Ultra Vires Vol 14 Issue 1 2013 Sept

INTRA VIRES RESEARCH TOOLS Student Creates Legal Citation Website: "YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT'S GOING IN THE JD/MBA BROCHURE NEXT YEAR"

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Guide to 1L: What YOU Need to Know...

BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! PAGES 8-10

E-VIC-TED THE BIG MOVE: How the Transition is Going So Far

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"I Will Never Know What the Pit Was": a 1L Reflects on the Transition Space

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Point|Counterpoint: Are We Better Off? Birge Life

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BONUS: Meet the Other Law Schools (And Find Out Which Ones Think They're Our Rivals)

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2 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

EDITORIAL/NEWS

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UV isn’t just the school paper, it’s YOUR paper

EMILY DEBONO (3L)

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espite the Faculty’s best efforts, we do not have an effective space to congregate, hang out, or discuss what’s on our minds. While this lets us avoid having to listen to gunners discuss the study schedules they’ve already devised for December exams, it means

that information sharing and community building is an even bigger challenge than it has been in the past. Especially for the 1Ls, who don’t yet know what our school is all about, the sense of community to which we are accustomed is unlikely to materialize naturally.

UV can play a pivotal role in maintaining the energy and vibrancy that make U of T Law a great place to study. With your involvement, we can make the paper a vehicle for community building and information sharing in the coming years. This is not to say that UV will lose the humour with which it’s come to be associated. Rather, we hope that it will do a better job representing all facets of our student experience,

to the exclusion of neither lighthearted wit nor serious news.

We are doing our best to make writing for UV easier and more accessible to everyone who wants to get involved. Stay tuned for a new blog feature on the UV website where students will have the opportunity to be heard outside of the regular print paper. We also have a “Write for UV” section online where we will list article ideas every month so you can write even if you’re not sure what to write about. If you do have a topic in mind, even better! We’re open to pitches from anyone and about basically everything, and we’re happy to work with you on developing your ideas. If you (like me) feel completely awk-

ward about writing but think there is something important that should be covered, you can drop us a line- we’ll do our best to make sure we have it in the paper. We want to represent the school in its entirety, showcasing as many perspectives on as many topics as possible.

If you want to write or have any feedback of any kind, contact us at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca, send us a Facebook message, or speak to an editor directly. We’re excited to spend the year working with you to preserve the dynamism of our school culture.

Outsourcing Citations

New web-based software promises to cut down on time spent leafing through the dreaded McGill Guide DAVID GRUBER (2L)

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new website that generates McGill Guidecorrect legal citations could spare law students a good deal of time and frustration.

The service, which is currently offering free subscriptions to students, takes CanLii web addresses and spits out proper citations ready to be copied-and-pasted into your next paper.

The automated generator only works with CanLii URLs. Cases from Westlaw and Quicklaw have to be inputted manually. It can also create citations for UK and US cases, books and journal articles, but the user has to input those manually as well. Certain additional information, like which judge authored an opinion, also

needs to be added by the user.

Currently the service doesn't work with legislation, which the site's creators say they avoided because CanLii already has a service that generates citations for legislation.

Intra-vires.com was founded by U of T JD/ MBA student David Pardy and Stephen Huang, a computer science and physics student at the University of Calgary. According to Pardy the idea came up at his 1L small group dinner, where students were complaining about all the time they were forced to spend with their style guides.

Pardy says he wants to ensure students don't lose marks on citations, but rather are able to

focus on substantive things. While some instructors tend to stress the importance of proper footnotes and punish students for minor infractions, Pardy hopes his service will help shift their focus. “Citations are not the law,” he says. “First years will be able to cut down a lot of their time on their first assignments.”

Students seem to agree. Less than two days after it was launched, Intra Vires Research Tools already had 250 subscribers and some 2000 page views.

Pardy says that while he has plans to monetize the site in the future, for the time being it will remain a free service. He's also been talking

to law firms about getting practitioners to start using his service.

So is it time to put the torch to your copy of the McGill Law Journal, Canadian Guide to Uniform legal Citation, 7th ed (np; Carswell, 2010)?

Tempting as it seems, that may be premature.

Assistant Dean Sara Faherty, who teaches legal research and writing, says that while the service could make the mechanics of citing cases easier, “the more significant point—knowing how to use case law appropriately—can never be delegated to computers.” If only…

Ultra Vires is an editorially independent publication. We are open to contributions which reflect diverse points of view, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Faculty of Law, the Students’ Law Society, or the editorial board.

Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus News Editors Features Editors Opinion Editors Diversions Editor Special Content Editors 1L Editors VP Finance Web Editors Layout Editor

Emily Debono Patrick Hartford David Gruber & Katherine Georgious Marita Zouravlioff & Jacquie Richards Louis Tsilivis & Paloma van Groll Alanna Tevel David Feldman & Eryn Fanjoy Alexander Carmona & Lisana Nithiananthan Daanish Samadmoten Kevin Siu & Aron Nimani Alyssa Howes

Errors If you find any errors in Ultra Vires, please email ultra.vires@utoronto.ca

Advertising Advertising inquiries should be sent to vp Finance Daanish Samadmoten at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

Submissions If you have an article submission or a tip for us, please contact us at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

Ultra Vires reserves the right to edit submissions for brevity and clarity.

NEWS

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What's the SLS Been Up To? What's Coming Up Ahead YOUR STUDENTS’ LAW SOCIETY

Current/What have we done: • Over the summer, the SLS added its voice to the concerns regarding the availability of Wills & Estates and communicated the ongoing search (at the time) for a new professor.

• We created a social calendar of events that anyone can subscribe to in order follow along and plan for upcoming events (slssocial 2014@gmail.com).

• New Building Growing Pains: We've been working since the start of the year to help adjust to some of the growing pains associated with the move to Victoria College. This has included everything from sorting out locker snafus and building hours to helping prepare our student lounge.

• The SLS held a referendum in September which resulted in the creation of an Equity Officer position for the SLS. Possible activities of this position will include: directing students to mental health resources around UofT; and ensuring students receive proper academic accommodation from the administration for things

like mental health issues, learning disabilities, family obligations, etc. The other result of the referendum is that students in four year joint programs are now automatically deemed members of the SLS (they can therefore vote and run in our elections, and attend the events we subsidize). These students will have the option of paying a fee to the SLS (not this year, but in coming years) as a token of appreciation for the services of the SLS. However, this fee is not mandatory and the failure to pay the fee will have no effect on that person's membership.

• We have joined with the Administration to create a CDO Student Advisory Committee that is open to all students interested in participating in it—we are looking for feedback from students with a wide range of interests.

Upcoming: • The SLS is planning on holding a series of tuition roundtable discussions sometime in early October, in order to solicit feedback and priorities regarding tuition advocacy for the year.

• The SLS is planning on holding a Trivia Tournament, beginning in October and running until mid November—stay tuned for more details on how to compete.

• We'll be pushing for increased roles and opportunities for student involvement in advisory committees (such as the CDO Student Advisory Committee) throughout the year.

• In addition to our weekly pub nights and our monthly coffee houses, we're already working on our plans for the Halloween Party and Law Ball this year.

• We'll be staffing our working groups and Dean's Committees after the elections—we'll publish which representatives are on which committees, so you'll know who to talk to regarding specific issues or concerns throughout the year.

Don't forget to give us a shout at SLS.law@utoronto.ca if you have any suggestions, comments or concerns!

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 3

Music, For Art’s Sake ALANNAH FOTHERINGHAM (2L) & BRITTANY SHAMESS (2L)

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n Thursday, October 3rd the SLS will be hosting a fundraising Pub Night at Sneaky Dee’s with one of our beloved legal clinics, Artists’ Legal Advice Services (ALAS).

The event will feature live music from U of T Law’s very own Bora’s Band (2Ls Avi Bourassa, Dylan Cox, and Joe McGrade), Gavin Slate, Dream Jefferson, and will also debut the DJ set of WITCHCRAFT (2Ls Alannah Fotheringham and Elizabeth Kagedan). Tickets are $10 and will be on sale during the lunch hour outside of the reading room in Birge-Carnegie starting Monday, September 23rd—so come and get ‘em!

The proceeds from the event will go towards ALAS’ operational costs and, more generally, support the clinic’s continued survival. ALAS recently lost its funding from Legal Aid and will be using this fundraising concert as a stopgap funding measure to keep the clinic operational, while alternative long-term funding arrangements are made.

ALAS provides free summary legal advice to artists of all disciplines and is one of the few opportunities that U of T Law students have to gain exposure to entertainment law. Operated solely by duty counsel lawyers and volunteer law students, ALAS offers volunteers an exceptional opportunity to observe counsel's interactions with local musicians, visual artists, photographers, writers, actors and filmmakers on arts-related legal issues and disputes.

The clinic offers a unique service to both local artists and U of T Law students, but it needs your help to remain operational.

Come out to Sneaky Dee’s on October 3rd for an evening of music in support of ALAS and our creative community! We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information, please see our Facebook event page: ForArtsSake.fbfind.me

NEWS

4 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Transition Deemed a Success by the SLS Despite fears of disruption, the transition to Victoria University has gone smoothly overall

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hile most students spent last summer trying to erase memories of long nights spent in Flavelle House, the Faculty and SLS were hard at work recreating Flavelle across the street. Much of the SLS’s work during the 2012-2013 academic year was focused on making the law school’s transition to Victoria University as seamless as possible. Particular attention was given to gauging what students wanted in their transition space, thinking of ways to keep the collegial nature of the law school intact, and ensuring that students had enough places to plug in and study at an 177 year old college.

After initially being assured that access to electricity would not be a problem at Victoria, it became evident during the summer that distribution of electricity within the transition space was insufficient to meet the high demand from the law school. Numerous solutions, from installing generators to hanging electrical cords from the ceilings,

were canvassed by the SLS and Faculty administration. Resistance from Victoria’s administration came from the idea of doing major renovations to accommodate a mere two-year term of students.

The end result of the summer’s negotiation was a two fold plan: the Faculty of Law was permitted to retrofit four classrooms of varying sizes with electrical cords and the administration decided to compensate all students $100 if they needed to purchase an additional laptop battery. From the SLS’s end, these initiatives have been well received, as SLS’s Student Affairs and Governance branch has stated they have not received any major complaints thus far.

