Ultra Vires Volume 23, Issue 4 - January 2022

ULTRAVIRES.CA

JANUARY 26, 2022

VOL. 23 ISS. 4

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

Ruff Times Cured by Doggie Day PAGES 4-5

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE RECENT SUPREME COURT JURISPRUDENCE REVEALS CHASMS PAGE 10

RIGHTS REVIEW PAGE 20

LOLA WISHES YOU ALL A GREAT SEMESTER! CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

IS LRW VALUABLE TO THE 1L CURRICULUM? PAGE 23

2 | January 26, 2022

ultravires.ca RIGHTS REVIEW

UV INDEX 84 Queen’s Park Crescent Toronto, ON M5S 2C5 Ultra Vires is the independent student newspaper of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. We provide a forum for diverse viewpoints on topics of interest to our readers. We aim to foster dialogue on academic and social issues between students, the faculty, and the broader legal community in Toronto, Ontario, and Canada. Our content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. We print six issues per year. Ultra Vires is printed by Master Web Inc. EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Sabrina Macklai & Annecy Pang

NEWS

20

Advancing Global Health and Human Rights

20

Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities

21

To Zoom and Back

3

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

21

A December of Frustrations

3

Women's Human Rights Resources

22

Ruff Times Cured by Doggie Day

4

The Venezuela Accountability Project

22

Free Snacks and Beverages Provided by the Faculty During Fall Exam Period

6

The Ghost of Evidence Corroboration Past

22

Headspace App Pilot Project at the Law School

7

OPINIONS

U of T Seeks Student Input on its Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy

7

Is LRW Valuable to the 1L Curriculum?

23

Reflecting on Our First Law School Exams

24

Minimum Wage for Articling Students to be Reconsidered in February

7

Welcome Back … to Online Learning

24

The Illusion of Mindfulness

25

Out of Province? Out of Luck

25

The Unjust Academic Offence System at the University of Toronto

26

BUSINESS MANAGER Griff in Murphy NEWS EDITOR Tom Russell

The Neocolonial Underbelly of International Human Rights Advocacy

FEATURES Part of Falconer Hall to be Demolished

9

Recent Supreme Court Jurisprudence Reveals Chasms

10

Please Stop Pitting Members of the Legal Profession Against Each Other

27

The New Psychedelics Renaissance

11

Take Me Out to the Ball (Arbitration) Game

27

An Interview with Paul-Erik Veel on Innovation and the Law

12

We’ve Got Beef

13

DIVERSIONS

ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITORS Jeffrey Liu & Hye-seon Jung

Another Café Review

14

New Year, New You?

28

Wines to Keep You Warm on a Cold Night

16

Intra Vires

28

OPINIONS EDITOR Mithushan Kirubananthan

Ryan’s Movie Corner

17

Ultra Vires Presents: A Love Story

28

CLSA Media Recommendations: Elizabeth Holmes Edition

19

Seven Friends Personality Quiz

29

Things I Didn’t Have On My 2021 Bingo Card

30

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Nicolas Williams & Aliya Hemani FEATURES EDITORS Natasha Burman & Rebecca Rosenberg

ASSOCIATE OPINIONS EDITORS Vivienne Stern & Stephen Mapplebeck DIVERSIONS EDITOR Harry Myles ASSOCIATE DIVERSIONS EDITOR Fievel Lim RECRUIT EDITOR Angela Feng RECRUIT REPORTER Hussein E. E. Fawzy PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jennifer Sun PHOTOGRAPHERS Jacqueline Huang, Shae Rothery, & Thomas Alexander COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Jasveen Singh SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS Kaitlyn Nelson & Elaine Cheng LAYOUT EDITOR Alexandra Fox

ADVERTISING If you are interested in advertising, please email us at business@ultravires.ca ERRORS If you notice any errors, please email us at editor@ultravires.ca.

SUBMISSIONS If you would like to submit a tip, letter, or an article, please email us at editor@ultravires.ca.

Ultra Vires reserves the right to edit submissions.

EDITORS' NOTE We’re back, back, back, back again!

We hope you all had a restful break and are adjusting well into another short-lived return of Zoom School of Law. With r ising COV I D -19 case counts, fall grades, 1L recruit, clerkship applications, mooting factums, and the start of a new semester, it’s been a busy entrance into 2022. We hope you are f inding moments to breathe and relax amidst the chaos.

