ currently be the best law school in Canada, but, without a vision - without broader support from within the facult) - our reputation and our place in the legal communi()• will inevitably be challenged.

The problem with student engagement In my first year of law school, I remember meeting a total of roughly five thJrd-year students. With the exception of the few "\\hO were activcl} involved with student groups, the majority of them appeared non-existent.

On the contrary, the then-second-year class (those now articling) represented the lifeblood of the law school. Many of

the clubs had 21. leaders, and the majorit}' of the division leaders at Oo\\ntown Legal Services were also 2Ls. The cast of Law I ·allies was comprised largely of second year students, although the dircctor and star were both thirtl·ycar stu· dents.

I attribute the strength of my year to the class of 2009. They served as men· tors even prior to the establishment of the Peer .\lentorship Program. They picked up the slack from the third-year class, anJ, as a result, our year followed suit. To our class, it was ex· peLted for second years to lead clubs, run for the SLS Executive, coordinate Orientation \X'eek, and serve as the backbone of the law school commurut}'· From a basic perspective, it is logtcal for the second-year class to represent the bulk of student activity. Leadership positions add substance to a resume, which helps immensely in the second-year JOb search. In addition, many third year students opt to go on exchange, and thus are unable to serve in sigmficant roles or continue prior engagements.

Most importantly, by virtue of the three-year law degree, second-years are best suited to act as the bridge between the incoming class and the outgoing third-years. The strength of the secondyear class is essential to ensure that the institutional memory of the student clubs, clinics, and journals remains mtact, and that the cumulative work from past years will not go unnoticed.

Turning now to the level of student engagement this year, our Orientation \Xeck co-chairs are both third-year stu dents. Both of our Law Games captains arc third years, as arc the coordinators for intramural sports. Most of the Ultra £ ms masthead is comprised of 3Lc;. The V1cc-Prcsidcnt Caucus and Vice-President Affairs of SLS are third-year students. In the end, third-year club leaders outnumber second-year club leaders almost two-to-one, and some of those second year leaders are activeh contributing to multiple clubs.

There arc more disturbing observations. Out of the fift}' students who attended La\\' Games, only a dozen were second-year students. Our recent Sl ) elections resulted in every candidate being acclaimed, mcluding all three executive positions. '\ot a single second-year ran for Caucus, and only one remained on Affairs. Over the course of the year,

I have received numerous complaints from journal editor.; and club leaders of students failing to meet their commitments, and pulling out on short notice.

J\t the time this article will be published, it IS unclear who will take leadership of I A'lW C.ramcs or Law rollies next year.

I have failed co sec the interaction which I had hoped for bet\\:ccn our re· spectivc classes.

Our pub nights, once faithfully attended, arc a scattered mix of secondyears with the rct,>ular third·}"L':lr students.

First-yt':lrs choose to attend an 'alternative pub night, although Affairs rcprc cntativcs on 1\ ffairs have tried their best to accommodate your requests. As a result, first-years arc missing the opportunity to bond with their upper- year counterparts.

For those who criticize alcohol-centered ~.:vents, the coffee houses, charity drives, ICC skatmg, and other alternati\'CS have been attended largely by the same people.~ who participate in everything else.

It is clc::ar once the third-years graduate, there will be a large space in the student communit}' waiting to be filled. \fy concerns are two-fold. The fir.;t is the fear of a lack of student leadership next year. The second is the potential that the wrong people will step mto leadersrup ro\es for the wrong reasons. If either of my concerns arc cottect, the student c.omrnuni.\'j v.~\\\ w\tne\: \:nc. "c.c.· ond-years who have currently carried their year will lose interest, as they cannot create a law school communi()• alone.

If no one attends events, no one will plan them. If no one takes their responsibiltties seriously as an editor, a clinic volunteer, or a club member, no one will have confidence in the organization. If no one contests an election, no one can complain if the individual acclaimed decides to pad their resume instead of performing their duties.

If we fail to act now, if we fail to turn around the apathy and the disconnect wh1ch is evident in the student body, we risk losing not only our own sense of communJt}', but that of the incoming class.

The good news is that there is always hope. Just as the class of 2009 was able to create a strong sense of communi()' in the absence of support from their own upper-years, I have confidence in the power of the student initiative.

I hope that those who arc unaware of the issues raised in this article will encourage change from their peers. 1 hope that those who are aware will come to ap· preciatc the severity of the situation and have the courage to sacnfice their own sclf.mtcrcsts to take ownership over the situation. I hope that change \\ill happen next year, and that a greater sense of community and responsibility will be restored for the class of 2013.

The rest, ns they say, is up to you.

0PINIOI\i~

24

UITR.\ VIRES

& EDITOR! \I.S

MARCH

24, 2010

OPINIONS & EDITORI \LS

25

r·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·,

• Tina Yang • L--·-·-·-·-·-·-·~

UV staff reflections · and ' in the case• of the• thirdthts is the last issue of the newspaper for the 2009-10 schoolvcar, I asked the staft· to provt'de 300-word rc·fl cctlons on the past '· J\·car ' · · · that some o f t he sta t"f kno\\· hO\\· to count • and that some of them (tncludtng me) ~·ctr students, to reflect on their law school cxpcncnces as a whole.' \\'hat I 1carnct1 ts ' , • really don't. All kidding aside, I also learned that I was right when I 1-,ruessed that they would write compelling, funny, thought-pro\ okmg reflections. I'm sure you ll agT•r_e~~ ~tncc

-

lni!

:

·--------------------·

• , • • • • • • , • • • • • • • • • It • • • • • • • • • • • • f . .• • • • • • • ••

• • he as ~rcat a\i v.hat \)eo\)\e \)tit into it. ~c~t ~·c:u, kt's make it as great as ever. • •

• •..................••................•.• • Jelena Vlacic

:

~vhc~roma~&~y~re;rr;~~~~~~TmmT-~~ra5t~o~mbcr~haJ.

• f ILrt. we arc, almost through another year of law school. \\hat a year Its • • • •been. Some of the biggest complaints that people haYe had for se\'eral years • :about thc1r law school experience h:l\'c come to a head this year. The financial aiO: : unrest. Tht. problems with compctitiYe mooting and corresponding faculty 10-: • miYcment Security at the law school. The changes to the 1L curriculum. All of• ! these problems were gi\·en a greater \·oice and wider exposure among the student! ! body largely due to one thing- the return of this publication. : e Uf ' has CCrtainJy had its wcfJ-pubJicizcd issues in the past, but tt\ an important• ! part of the student experience at U ofT Lav•. L-l serYcs an important purpose,!

• berond making the student bod,· aware of the Issues around the Jaw school, and the• ! legal sector in ,general. The gr~at thing about Uf ~" is that it's also something that! ! students arc able to pick up to get away from it nil and read something more light-!

• hearted and entertaining. ;\lost, if not all, of the credit for the paper that you ha\ e: ! read over this ~ch<x>l year should go to this year's Editor-In-Chief, Tina Yang. \X1ithe !her obscenely lengthy e-mails at unhealthy times of the night, and her e-mails!

• throughout production weekend that make her sound like a "paranoid mother hen",• ! she was the main cog in making Ul ~" what it is. As some of my colleagues on the! ! masthload, including Tina, mm·e on to bigger and better things bt.:\'Ond the corridors: •of Fla\ elle I louse and Falconer I !all, I hope to sec many of ne~t ylar's 31_., and 2Ls• :~et im·oh:ed in Ul ", whether as an editor or as a contributor. This paper can onl}:

II

Andrea Kim

If

What a strange, wonderful journey it's been. l think back to my first year of law school and it was retry much like my first break-up. I felt as if the vorld was going to end. The stress, the doubt, the fear- there was no way around it: I L, life is hell. I emembcr more than one phone call at midnight the night before an exam, to my dad, in tears, thinking I ad made a mistake coming here, and it was all about o come crashing down. I remember spending 12 ours in a library study room talking contract theory (a moment of respect for those four who 'did the "me' with me). 1 have chosen to forget the 24-hour onstitutional take-home exam. But, as a great forer UC " editor once reminded us, we must rememcr, in good times and especially bad times, that this oo shall pass (Kcir, natch). And, indeed, 1Ls: this viii pass. April will end, you will do fine, and the ouncy-crcamsiclc-massagc-fcst at the end-of-year arty will be sure to lift your spirits.