Although the vast majority of the transition was completed during the summer, there is still work to be done. Three classrooms in Victoria College still need to be retrofitted with electrical outlets, with this work occurring during the 2013 winter break. At the time of publication, wireless printing is still being configured with the

Contempt of Course

Among The Vaunted DAVID GRUBER (2L)

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s part of this year's inaugural issue, I'm pleased to introduce what I hope will become a regular column in your law school paper. Contempt of Course will cover the most absurd, obscene, and ridiculous aspects of legal education. The pact I propose in exchange for your readership is that I will not use these pages to be kind, reverent, or deferential to anyone who doesn't deserve it.

Coming to you as a late-term transfer student, after having spent my 1L year in exile on the foggy Halifax peninsula, it seems appropriate to begin with an account of the journey, and an analysis of the concept of “elite schools”.

Having glided effortlessly between top-tier and somewhereless-than-top-tier institutions, I find myself well-positioned to dis-

abuse our student body of the idea that we are ipso facto among the best and brightest simply by virtue of our being here.

After you were accepted to study law, before actually entering the program, you probably found yourself enduring heaps of praise from proud friends and relatives. You may even have found yourself being lavished with slightly too much congratulations, as if to suggest that part of the achievement was emancipating yourself from your meaningless pre-law existence. (Those who know what I mean will know it right away.)

As an upper-year student, if you happen to transfer to a town with a more active clinic program, or just some half-decent Szechwan food, you'll find yourself once again the victim of over-

Make your mark.

The Toronto Student Experience

For information contact:

Sally Woods Director, Professional Development 416 868 3468 sallywoods@fasken.com

333 Bay Street, Suite 2400 Bay Adelaide Centre, Box 20 Toronto, ON M5H 2T6 CALGARY

TORONTO

hopes that it will be finished towards the end of September. There is a desire to get a water filter for Birge Carnegie’s student lounge, since installing water fountains was deemed impermissible. The Faculty is also seeking to address student complaints that have arisen thus far, such as noise complaints regarding the lamps and doors in the study room of Bora Laskin’s new location.

Overall, the SLS has been quite pleased with the results of the transition. Minor hiccups that occurred in September were addressed more quickly than anticipated. The hope for Peter Flynn is that if little problems keep arising, they will be addressed as quickly as they have been in the past, so as to not accumulate and turn into bigger issues.

Four Hidden Gems Around Victoria College 1. Caffiends (1st Floor, Victoria College) $1 coffee. They’ll give you a mug. Need we say more?

KATHERINE GEORGIOUS (3L)

VANCOUVER

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OTTAWA

MONTRÉAL

QUÉBEC CITY

LONDON

PARIS

JOHANNESBURG

2. Emmanuel Student Lounge (3rd floor, Emmanuel College) Located right across from Emmanuel Library, this student lounge has a $1 soda machine, and a fridge with cold, filtered water for when you need a refill whilst studying.

3. Classy Bathrooms (Victoria College) It’s not the “Men’s Bathroom” here at Vic College, it’s the “Gentlemen’s Bathroom”. While Flavelle’s bathrooms made you feel at risk of infection at all times, Vic College wants you to feel classy, even when you’re peeing.

4. Hot Chocolate Machine (Basement, Pratt Library) This machine serves hot chocolate that is both cheap and delicious. To quote one student “I went on a date with my boyfriend for $2.50”.

praise. Even a law professor of mine from Dalhousie beamed when he heard that I was jumping ship for U of T. “You must have done really well,” he said.

Must I have, though? He had been my professor; he must have known that that wasn't the case. Could it be that he trusted the vague concept of elite institutions over his own professional assessment?

Being praised is embarrassing enough (especially when you know—as we all secretly do—that it's not entirely deserved). At least it's better than all those tiresome first-year assemblies where you're repeatedly told “how lucky you are to be here.” I always thought that was a funny way to address paying customers.

It's not true what they say: the grass isn't always greener on the other side. You don't hear about our students leaving because they're hoping to exchange their superior job prospects for some quantity of “school spirit” or community. But no matter where you are you can be sure there's always a greener patch out there somewhere. So one only hopes that students here feel at least as much inferiority with respect to the Ivy League as they do superiority towards their colleagues in this country.

But wait. What about the legions of intellectual welterweights who fly out of Yale and Harvard as if it's nothing more than a finishing school for the bratty children of congressmen and oil tycoons?

Notice how it's the “top” schools that maintain “legacy” (i.e. nepotism) considerations in their admissions standards. So which is it: do they take only the best and brightest, or also their progeny?

U of T's claim to distinction—besides those bogus magazine rankings—is largely based on it having the most discriminating admissions standards, highest average LSAT score, etc. In other words, not much. Even the mysterious figures behind the LSAT racket claim that their childish test is a meaningful measure only when combined with undergraduate marks, and even then they concede it can do no more than predict success on first year law school exams.

Still, pretend for a minute that admissions standards do reveal some general truths about students' intellects. Limiting acceptance to only the most elite students would only serve to make a school elitist.

An elite school takes pre-approved “top students” and, for a small fortune, certifies their position among the elite by calligraphing their names on oversized pieces of parchment. A good school, by comparison, would take students who don't perform so well and, you know… teach them.

A credulous type could point to all those success stories—scholars, politicians, captains of industry—who seem so often to come out of elite schools. And yes, U of T credibly claims to have more graduates landing firm jobs and so on. But what does that really tell us? Perhaps employers can sense our alumni's natural effervescence.

Or maybe they simply do as my prof did, and let reputation supplant their own judgement. The success of U of T grads doesn't prove that there are top schools; only that the world behaves as if there are.

It may be impossible to attach any kind of meaningful ranking to law schools. For now the most we can honestly say is that, just like Lisa Simpson, we are lucky enough to attend “the most expensive and therefore best” law school in the country.

ultravires.ca

FEATURES

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 5

Law School Meet and Greet MARITA ZOURAVLIOFF (2L)

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hen you’re uniquely located at the center of the universe, as the City of Toronto is, you frequently forget that there are other people and places on this planet.

Places where the people are doing a lot of the same things you are, like eating free pizza and being forced to take admin. Enter: our fellow law schools. We asked 10 of our comrades from across Canada to answer a few questions about their respective schools. Whether from the east or the west, it turns out we’re all cut from the same cloth.

We even found some common ground with our cousin to the north.

Now the only question left is, do you think the Wreck Room will accommodate us all for a pub night?

Introducing Canada’s legal future, from West to East…

Anon from UBC Your school: UBC Class size: 180 Upper year compulsory courses: Bus Orgs, Jurisprudence, Admin, Ethics, and a 4 credit Seminar Fave lunch spot: Wherever there's free food Pub night is: most nights and is probably organized by the Rugby team.

On that note, classmate hook ups are: a) non-existent b) common c) incestuous d) Other: on the DL Maps are called: CANs Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order? Suits Most common freebie found at your school: Samosas in a box Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? Bleeding heart lefties... more so?

Relationship with the Locals is: The students are the locals Biggest rival school: UVic for sports, U of T generally If your school was a drink, it'd be a: organic Granville Island Pale Ale Fun fact: We have a nude beach within walking distance... and we have a trike race where we pelt each other with water balloons while riding tricycles

James from TRU Your school: Thompson Rivers University Class size: 75-95 Upper year compulsory courses: The usual suspects…civil procedure, administrative law, business administration, advanced legal research…to name a few Fave lunch spot: The Culinary Center (imagine a bunch of students training to be red seal chefs…steaks for $8 bucks…)

Pub night is: Friday and is like a pack of ravenous wolverines descending on the Cougar Bar in town…

On that note, classmate hook ups are: D) Other: Like a double rainbow…you see em once in awhile Maps are called: CANs…Or the biggest Staples Pay Day on Binding they have all year!

Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order? Let me answer your question with another question…how many suits do you see committing law and order?

Most common freebie found at your school: The ol Blakes water bottle is a favorite, but you can’t beat the Westlaw Laundry Bag Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? Bleeding left heart lefties, with a splash of left wingnuts!

Relationship with the Locals is: Like game of thrones Biggest rival school: TRU Undergrads

If your school was a drink, it'd be a: Long Island Ice Tea…A lil bit of everything that’ll get the job done…

Fun fact: The new TRU Law Rugby team is known as the Lawggers and Kamloops gets the most sunshine in Canada per year…so we’re all tanned like the Jersey Shore without the spray ons

Rodney, Taher and Candice from University of Alberta

Maps are called: CANS Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order? Neither—Saved by the Bell Most common freebie found at your school: Free lunches during guest lectures Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? Bleeding heart lefties who enjoy sharing pints with you.

Relationship with the Locals is: Great.

Windsor is a smaller city that really benefits from the access to justice programs and events that the school hosts (although relations with Caesars Palace have broken down significantly since hosting Law Games 2013).

Biggest rival school: Western (Looking for Law Games revenge) If your school was a drink, it'd be a: beer in a mason jar from bull and barrel.

Nothing extravagant.

Fun fact: A tunnel bus to a Detroit Red Wings game takes 10 minutes. Waiting in the Tim Hortons line at the Student Centre takes 20 minutes

Class size: 170 Upper year compulsory courses: Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Jurisprudence, Conflicts, Corporations Fave lunch spot: La Pasta and Jacket Potato Man Pub night is: Thursday and is: where you realize most lawyers are alcoholics On that note, classmate hook ups are: c) incestuous Maps are called: CANS Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order? Suits Lindsey from Western Law Most common freebie found at your Class size: 175 school: Pizza Upper year compulsory courses: - Civ Pro Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, - Admin - Corporate - Two of: Evidence, Trusts, or conservative wingnuts? Compared and Income Tax to Rodney, bleeding heart lefties Fave lunch spot: The Spoke Relationship with the Locals is: Great! 2 Pub night is: Wednesday (Dennings) and they Keggers already and 0 cops are: messy (currently suffering...)

Biggest rival school: U of C On that note, classmate hook ups are: If your school was a drink, it'd be a: c) incestuous Caribou Lou Maps are called: Summaries Fun fact: U of A will win the Western Canadian Is your school more Suits, or Law & Law Rugby Championships this year Order? The Breakfast Club?

Most common freebie found at your Mike from University school: Highlighters and Post-Its of Saskatchewan Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or Class size: 120 in first year, 110-ish by third conservative wingnuts? Loveable scholars. year (Sasky winters = survival of the fittest) Relationship with the Locals is: a) non-existent Upper year compulsory courses: The Biggest rival school: Queen's Class of 2014 was the last year not to have If your school was a drink, it'd be: Jägerbombs. any compulsory courses. Students now have Fun fact: Every season is shorts season for one three compulsory courses—Admin Law, of our profs Professional Responsibility, and one of either Business Organizations I, Fiduciary ObligaBrendan from Osgoode Hall tions, or Trusts.