In this issue, you w ill f ind news and ref lections on the rather stressful fall examination per iod, a look at the top Supreme Court cases of 2021, a rev iew of the proposed Falconer Hall construction (goodbye, our beloved basement of f ice), cr itiques of our mental health supports, and more.

We’ve also included mov ie recommendations, w ine and burger rev iews, personalit y quizzes, horoscopes, and bingo to br ing a smile to your face.

You’ll notice that this issue is released exclusively online. Fear not, lovers of pr int. Once we return to inperson classes in Februar y, we’ll be back in the atr ium, heck ling you to take a pr int copy while you’re already running late to class. But let’s be real, a new issue of U V is much more interesting than your secur ities lecture.

A s always, if you have any comments, are look ing for ways to get involved w ith U V, or just want to say hi, you can reach us at editor@ultrav ires.ca.

Stay well!

Sabrina Macklai & Annecy Pang Co-Editors-in-Chief, Ultra Vires Vol 23 LAUREN PAPAROUSIS (2L) WITH LEVI. CREDIT: SHAE ROTHERY

NEWS

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January 26, 2022 | 3

To Zoom and Back Faculty of Law announces return to in-person instruction starting February 7 SABRINA MACKLAI (2L JD/MI)

THE GOODMANS LLP CAFÉ WILL REMAIN CLOSED THIS TERM. CREDIT: JACQUELINE HUANG

On December 15, the University of Toronto announced that all in-person activities, including examinations, were to switch to online delivery immediately, at least until January 31. The decision came in light of the rise of the Omicron variant in Ontario.

Now, almost a month into virtual classes, U of T released plans to increase in-person instruction starting on February 7. This follows the Ministry of Education’s recent guidance that there are no restrictions on in-person instruction for Ontario universities.

While some Faculties have opted to wait until after the February reading week to resume inperson activities, the Faculty of Law confirmed that in-person classes will resume starting February 7 in order to take the “fullest possible advantage of [their] value.”

Unlike in the fall, where in-person attendance was mandated, the Faculty is planning to give both students and instructors the option to participate remotely, at least until the end of reading week on February 28. As part of this, the Faculty will provide “unrestricted Zoom access” for all classes through February 28, a marked change from their policy against Zoom access last semester.

Notably, while the Faculty is currently planning to operate on a hybrid model for the month of February, students are expected to attend

classes in-person after reading week, “along the lines of the system that was in place in the fall.”

This includes enforcing capacity limits, masking requirements, and the mandatory use of UCheck for building access. This also includes a return to limited Zoom or remote delivery access and requiring documentation for any academic accommodations requests, which were waived in the 2020-2021 academic year. Students who are immunocompromised or have other accommodations are directed to consult with the University’s Accessibility Services.

Students experiencing international travel issues may be permitted remote access, but only for part of the term.

The Faculty notes that final examinations that were intended to be conducted in-person will continue to be held exclusively in-person. In other words, subject to public health guidelines, students with scheduled in-person examinations are expected to be in Toronto during the April examination period, even if they opted to attend their classes virtually in February.

In an email to students on January 19, Assistant Dean (Academic) Sara Faherty stated that students may continue to ask questions regarding the return to in-person learning. Given the rapidly changing circumstances imposed by the pandemic, these policies will likely continue to change into the semester.

A December of Frustrations Fall examination period marred by disruptive switch online and dispute over digital access to study materials NICOLAS WILLIAMS (1L) AND SABRINA MACKLAI (2L JD/MI) While students are settling into the new semester, many still feel the effects of the disruptive December 2021 examination period. In addition to the normal anxieties and stresses related to exams, the recent fall examination period was complicated by the last-minute switch to online exams.

The change occurred after U of T announced on December 15 that in-person exams would no longer proceed and that there would be no inperson learning until at least January 31. The University cited “recent government announcements” as guiding its decision: the Ontario government had announced earlier that day that capacity limits would be reintroduced to limit the spread of the Omicron variant. In a statement for UV, a U of T spokesperson stated that, “The decision to delay or defer in-person exams and delay in-person learning was not made lightly. It was a necessary step to safeguard the health of our community in light of the latest variant of concern. The decision was made in consultation with public health authorities and our own experts.”