Second year, I remember feeling the pressure from school case up: made my own schedule; had less lass; and went to less class. Of course, the absence )f academic stress was replaced with a new stress: the job hunt. The first semester of second year was retty much a three-month job inten·iew: OCis, infirms, scheduling, thank you emails, call-days, \Vf !Y ts Shannon Leo not answering my e-mail I sent it

~ idea what I was in for. "B\• the war," Tina said, "our first tssue comes out1 I 0 . .

1

lin three weeks." : : "\\'hat?"

1 I \X'e had no articles, no ad\·ertiscrs, no honoraria. \\'e had barely enough: bcmbers to round out the editorial board. L'lst year's U [7 scandal was stillt pingcring in the air. J\ly attitude toward the whole endeavour was simply an: lcxtension of how I'd felt throughout my tirst year at U of T Law: cynical, un-: kcrtain, and emotionallr unim·estcd. , 1 : It was no small ama;ement to me, then, when I witnessed the pages o f: lour first issue ftll up with stories written b,· students \vho did give a damn ...l :When my template was suddenly teeming ~nd we ended up with fo ur extr~ :rages over our initial target. Four issues later, my lo\'e for this law school has: ~rown proportionately to the amount of time I've spent wo rking for { ·r". I 1 Instcad of being a recluse, I \\"aS caught up in current C\·cnts and tantall;dnJ :my friends with hints of what was to come. I startled Cassandra in tht1 JRecords ( )ffice, by complimenting her yoga article (and poses). I came to ad-1 :mire Aaron for haYing such an a\'id interest in something I couldn't care les~: ~bout (politics). And I discovered that ,\brar and Jcl arc actually really funny!: :(I am not, so insert funny joke here). I also spent many hours )Ukking it upt ~m the Ul ' office (and sleeping o n our \~l.P. couch), and generally devdopm~ 1-a deep appreciation for our student body as l learned of their joys, their fears.: Lnd their interest:; <>lltSI<It: of law !'chool.

1 ~ ·1 hanks to l.hc L"l tcam, all of ou; contributors, and our re_aders. It ha<.: lbcen a great vcar, and I hope you will keep abreast with us next year. Spcciall

:thanks to Tina for toleranng my love for Drake and all things rectal.

:

·---------------------------------------· 1 ·c mmutes ago. roug ., t ere 1s a ar lesson to be learned for those willing to learn it: follow your own path, and follow your own passions.

There is no denying that ~e\\' York Jobs and Bay Street jobs offer you great training, great support, and great money. More than this, they offer status.

Status, however, is nothing but a socially-projected illusion of happiness. In the end, we all seck happiness- not the illuston of happiness. So go work for an I'\ GO, for the L~. for the Crown or the defence, for a small firm, or on Bay St. (I've got nothing against those who truly want to work there)- as long as you believe that it is what is going to make you happy. I know it sounds trite when I'm leaving this place with S60!--. of debt, but all the money in the world can't buy back my 20s (I hope.: OS.\P takes payment in the form of idealistic yuips).

And so we come to third year. I suppose the best way to describe third year is...do you remember that feeling in grade school when it's a snow day, and the busses arc cancelled, but the school is still open so your parents make you go? But you know you're not going to really do anything, and will probably get sent home at lunchtime because half the school isn't there? Well, that's third year. Third year is sort of a reward for suffering through first year exams. There was still something I got out of this year though (other than gctttng through five seasons of Dragon's Dm, and the full disc set of Armtrd Del'elop111mf).

This year, I got more involved than I had in past years. ~ow, in 1L, l did do the obligator) 10 15 extracurriculars- but it was all an hour of nu; shifts here, a few hours of Law Review editing there, etc.

1s year, , ·o tes, an ecamc like a full-umc Job to me- and it was shocking to sec how much work goes into each one of these things ~ly final year has been my most fulfilling because I got to truly sec the hard work and passions of people that put their time towards accomplishing an improving something. \\lth special reference to UV I'd like to thank all the contributors, especially thos who took the time to write on legal and social issue. (your passion literally gives me hope for the futur of the legal profession). Thank you to all those wh< had the rime, and ncn·e, to write critiyucs, reflection. and rants. Sptcial props to the ediung team- yo arc some of the most dedicated and creati\'e peopl l have ever met. Finally, I'd like to thank the Acad emy (or, as we call her, Tina Yang) for being th strongest p1llar, the whipping post, and the one re sponsible for resurrecting of UTI'. I am not worthy.

Beyond Ul ', thank you to all those who starte IHRP working groups; those who saw issues wit the )Oint programs and mooting, so they organi:tc committees; all those who put in endless and thankless hours of work because they thought our community, school and faculty was worth it. You hav inspired me to learn my most humbling and important lesson yet: everyone may haYe a right to criticise, but few have the heart to help (famou. historian, natch).

So that's it, 3 years - 'a tad' over 300 words. long L of T I .a\\~ you wtll be missed.

Jel out.

I

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•••••••••••••••• !

Abrar Huq !

••••••••••••••••

r----------------• Aaron Christoff r-..'l!"t-1""--,.-.,~,..-"'-.,. ... --------,---~" 1 \"'onang ror u 1 ts UKC sK.mrung a one-eyca cat: 1t Sj ~hard work. But it's also a rewarding experience. Th~ ~ast academic year has taught me much about the ed-1 ~ting process, important issues of public policy, anO: lhow to pressure friends into writing articles. Then.>~ ~a\·e been laughter, tears, and laughter and tears. ~ ~an only hope that there will be more of the sam~ lnext year.

I : It's. been a pleasure working with the UV staff, :collection of friendly, talented, and colourful individ-: luals. Special thanks arc in order to Andrea, Abrar,l ~elena, Cassandra, and our fearless leader Tina. I am: ~so extraordinarily grateful to all of my contributors~ lwho have demonstrated high editorial acumen on al :\·aricty of important issues. Finally, l salute all of my: ~alued readers, who have demonstrated exception~ ltaste and intellectual prowess. Always remember:l

J

huidq11id /aline dirtllf11 sit, tlll11111 1'idel11r.

:

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Cassandra Florio

~

•;'" l tlUnkthat 'f:rn." SChooliS aJrrfic~ Orne tofalrrio';t "eru}~OOe. "•l'hciearc" tlW'se WhO seemW sair •\ fth rough, going from strcnhrth to strength. They get what they came for, graduate wrl,>athcd in smile:;, and, .generally go on to even further strengths. The rest of us flounder at least a little bit, struggling with thosl1 lpcrsistent existential questions. What am I doing here? \X'hat do I \Vant out of this degree, this institution: ithcsc three years? I still don't exactly know all the answers, and I'm still not entirely sure what I want t<~ ~e "when I grow up", but for me, like so many others, it's been an often rough and always interesting ride (frying to explain what this law school experience has meant to me, how it's changed me, and what I've. ·learned, would be a multi-day, issue-long adventure. But one thing is clear: Ultra r/im has ahvays beenl integral part of that ride, beginning with my days as reader, then contributor, and now Editor-In-Chief.• I spent much of first year trying to figure out the law school community, to understand how the piece~ ~d people fit together, how the swirling tides of ambition and competition bumped up against the idea t>f making life-long bonds and enacting positive change. Law school, like any educational experience, i....

-an awful lot like a science experiment: take all these kinds of people, with all these different b:tckground~ land plans, all these ideas about life and law; put them in these very small buildin!r'; give them some very fea\'y books and a few bizarre countcrfactuals; shake and sec what comes out the other end. This, I think,! ~s part of the value of this newspaper.

1 1 Ultra Vires provides a window into the law school expenence. Or, rather, it provides a window not.