Class Size: 290 Fave lunch spot: Marquis Hall (Buffeteria) Upper year compulsory courses: no Pub night is: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays compulsory courses in 2L or 3L, but all Osgoode and Saturdays. students must complete at least 40 hours of On that note, classmate hook ups are: supervised volunteer legal work in order to graduate b) common Fave lunch spot: The Osgoode Bistro Maps are called: CANS (featuring Chef Rodolfo) Is your school more Suits, or Law & Pub night is: Thursday and is: still worth it Order? Breaker High on Friday morning at 8:30.

Most common freebie found at your On that note, classmate hook ups are: school: Snow b) common Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or Is your school more Suits, or Law & conservative wingnuts? The cons are the Order? SUITS. most vocal but there are probably more lefties.

Most common freebie found at your Relationship with the Locals is: We're law school: leftover Pizza students, everyone loves us right?

Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or Biggest rival school: Western conservative wingnuts? They run the If your school was a drink, it'd be a: Pilsner gamut. But you're always in for a treat.

Fun fact: The etched tractor fender of Cecil Relationship with the locals is: What locals?

George Harris—his last will and testament— Biggest rival school: That other school is on display in our Law Library across town.

If your school was a drink, it'd be a: Matt and Miguel from Windsor Law caesar, extra spicy.

Class size: 150 JDs, and 50 Dual JDs Fun fact: Osgoode's joint JD/MBA program Upper year compulsory courses: Civil with the Schulich School of Business was Procedure and Torts (We take Access to Justice established in 1972 and is the oldest in Canada. in L1 instead of Torts) Fave lunch spot: Subway (Sub of the Day) Pub night is: Thursday and often results in ‘Tim’ from Queen’s a story or two that will keep the gossip mill Class size: 165 running until next week’s pub night.

Upper year compulsory courses: civ pro, On that note, classmate hook ups are: bus ass, professional responsibility consciously avoided but constantly occurring.

Fave lunch spot: greezy fry truck outside of

the student centre Pub night is: Thursday and is: costumed and saucy On that note, classmate hook ups are: b) common Maps are called: outlines Most common freebie found at your school: pizza for SURE Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? I would say there is a nice balance among the ideologues and then a good portion of profs who succeed in hiding their ideology from their teaching and just give us the straight goods Relationship with the Locals is: nonexistent Biggest rival school: our own neurotic self-consciousness If your school was a drink, it'd be: cheap Fun fact: people here actually enjoy being here

4 Upper Years from Ottawa U Class size: Approximately 280 (English Common Law) Upper year compulsory courses: Con law 2, Civil Procedure, Admin and Business Organizations (starting with the Class of 2015), a Major Research Paper, and an oral advocacy requirement Fave lunch spot: Father and Sons Pub night is: Wednesday and involves cold drinks and a microphone On that note, classmate hook ups are: b) common Maps are called: Summaries Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order? Law and Order because we look good and we don’t need to wear suits for that.

Most common freebie found at your school: Pizza and cubes of cheese Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? Something in the middle Relationship with the Locals is: Locals?

Biggest rival school: Every other school with normal class sizes If your school was a drink, it'd be a: Thunder Mug Fun fact: We are a bilingual law school with both civil and common law programs

Courtney from Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University Class size: Ranges between 155 - 190.

Upper year compulsory courses: Constitutional Law and Civ Pro in second year, then Professional Responsibility in third year.

Fave lunch spot: Grawood, the campus pub.

Pub night is: Thursday and it is sloppy.

On that note, classmate hook ups are: c) incestuous Maps are called: CANs, or Battle CANs if they are really condensed.

Is your school more Suits, or Law & Order?

Suits (one of our students was actually in Suits...).

Most common freebie found at your school: Pizza—every Wednesday we have a guest speaker, and sometimes the only way to get people to go is to entice them with pizza...

Profs: more at bleeding heart lefties, or conservative wingnuts? Definitely bleeding heart lefties.

Biggest rival school: Dal does not have one—we're too far away from everyone L If your school was a drink, it'd be a: Mojito because it is mostly awesome but once in a while you will get a gross minty leaf in your straw (weird people, bad profs, bad class scheduling, etc).

Fun fact: Dalhousie was the first law school in Canada and we had the first African-Canadian law graduate.

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FEATURES

ultravires.ca

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 7

Transition UTSU: The Union That Space Doesn’t Serve You ALEXANDER CARMONA (1L)

BEN SHARMA (4L)

A

Dear Class of 2016:

s I strolled through the Victoria University campus on my first real day of law school, I was struck by the historical gravitas of the place. I was walking the halls that had housed the education of some of the greatest men and women in the Canadian legal and political landscape. Maybe I would share the same favourite study spot in Old Vic as Chief Justice-to-be Bora Laskin when she was a student. Or find John A. Tory’s name carved into a table at the Birge-Carnegie library (no doubt created while reading a particularly dry LPPE case). Maybe I would end up with the same locker as Paul Martin!

Then I bumped into a confused-looking arts student still wearing a lanyard and his neon-yellow frosh week t-shirt and remembered the truth.

I am a Transition Space Native.

I will never know what exactly the Pit was, or understand whatever it was that makes upper years all sigh loudly whenever anyone mentions the toilets in the old buildings. Something about them not flushing? No one really explained it to me. Oh well.

[Editor’s Note: There was once a place in the old buildings called “Friendship Cove”, and its destruction has produced a lament of such sorrow that a thousand articling students weeping for a thousand years cannot match. This simple 1L cannot possibly comprehend the surreal beauty and genuine fraternity of Friendship Cove—and the eternal mourning that follows its demise.]

During Orientation Week, I often heard upper years lamenting the loss of the old law school buildings to the ever-encroaching march of progress. Much of what I heard likened being housed in the old buildings to being back in high school. Seeing as I was an unabashed nerd throughout my formative years, though, the comparison is somewhat lost on me.

As I sit here writing this with my whopping one week of law school experience, it’s hard for me to really think badly of my new home. Instead of being hot, uncomfortable and stressed in one gorgeous old building, I’ve made my peace with being boiling, discomforted and mentally exhausted in another a few hundred meters away. And maybe I’m just saying this because I only graduated from Classics a few months ago, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to bolster the relationship between us law students and the arts undergrads here at U of T. After all, some of them are likely to become U of T Law students themselves once they realize the philosophy mines aren’t hiring like they used to.

Then again, they’ll probably get to move right in to the brand new building. Lucky bastards.

I guess I should be thankful that I’ll at get to spend my 3L year in the new building, though. After all, construction projects always finish on time, right?

Welcome to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law! I’m sure that some kind upper-year students have pointed out to you that the Transition Space is actually much nicer than the facilities we had to put up with in Flavelle House, where the professors’ offices are very nice but the classrooms left much to be desired.

(It’s nicer provided that you have a laptop battery that can last a few hours, of course!)

Institutional knowledge and memories sometimes do not descend too well in professional schools, as people seem to leave just as they have become used to being there. This is a good thing in some ways—memories of the awfulness of the Moot Court Room will vanish among U of T law students— but it is a bad thing in other ways. One of which is the subject of this column.

Law students at the University of Toronto are charged for membership in two student organizations: the Students’ Law Society (SLS), and the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU). Outright fees to each of them are approximately $70 per student, per organization, per year.

Most law school clubs, by operation of UTSU’s policies, are not eligible for funding. Most law students do not use UTSU’s services, aside from the supplementary insurance. (That supplementary insurance premium, a separate charge from the $70 mentioned above, can actually be bargained down to a better rate elsewhere—the Graduate Student Union has done this, as has the engineering students’ organization.) Furthermore, UTSU’s agenda is somewhat different from that of the students of a professional school.

The SLS spends its budget on student gatherings, on various student clubs’ guest speakers, and on extras for student life. Every last cent is budgeted for, and I can attest from three years’ service on the Social Affairs side that it runs a surplus every year. (Some allotted money always goes unspent.) Each club, political or not, has access to funding on an equal footing, with clear policies guiding its allotment. UTSU, by contrast, has had spending scandals in previous years. It engages in political activism that is not typical campus fare—when this writer was a 1L, at their “Xpression Against Oppression Week”, the honoured keynote speakers were Angela Davis (famous for her time on America’s Ten Most Wanted list, and then for her Communist activism) and Ward Churchill (faux Aboriginal activist who lost his tenured position over credentials inflation, who called the 9/11 victims “little Eichmanns”). “Israeli Apartheid Week” is another of the campus events they proudly endorse, and spon-

What Should You Look For in a Career?

ROBIN MCNAMARA (3L)

S

ome of you will think this article makes an obvious point.

You have thought about your career goals for years, researched the implications of each legal specialization, and decided you want to be an international tax lawyer. Your name is Robert Santia.

But the truth is that many of us are not always conscious about where we are heading. I know I wasn’t. Before and during law school, I worked hard to get good grades and build up my resume, spending relatively little time to consider where it all was leading.

I came to law school in large part because I thought it was a way for me to keep my doors open. I had an interest in public policy and social justice but I was also interested in business… and international affairs… and basically every other practice area. I could take classes here for 10 years without exhausting the courses that interest me. Before coming to law school, I scanned the course list and looked at some of the fascinating and diverse things that U of T law grads are doing, and I thought, “Wow, I can pursue all of my interests!”

You can’t keep all those doors open. Don’t kid yourself. Sure,

everyone has to take the same courses in first year, but in 1L you will begin to form an identity in law school through the extracurricular organizations and activities you join. The upper-year classes you take in 2L, and your 1L summer placement will further narrow your focus. And once you decide where you will article, even if you decide to work in a full-service firm as I have, your career path will begin to solidify.

There are certain points in life that cry out for you to take stock of where you have been and where you want to go. That is not to say that re-examination is not possible or important at other times as well; people routinely quit their jobs in order to move their career in a new direction. But it’s hard. Your life has a momentum pushing you to continue on your current path. Your friends and colleagues are probably in the same industry as you or at least share your core beliefs, and your existing work experience and education is lining you up for a certain career.

The first two years of law school up until you accept an articling offer provide a special opportunity to shift the direction of

sor with your money.

Constituent members have tried to escape UTSU—60% of Trinity College students voting in a referendum on UTSU membership desired to leave it, and UTSU ignored the results.