Many students were heavily impacted by the shift. There were three exams scheduled on December 16, including two at 9:30 am, and students were left scrambling for information on how the printing of exam materials, accommodations, and closed-book exams would proceed in an online environment. Echoing the concerns of many students, Yiwei Jin (2L) stated that, “The message to students was to just deal with it, and if they don’t like it, too bad.”

In a comment to UV, Students’ Law Society (SLS) President Willem Crispin-Frei (3L) confirmed that the SLS had sought clear and addi-

tional information on the night of December 15, and that this information was not provided. He further stated that the SLS will “be making it very clear that the switch strongly and negatively affected students” and “failed to recognize [that] business could not continue as normal.”

The 1L class in particular saw their examination period disrupted, as the majority of 1Ls had exams scheduled for December 17. Students shared that it was “a very difficult situation for everyone overall with the abrupt changes.” Flexibility was a frustration for those writing at home, as students had to sacrifice time printing exams instead of receiving additional time to do so.

While one 1L student valued the option to write the exam in-person at the law school, communication was a challenge. Proctors were not aware of which version of the exam to use, as multiple versions had been created because of the shift to online. There was also confusion regarding whether students writing in-person could access materials on their computers.

On top of this, many students reported experiencing issues with ExamSoft, the software used to write exams. Though it is unclear what the source of these issues were— either ExamSoft itself or the Faculty’s implementation of it—students expressed concerns over the lack of clear guidance and policies on what to do in these situations. One of the students impacted by software problems noted that he was unable to login to ExamSoft after multiple attempts: “After a very stressful time, I was sent a PDF of the exam and was told to start immediately. But at that point the damage was done; I was way too stressed to be able to write a proper exam!”

Crispin-Frei noted that while the SLS cannot guarantee such occurrences will not repeat, they will “continue to press for additional supports to ensure equitable exam-taking situations and adequate provision of information.”

In addition to these concerns, students were dismayed by the Faculty’s longstanding policy of only allowing hard copy notes during exams.

Last year, when all examinations were administered online, students were allowed digital access to their notes and other files during exams. With the (limited) return to in-person examinations this semester, the Faculty was committed to returning to the “normal” way of conducting them.

This resulted in students being forced to print hundreds of pages to bring into their in-person examinations. Students shared that “having to sift through paper notes” is a significant challenge during the examination, as it takes up valuable time and is distracting for others nearby.

Motivated by students’ concerns, Jin spearheaded a petition to change the examination policy in late November. The petition amassed 148 signatures in four days and highlighted concerns related to finances, environmental waste, and the arbitrariness of the policy, especially considering last year’s examinations were successfully conducted without this rule.

“Over the past year, many students have been very frustrated with the school administration over a variety of issues, including accommodation, mental health support, and the ham-fisted return to in-person instructions. In each issue, we saw a school administration that is rather stubborn and unwilling to listen. Students end up having to spend a lot of time and effort advocating for themselves, even though they are already

busy and stressed out. The same thing happened with the exam policy. Nobody likes it, nobody can see any reason for it, and yet we were supposed to just put up with it. I don’t think that’s right,” stated Jin. Jin sent the petition to Associate Dean Christopher Essert and other administration members on November 21. He received a response on November 24, acknowledging students’ concerns but ultimately determining that the policy is necessary to “ensure that exams are conducted fairly and to minimize the possibility of cheating,” among other reasons.

Discussions about potential changes to the Faculty’s policy will continue in the new year.

Associate Dean Essert acknowledged that though there are a “wide variety of considerations” related to modifying the policy, including accommodating different faculty members’ preferences for note access, “technological developments may change [the administration’s] thinking.” While the ultimate decision lies with the administration, Associate Dean Essert stated that the administration hopes “to have a discussion with Faculty early in the semester” about this issue. Crispin-Frei confirmed that the SLS will continue to emphasize “students’ strong preference for digital note access” and will push for a change “at the earliest possible exam period.”

As the Faculty announced plans to return to in-person learning starting February 7, in-person examinations are currently planned to be held in April. It remains unknown whether there will be any changes to the exam policies or what sort of contingency plans will be in place by then.

4 | January 26, 2022

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Ruff Times Cured by Doggie Day A paw-some time ANNECY PANG (3L)

LEVI GREETS ALEX REGO (2L). CREDIT: SHAE ROTHERY SUE LI (3L) HOLDING JINX DURING THEIR WALK. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

On November 29, students, staf f, and facult y brought their canines to school for Dogg ie Day. Students, either indiv idually or in groups of up to three, signed up to spend time w ith a furr y fr iend for 30 -minute inter vals. 11 dogs and approximately 110 students participated.