•into the Ia\\ school experience in general, but into this particular law school, and into this particular la\\1 lschool commumty. It provides certain pieces of the answer to the law school puzzle. The reason Ilovcdi ithts newspaper when I came to L of Twas because it cng~ged me i~ the aspects of this school I'd neve ~ .even thought to explore the other clements of the experiment, as It were. Through Uf/'s_pagcs, I \\.'Ill f mmerscd 10 the events, clubs, clin1cs, areas of Ia\\~ etc., that extended beyond my own expcnences to the.

•further reaches of this community. This is why 1 wanted to contribute, why I was so furious when thti lpaper was under attack, and why r have, alongside others, poured so much effort into thts \ olume 11.

• I often get referred to as "the girl who resurrected Uf/", which is flattering, but simply not true. J\"'_ am to be with thJs newspaper, it took :t lot people to put it back togeth_er t.'1 fmould It Into somcthtng wh1ch the average Ia\\ student would ptck up, read, and (we hope) enJoy. 1 hts.

•talented, hard-working editorial team- Aaron, \brar, Andrea, Cassandra, and Jclena - as well as our busi b ess manager I.aura and ad manager Robin, ha\'L been nothing short of a rc\·clation. They ha\'c put up· iwith my hugely long four a.m. emails (and they always seemed to come at four a.m.), my clumsiness (floo~ .doughnuts, anyone?), and my often random demands (''rind m<:. someone who wants to write about clas1 facuons! And then fax this!''). Thanks, guys. Thanks also to our writers, copy editors, and general con·.

•tributors, who have given life to this newspa\)et. Thanks to our readers for reading, caring, and even\ ' . c.,:!!~~~c. ~)~ ~u~~u!~ ~~ ~~~e~ ;~~~<! ~l~f ~'! ~\~ t_O.,!!!e; _ . ____ ~·

lan

i

~roud ~s !

I

a~sociat~d

1n true nen s o not promrsryou easr. o not promueyo11 COlli· come ere t m mg t at and related to. Instead, people that I connected wtth B11t I do promiseyou these: hardship, Jnaniuss, and s1!f not only found myself surrounded by some I have rrit~. And with them, I pronJire.JOIII'Itlnl]."- Garibaldi of the most fascinating, talented and extraordinarily "Hou.•ma'!J ti111u I hat·e laughed atyour Idling nu plain!J dedicated people I could C\'Cr tmagme meeting, but hat I u.·as too lazy lobe at!)thin,g br1t a lall)'t r."- Abraham have also gotten to know them well, and now count .incoin them among the greatest blcssin1-,>s in and reflections on my life.

I'd be lying if I said it was easy. That's where the So here I find myself, staring down yet another Garibaldi comes in. Law school is an intensely chal~Jcventh-hour deadline, with very little inspiration flowing. If l didn't knO\\ better I would swear it was lenging experience, and it forces you to examine yourhe second week of December, or the third week of self in a way that few experiences can. 1\nd it docs 1\pril. Except this ttmc I'm being asked to produce this not only to you, but to everyone around you. reflection, not on the topic of some obscun: point Part of the reason I feel like I'm coming out of law >f law that I'm bound to forget within a couple of school with such a strong bond with so many of my ·ecb, but rather on tlm~c years of education and life. classmates ts that, in a \\~ty, I fed like we're war bud!'hough it's a daunting task, it's made easier by the dies of sorts. '!'here's absolutely no denying the gal·nowledge that I don't need to go delving into a trea- \'anizing influence of a 24-hour Constitutional Law 'se in order to find guidance -- that I can instead rely take-home exam. And yet, we've all made it. >n a b<x)k that has walked with me through my entire Through the tbldlincs and the stress, and the lack of ':>L) RP inspiration, we've all made it thls far, and arc dult lift..

In Af, rJ G,•~J'Ie the I.ift if 'JUs lf'orld, ~lax well Taylor on the cusp of emerging victoriously into a new and Kcnncd) presents a collection of his father's exctting stage of our lives all together.

I still fed like constantly emphasizing the stress and favourite quotes, along with many of Robert E strife of law school overplays how "difficult" this 'ennedy's own thoughts on the world in which he ived and hoped to help grow. ;\ly father gave it to me program actually is. I always experience guilt pangs n 1998, and it's where I found my high school year- whenever I sec my friends from undcrgrad who arc book quote. I hadn't picked it up tn lJUitc a while, but enrolled 10 "real" professional programs. A moot id so again recently, probably because I'm in are- and a SUYRP - with maybe 17 class hours between flecti\'c mood as my life goes into yet another transi- .\Ionday and Thursday - has nothing on the 9:00 · 5:00, fiye days per week schedule of programs like ton.

Dentistry or ;\lcdicinc. There arc definitely days I.aw school has been an interesting and intense pewhen I fed like I've taken the cop-out degree. E\'cn 'od in my life. I didn't come here with any particular o st-graduation passions, and now find myself so, I don't think I can buy into the sentiment ext."aded on that exhilarating golden com·cyor-bclt-in- pressed by Lincoln's correspondent. There's abthc-sky towards a big-firm ~YC job. 1 didn't solutely nothing lazy alx>ut the practice or study of

~>f

an~

• 1

I

artlcu ar y not 1 Jt IS to e pracoce y t e people I've gotten to know in my three years here.

Emerson once wrote: ''Acoon is with the schola subordmate, but it is essenual ... Without it, though can ne\'cr npen into truth."

If that's the case, we're well on our way to truth because if there's an} thtng this place embodies, it', scholarship in action. Students from a variety of backgrounds, both socweconomic and scholarly come here to learn from great teachers, and immedi atdy take what they learn and apply it to the tssue. and causes they care about. This is what makes Ia\\ schools great - their ability to engage enthusiastic an energetic minds, and to arm individuals \Vith the tool. to make an impact on the world in which we all live.

It is what I hope this school will continue to do well into the future.

Law schools should never be basuons of pri\'llegc unatt.tinahlc to all but the upper-middle class, o thme bra\·e enough to shoulder massh·c amounts of debt. ~or should they mindlessly funnel the grcatc part of their graduates into careers of least rcsistanc and greatest return. They should empower their stu dents to strike out on their own paths in the world secure 10 their own knowledge, and in their own abil ity to effect changl'.

I'm still not sure where my path will ultimately tak<: me, but I leave here comforted by the presence of amazing people who will continue to enrich my jour· ncy, and I am buoyed by my confidence in my ow abilities to persevere and to achieYe. And I leave her still armed with the most importa.nt quote of all fron my lx>ok: "For Cass, J\lways remember to follow you dreams.- Dad".

M \RCH 24,2010

Dl\ I R510'\.S

27

The F-Men (and -Women) Br LORA BASKIN

Law school meets You Tube BY i\M.\ND.\

MH.\'1'-: (2L)

So vou've hit the point \\.here you arc eating/breathing/sleeping/dreaming law school. You haven't seen non-law friends in what seems like forever, and a thick treatise has supplanted your more regular light bedtime reading. You feel like no non-law student could possibly understand what you arc feeling, and you are struggling to connect with others. Inevitably, either by way of procrastination or just to feel that sense of war-buddy camaraderie, you reach out to YouTube. To aid in your quest, we humbly submit a smattering of some of the more inventive law-themed videos available on the Internees: Law School Husslin- University of Western Ontario \X 1th a running ume of eight mmutes, this video really is a testament to the long-windedncss of Canada's future lawyers. As a result, unsurprisingly, it has only had 2,815 \Jews (as of writing). That said, the rap, if you get to that part, is quite funn), with pimped out future lawyers singing lines like "one month memo, what a glorious assignment/ students tell you differently, they're probably just lying", and ."my time is worth millions, like ads at the Superbowl".

Tell 'em They're Your 1st Choice - Windsor Law ;\more popular option with closer to 10,000 \ le\\ s (perhaps spurred o n by our own Professor .l\tacklin's support), I found this vid extrcmelv catch\·! 1\ll about OCI's, the Windsor kids have ncn added some useful in.tervie,~· tips, like telling you to " research your firms, ask questions, keep facts / and befo re you get in, breathe deep and relax", and to "keep it [interviews/ dinner invites] on the low." Definitely worth a peep- check it out if you've got 5 minutes to spare.