At an Annual General Meeting of students on the St. George campus, a majority voted to allow online voting—intended to increase student turnout, which had fallen to 10% in UTSU’s elections. UTSU ignored the Annual General Meeting vote.

The executive of the Graduate Student Union felt compelled after that to post a letter on the GSU website, distancing itself from UTSU’s democratic irregularities.

But I digress. UTSU is what it is—an organization for undergraduates, which does undergraduate things in a rather corrupt fashion. They are on a different page from law students, and it is frankly not right that each of us should have to subsidize their activism by $70 per annum.

But that brings us back to institutional memory. How UTSU survives is that it takes law students a couple of years to realize what they truly are, and how useless they truly are for law students. And by that time, the money taken is gone, and there is only a little left to be taken in the final year. Most of us think—“well, I’ve got better things to do with my time.” And so the cycle goes on.

So this is my challenge for members of the Class of 2016: find out for yourselves the sort of organization that UTSU is, and challenge members of the SLS executive to act, to redefine our relationship with this corrupt student union. SLS President Brendan Stevens and SLS Vice-President (STAG) Peter Flynn (good men and fine student officers, both) know precisely what UTSU is, but they are awfully busy with all the other assorted issues raised by the transition—freeing us and our student fees from UTSU, given that the fees become sunk costs at the start of each year, falls down the priority list.

If you come to agree with me on UTSU’s relevance (or lack thereof ) to law students, and want to save yourself $140-$150 over the next two years, ask Brendan and Peter to take up the UTSU issue.

Harass them until they do—as members of the SLS executive, they work for you. Unlike the UTSU executive.

your life and career. Your personal story can always be changed, but the beginning of law school is an easier time to pull it in a new direction (if you decide that is what you want to do). Mashed together in that 1L class are future criminal attorneys, business executives, journalists and politicians. And at the beginning it is very tough to tell what field each student will choose.

Considering what path you want to take can be a daunting proposition, and it is easy to push it aside and work on your contracts paper instead. The best advice I received during 1L was by a guy named Daniel Debow who said that you should think of deciding on your career path as an extra class. I ignored that advice for the most part—narrowing my career preferences fell somewhere in between beating Zain in tennis and trying to watch every Owen Wilson movie (both unfulfilled ambitions at this point)—but I wish I had taken it more seriously from the beginning.

The good news is that, as with most of life’s problems, lots of smart people have struggled with this question before and written books on the subject. Daniel Pink (who is an ex-lawyer) says that the keys to intrinsically motivating work are autonomy, mastery and purpose. You should seek out work environments that allow you to have some measure of self-direction, let you improve at something that’s important and give you a sense that you are serving a meaningful purpose beyond yourself.

It’s also reassuring to know that you have access to a huge network of U of T alumni, many of whom are engaged in fulfilling work and will be more than willing to talk to you about it.

Everyone who goes to this school has an immense amount of talent; we are told that on day one. It would be great if we spent a little more time deciding how to use it.

FEATURES

8 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

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The Definitive Guide to 1L Getting the most out of law school PALOMA VAN GROLL (2L) & PATRICK HARTFORD (4L)

“All of this has happened before… but it doesn’t have to happen again” BREAKING THE CYCLE 1L is always a stressful year, but it doesn’t have to be. Typically it goes something like this: a new cohort arrives and everyone is excited and a little terrified. Some of your classmates have won prestigious scholarships and some went to better schools than you did. And everyone seems so smart and on top of things. You don’t want to be the ‘dumb one’.

So everyone starts the year off intensely— reading their cases closely, taking detailed notes, joining at least one journal. Once in a while the school puts on an academic seminar that manages to stress everyone out. Everyone stays on top of their readings for a while. Then small-group assignments set you back. Then you have to do all those citation checks for that journal you signed up for. Then you get a cold. Then people panic about December exams because firms look at those grades for 1L jobs.

When second semester comes around and there are a lot more readings, no one even pretends to do them all. A few people get 1L jobs, but the vast majority don’t. Everyone does their best to get through the term, but more people rely on shared notes, old summaries, etc. Blink and it’s April exams. Blink again and you’re done 1L. When you return as a 2L, you’ll look at the incoming 1Ls and see your own anxieties in them. You’ll tell them not to freak out, but they won’t believe you—and who’s to blame them?

It’s hard not to freak out when everyone else is.

So this is why we made the Definitive Guide to 1L. It’s an attempt to tell you how your year will play out, and to explain the important, yet surprisingly limited, role grades will play. It was also a way for me to work a gratuitous BSG quote into a UV article.

Key Fact # 1: Grades are a means to an end!

They are not measures of your self-worth, and no, that’s not just something that people with poor grades tell themselves to feel better. If you really want to work on Bay St, average grades will get you OCI interviews. If you want to clerk for the Supreme Court, you’ll need to be at the upper end of your year. If you’re not sure what you want to do, try your best and then see what options are open!

Key Fact # 2: Law firms want you to be socially presentable to clients. Grades will help you get interviews, but after that it’s up to your interview skills. If you really want to work on Bay St, you’re better off with average grades and good small-talk skills than you are with all HHs.

Key Fact #3: Nobody fails. Seriously. Ask around. The worst you’ll get is a few LP’s (and even people with LPs go on to work at great firms!)

Key Fact #4: No one cares what extracurricular activities you did, they want to hear that you engaged in activities you liked and maybe learned something from the experience. You checked some citations for law review? Sounds exciting. No firm will be impressed by that. The point here isn’t that journals are bad, it’s that you should only do extracurriculars you might actually enjoy.

STUDYING

O-week

January classes begin

First two weeks of school there will be a meeting about different extracurriculars at every single lunch inducing you to believe that you have to do a million extracurriculars

January— applying to jobs (Firms and IHRP things)

The most work

A big part of law school (for some…er...most).

Studying methods are incredibly personal and if you know what works for you, you should stick with it. That means if you know someone is spending 14 hours a day in the library, don’t feel bad— they may just need more time than you, you, the smart person who can just read a case from the 1800s once and easily boil it down into a 1-line ratio. Man, you’re smart. Anyway, two things to keep in mind are that the faculty offers academic support that is free and confidential, and that the SLS organizes student study groups, where students are matched with others of similar studying styles to bounce ideas off each other and talk over practice exams together. If you don’t form your own groups, consider taking part in these.

The reality of grading is that most people end up with a mix of Passes (P) and Honours (H). That will get you lots of job interviews. You should think backwards from what doors you want to keep open. If you want to clerk at the SCC you will probably need very high marks.

Getting interviews for New York law firms will also require decent marks, but not as high as clerking.

How much independent work you need to do

TIMELINE

will also really depend on your professor - some profs kind of ramble around during lecture but expect you to read and know every case anyway, so in that case you have to do more independent work. Other profs make amazing slides that summarize what they think is important about the case, which will be better than any summary you could make yourself. I don’t want to say December exams are a rude awakening, but they are certainly the most effective way to discover if what you’re doing is working or not.

Even in just studying for December will you realize what’s important and what’s not. And we can’t over emphasize enough how important it is to do practice exams. Also feel free to reach out to upper year students if you have any questions at all. I think it’s fair to say that upper year law students are the most keen-to-impart-advice people I’ve ever met.

• Do all readings using the highlighter method, • Go to all classes and take detailed notes, • Make notes/summaries of all readings and including your class notes, • Make maps from those summaries, etc etc, • Do practice exams that are online • Go rooting around in the basement of the library and do every single practice exam • Hash over the exams in study groups

Less work

• Do readings • Go to class • Use upper year summaries for studying, using what your prof focuses on in class as a guide • Do practice exams on your own, then take them up with a study group

Even less work

• Do no readings yourself, but • Read upper year summaries • Show up to class to see what the prof focuses on • Do practice exams

No work

• Don’t read • Don’t go to class • ...Fail law school (unless you’re a genius, in which case, why are you wasting your time and money with law school)

DO’S & DON’TS Do’s • Use the first term to find a study-method that works for you. Some people focus on the readings, others focus on class. Some people study in groups, others solo. December exams don’t count, so see what works.

• Go to at least a few pub nights. 1Ls start the year trying to seem professional, but that dis appears by around the Halloween Party.

• Pursue a couple extracurriculars that look interesting and fun. Could be DLS, could be Law Follies, could be anything. Try it because you want to, not because you think you should.

• Practice exams. Write them on your own (to test your map), and then meet up with friends to compare answers. Your friends will have spotted issues you missed, and you’ll remember those during the exam. Writing the exam independently first ensures that you’ll actually get something done.

• After December exams, go over your answers with your professors during office hours. They will likely have some helpful tips for April.

Don’ts • Treat class time like office hours. It’s fine to ask a couple questions, but if your hand is always up, you might be getting on people’s nerves.

• Over-analyze your cases. A 20 page case might boil down to one rule. Know the facts, so you can recognize similar facts on exams, and focus on how the cases fit together.

• Worry about doing ALL the readings.

• Overcommit. You can do still Law Review and/or DLS for credit in upper years (even if you didn’t do them during 1L) • Join a journal because everyone else is doing it.

Do it because it looks interesting.

• Worry about 1L hiring. Participate if you’re interested, but don’t stress about it. There are so many good ways to spend your 1L summer (from traveling to RA’ing to Netflix) • Date someone from your small group. Just don’t.

Basic outline of what the next year of your life is going to look like:

The weird vibe of the first couple months

Sinking realization that readings have doubled and classes are longer

Thanksgiving

Halloween Party—people put effort into their costumes. It's fun. Examples of previous creative costumes? Last year: a brick house, ‘Your Greatest Fear’ live chalkboard, OCIs

Realization that second semester has much better vibes now that december exams have passed and people are calmer

Follies

Applying to IHRP—start researching/ contacting organizations

Reading week (used to be Ethics week!

1Ls are LUCKY this year)

Reading week (includes 1L Law ball firm interviews for a select few, while the rest of the class spends the week working on the admin paper)

April Exams

December exams Winter break

FREEDOM

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FEATURES

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 9

EXTRACURRICULARS

T

here are so many options for extracurriculars at the law school. Some people choose to do none, while others seem to be doing everything. We suggest picking somewhere between 0 and 3 extracurriculars that you really want to do. It’s way better to do a really good job in one or two things, than do a mediocre job in five things. Also realize that you have two more years to try out different clinics and participate in journals (etc), you don’t have to do everything in 1L. Here is a rough outline of some of the kinds of things that you might want to get involved with this year. It’s impossible to be exhaustive about the opportunities that are out there—this is just a brief overview. There are a lot of one-off experiences that you might want to look into, like the ADR competition in October, or the mini Mooting competition in March. Certain professors also hire Teaching Assistants, which is a great way to get to know a prof. Whatever you do, make sure you’re doing it because you’re really interested, otherwise, honestly, it’s a waste of time. And trust us, we know how little time you 1Ls have to waste.