BRYON AND JUDE WAIT FOR TREATS FROM HAYA SARDAR (2L). CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

In a comment to U V, Acting A ssistant Dean ( J D Program) Br ittany Tw iss wrote that the goals of Dogg ie Day were to “promote mental health and wellness, stretch breaks, help connect communit y members, and to support positive engagement pr ior to exams, which we know can be a stressful time for students.”

Dogg ie Day histor ically took place once a semester, but was on pause since Winter 2020 due to the ongoing COV I D -19 pandemic. Last year, Ultra Vires asked students to submit photos of their pets as part of v irtual Dogg ie Day. A ll students this year were required to adhere to the Universit y of Toronto’s COV I D -19 mask ing protocols dur ing pick up and drop of f. They were also asked to w ipe down leashes before and after each walk.

THOMAS POPOV (2L) TAKES PANCHY FOR A WALK. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

“Seeing fr iendly dogs on campus, getting out for some fresh air, and shar ing a stor y or laugh w ith other participants helps to elevate spir its and br ing a bit of joy into our shared space,” she added.

NEWS

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January 26, 2022 | 5

BEN SURVEYS A CLASSROOM. CREDIT: GRETA HOAKEN

LEVI AND ROSIE TAKE A BREAK IN THE ATRIUM. CREDIT: SHAE ROTHERY

Ben, a one-year-old cockapoo, was one of the participating dogs.

QUINN HARTWIG (1L) HOLDS LOLA. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

“I signed Ben up for Dogg ie Day because his love for life and infectious spir it were exact ly what this campus needed as we headed into the exam per iod and w inter month,” said Greta Hoaken (3L). “Ben passed the day going on walks, receiv ing many pats and treats, and snif f ing out the law school. He tells me he enjoyed it so much that he's consider ing apply ing to do his Dog-torate in animal law here.”

ASSISTANT DEAN (ACADEMIC) SARA FAHERTY WITH HER DOG JINX. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

NEWS

6 | January 26, 2022

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Free Snacks and Beverages Provided by the Faculty During Fall Exam Period Students give a glowing review to the refreshments provided during a stressful time REBECCA ROSENBERG (2L) Dur ing the fall examination per iod, the Facult y prov ided students w ith free snacks, cof fee, and tea at stations set up around the school. Items such as fruit, pastr ies, and granola bars were of fered from the start of exams on December 7 up until exams moved online on December 16.

T here were t hree tables set up in t he at r ium and in t he basement near t he classrooms. Attendants were on standby to pour tea and cof fee for st udents in order to ensure l im ited interact ion and ad here to d istancing requirements imposed by t he ongoing COV I D -19 pandem ic.

T he in it iat ive was largely successfu l w it h many st udents ex pressing g rat it ude for t he free food am id an especia l ly st ressfu l t ime. T he ef for t to bolster spir its

among t he st udent body was fur t hered by a var iet y of act iv it ies includ ing puzzles and colour ing sheets made ava i lable by t he Bora L ask in L aw L ibrar y.

For Sabina Haque (2L), being able to rely on t he tea and t reats when she arr ived at school made spend ing ent ire days at t he l ibrar y more bearable. T h is was a common sent iment among t hose who spend mu lt iple hours st udy ing on campus dur ing t he exam season.

Accord ing to A ssociate Dean Chr isto pher Esser t, “t he ad m in ist rat ion had been t r y ing to br ing cof fee into t he bui ld ing over t he whole fa l l, but t he going was tough.” T he idea to of fer cof fee and snack s dur ing exams was in it ia l ly suggested by A ssistant Dean (Academ ic) Sara Fa-

her t y, who had seen t he pract ice at anot her law school she prev iously worked at.

“L ots of fol k s in t he Faci l it ies team, includ ing in par t icu lar A nnette Henr y and Jenn ifer Colv in, worked rea l ly hard to ma ke t h is happen, and we were a l l so glad to see how wel l-received it was,” added A ssociate Dean Esser t.