Real Men of Law School- George Washington University This series has a few different episodes, including the "Jobs Guy" who is always ask- rf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~=::;:~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~:E=6;;:::!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ ing/talking about/working towards summer iobs), the "No Action Guy" who "spent tne f\I!;t 29 )'ears of 'nis hfe dating his Learned \\and", and " lnttamura\ Sport!'. Guy" wno takes l.nu:amw:all:. and winning far too senously. The vtdeos (and stereotypes) here are short and entertaining, quite popular by view count, but a tad lame- they could really be applied to pretty much any professional program (from what 1 can tell).

Law School Musical With 383,856 views, this is clearly a popular option, despite the fact that it left me feelmg a tad depressed. It's all about a poor lL's misery in law school. Although it's got some pretty good rhymes, it is a deft.nite reminder of the more stressful times law students face. I love the comments under this one -lots of clearly equally unhappy law students appreciating the glimmer of truth behmd this guy's lyrics.

Hider Angry About Smart lLs - U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law My personal favorite, this movie dubs over the 2004 academy award nominee German Law School Musical: Our poor protagonist is haunted by common 1L ailments film, Downfall. Originally about the last twelve days of Adolf Hitler & the Nazi Em- &.!============================:::::!) pire, this is a satire about the poor economy and legal hiring market, with 2L's hiding in their bunker and their leader (llitler) plotting/ freaking out over future potential job open ings and the enemy (lL's). A personal favorite line: "I was told J.D. =JuSt Dollaz!"

<)o, with similar frustrations about the I L workload, the job market, and the

ever-ludicrous OCI process, you can take solace in the fact that thinht$ are equally rough for Ia\\ students every\\ here -we rcall) are all in it together.

[Author's ~ote: When ''Universit) of 1oronto - La\\ School" is searched on YouTube, all that comes up is a short v1deo clip of the outside of our building and a few clips of academic speakers and discussions. Is this what we want to be known for? .\laybe a creatively inclined group of you should come up with a U ofT version!]

[Editor's ""-ote: One of my other personal fa\·ouritcs is "Lawst", an obvious "Lost" parod), in which ~tudents find themselves trapped in a building together. i\[emorable ltnes tnclude ''the last thing I remember is deciding not to go to Grad School!" .. . good umes, good times.]

l

As Professor _zieg van \~'inklc wheeled himsdf to the head of the dming table, the assembly of l• Men fell silent. "i\ly children," he sm1led as he surwyed them beneath the crepes of his eyelids, "once again the future of the legal realm rests in the hands of Falconer Fortress."

"He ts TrcbiU1on," she whispered back. "lie has 4,623 public.'ltions to hts name and can do whatC\'er the hell he wants."

Rogl·rstorm intermptcd their exchange. "Trebdlion, }OU have not hved, as I ha,e, among the sa\-agc peoples of the \\'l'St. There still extst unm:!lized Albertans who "I assume you refer to our enemies of ( )zbad," ~aid Rogcrstorm as she cracked her dcJ not acknowledge our great city as the Center of the UniYcrse. I could '.\ell belie\ c knuckles and caused a bolt of lightening to shatter one of the. chandeliers overhead. there are some who \\Ould usc this \\'capon to learn our great legal secrets while not I ier disciple, Chaoswoman, was <.JUick enough to pa} 1ng PS'I:" pre\ cnt the shards from blinding an) one at the table.

Chaos\\ oman gave a gasp of horror. "There "Yes, Rogerstorm," nodded %ieg \·an \\'inkle. arc stlll roE,rue tribes in those regions that \\ould "Ozhad. The Ycry same ,.iJJains who so recenth• usc such mformation to try to outlaw same-sex stole away our bclm·cd Professor Sossout now a~­ marriage! Rogcrstorm, we must protect bm1ly pcar to have concocted another nefarious scheme. I La\\ from this terrible danger!" ha\e received reports that the legtons of Ozbad arc "~o. my child," sighed Rogerstorm. "This preparing to unleash \\'<..-apons of ,\tass Instrucfight ts }ours. l ha' e long battled the force of . ,, uon. llliS<>g} ny, but my power wane . Now, \\hen''N o!" gasped Chaoswnman. "Don't they already e\cr I attempt to draw the right anS\\cr from teach 500 students at a time?! \X'hat evil ct Juld this Ill} clas~es with the sacred cow-milk maneu\er, be to further diffuse their legal education?!" BeI receive less and less energy from the atmosneath her cool Intellectual exterior, she could feel phere. Grecnie tells me tt may be a result of the her feminist rage beginning to boil. She readied herchanging climate. Soon I lll:t) join the great Bench in the sk} and all of Fam1ly Law shall be self to tear the administration of <hbad limb from yt 1Urs." hmb - both men and \\omen, of course, in the spirit "You cannot mean that!" protested Chaosof equality. woman as she hhnked back tears. "You arc the A snort came from a large cloud lurking in the strongest of us all. You arc on the panel of corner. "Bah!" scoffed Trchilhon, "I say, if they Trailblazers at the entrance to the Fortress! I}' can't get into U of they don't deserve any better!"

7.Jeg van \\"inkle ga\ c a reproachful frown in the chrcction of the disembodied voice. powers shall fade without your ):,>tlidance!"

Trebillion's power of obscuring lumsclf and others in a haze of smoke was often "Chao~woman," her mentor soothed her, "you draw your great power of sarcasm useful to the missions of the F l\lcn. llowever, lus Socratic approach sometimes from the many contradictions in the law. \X1ith the current direction of Canadian lacked empathy for the poor, i!,•twrnnt law students they watched over. politics, 1 am sure that legislation shall hccome only more com·oluted in the future. ''It is something known as the Internet,'' Zieg van \X'inkle informed them. ''l do Fear not- you arc ready for this chal\engc." not fully understand the nature of th1s threat. \\1e did not even conceive of such "Yc~:· a~rccd Zieg '\:-an \\'ink\c, '')-ou arc reauy. Anu take Grccnie with )'OU. He abominations when I taught during \X'orld \X'ur 1." wtshes to t'rcvcnl 0/bad from t'r<Wil\in\!. hto; ncmcsi"-, Redneck, w11h \cv,a\ .._\efenc;cs ''Please, Profl·ssor, allow me to explain!" offered Grccrue, wlio, though 1cnurcd, for1he uncontrolled expansion of the oi\sands." ''(:;hall nlso accompany} ou," pronounced Trehillion mab~nanimous/_,~ ··r will choke \\as still~~ linlc Wl't b~hind the ears. ''OzbaJ is usmg d•e diJ.,:ital c-xch;tngc of ;wdio tlut industria/ wasteland in smog :tnd cloak your efforts w destroy this dangerous 'lsual information to engage in a suspicious practice called 'Distance L<•arning'. By \'\'capon." this, they apparent!} intend to educate people who cannot - or do not want to come to Toronto." ''It is settled, then,'' said %icg van Winkle as he used his telepathic powers to hang "\X'hat? Don't want to come to Toronto?!" Trebillion puffed incredulously. "1m his ga\·cl. "Go forth, F-i\fen- .1nd \\'omen," he hastily corrected as a bolt of light possible- such people do not exist. Not even first-year law students could be that ening shattered his coffl·c cup," . . and dc1 Justice!" stupid."

"Is he allowed to smoke in hl·re?" Grecnic whispered to Chaoswoman. ... to be continued?