Journals Options: JILIR, Law Review, Law and Equality, Indigenous Law Journal, The work: One part of your job is reading around four to five 30-90 page papers, making comments on the strength of the paper’s idea, writing, and research (this is called “carriage”), and then discussing them in a group. Then, when a paper is chosen to be published, you will be assigned a handful of citations from that paper and have to make sure they are correctly formatted.

Why do it? People sometimes think that law review looks good if applying to New York firms, as Law Review is a huge deal down there, but most interviewers are Canadian and know its a joke here. However, there have been cases of New York interviewers grilling students about their experience on law review; it’s rare, but it has happened. This is even more true for Toronto firms—they will most likely not be asking you about your 1L law review experience. But, to quote an overalls-wearing, bucket-peeing, Clinton-bashing Canadian pop star, “never say never.” Also, it’s great if you want to practice doing McGill Citations. It’s super great for that.

If you’re not sure about joining a journal this year, you will still be able to apply to be a senior editor without ever having done it in 1L. However, upper years on journals do really appreciate the work that the 1Ls do, and the more 1Ls that sign up for a journal, the less amount of work it is for you overall as it gets spread around to more people.

Clinics Options: Artists Legal Advice Service (ALAS), Downtown Legal Services (DLS), Advocates for Injured Workers (AIW), David Asper Centre, Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) The work: Is extremely varied depending on which clinic you are working at. But generally speaking, clinics are geared to give you more practical legal experience—instead of doing legal research and writing for lofty academic purpose during law school, it will be for a very real and specific purpose. Sometimes even for a real live client.

Why do it? Often the most sought-after positions, clinics are attractive to law students because they get to develop actual legal skills that they will hopefully use and build upon on their careers. It also can be great for in interviews, as a way to demonstrate skills in legal research, writing and advocacy. Don’t worry if you don’t get accepted to a clinic in 1L, there are plenty of opportunities to do them in upper years, including doing them full- or part-time for credit.

Since the work is so variable, we asked current 2Ls to explain their 1L clinic experiences last year: Artist Legal Advice Service: “At ALAS you spend part of your shift booking appointments for future shifts, and the rest of the time you get to listen to a lawyer give artists legal ad-

vice, which is actually really cool. A lot of the lawyers care that this is a learning experience for the students. They look to you to make sure you understand the advice that is being given. You only have to do two shifts each semester, so it’s a really doable time commitment”—Alanna Tevel AIW: “I was given two clients, and was effectively their lawyer for the year.

These are people who had some kind of workplace injury and are seeking remuneration for their loss. There is one training session and then you’re given the file and told to ‘go,’ which can be great as you learn as you go along, but of course is challenging. The supervising lawyers are incredibly supportive and have to sign off on every single document you write, so you don’t have to worry about making any irreversible errors for your clients. It’s 3 hours a week, sometimes more if there is a hearing or something big coming up.”—Paloma van Groll

was typically in consultation rooms assisting a family court support worker while conducting intake interviews or holding appointments with female victims of domestic violence. The services we offered included advocating for clients with Legal Aid Ontario, connecting clients to the appropriate counseling services, and assisting clients with paperwork and next steps in the family law process. My placement offered tons of experience in a client-facing role and I found it to be incredibly meaningful work.”—Sam Greer “I worked for Justice for Children. My project involved blogging about situations and legal consequences regarding issues prevalent in the lives of children and youth. I led monthly meetings with the public legal education team to facilitate projects that educate youth on their legal rights. The time commitment was once a week for about 3 hours, but I could sometimes do the work from home which was great.”—Lauren Grossman

David Asper: “The Asper Centre’s Privacy Working group last year was a great way to develop the substantive legal skills we learned in Research and Writing Class. I even got the chance to do some work in French because some of the lower court precedents from Quebec were not translated. Writing the final memo was my first experience working with a large team to tackle a major legal issue, which was great practice for the collaborative work environment you will get in a firm. The workload was very manageable (15 hours per semester), and the deadlines were projected well enough in advance that I was able to fit it all in despite being involved in a number of other extracurriculars.”—Leah Sheriff

“The PBSC McCarthy Tetrault Internship is a great opportunity to work with a large full service firm on Bay Street. Each student is assigned one or two projects per semester depending on the pro bono work McCarthys is involved with and the topics of the projects can range from immigration to bankruptcy. Time commitment for the projects is approximately 3 hours a week. Students also get the opportunity to attend Continuing Legal Education luncheon sessions at McCarthys with their articling students and other firm events where students can meet and talk to lawyers. I worked on three projects last year. I wrote two research memos for immigration cases and researched bankruptcy case law for a lawyer.”—Andrew Chan

DLS: “Your once a week 1hr-long phone intake shifts are a great way to wet your feet dealing with clients. Once second term rolls around, you are able to take on a client, either by yourself or with a partner. It’s really exciting to work on your own file, which makes the added workload to an already loaded 1L schedule worth it. You research the case law and pertinent statutes and guidelines, and then make a recommendation to one of the supervising lawyers. I had the opportunity to go to a tribunal last year and that was an eye-opening experience.

It’s amazing to see the amount of people, every day, struggling with legal issues and many do not have the resources to give themselves a fair representation. It makes you realize the huge impact the legal system has on everyone. The bottom line: through DLS you get to see the law in action and give legal advice without even finishing one year of law school.”—Marita Zouravlioff

Clubs

PBSC is more of an umbrella organization that serves as an organizer for lots of different types of clinics and projects. Here are some examples of projects that 1Ls last year did:

Women and the Law: “In my first year, Women & the Law presented opportunities to network with practicing women lawyers at varying stages of call, hear from academics and practitioners on issues that I am likely to face as a woman in the profession, and most im-

Barbra Schlifer Clinic: “I applied through PBSC at the beginning of 1L. I was involved with the clinic's Family Court Support Program, which allowed me to spend 4-8 hours per week at Toronto family courts. I

Clubs are great if you have a specific interest that you want to maintain, or explore, while in law school. Since clubs tend to organize events and speaker panels, they’re a great way to meet actual lawyers and people who are practicing in a field that is interesting to you.

Business Law Society: “The Business Law Society is your portal from law school to the world of corporate and commercial legal practice.

Events held throughout the year provide students with meaningful interaction with the legal profession, including firm tours, business law workshops, and discussion panels.

Last year, BLS was proud to host its first-ever contract drafting competition, which allowed students to get hands-on experience and build a foundational understanding of what transactional lawyers do.”—Scott Ma

portantly, get to know the women in my year and upper years in a warm, open environment. This year, the exec hopes to grow this community through social events like a pre-pub night hangout, career advancement programming such as speed mentoring and tours at firms, and diverse panels discussing issues affecting women in the law.”

—Elizabeth Kagedan UV: Shameless UV plug alert: writing and editing for this extremely prestigious and serious newspaper is a ton of fun, and it is great for keeping you up-to-date with the goings-on at the law school. It’s also good for keeping your concise writing skills sharp while you spend the rest of your time briefing cases in 1L. If you’re don’t want to be an editor, consider submitting articles at any time! We’ll be publishing the article ideas we’d like to see written in each issue, but you can also pitch ideas to us.

Law games: I asked a two-time Law Gameer, how would you describe Law Games in 100 words or less? She replied “The best thing ever.

Is four words enough?” Every year, law schools across Canada send their best and brightest (or at least their best at drinking and brightest at sporting) to a different location around the country (this year it’s MONTREAL so get excited!), to play sports during the day and party at night as a competition. It happens the weekend before second semester starts so you literally have not a reading in the world, so no excuses.

It’s also a great way, as a 1L, to meet upper year students who probably have the same values as you (ie they like to have fun, just like you!).

Law Follies: The annual law school sketch comedy show is one of the highlights of the year. Law students get together to write sketches, musical numbers, and make promotional videos. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people in the upper years, and it never feels like work. Some people have a background in comedy or acting, others are just getting involved for the first time. It’s an amazing mix of students coming together to make fun of how bizarre the legal world can be.

The Work: As much or as little as you’d like. You can write, act, direct, edit, or offer tech support.

Most of the rehearsals happen during lunch hours in January, then the show is one night in February before reading week. If you’re interested, or even just curious, contact Jules Monteyne (3L).

Intramurals: There is really no explanation needed for intramurals. Pick a sport, join the team, and relish the chance to play sports and blow off a little steam after class. Chances are you’ll become friends with people you might otherwise not have known, and maybe even win a sweet free t-shirt if your team comes up on top.

SLS: As this is printed, 1L SLS elections will already have taken place. However, we had one of last year’s 1L SLS rep’s recount his experience anyway, maybe to let the 1L reps, now elected, know what they’re in for: “I had an amazing time as a 1L SLS representative on the Student Affairs and Governance side last year! It was a good way to meet and help represent different student groups throughout the year, as well as become more involved in the student community at U of T Law. During the year, I sat on the Financial Aid & Tuition as well as Library & Technology committees where student representatives were able to have a significant influence on a near-daily basis. Being on the SLS is definitely a major time commitment for students in 1L—but it is worth it given the influence you can have on decisions at the school and the great people you get to work with on a daily basis!"—Aaron Hunt (2L)

10 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

1L SUMMER Possible things to do after 1L summer, and when to start thinking about it. The examples from students here are not exhaustive, just illustrations of possibilities.

1L firm jobs There is a 1L recruitment process which you will be made aware of in January. You will apply online and then interviews are during reading week. Benefits to applying now and getting a job for the summer is you don’t have to worry about OCIs in the fall. The drawback is that only a handful of firms do 1L recruiting, so you don’t get as much exposure to the firms and might get stuck working at a firm when perhaps your OTF is still out there (One True Firm).

FEATURES/OPINIONS funding pots of money such as the Donner you can receive with or without it. However, you can still do an IHRP internship or be set up with an organization through the IHRP (they have amazing contacts!) without receiving the bursary.

One thing to keep in mind is that you should really start thinking about this in the fall. These are bunch of information meetings run by the IHRP that help you keep on track. Competitive internships at places like the UN and ICC have earlier application deadlines than other smaller NGOs. Here are two examples of internships from this past summer:

IHRP and similar internships

“I completed a fifteen week IHRP-funded internship at the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. I worked in the Immediate Office of the Prosecutor, acting as a legal assistant to the Madam Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Typical assignments included: drafting official correspondence, drafting executive directions to the trial and investigation teams and participating in executive meetings.