T he desire to prov ide free food at t he law school dur ing exams was a major topic for t he St udents’ L aw Societ y (SL S). St udent L ife and Academ ic Comm ittee (SL AC ) 2L representat ive Noa R apapor t brought up t he so - ca l led “cof fee issue” at mu lt iple fa l l SL S meet ings as she t hought it wou ld be a “rea l pick-me-up.” “ W hat is t he dea l w it h t he closest cof fee being a 20 -m inute round t r ip away? Luck-

i ly, t he SL S E xecut ives brought t he issue up w it h ad m in. Snack s and cof fee seem sma l l but I t h in k t hey restored– at least temporar i ly – some for m of commun it y t hat most st udents had n’t yet seen at t he law school,” stated R apapor t.

W hat R apapor t and t he SL S had in m ind was a sma l l cof fee stat ion, so it was quite t he pleasant sur pr ise and a k ind gest ure on beha l f of t he Facu lt y to not on ly prov ide beverages, but include a var iet y of h igh- qua l it y snack s.

It is un k now n whet her t he Facu lt y w i l l br ing t he in it iat ive back dur ing Winter ter m exams. However, t he amount of posit ive feedback received shows w idespread encouragement to cont inue t he prog ram in t he fut ure.

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January 26, 2022 | 7

Headspace App Pilot Project at the Law School SLS hopes Faculty funds guided meditation app in the future NATASHA BURMAN (2L) In November 2021, the Students’ Law Society (SLS) announced that they would be collaborating with the Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) and the Faculty of Law to run a pilot project for law students to have unlimited, year-long access to the Headspace app.

Headspace is a mindfulness and meditation app offering guided meditations for focus, sleep, stress, and more. As one of the most popular guided meditation apps on the market, Headspace aims to easily integrate meditation into a user’s day, which has been known to help individuals reduce stress and sleep better.

In its November 25 email to students, the SLS noted that this is a “proactive mental health measure that is preventative more than anything else” and hoped that the app’s f lexible nature would be benef icial to law students and their schedules.

The Headspace app requires a paid subscription to access its various guided meditations. Premium access to Headspace usually costs $17..99 CAD per month or $89.99 CAD for an annual subscription.

As a part of the pilot project, the f irst 50 students who signed up received a free subscription until April 2022, courtesy of the Faculty of Law, in exchange for participating in feedback surveys about their experiences using the app. Now that these spots are full, interested students may continue to sign up for a discounted f lat fee of $8.75 CAD. In a comment to UV, SLS President Willem Crispin-Frei (3L) and Vice President of Student Life Vanshika Dhawan (3L) discussed the SLS’ motivations and goals for running the pilot project.

“With the discounted price available and the many challenges with mental health that we and other students have faced and shared,

the SLS wanted to see whether the Faculty would be willing to contribute some funding towards making this opportunity available to students,” stated Crispin-Frei. “Working with Terry Gardiner and Cheryl White, Vanshika and I were able to secure f ifty Faculty-funded spots this year with the requirement that feedback is sought to inform whether this was a valuable project to continue with going forward.”

Crispin-Frei hopes that the pilot project will have a positive effect on those with subscriptions and that, depending on the feedback received, the Faculty will increase its f inancial contribution in the future to allow more students access to the app. The SLS will also use the feedback gained to inform the LSSO about the uptake and use of the subscriptions.

When asked about the demand from students to sign up for the pilot project, Crispin-

Frei responded that, at the time of comment, “we have 82 people registered–50 funded by the Faculty, 32 who have opted in. We are currently doing a second round of registrations, which will likely have a few more registrants.”

The f irst f ifty spots were f illed within the f irst 15 minutes after registration opened.

According to Crispin-Frei, this demonstrates that students are looking for mental health tools and supports. In total, roughly 130 students showed interest in a free subscription in late November.

Both Dhawan and Crispin-Frei hope that the pilot project leads to additional Faculty funding, and, ideally, access to mental health resources for any student who wants it. Next year’s SLS team may also use the data collected to push for further mental health and wellness initiatives funded by the Faculty.

U of T Seeks Student Input on its Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy St. George campus students asked to weigh in on February 2 TOM RUSSELL (2L) Content Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault.

that this year’s report address four specif ic questions:

From February 2-7, the University of Toronto is inviting students at its three campuses to weigh in on a review of the U of T Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment.

This review is occurring pursuant to s. 88 of the policy, which requires a review every three years with consultation from students, staff, and faculty. Students at the St. George campus are encouraged to register for the consultation session to be held on February 2 between 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.