1:

CIVIL LIBERTIES from page 20 I·urthcrmore, by excmpung me<.lla compames trom ... essential mechanism of democracy - it 1s the means this regulation, the law made an untenable distinction. ro hold officials accountable to the people - political As Elliot Spitzer points out, what Citizens United did ~peech must prevail against laws that would suppress it was nothing different from what Fox '\cws commenlby design or inadvertance. First 1\mendmcnt protcc- taton; were doing c\-cry day during the 2008 primary. tions cannot depend on the speaker's But wh\ should ~c\\S "financial ability to engage in public Corpora~ion (the parent !discussion". "[FOLI.O\X I~Gj Crn/.Jl.i\'. 1" company of Fox) and

r:

::;

The basic problem \\ith the BCiv J

U\'fl"ED, \S LO'\G \S CORPORA-

General Electric (parent

!was that it essentially prohibited a 1widc variety of orgamzed groups of people from expressing political views ~uring the height of the election pe-

TIO'\IS DO '\OT Gl\'E TO CAND!-

of .MS!\:BC) be allowed virtually unlimited politi ~ cal rhetoric while companie~ such as Wal-mart and

D t\TLS DIRHJ:'LY, TilEY ARE ALI.0\\'1: 0 TO WI '\D \\"'IIATE\'ER

riod. The BCRA did not restrict itself ~Til bY\\ ISH 10 Sl PPORT OR:JW- organizations like the ACLU arc restricted? The POSI CJ\~DID.\'rES." umons and other organizations, incourt noted correctly that luding organizations such as the media corporations, just \CLU. Citizens United's efforts to publically criticize like all other for-profit corporations, accumulate wealth llillary Clinton during the primary elections were a Jc- with the help of their corporate form, may haYe aggrc~sritimatc exercise of political speech. The ability of in- gations of wealth, and may express views having little tcrest organizations to a(h·ocatc on behalf political or no correlation to the public's support for those candidates is precisely what the First .A mendment was \·icws. The First 1\mcndment has been interpreted by meant 10 protect . . Although Citizens United dealt the court to :-tand against attempts to disfavour certain specifically with corporations, the Court's conclusion subjects or viewpoints or to chstin!,'llish among different that the identity of the political speaker cannot be rhe speakers. Hy creating distinctions among corporation, !basis for restrictions on their independent political the BCR,\ did precisely that.

->pending can also be seen 10 apply 10 other organizaAll of this is not to say that the decision will not ha\·c nons as well. profound and ncgati\·e effects on the political process to corporations, but also cm·ered

1n the United ~tatcs, turther cntrcnchmg the role ot the wealthy in donunating the public debate. One example of this is in the judicial system. Two·thirds of state~ have elected judges, and these contests, especially fo the state supreme courts, tend to be both very expcn sive and to be given very little attention by the voter~.

These factors enhance the power of wealthy demon and special interest groups, which arc able to mobilize an energized minority to disproportionately cftcct the clecuon results.

Since most personal injury lawsuits and civil suits ar< handled at the state le\·cl, corporations have a great tn· tcrcst in who gets elected. Former Justice of th< Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor ar!,"lll'S that, C\ en before this decision, threats to judicial independence arc rising exponentially as more and more n10ner pour~ into judicial races around the country. This trend \\ill be exasperated by Citizens United, strengthening tht case for thl· appointment of judges.

This is but one example of the challenges posed b) the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United tc those seeking to reduce the influence of wealth in pol· itics. Congres~ has a duty to explore con:-titutional methods of curbing this influence. For strengthemn~ the protl'Ctions for poliucal speech, howe\ cr, th< Suprcnw Court should he applauded.

28

DI\ l·R510 '\S

ULTR.\ VIRI

s

UV goes beer hunting The past fh·e or six years in Toronto have my peers, I ventured out to the l .CBO that !,rive beer its bitterness). If you want seen the blossoming of a better-than- and spent a weekend enjoying Bclgtan to know what hops taste like, try this beer half-decent beer culture m Toronto. Hars beers. Most reviews tell you what's good as not only does the hops' bitterness like Bar \tolo, C'est \X'hat, vtctory Cafe, and what's bad, but the truth about these come through, but the distincuve floral and even the homely Beer Stattc>n on beers is that they are all good - 10011'u aroma as well. That bitterness is offset Bloor, have joined Beer B1stro and the world class. 1\.ly suggestion is to get out nicely with hints of caramel and apricotBier Markt as local purveyors of some of there and try as many as you can (respon- like tones. This beer is like the bigger, the world's fmest beers. sibly), and when you've figured out your bolder, and more sophisticated brother Of course, being a government-run favourites, go back for more. of Steam Whistle or Ketth's. If you're enterprise, the LCBO was only a couple mto lnd.ta Pale Ales, tlus is an eye-opener. of years behind the cun·e. The good St. Louis Gueuze (4.5o/o ABV) ne~·s is it's getting easier to find the good Gueuze beers are among the most Chimay Red (7% ABV) unique foodstuffs on the planet. They This beer has actually been available in arc typically quite sour and bright, with fine bubbles- a little like champa6'11C, but funkier. They are brewed without adding yeast. The wild yeast spores simply float through open windows, and ferment the barley malt as if by magic. They arc often the base for fruit beers, and when sen·ed as Gueuze, a little sugar is usuall} added. St. T.ouis is a sweeter variety than orhers I have tried, which makes it a natural crossover for the Ontario market. It still has that distinctive tang, though, and St. Louis G ueuze Chirnay Red its brightness pairs really well with stuff. There are some great beers a\'ailseafood, and, surprisingly, heavier stews. Ontario for a few years. It is an unfilablc these days, and many of them are It's a beautiful beer to look at too- just tered dark nut brown ale with hints of brewed here in Canada. The 1\.eustadt like champa!-,'llC with spice, especially clove. It is not bitter by brewery is one of the best in Ontario, an) means, but the molasses flavour of a tangerine tinge. and the Unibroue beers out of Quebec its dark roasted malt is really nicely baloffer a variety of really ~ood BelgianChristoffel N ob el anced by the bri~htness of the yeast and !'.t)\e beer~. hops. This beer is heavy, but 1 love to D ry-H o pped The best and most interesting beers, sene it with food where a less adventur(8.7% ABV) however, do in my opinion still come ous host might serve a full-bodied red This is a new arrival from Belgium - a country that has been wme. You can usuall) find thts beer in in Ontario, and a brewing artful and idiosyncratic beers 750 ml bottles, which makes it less of a beer I hadn't seen in with religious convicoon (quite literally) stretch for dinner guests. my travels elsewhere. for almost 1000 years. These beers arc It is a dark golden sophisticated and complex like wmes, but ale, which is very more striking in their variations and inheavy on hops (the Chimay White (8% ABV) venti\·eness.

Chtmay \\1hite is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Christoffel Nobel tiny green flowers In the Interest of the betterment of lighter than the red. It is not, however, a

white beer; it is an unft.ltered dark golden ale. lt, too has a spicmess and a hint of dried fruit and orange peel, not dissimilar from the effect of really good dark rum.

This is great with food, but it's also really nice to simply enjoy at the end of a long da).

Gouden Carolus Ambrio (8% ABV) Thts is another new arrival to Ontario.

It's a cloudy amber ale with a beautiful and dense head. This beer is very high in hops, but the caramel tones from the malt and the brightness of the yeast make this beer less bitter and assertive than the Christoffel. I also noticed that as I conunued to drink this beer, tts character changed slightly, as the florid bitterness of the hops mellowed and more of its sweetness came to the fore.

Goudcn Carolus Am brio

13\' A:-;o~' ~tors RA:>ri'F.R treat~

DI\ J RSIO'\JS

29

UV eats: Crepes galore!

Bora Laskin Law Library: No fun since '91 I'll admit, l wasn't acquainted with Bora before I came to law school. \\'dcome Day lost out to a beer pong tournament ( I think we all know where our pnorities were in fourth year undergrad). Still, I was exctted to come to law school. I was excited to be a Ia\\ student. I ~as even excited to be in a law .I.Jbrary. Saying that you go to the 'best law school in the country' conjures up images of bay windows, desks with book-lamps, and many kather-bound books. I thtnk I pretty much imagined the Law I .ibrary to be like a smaller, more rustic \'Crsion of Gerstdn - wuhout the 'no food/no drink/no phones' Gestapo patrolling every 30 seconds.

111C.:n I met Bora.

Those who know me knm.\' that I ha\c been in an abusive relationship with Bora Laskin for the past two and a half years.