These strategic meetings were fascinating; I was in a position to witness high-level discussions on the issues of the day including overseas investigations, trial strategy, witness handling, legal argumentation and international relations. One of my most memorable tasks was to write a speech for the Madam Prosecutor. The other half of my time, I spent with Senior Appeals Counsel drafting legal research memos. This research was eventually incorporating into actual filings in the Gbagbo (Côte d’Ivoire), Gaddafi & Al-Senussi (Libya) and Ngudjolo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) cases which involve alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, or both. I also got to attend many interesting hearings and guest lectures.”—Drew Beesley (2L)

IHRP internships allow you to essentially pick any organization you want—in the world—as long as it is somewhat legal and human rights related, and the IHRP will fund your expenses for the duration of the summer. The downside is you won’t likely leave the summer with any savings.

For an IHRP internship, you can only get funding if you are receiving financial aid, whereas other

“I had the incredible opportunity to participate in an IHRP internship at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Sri Lanka. While I was there I worked on submissions for major human rights cases which I later saw argued before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and I co-wrote a policy brief criticizing the Govern-ment’s illegal land acquis-

“I spent my summer trying to apply the obscure 18th century British law that I picked up in 1L to today’s corporate law environment. While I did not get to argue human rights cases overseas or hang out in Europe like my pals, I did get to see the ups and downs of working in Big Law. The result? I absolutely loved it (and am now the least interesting hipster in the West end). I was included in some big acquisitions, got in on client negotiations and tried my hand at drafting. Our student crew also became super close through some legendary social events.

For those applying in 1L, do not be afraid to reach out early to 2Ls who went through the 1L hiring process—we want to help you succeed.”—Elliot Pobjoy ( 2L and hipster wannabe)

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ition practices. I also had the chance to conduct comparative international law research and engage in work with many of the human rights issues currently facing the population there including the disintegration of the rule of law, the lack of freedom of press, and the mounting religious and ethnic tensions.”—Dharsha Jegatheeswaran (2L)

tice: from client meetings, to research, to negotiating with opposing counsel, drafting court materials, attending case conferences, and making submissions before a judge. My peers and I also had weekly shifts on the intake line, and conducted satellite clinics at community partners. I loved working at DLS because it acquainted me with the immense need of underprivileged populations in Toronto for legal services, and connected me with a community of people passionate about working in the public interest.”—Ilana Arje (2L)

Clinics

Research Assistant

A lot of the clinics that run programs for U of T students during the year also hire students for the summer. The applications tend to begin in January on utlawcareers.ca, but you will receive emails reminding you closer to the date. Here are two examples of students who spent their summer at a clinic: AIW: “In the summer, AIW hires eight U of T students from those that volunteered there in the year.

Caseworkers take on approximately 15 client files (in comparison with three files during the school year) that they manage throughout the summer. The work involves communicating with clients, drafting written submissions, and leading oral hearings in front of adjudicators. It’s a great place to improve your legal writing as the lawyers are sticklers for perfect written submissions (typography included). Plus, as a bonus, students get three weeks paid vacation!”—Eryn Fanjoy (2L) DLS:“This summer, I, along with 15 other U of T law students worked at DLS. I worked in the family law division, providing legal services to clients on issues of child custody, access, and support. I received training in the substantive and procedural areas of family law, and worked closely with review counsel and peers, managing client files. My work included all aspects of prac-

To become an RA, apply through utlawcareers in late February/early March. Some professors will also just email the student body directly, soliciting work. Again, this is a great way to get to know a professor, and sometimes you can continue work for that professor into the next year.

“My experience working as a Research Assistant this past summer was interesting and fulfilling. My research focused on public international law and I assisted specifically with matters concerning the governance of cyberspace, the use of force and international environmental law.

I helped Professor Brunnee revise a textbook chapter, format a paper for publication, and prepare a talk at a conference. Moreover, I had a flexible schedule that allowed me to comfortably work on OCI applications, and travel overseas.

I would highly recommend working as an RA.” —Ryan Tinney (2L)

Traveling and fun!

If you feel burnt out after your first year of law school, do not despair. It’s normal. Summer of 1L is a great time to explore Toronto or travel, and even go to the gym! Just make sure that whatever you do, you’re doing something. Whether its travel, volunteering, going back to your old nonlaw related job, or some other great fourth thing that we aren’t creative enough to think about!

You just don’t want to have nothing to say when potential employers ask you what you did with your 1L summer.

Québec’s Proposed Charter is one of Intolerance, not of Liberal Values LOUIS TSILIVIS (3L)

A

s debate over the proposed charter of Québec values—which would, inter alia, ban overt religious clothing—continues, let me make one thing clear: this charter’s values are not liberal values. They are the values of one particular culture (pure laine Roman Catholics) that wants to give its own religious history a place of state-recognized privilege and that refuses to make reasonable accommodations for other faiths. This is a charter of ethno-nationalism and intolerance.

Defending the charter in the Globe and Mail, Daniel Turp—the Université de Montréal law professor and former Bloc MP and Parti Québécois MNA—says the province’s proposed ban on conspicuous religious symbols is designed to “achieve the objective of organizing the state around the principle of secularism and, more specifically, to outline the principles of religious neutrality, separation of religion and state and the secular nature of its institutions”.

However, Turp’s claim that the proposed charter advances secularism and religious neutrality is both wrong-headed and disingenuous.

Secularism is both having a government free from religious interference and religion free of government interference. Yet it is unclear how

public servants wearing religious clothing, exercising their own religious freedom and following what they believe is required of them by their conscience, necessarily means that faith is interfering with government affairs. If a Sikh police officer wears a turban while following all state policies and guidelines and acts fairly and non-discriminatorily towards all members of the public, then his religion is not interfering at all with the functioning of government.

On the contrary, the proposed ban actually serves to undermine secularism, insofar as the government will be forcing certain people of faith to either eschew their conscience-mandated religious requirements or to forego their state employment. A Sikh man who sincerely believes that his faith requires him to wear a turban or a Muslim woman whose conscience compels her to wear a hijab in public are hit particularly hard and in a way that Roman Catholic Québécois are not.

Yet the limitation on religious freedom is not discriminatory and is actually minimal, Turp says, because it only affects “conspicuous” religious clothing and because “discreet religious symbols would not be affected by [the] proposal”. But individuals of faith are different and have different re-

ligious requirements, and certain articles of reli- Speaker’s chair in Québec’s National Assembly— gious clothing cannot be interchanged with a first added to the legislature by the deeply Ronecklace or a pendant. For a significant number of man Catholic and xenophobic Union Nationale Muslim women, wearing hijab is not simply a pub- government—would be untouched. In the words lic display of devotion to Islam that can be replaced of Bernard Drainville, the provincial minister rewith a more discreet symbol; it is the way to fulfill sponsible for the proposed charter, the crucifix is conscience-mandated requirements of modesty. “part of Québec culture”.

The Marois government’s pure laine goggles are In the proposed charter of Québec values, tinted by the stained glass of Roman Catholicism. “secularism” means treating the Roman Catholic The sort of religiously-mandated clothing worn by symbols of the province’s pure laine majority as many of Québec’s Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs are privileged public symbols, while religious minorvirtually unknown to province’s Roman Catholics. ities are marginalized and some are forced to Confining religious clothing to discreet symbols choose between their faith and their livelihoods. such as crucifixes leaves the vast majority of QuéGenuine secularism, however, is meant to bec’s Roman Catholics unaffected, while other reli- protect peoples of minority faiths and create a gious minorities face disproportionately unfair bur- civic space that is open to all citizens. dens and are further excluded from contemporary It is repugnant that pure laine Québecois—a Québec society. minority within Canada who have historically It is all the more cruel that the de facto dis- faced intolerance and exclusion from the councriminatory treatment toward certain minority try’s English-speaking Protestants—should seek religions is being perpetrated, ostensibly, for the to marginalize minority groups within Québec goal of “religious neutrality”. The péquistes’ al- who are fearful of losing their own culture. Franleged desire for secularism in the public sphere is cophone Québécois should reject the proposed blatantly insincere, as they support privileged charter and Pauline Marois’ vision of an intolerant exemptions for Roman Catholic symbols. Most Québec and stand up for genuinely liberal values. notably, the large crucifix that hangs above the

advance with confidence

OPINIONS

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If this sounds like you, please check us out at www.torys.com to learn more about us.

OPINIONS

12 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Tuition Vote “A Violation of Student Trust” Law students continue to combat high fees MARCUS MCCANN (3L)

F

ollowing three months of fragile progress on the tuition file, Governing Council voted to raise our tuition at a meeting with no input from law students, unannounced, in the middle of spring exam period.

Those who led opposition to high tuition at the Faculty of Law (including myself ) fired off a letter to Dean Mayo Moran complaining that the April 9 vote “contradicts the Faculty's commitment to transparent decision making surrounding tuition and financial aid and is a violation of student trust.”

Indeed, the timing couldn't have been more inflammatory. In February, students circulated a petition calling for the end of high annual tuition fee hikes and calling on the administration to deal with the growing gap between tuition and financial aid. Crucially, the petition called on the administration not to raise tuition until a plan is in place to address these concerns. More than 400 law students signed it. Alumni became involved. Ultra Vires dedicated an issue to the subject. Even the Globe and Mail ran an op-ed by student Sarah Rankin calling on the administration to deal with ballooning tuition.

In response, the Faculty of Law and the Dean's Office made a number of moves to ad-

dress student concerns. The Acting Dean, Anthony Duggan, met with the tuition dissidents in February. Shortly afterwards, the Faculty released a white paper, sketching (in very broad terms) where tuition dollars are spent. In late March, Alexis Archbold and Ben Alarie hosted a series of listening meetings with members of key student groups.

The Dean herself returned early from sabbatical to field questions from students during a town hall on March 4, perhaps the strongest indication yet that the administration was taking our concern seriously.

Each of the administration's actions—the white paper, the town hall, Alarie's slideshow at the listening meetings—were at least nominally designed to share information. Yet, it was so baldly dishonest. The administration was using the language of transparency and information-sharing in the very moment the university was gearing up to jack our fees, without notice or consultation.