The 2022 review follows an unsettling report by Al Jazeera on October 19, 2021, which disclosed incidents of sexual violence experienced by members of the U of T community at the hands of former U of T Professor Andy Orchard, among others. In his response to the article, President Meric Gertler has asked

1. What are the best practices to address the barriers to reporting and to provide supports for survivors?

2. How do we appropriately account for power dynamics that are inherent in institutions of higher learning?

3. Given the importance of communication and transparency, what information can be shared with participants engaged in, and at the conclusion of, a sexual violence process while taking into account conf identiality, privacy obligations and a fair and effective process?

4. Should the university sector develop a process for sharing information between institutions about f indings of sexual violence

misconduct by faculty members?

The review also follows the September announcement of regulatory amendments by the Ontario government which require post-secondary institutions to include certain provisions within their sexual violence and sexual harassment policies. The policies must ensure that: 1. A complainant acting in good faith, who discloses or reports sexual violence, will not be subject to actions for violations of the institution’s policies related to drug and alcohol use at the time the sexual violence took place.

2. During the institution’s investigative process, students who share their experience of sexual violence through disclosing, accessing support, and/or reporting to the university or college, will not be asked irrelevant questions from institution’s staff or

investigators, such as those relating to past sexual history or sexual expression.

These requirements are currently ref lected within U of T’s Policy at ss. 19 and 68.

Students are encouraged to review the current policy, consider the highlighted questions, and participate in the discussion to help make our community a better place for those who have or currently are suffering from sexual violence or sexual harassment.

Please note that anonymized notes from the consultation session will be recorded. Students who would prefer to provide feedback via an anonymous online form can f ind a link to do so on the consultation website.

If you or anyone you know has been the victim of sexual violence on campus, please keep in mind that the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre and the University's tri-campus Community Safety Off ice has resources available.

Minimum Wage for Articling Students to be Reconsidered in February Law Society benchers will reconsider the proposed minimum wage requirement for Ontario articling positions NATASHA BURMAN (2L) I n 2018, fol low ing a t wo -year rev iew of t he law yer l icensing process in Ontar io, t he L aw Societ y of Ontar io ( L SO) ap proved a mandator y m in imum wage r u le for Ontar io ar t icl ing st udents. T h is change fol lowed a repor t from t he Professiona l Development and Competence Comm ittee ( PDCC ) on E x per ient ia l Tra in ing Enhancements, wh ich stated t hat approx imately 10 to 15 percent of art icl ing placements are unpa id or pa id below m in imum wage. T h is amounts to around 130 to 150 placements in Ontar io.

T he inadequate pay of ar t icl ing st udents was sa id to create unfa ir and potent ia l ly ex ploitat ive work ing ar rangements.

Unpa id or under pa id posit ions cou ld a lso const it ute an unfa ir bar r ier to l icensing for econom ica l ly d isadvantaged cand idates, as cand idates who lack net work s in t he profession, f inancia l resources, or are members of h istor ica l ly marg ina l ized g roups are more l i kely to be of fered t he unpa id posit ions.

T he mandator y m in imum wage was due to come into ef fect in May 2021. However,

due to t he ongoing COV I D -19 pandem ic, t he m in imum wage r u le was put on hold and has yet to be implemented. L aw Societ y benchers now have t he oppor t un it y to reconsider t heir decision at t he upcom ing L SO Convocat ion meet ing on Febr uar y 24.

A major it y of t he PDCC bel ieve t hat t he L SO shou ld not move for ward w it h t he mandator y m in imum wage r u le, as t h is may reduce t he overa l l number of placements ava i lable. Employers who are unable to pay ar t icl ing st udent wages cou ld

no longer h ire a st udent. Since ind iv idua ls cannot move for ward in Ontar io’s l icensing process w it hout ar t icl ing for at least ten mont hs, creat ing a mandator y m in imum wage may create more bar r iers to l icensing.

T he debate about whet her ar t icl ing st udent posit ions shou ld have a mandator y m in imum wage rema ins a contested issue in t he lega l commun it y. I n t he meant ime, st udents are encouraged to ema i l t he elected benchers w it h t heir opin ions on t he matter.