I bate him, but I can't lca,·e him. I Ic rnis-

\1 \RCH 24, 2010

me, yet l stay because of what he like a strobe light at the Soc1al or buujng with its bevy of Dells worth collccti\'cl)' has withm (that is to loud enough to liter- no more than $50 at a pawn shop on say, materials that ac:lily drive you insane Dufferin, is inexplicably kept under tually do a decent job over an etght-hour tighter security than Skcletor's lair. Inof tcachmg you the period. variably, when the upstairs printer breaks law).

I've long suspected down (which is a twice a day occurSo what's m)' beef that the library com- rence), and everyone runs down to usc with Bora? ...\\'ell, puters were bought the printer downstairs, i'\0 ONE can repretty' much e\·eryoff the set of a 90's member the entry code. Apparently, the thmg.

B-mo\'ie, like The only ont• allowed access to the computer Bathed in an eerie 1Vet, when crap-ass lah is Bonnie Pish (which docs actuallv fluorescent glow usublack 'fl:1t screen' support my long-standing hypothesis all) reserved for eleDells seemed cool. that Bonnie Fish is Skelctor). mcntary school It also helps that But I couldn't talk about Bora without portables, Hora 1s not there are approxi talking about his two most irritating feamuch to look at. The marcly stx computers tures. The two things that cat at my soul prison-style c:1rrels arc in the whole library. and make me want to leave h1m m the equipped with the In what I am sure is middle of the mght (... which is tecbni world's first seizure-ina clear effort to fur- cally not possible, because he is not open ducing lights... seri- Library card m achines: 11 gambler's deligh t ther annoy me, there in the middle of the night. In fact, he ou::;ly, you need to try like four spots are a few more computers in the com- keeps to a pretty lax 10 a.m.-8 p.m ... before you ger a light that isn't flickering puter lab downstairs. The computer lab, CONTINUED on page 29

B' S \\1 \:-.·n lA WL1 (31.)

I'm a well-affirmed lover of sweets. Chocolates, cand); icc cream, cake: there's rarely was cold, but it had a lovely soft texture. The sourness and smooth texture of the a day when I don't reward myself with dessert. One particular confection I constantl\' labneh, the saltiness of the oli\'es, and the red onion went \·cry well together. The crave is the crepe. Warm off the hot plate, folded into delicate layers, slightly crisp}·, Tom tom crepe (Sl 0) was filled with smoked salmon, scrambled egg, sour crcam, but still maintaimng a soft texture, the cn.:pe ts a receptive base for dri:r.zlcd chocolate tomato, and diU- a tasty classic combination. Unfortunately, I couldn't taste the egg sauce, fresh strawberries, and a dusting of icmg sugar. since there wasn't much of it inside. The Julia crepe (S6) contained sizeable portions My crepe obsession compelled me to visit restaurants near campus that feature of melted dark chocolate and a thin layer of raspberry jam. Again, the filling was a crepes on their menus. Naturally, I ordered sweet crepes. But, since nor everybody classic and foolproof combination, and very good. The Limonana lemon and mint shares my sweet tooth, I also gave some savoury crepes a try. Fortunately, all of beverage (S2.50) tasted diluted and needed a bit more citrus. these restaurants made their crepes to order, except for the finger crepes at Crepes Out of all the crepes I tasted, Crepes aGoGo's were the best. Thc crepes were a GoGo. consistently well·cookcd, slightly crispy on the outside layer, but pleasantly soft and warm throughout. The restaurant, though, suffered from a few flaws. The fillings Crepe It Up (507 Church St.) were delicious, but the restaurant was stingy with them. The crepes contained slivers I've had postU\·e expcnenccs at this eatery in of vegetables, not slices; "egg" meant a film of egg brushed onto the crepe, not an the past, but today was an off day. The small actual whole egg; and some toppinJ.,~ Gam and labneh) came in very thin layt:rs, probrestaurant is quiet and unassuming. Patrons ably not more than two spoonfuls. Sen ice was not that accommodating, Splttting a sit at cheap plastic tables and folding chairs crepe with a friend cost an extra Sl, and the staff e\·en rt:fused to split the Dmamique and are left to admire artistic photos of Eubrie crepe because they did not \.....lnt to ruin the crepe. The extreme concern 0\'Cr rope. maintaining the integrity of the crepes was pretenoous and undermined the otherwise I ordered a vegetable crepe (S5.75), which pleasant experience I had eating there. w;ls accompanied by a decent potato salad, and a "Paris X" dessert crepe (S4.95). The Mon Berti (337 Bloor Street West) vegetable crepe was stuffed with spinach, L---- - ----""=------ ----1 The futuristic decor of this larger r<.staurant mushrooms, tomato, green pepper, cheese, and onion. Unfortunately, the crepe was seemed more appropriate for undcrgrads and undercooked and slightly soggy, and the \'egctables were poorly seasoned and bland. high school students. J\s I entered, I was The Paris X, which was covered in chocolate hazelnut sauce and whipped cream, dazed by the bright red ceilings and white fared better. Generous portions of sliced banana were cocooned in the well-cooked walls, tables, chairs, and orbs hanging from the crepe. 1\ scoop of vantlla icc cream completed the dish. Though the chocolatc sauce ceiling. was somewhat diluted, altogether the dessert was very good. Service was prompt Admittedly, this eatery prides itself more on and friendly. its frozen yogurt. Crepes seemed like an afterthought, with only three choices available: Crepes a GoGo (18 Yorkville crepe with three fruit toppin~s and frozen yogurt ($8.50), crepe with nutella ($5.50), Avenue) and "crcpelette" with ham and cheese ($6, plus an extra S1 for scrambled q~g).

This tnviong and snug French rcstau :\\on lkrri had ~m extensive range of fresh fruit toppings an~\ it took me !'.orne rnnt has a cozy atmosphere with light time to choose just three. \\ben the dessert arrived, I was dazzled by the beautiful orange walls, doily-covered lamps, and and fun prescnt.1tion. Mr crepe was topped with a squiggle of strawberry sauce and wooden chairs and tables. a dusting of icmg sugar. 'Ih the stde \Vas a swirl of soft strawberry froi':en )'O!,'llrt, Perusing the tattered menus, I was topped with a vividly colourful mixture of pom<..-granatc seeds, chopped mango, and impressed by the range of interesting blueberries. The dessert tasted \'Cry good. The crepe was well-cooked and the strawfillings for the crepe:;, which could berry frozen )'Of.,'llrt \vas excellent, with the strong fla\'our of sweet strawberries and only be eaten by hand. r tried a slight sour tang of the yogurt. The crcpeletre had genc:rous portions of ham, gooey Bedouine finger crl·pc ($7.50, tax inmoZ%arella cheese, and eggs. Eating it was enjoyable, but the restaurant could ha\'e L-~~-------------- ~----eluded in pnccs), filled with labneh (a strained sour yogurt), olives, red onion, zaatar used a cheese with a stronger flavour than mild monarella, which was overpowered (a mtxture of marjoram, thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds), and olive oil. The crepe by the eggs and ham. Ser\'icc was very friendly and accommodating.

••

.

ANONYMOUS RANTER- from page 28 ...schcd for three days of the week ... hut I digress) arc: the chairs and the card machine.

The student hatred of the chatrs at Bora Laskin is more Unt\·ersal than any human nght. You know the ones I'm talk ing about- the ones that look like someone threw some poorly sewn pleather on some medteval torture device. lt's sort of like sttung in a swing, without the 'swinging' part, and mstead of chain links, there arc giant metal rods. So it's sort of hkc a swing, except terrible.

Now, the best part is that there are a few plastic cheap patio-st)le chatrs kicking around the library. I'm not sure how many of these there arc - but there is ~~ ..VER one nround ~hen you need one, and I ha\C literally raced people up the sta1rs thinking they were "after the last plastic chair"... so, there clear!) arc not enough! The helit part is that these plastic chairs tend to migrate. I am part of the elusive ~ec­ ond floor J1brary ere~, and - like the renegades that we arc - we t:1ke plastic chairs from downstairs. \\'hat's peculiar IS that b) Sunda} night, these chairs are \L\X t\ YS returned dO\\ nstairs. 1 refuse to bclie\c that school and librar} staff nctually spend thctr manpower on this, but the onl) other cxplano<uon im okcs super \ illains.