Cynical students won't be surprised with the administration's behaviour. Universities across this country have a habit of voting to raise tuition when there are the fewest students on campus— either during the summer semester, or during

spring exams. Boards of governors also have a habit of doing it quietly, with as little fanfare as possible. But the point is, the Faculty of Law had promised forthright, honest dialogue, and in the same moment declined to tell us key information.

To be fair, students may have had a sneaking suspicion that the administration wasn't being totally forthright throughout last year.

After all, the white paper released by the Faculty in February was so full of generalizations and obfuscations that Peter Flynn and the Student Law Society generated a brick of a report detailing its failings. At the town hall, Dean Moran was evasive when asked tough questions, ultimately sticking close to her talking points. And Alarie's slides were so rickety, data-wise, that student questions largely focused on methodology, not the data's implications.

Our greatest success so far, of course, was only partly our doing. At the end of March, the Province of Ontario rejigged the ceiling on tuition hikes for both undergraduates and professional faculties like the Faculty of Law. Under the old formula, 1L tuition rose by 8 percent a year; under the new formula, 1L rose by 5 percent this

ultravires.ca July 19, 2013 Dear Dean Moran, As you know, earlier this year, more than 400 students called on the Faculty of Law to not raise tuition until a sustainable plan was adopted to reverse the growing gap between tuition and financial aid.

We are, therefore, surprised to discover that the Board of Governors raised tuition fees for students at the Faculty on April 9th. We are disappointed that no such plan was shared in advance, and that the approval of next year's tuition took place unannounced, during exam period.

Ultimately, the approval of these increases contradicts the Faculty's commitment to transparent decision making surrounding tuition and financial aid and is a violation of student trust.

We look forward to the next "constructive round of discussions" responding to student concerns, a process proposed

by Dean Duggan in his February 13, 2013 letter to us. We continue to call on the Faculty of Law to find a sustainable alternative to endless tuition increases, and to work with all students to create an open, transparent, and accessible institution.

We would like to meet with you to address our concerns in person.

Continued on page 14

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OPINIONS

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 13

Point|Counterpoint

Birge Life: Are We Better Off? Two Idiots Weigh In PALOMA VAN GROLL (2L)

MARITA ZOURAVLIOFF (2L)

POINT Stop. Just stop. I think we’ve

all had enough whining. You’ve relentlessly complained about the transition space. You’ve blamed it on the Dean, the admin, the university in general, your ill-timed conception and ensuing admission to law school…enough is enough. The Birge is really not so bad at all. I would even go as far to say that it’s a vast improvement over what we were dealing with over in Flavelle. Perhaps the summer erased some of your lower points last year, so let me just jog your memory. Surely you remember wearing a winter jacket in BLH? Or the row of broken chairs? Have you forgotten what it was like when your latecomer classmate had to get intimate with you just to find a seat in MCR? Friends, we’ve moved up in the world.

Natural light exposure is up 73%. At this time last year, vitamin D levels had already dropped to a dangerous low. The majority of the school population was exhibiting an alarming pallor, and it wasn’t just the horrific fluorescent lighting but the result of trudging from one subterranean classroom to another. We now walk outside to get places. The reading room has huge, glorious windows. Our food station is now a café and there is a smorgasbord of options to satisfy even the most discerning palate.

If you need to eat lunch late, you will have more than just one pathetic reject sandwich to choose from. We do not all share your enthusiasm for egg salad, Paloma.

We’ve been integrated with some of the undergrad population, but this is not so terrible.

Hopefully some of their zest for life will rub off on us…well, at least the sound of their innocent, unadulterated giggling is a nice contrast to our cynical and jaded laughter. You also have the opportunity to be mistaken for an undergrad and feel like a young pup again! Or, alternately, an 18-year-old might offer to carry your books in the hopes of becoming learned.

I know what you’re going to say. “But Marita, I miss the pit! It was where me and all my friendsies would hang out! We had like the best times!”

If your best times were in the pit, you should begin to attend pub night. Just saying.

Not to mention, this is for an entirely good cause. Do you want to graduate from Canada’s premier law school? The Ivy school of the North, if you will? Then you cannot continue to attend class in a dungeon. You may not know this, but other law schools do not resemble a condemned community centre. A Stanford kid would probably tear from laughter upon touring Flavelle and then ask to see the real U of T law school. Hell, an Osgoode kid would do the same. The Modern Extension (I’m not making this up—that was its actual name) which included the library and main floor, was opened in 1991. That was over 20 years ago.

There is nothing modern about late 80s architecture. Form follows function, whatever. It sucked.

In conclusion, stop being nostalgic for no good reason. Flavelle was a POS. U of T Law, you deserve better.

COUNTERPOINT

Listen, I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but no one was complaining about the transition space. We were used to the dilapidated state of Flavelle, so if anything, I believe most of us approached this year with mild indifference—who cares if we trade one larger grimy space (Flavelle) for seven disjointed, slightly less grimy places?

But after spending a few weeks shuttling between classes, it's clear that what we had at Flavelle was dear. People should be complaining, alright— complaining about what we’ll be missing.

Sure, these days spent in ‘transition’ involve plenty of time outside going from class to class, and sure, this is great now as we enjoy the remnants of summer. But just wait until winter. We’re going to have to carry our coats around as we duck in and outside between classes. At least in Flavelle we didn't have to take those coats off once we got to class. And think of all the money the Faculty saved on heating bills. Money that all went into financial aid, I’m sure.

Of course I remember that row of broken chairs. It was our comic relief from endless dreary days of reading. Remember when the ceiling of the library started falling apart and water leaked for weeks before it was fixed? ‘Ha-ha-ha,’ we would muse, ‘we pay $30k a year for this, can you believe it?’ What are we supposed to laugh about now? The plethora of natural light and ability to purchase more than fake Starbucks coffee and egg salad* for lunch? Yeah, Marita, HILARIOUS. Those new reading room windows you praise so highly? They will soon be prisms

to an outside world you are not able to participate in. Now when we spend hours upon hours reading caselaw we will actually see what we’re missing. At least in Flavelle you could sit safely in the fluorescent lighting of the pit, and not even know if it was still nice outside.

The sound of undergrads’ unadulterated giggling is just another reminder that the real ( job) world is quickly penning us in and I will be just another working adult so very soon. And really, undergrads are too busy puking in bushes and not doing readings for class to carry our books. We aren’t a source of interest to them, we’re just boring law students who happen to be stomping around like we own the place for two years. We should lament the days of being quarantined in Flavelle, with only other law students.

Who is better to have around than others as cynical and jaded as you? Misery loves company.

Yes, I would like to graduate from Canada’s premier law school, but what better place to hone legal skills than in a dungeon? The new building will be all flash and pizazz, with features to better distract you with. At Flavelle you could do your readings in the small and unattractive library and know that you were here to learn, not to enjoy frivolous coffee breaks with your pals on comfortable chairs basked in natural lighting. Please.

Sure, Flavelle was a ‘POS’, but it was our POS. OUR POS! --*I concede you this one point, Marita. I really did like those egg salad sandwiches.

DIVERSIONS

14 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Learning to Love Schwarma, Sloth, and Sens fans Lessons from Working in Ottawa ROBIN MCNAMARA (3L)

W

hen I told my barber I was moving to Ottawa, he proceeded to name off and describe the three strip clubs in the Ottawa area. ‘They have the most polite strippers I have ever met,’ he said. ‘And when we wanted a really crazy night, we went to Hull.’ This guy knew his stuff. Instant street cred. I was immediately more excited to be returning to my hometown.

My law school classmates were much less impressed. ‘There is no nightlife.’ ‘It’s too goddamn cold.’ ‘You know Tom Green is from there, right?’

My mood darkened...

My first few nights in the National Capital lived up to my most horrible expectations. Unable to find a bar where I could boo the Miami Heat (it was after 5pm), I resigned to the local

shawarma pit. In walked a Justin Trudeau lookalike who proceeded to tell me this was the worst shawarma pit in the area and I would get sick from eating the food. Are you kidding me, JT? Do you actually have any personal experience?

Of course he didn’t.

An hour later, as I keeled over in shawarmainduced stomach pains, I looked across the street to see two crack addicts fighting (a surprisingly commonplace occurrence, I soon learned—Ottawa has three homeless shelters and a needle depository in the exact same area as the student bars. This is not a joke).

Then work started. The law firm used Microsoft Word 1997. ‘How am I supposed to get anything done in these conditions!!’ I bellowed.

‘It doesn’t matter if you get anything done.

Just do your best,’ my colleague told me. Of course, I thought, it’s because our client is a federal government union. I imagined my old economics supervisor turning over in his grave. What kind of dystopian nightmare had I walked into?

Sloth set in. I showed up later and later each morning. First I stopped shaving, then I stopped wearing a suit jacket, then a tie… And you know what? No one cared. People just pleasantly went

ultravires.ca about their business, smiling at me in the halls even when I broke the coffee machine for the third time. At lunch time, many lawyers and support staff cleared out to mass yoga sessions on Parliament Hill.

One afternoon after work, I visited Barefax.

The scantily-clad woman handed me a beer: ‘Here you go, sir. Just let me know if there is anything else I can get for you.’ The barber was right—extremely polite.

Later, on my walk home, people in Senators jerseys were heading to the pubs to watch the playoff game. Wait, you mean it’s May and the local NHL team is still playing hockey games?

Turns out there are lots of good reasons to work in Ottawa. The work atmosphere is more laid-back, the law students are bright and friendly and you can escape to Gatineau Park in 20 minutes. In the end, I realized that with the right attitude I could probably be happy working pretty much anywhere.

But I had to come back to Toronto. Ottawa is too goddamn cold.

The Sound and An American the Friendly in Canada One 1L's take on Orientation week DAVID WINDRIM (1L)

M

y first day of Orientation Week, I overheard a table leader—to my ear, quite seriously—ordain that there was to be no public discussion of LSAT scores or dates of admission. "Crumbs!" I thought. "Criminy! He has to say that out loud? I'm clearly in among a set of apex predators, hopped-up barbarians with giant brains scraped clear of empathy." I all but turned to the nearest window, to crash through and make a break for Mexico and freedom.

Happily, the window turned out to be too narrow, and that leader's rule to be entirely unnecessary. One early breakfast or late night after another, people were by and large more lovely than I could have hoped. To put a lot into few words, and speaking only for myself, Orientation Week was marked less by what did happen than what did not. Firstly, as above, my fellow 1Ls did not turn out to be wicked and remorseless sharks. (Sorry, people—I'd heard things online. We all did.) I got very used to an approving inner voice saying of people "Of course you're going to be a lawyer.

Please never sue me."

Secondly, no one demanded our immediate and expert performance. "Give it time" was the constant theme of the lectures—some very pointed and skills-focused, some quite abstract to those of us yet to study law's niceties, some indulging in the painful ritual of soliciting answers from a 200-person room. "Do yoga!" "Goof off sometimes!" "You're the best class ever...on paper!"

"People respect a Pass with Merit!" The message: this year, we'd need to take care of ourselves, and they were happy to help.

Thirdly, I did not, for the first time in a while, wish for more time to prepare, or to enjoy my leisure. This eagerness for the freedom to sink, swim, or happily paddle about in the middle is ultimately my overriding impression of OWeek 2013. As starchy pleasantries ceded to

natural friendliness, as assigned seating became fluid, our schedule finalized and our bookstore bills mounted, one felt months of nervous speculation (for some) or of confident anticipation (for others) crystallize into a beckoning awareness of how close we were to the real thing. The work we signed up for. The Show.

No more hearing about what it would be, or reading how it could be formatted, or speculating on how ethically we would go about doing it, or trotting around the Annex to distract ourselves from it—we wanted to go to work and see what it was really like. Orientation Week sharpened our resolve until, this first week of classes, we strode boldly into class to duel the Law and win.

Now, those of you in or past 1L are aware that didn't happen. Which is great. It's appropriate, it's hard, we're told when we're wrong and I for one am loving the impetus to do better.

But it's a bit of a shock (yep!), and a lot of money (I'll admit it!), and a big commitment to finding something to love in this profession. We're diving into a big murky ocean of unknowns and possibilities for most of us at present.

So Orientation Week was a last little breath before hitting that water and finishing that plunge. We learned some names and phrases, we laid a few foundations for people who are or will be friends, we got reassured by smart people who seemed trustworthy that 1L wouldn't leave us evil, dead, or insane.

All congratulations and humble thanks to the students and faculty who did a great deal of work for the financially dubious reward of A Job Well Done. As a champagne bottle cracked across the prow of this embarking ship of legal scholars, one couldn't have asked for better.

Maybe I'll get the chance to make sure some future 1Ls enjoy the same things not happening next year.

ETHAN SCHIFF (2L)

A

s an American living in Canada, every day feels like I’m the target of a ubiquitous insult comic. Canadians tend to take pride in being the nicest people on the continent, but when it comes to my country, you all suddenly turn into Gallagher, obliterating American sensibilities (watermelons) with your mallets of sarcasm and wry invective. Well, look out Canucks, because this is payback.

I’d like to talk about what happened at the Rogers Cup, which is Canada’s excuse for a tennis tournament. The great Canadian hope, Milos Raonic, who doesn’t even live in this country, looked poised to win, but unfortunately had to face-off against a capable player in the finals.

While I admit to hating Raonic out of jealousy over his thick, lustrous hair, I won’t hurl too many mean-spirited epithets about his performance in this article.

Rather, I would like to talk about the reactions of ordinary Canadians. When it became clear that Raonic’s one-dimensional serve would not save him from Rafael Nadal, the CBC commentators did something treacherously un-Ca-

nadian… They spoke the truth and said he wasn’t playing well enough to win!

Thankfully, hoards of angry Canadians tweeted their disdain. One angry tennis fan wrote, “[t]hese CBC announcers are horrible! They’re basically writing Milos off in the first set. WTF”.

Many others protested these treasonous villains, questioning their Canadian credentials. Milos lost, but it must be the fault of those unpatriotic commentators. Doesn’t the CBC realize that Tinker Bell needs everyone to clap?

To be fair, if it had been an American player, I would have shot the commentators with my mother’s 9mm (after praying to the star-spangled banner), but that’s to be expected. You Canadians are supposed to apologize no matter what. So just admit that Raonic’s failure is your failure.

Yes, I’m talking about you reading this. You should have clapped harder, you should have donated more to Canadian tennis clubs and you should have denigrated your neighbour to the south more. In the words of my countrymen, blame Canada!

Continued from page 12

year. Upper year increases haven't changed, at 4 percent annually. Credit where credit is due: we can thank CFS-Ontario (Canadian Federation of Students) and the UTSU (University of Toronto Student Union) for the change. But students at the Faculty of Law ensured professional faculty tuition didn't get left out of the discussion.

Our first priority—the first and essential job of tuition skeptics—is to convince the Dean that she has a substantive problem. No more can the administration frame this as a student-faculty communications problem. This is not a PR problem.

Tuition is too high.

It is putting a burden on students and recent graduates which is unacceptable. I expect that the elected members of the Student Law Society, many of whom campaigned against high tuition, are already delivering this message to the Dean. Be-

cause, for all the Faculty's dialogue on tuition, we have yet to hear clearly from the Dean that the tuition trajectory for the next few years is unacceptable Admitting that we have a problem is the first step. Once that happens, we can work with the administration to nail down a sustainable alternative plan. Lots of people have ideas about what can be done to wean the Faculty off of annual tuition fee hikes—some of the ideas have been discussed in the pages of this newspaper—but there's not a lot of point in debating the comparative merits of these strategies until the administration agrees on the goal.

Otherwise, the Faculty will simply glide past more shameful milestones—$40,000 and $50,000 annual tuition fees—in the next few years.

Interested in getting involved? Email student tuitionpetition@gmail.com.

ultravires.ca

The Green Smoothie

DIVERSIONS

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 | 15

Our students wear many hats.

YALE HERTZMAN (2L)

G

reen smoothies are everywhere. Fergie drinks them. Dr. Oz drinks them.

I drink them all the time. Gwyneth Paltrow probably sips on green smoothies prepared by her personal chef. You can drink them too.

A green smoothie is a delicious drink that is made by blending fruits, vegetables, and water. I know what you are thinking. Why would anyone actually choose to drink vegetables? Nutrition is a major consideration. By blending the ingredients, green smoothies are easy for your body to digest. In fact, drinking a green smoothie is like taking your digestive system to the spa for a long weekend.

So go ahead. Eat all of the cronut burgers, pizza, and Taco Bell that you want.

As long as you have a green smoothie each day, you should be good to go. Hopefully you did not eat the cronut burger.

The recipe below is simply a guideline. I vary the fruits and vegetables seasonally. Sometimes I’ll substitute pineapple, mango, blueberries, or swiss chard. The smoothie tastes best when made with a high-powered blender. The Magic Bullet works, but it is worth investing in a Blendtec or Vitamix (the Rolls Royce of blenders) for a smoother, silkier smoothie.

Recipe 2 cups of water ½ head of spinach ½ head of romaine lettuce 3-4 sticks of celery 1 apple 1 pear 1 banana (very ripe, best when frozen) Juice from 1/2 of a freshly squeezed lemon A handful of parsley (and/or cilantro) Optional add-ins: Chia seeds, coconut water, stevia, ice cubes Instructions: You may want to blend in stages. Start with spinach and romaine. Add in the celery, apple, and pear. Lastly, add the banana, parsley and lemon juice. Drink cold.

creativity

discipline

problem solving

resilience

project management dedication

passion

communication skills knowledge

wisdom

sense of adventure intellectual curiosity

empathy

team ethic

client service

Which ones will you wear?

Ari Blicker Director, Student & Associate Programs ablicker@airdberlis.com • 416.865.4149

www.airdberlis.com

DIVERSIONS

16 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Movie Review

Toronto International Film Festival 2013

(image from tiff.net)

ultravires.ca

Professor Celebrity Look-A-Like of the Month ANONYMOUS

ALANNA TEVEL (2L)

A

nyone who set foot in downtown Toronto in the month of September was aware that the Toronto International Film Festival was going on. In fact, many movies debuted at the Isabel Bader Theatre, right next to our new hub at Birge Carnegie. Over 350 movies were presented this year, many of which were premiering. This also brought a flock of celebrities to Toronto who came to present their films to audiences. Being the major movie buff that I am, I have taken the liberty of reviewing the 5 films I saw during the 2013 festival. What’s better than catching a flick when you need a little study break?

You Are Here

«½

With a fairly stacked cast, any movie-goer would be enthusiastic to attend this film. The story centers around two siblings (Amy Poehler and Zach Galifianakis) who have to deal with some family assets when their father passes away. Owen Wilson pulls off a funny performance as the brother’s best friend. However, the story takes too many unnecessary turns, and never reaches a climax. By the end, viewers will feel confused and unsatisfied.

Third Person

««

The film’s star-studded cast includes Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody and James Franco. Olivia Wilde gives a particularly strong and emotional performance. The movie jumps around between the main characters and their stories, until all of their lives appear to become intertwined. Some viewers will feel dissatisfied by the unclear ending after two hours of running time, while others will appreciate the interpretation of the film being left to one’s own imagination.

Don Jon

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt did it all for this film—he wrote, directed and acted. The story is based around Jon, a womanizing man in his twenties who has a strong addiction to pornography. Jon is more than happy with his lifestyle until he falls head over heels for Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) and things begin to change. Both of the main actors, as well as Julianne Moore in a supporting role, are commended for their performances. Overall, the movie is both highly entertaining and comical, but the subject matter may be too raunchy for some viewers.

Note: Joseph Gordon-Levitt has clearly grown up since his Third Rock From the Sun days. He has never looked better on screen.

Gravity

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Sandra Bullock is the star of this space thriller. The story revolves around a woman’s struggle to return to earth after she literally gets lost in space. What is really remarkable about the film is the technology that was used to create such realistic and ‘out of this world’ scenery. This is basically a one-woman show, and Sandra Bullock manages to keep the audience engaged the whole time.

Take caution that the movie is in 3D, and at points it feels like you are in space right along with her.

Extra bonus: Chris Hadfield was in attendance at the premiere and said that the next time he goes to space, he is bringing Sandra Bullock with him.

Life of Crime

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The story, adapted from the novel The Switch by the late Elmore Leonard, revolves around a woman named Mickey ( Jennifer An-

vs.

David Schneiderman (image from UofT Website)

Ben Stiller (image from www.nydailynews.com)

iston), who is married to a wealthy real estate developer. Two excons, who befriended each other in prison, decide to kidnap Mickey and hold her for ransom until her husband pays up. What the criminals do not know is that the marriage between the couple is very rocky and on the pathway to divorce, and the plot blossoms from there. Although I would not categorize this film as a “nail biter”, the story only gets better as it comes to a close.

Note: this may be a slightly biased rating because I am a HUGE Jennifer Aniston fan.