If there's another best thing about Bor.1, howe\ cr, It has GOT to be the card machm<.. b) the front entrance. I le~'lttmately belie\ e that thing ts possessed. Deahng \\ ith that thmg ts hke a fucking strate!,'Y game -tt's esscntnll} chess, except there'~; onl}

one pawn (that would he you). fl''i/1 it take "!J' Mrd?

If itlnktr 111J cmt!_ u•i/1 iltakr "!Y

11/0IIC")'t' I !t't'll if Jt/nl.:.ts II!J tnolley, 11il/ it be the torred anJOttnN J'botlld /try p1111il~g i11 nl)?

Oo I nik 11? Ob, s1ml, itu,orhd! FUCK! It didn't rrgislcr! Can~ pri111 receipt!!

Checkmate, hitch.

Better yet, the card machme is the only one tn the law school. So, when it's broken (read: always) the library staff \v1ll imanably send )OU to Pratt. Yeah, that's right. .. the DAY before my final paper was due I was forced to run over to Vic so 1 could load my card, return to the law school, and print my work. That IS, \\here I would ha\'C pnntcd my work, had the printer not been broken as well! So, it was an attempt to cnter Skelctor's lair before tt was hack to Pmtt with a USB.Jt's nice that thc day before final work was due, the Ia\\ school fimnd the time tu send me on a mission worthy of Carmen Sandiego.

But Bora offered pronusc! When l found out that new ,._...~=.. amemnes were being added to the library, I was hopeful. I thought he \Vas going to change. Maybe nC\\er Dells? <>r dare I hope ne\\ chairs?

No. Instead, they put a nc\\ touch-screen by the pnnter. So !!!:...~-............o.=~:....:..:::!..;.....;.JOO\\~ when )OU don't h:t\e monc) on your card to pnnt because the card machmc is broken or the Qockcd) pnntcr is jammed, )OU can feel hkc you're Tom Cruise in ~lmont) Report.

Th.u's tt, I'm gotng back to Pratt.

30

\1 \RCH 24 2010

DI\'1 ,RSI< >'-.S

DI \ I RSH )'\,S

UV drinks: classin' it up

BY Pl·l

LI (3L) A:-..D ~.\\1 \~Til\

Overheard at law school

Sl \BRO< Ji( (.~L)

Cm1r11Jm BY C..A&>\~DR'

\\'e all need a break from studies, and going out for some marums 1s a great way to procrastmate. ( )ur intrepid Ul 'reporters have sacrificed life and liver to scope out some local martini bars that may give \'OU a nice break from spring studying Cheers'

SITE

AMBIANCE

PRICE

SELECTION

SERVICE

OUR DRINKS

• Crystal H ypnosis (Skyy vodka, Hypnotiq, peach schnapps, and lemonade): It was an electric blue ~rink. The bartender was heavy on the H ypnotit( which is great if you like Jt. Overall, a delicious Your basic typical up hough not overly alcoholic drink. Still seems overjscale hotel bar with loungt • 12 fruity martims fot . lr>riced for something that tastes like you threw Hyp !house music The Avcnut • $14 or $18 per dnnk. . h ·h I h f 1 d Nn · · • Courteous bu IJOUr enj oyment. W( . ln<>ttq toget er Wit a sp as o emona e. J. · ~ ~ocs however get hon ' • Way over pnced f01 . h h d . k ' . ' nothmg spcctactu ~rc sure they make ~ ~arrus on t e nn . ~urable menoon fo r amaz- ar. jclassic martini, but i !what you get. ~ Geisha (Gekkeikan sake, Bois lychee, and lemon): ng bar snacks - cashew~ jwas not on the menu. \.light and refreshing beverage with a lychee garnish. ~d cheese puff crackers frhe drink was shockingly pink. You could not tastf Ivery tasty. !the sake, which was a disappointment.

!Avenue !Four Seasons (21 Avenue Rd.)

• The bartende .

• Most of us have been tc ti . dl 1- '\Jot much. Theit , . , ·v k ·u \.'as nen y and . f r !Remy's 11'-emys - Jt s a ~or VJ 1( h r ·h' h . menu conststs 0 a rew ... S13 so . r.

(115 Yorkville Ave.) fi xture. 1'he d.ecor anc att}, h\\ tc , tl 1asstc marttnt mtxe, . d . . ~reat w en you re .

• 0 verpnce . lmustc bnng you back tc f.:. bb' d . k jbut IS other-\\1SC mostly . ~ra tng a nn · a . . he 80s, but not tn a good r~.. b 131tst of thetr vodka anc ~... ru1e ar. .

I gm se ecuons.

1way.

D <

• The service ~harlie's

Gallery (112 H arbord St.)

tEat My Martini (648 College St.)

wa~

\• 'Tnio; p\acc has a coo\, rc ~>rcat- the fnendh \ r· \'hey had \3 manmi a1<.c~\ v\'bc, w\th C'l<\)ol:.c( 1\><utcnocr wa:; cay,c lrn ' ~..: al h... . k aU r bl '-· d h rulxes on tue menu,. • rune w s, comxorta lf .o recommen IS

!f'lish.

• Tiff (Yo a, cass1s, pomegranate JUICe, c ham S8.5 0 . and refresh pagne1,\ : s·unply wonderful! It was hght 1 1asstcs G . d f: . . . !tasty twists o n c b r . h I h p r halance o f ~eattng, an some grea avounte marorus.

• reat ang tOr yow ng, w1t waterme on garms . enect . . pJus 1 some new concoc art. The mus1c was cool • Th1s was defi . th buck! pomegranate and champagne. . . ltJo ns at were cqua111 lb ut it was easy to have a rutely o ur favountc ,~, li .

B •. · . ue c1ous. onus potnt~ ~onversation. tpface for Sef\tC< r !Verdict: We will both go back to Charlie's Gallery. It ror creattve names. f\Vas a great place to hang out and we cannot wait t< !and atmosp h ere. try the rest of the martini menu. dk

The day-to-day...

"Ih·cr} day at law school is like getting punched in the gut." Student (to much agreement)

"This is terrible, tern hie opinion writing!"- Professor Dubber on L'llcreux Dube J., Admin L1w

"I haYc to go the bank after Bankruptcy and then we'll go to \ritzia."- Well-dressed Student #1 to \\'elldressed Student #2

The stuff we've all got to learn, whether we want to or not...

Class: "Ooooohhhh ... " "Since we are lawyers and we like to mark our supe rior learning, we like to usc a Lattn term and mark it reasonableness simpliciter." - Professor Dubber, Admin Law

!Verdict: You can do way better for much less. Sktp !this place tf you arc looking for a martini fix.

"Turns out that everyone isn't as smart as the judges on the Supreme Court. \X'e'vc got to let the lower courts do something, but unfortunately the} can't figure it out.''- Professor Dubber, Admin Law [ ·~.

14 ddi· 'rcd back patio (~vhic~ ~~ . The sen·tcc \\':1~- • •,\ selection• of • .

IOUS martlnt ln!XCS $ _ .. not so much a patto as 1t i5 . k but no . d • 7.2:J per marttnt "' skctchilr covered alley- lJUIC ·, some c1asstcs an some r• · • plea~ant new tastes f\\'a)'...)

• The rumour is that this i~ the oldest martini bar in foronto.

Student, in Torts: "So what if the skydiver crashes through the S1stine Chapel?"

Professor ) oon: "\\'ell, you already have eternal damnation."

"You think constitutional opinions arc long, JUSt wait 'til you get into admtrustranve la\v."- Professor Dubbcr, Admin Law Professor Dubbcr: "I'm not criticizing it. I'm just say ing it is a waste of time."

Student: "Th1s judgment, or this course?"

Professor Dubbcr: "This entire area of law."

.. . and even then:

• Soho (vodka, lychee hqueur, and lemonade): Ddt jctous, simple and frUit). \\c lm·ed thts dnnk, but ad lmittedly by this time in the night we would hav<: lrunk anything~ • Crisp~ Crunch (Stoli, creme de cacao, and frangclico): I 10\'e this martini, but a little mort frangclico \\ould have made tt perfect. !Verdict: Check this place out if you love a littk "dt\·c" in your bar. 1t's a local secret that is worth the trip to Little Italy.

cyberspace. .\laybe that's inside and outside Canada.

Because cybcr:.pacc is everywhere.''- Professor Alaric, Canadtan Income Tax

I'm sorry, please remind me ·why I thought taking this class was ever a good idea?!

"Oh no, this is just a bricting. If we go straight in, you're going to be totally unprepared and you're going to get shot to bits." - Professor Alaric, Corporate Income Tax

The truly inexplicable ...

"Let's suppose there were enough flit.s tn the water that you could choke on them."- Professor Yoon, Torts "I re:tlly' wish my neighbours wouldn't sing to each other when they're showenng together. Today: The Longest Time.' l want to throw up." Student

"Vomit is the verb. \'orrutus is the noun.''

"If you're going to cat, then eat well. If you're going to study, then study well. If you're going to love, then love wcll...or qUickly." - Overheard at an offcampus event. ... and always remember "nothing in administrative

set up a straw man, so he can knock it down forever. But he doesn't succeed."- Pro fessor Dubbcr, Admin Law "Dicluun seems to

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\);UC!'.SCU \t.

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9 Difficulty: Hard

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'\cah,

"Hmmm ... The ·\ ct says 'inside AND outside Canada'. Now, to me, that's everywhere. I guess there's a place that's both msidc and outside Canada, but it's too small. You couldn't earn any tncome there. Maybe

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o'-'\.o;;;l\u\n;,.uv..:::•

Dubbcr strikes again...

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Student

And now, some parting words of wisdom to live by...

'"""" ,

7

Souz Dal (636 College St.)

"Imagine if silence in response to an offer meant that you had accepted it. Then every single spammer could say 'Hey, you accepted my offer', and show up at your house with truckloads of Viagra, demanding that you pay him, bec:tuse you had agreed to a contract to do so!"- Professor Alarie, Contracts

· ·

• Italian Stallion (vodka, cassis, frangelico, Malibu !butterscotch liqueur): Because there is no juice filler ,you end up with half a glass, and that would be oka} f. Cool and relaxed atmos· 'f it was a balanced drink. It did not taste as ex· phcre with lo ts of com • The sen ice was • The menu runs from ~ (SS f, IPected, and was a little bland.

00 56 00 fortable seating. >kay. To be fai1 lA to Y. If you have 1m: · · or pre • Rick) ~fartini (vodka, sour raspberry liqueur, sou1 • They serve drinks ir. here were quite ~ !trouble decidmg, this 1~ ~urn~ \X' d d lapple, passion fruit juice, and lime juice): Perfect baiIPiastic martini g lasses· few people in th< jnot the place for you. • SuSnO(a)y - c. nesl a)1iancc of tastes with a punch! \X'e could have had ~ I.J • l . maruru mg 1ts.r5a IIon o f t h'IS and still wantcd more... lllefimte y a turn-aff. jbar. ~omet h tng rror ever) s a!'>tC. !verdict: Martints on a budget makes this bar the !Perfect choice for students. You could go every da) for three months and not have the same drink.

• Cool and altcrnativ( \'ibe, reminiscent of ~ ocal South American bar.

Lots of seating and a cm·-

Ft.ORill (31.)

"This was Iacobucci's attempt to distinguish bc.:tween unreason:tblcncss and patent unreasonableness, and sur· prtse surprise, it was a complete failure." - Professor Dubber, Admin Law

Professor Rogerson, discussing the I jfl/e Sisters case in Constitutional Law: " ... customs officials, what do they know about the Charter? Do they have a grade 12 edu-

,. Chocolatiru (creme de cacao and vodka): Nothin~ fancy, but you can't really go wrong with somethin~ hocolater Applctini (sour apple, vodka and lime): Again, no1 fancy, but tasty. Had a nice kick.

• Andy Warhol (vodka, Chambord, melon liqueur ranberry, and pmeapple juice): This drink wa~ amazing! Perfectly balanced with a watermelon gar-

... because Ia\\ students and professors sometimes say funny things. Some more than others...

-

Just in case you were wondering who is smarter than whom ...

!Verdict: D cfmitely not worth the price tags.

In

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ULTRA VIRES

l)IVERS IOL':S

Ultra News: the nc \\'S t hat's not quite fit to print

BY ERIC Tt RKIJ ~ICZ

Sup reme Court of Canada declares that the categories of negligence arc now closed

rulings. "'lbcrc're just too many people in the court system no\\~ \\1ouldn't it be g reat 1f we could ju~t look it up on a list and tell sorm:onc they were negligent in like ti,•c minutes?" .Justice Rothstein suggested 111 obiter. "( )h man, that wou ld be awesome," .Justicc Dcschamp~ responded. The Court went on to state that the} \\ould be stmplif)ing thinh>s this way for all of tort law, and possibl) contract law too. "1\laybe someumes where there's a wrong there doesn't actually nced to be a remedy?"

J u~ticc Charron proposed to appreci:niYe ht-ad-nodding from the other Justices.

When faced with the suggestion that, in domg so, the Court \\as effecti\'cly utilizing the common law to abolish the common Ja,,; Justice LeBel replied, "\\'hoa, mind trip."

In a st.lrtling reversal of over 70 years of cstahli hl•d jurisprudence:, the Supreme Court of Canada declared in a recent case that the categories of negligence would henceforrh be closed. Completely nc!,raung l,ord Atkm's famous proposition in LJon~e_h11t t: Sltl'i'l/!011 that thecategories of negligence arc never closed, the Supreme Courr ruled that thC) would not aJio\\ any new duties of care to be argued them, or any other court. ''\\'c 're just really tire~! of figuring out whetht:r something is sufficiently proximal or whether something was foreseeable," s:1id Justice Fish. "It would be much easier if we just had some sort of inde.x where we could check whether a particular circumstance is negligent or N ation gears up for premiere of not." The Court commented that they new CTV show "Judicial Idol" had "totally checked out since last Sep- Canadian broadcaster CTV is getting tember" and were striving to streamline ready for the ~enes premiere of their !at

(31.)

est reality !"how/talent contest. )11dirial Idol, a \1lrtation of Britain's enormously popular Jf"bo Jl~mt.r to H.. i11 the f lou.rr q( l .on/.r?, and the l:.S.'s ~o Yo11 Thmk ) oil Can.flld.l!.e, is ex preted to pull in stellar ratings and call attention w the oft- O\'e r I oo k cd profession of Supreme Court Jus tieing. The premise 1s simple: contestants across Canada audition and compete before a panel of judges to try to obtain the rank of Judicial Idol. Thc grand prize?

J\ coveted spot as thc tenth member of thc Supremc Court of Canada and a recording contract. Contestants will be c.:limmntcd each week b\ T\' viewers who call in and \'ote for their fayourite competitor.

The judge panel acts as something of a critical Yiewpoint to give guidance to thc compctitors. They will be assessed on thc basis of Judicial Clarity, Knowledge of t.h e L:m~ Reasoning Skills, Writing Competence, and Robe Style. "I think it's going to be really popular!" remarked Josh ~lcllenry, executive pro-

ducer of the new sho\\~ "\\'e really want to empower thcse talented people and show the audiencL that anyone, even you, . can be a Supr<;me Court Justice." Toronto auditions will bc on 1\pril 26 at ( )sgoodc llall.

1\pplicants arc rcminded to arrivc early and pack a lunch. Abo, you must be between the ages of 16-28. \\ hcn askcd fur her opinion of thc show, Chief .Justice Beverly McLachlin said, "It's tluitc possibly the worst idea I'vc C\'er hea rd. It completely demeans the integrity of this institution and, beyond all other insipid considerations, flatout ignores the importance of maintaining an odd number of Justices." .Justice Ian Btnnic had a different opmion: "I'm cxcitcd! You can bet I'll have my fingers on my phone's redial button e\ cry \\'ednesday night at 7!"

A:. Davies we measure our achievements by one simple standard: your ~1.!!JMM~;},

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