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January 26, 2022 | 9

Part of Falconer Hall to be Demolished The Centre for Civilizations, Cultures, and Cities is coming next door JENNIFER SUN (2L) The University of Toronto submitted its Zoning By-law Amendment application to the City of Toronto in 2019 to seek approval of a proposed nine-storey academic building at 78-90 Queen’s Park, where Falconer Hall and the Edward Johnson Building are located. The proposal was f inally approved in September 2021.

Rest assured U of T Law—Falconer Hall will be preserved in-situ (i.e., at its original location), with only its later additions at the westernmost wing being removed and modif ied to facilitate integration into the new Centre for Civilizations, Culture, and Cities (“Centre”). The demolition notice some of us might have seen in passing actually refers to the former working McLaughlin Planetarium, where a large section of the new building is proposed.

The purpose of the rezoning application is to secure additional height permissions exceeding the current limit of 23 meters and to establish other performance standards with respect to the built form, including setbacks and density. As with almost all downtown development proposals that seek an increase in height and density, it was no surprise that this project was not smooth sailing.

The project was appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal in October 2020 (now the Ontario Land Tribunal and formerly the Ontario Municipal Board) on the grounds that the Council failed to make a decision within the statutory timeframe.

This may seem excessive and controversial at f irst glance, but as a former urban planner, it is not uncommon for high-prof ile projects in Toronto to end up in a tribunal process.

A settlement was reached after a formal mediation process and the Ontario Land Tribunal issued its interim order in September 2020, approving the revised design with the f inal order pending the fulf illment of conditions. Again, the proposed height and massing were unsurprisingly the main concerns during the mediation process.

The approved revised proposal redistributes the building’s massing to interface bet-

ter with its surroundings. The proposed height was also reduced from 43 meters to 35 meters at its tallest portion.

Although the details from the settlement are not public, the proposed programming likely remains fairly similar to the latest information available on the City of Toronto’s Application Information Centre, including architectural drawings, planning rationale reports, landscape plans, and heritage impact statements. The following summarizes some key features we could reasonably expect from this new Centre.

Law students would have to share the space with other U of T students. The Centre is currently anticipated to house the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Music, School of Cities, and Faculty of Arts & Science, including the Department of History, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Institute of Islamic Studies, and Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies. To support the diverse range of students, faculty, and staff, the Centre is designed to offer a café, a world-class music recital hall, an urban lab (with a light fabrication space), experimental labs, an archaeology lab, and an event hall on the top f loor. This is in addition to student lounges, classrooms, workstations, conference rooms, and faculty off ices.

Furthermore, two outdoor plazas are planned to foster a welcoming environment.

The south plaza will be located between the Centre and Flavelle House. The north plaza will be adjacent to the Museum Station, serving as a gateway to the Centre. The University is in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission and the City of Toronto to create an elevator entrance. The north plaza will also be connected to the outdoor café located on the ground f loor of the Centre.

Construction of the Centre is scheduled to begin in 2023 and is expected to take approximately three years. While current U of T Law students most likely won’t have a chance to use this new space, this is nevertheless exciting news for future students.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE PROPOSED CENTRE FOR CIVILIZATIONS, CULTURES, AND CITIES’ INTERIOR. CREDIT: DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO

OUTSIDE FALCONER HALL. CREDIT: SHAE ROTHERY

ILLUSTRATION OF THE PROPOSED CENTRE FOR CIVILIZATIONS, CULTURES, AND CITIES’ EXTERIOR. CREDIT: CITY OF TORONTO FINAL REPORT

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10 | January 26, 2022

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Recent Supreme Court Jurisprudence Reveals Chasms TLA presents the SCC 2021 Roundtable: Latest Trends and Landmark Cases ANNECY PANG (3L) On December 2, the Toronto Lawyers Association (TLA) hosted a discussion on recent cases from the Supreme Court of Canada. Moderated by Sean Fine, journalist for The Globe and Mail, the panel discussed Charter rights, the role of dissenting opinions, and unwritten constitutional principles.

Joan Rataic-Lang, Executive Director of the TLA, provided opening remarks while Robin McKechney introduced the panellists. The event featured Professor Benjamin Berger, Danielle Robitaille, Sarit Batner, and Nader Hasan.

Fine started the discussion by introducing Ward v Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeuness), 2021 SCC 43.

Ward is a comedian who mocked a child with a facial disability. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that a discrimination claim was not established. Some panellists were surprised by the decision. The majority found that the child was singled out, not on the basis of his disability, but rather because he is a public f igure. The judges disagreed on how the right to dignity balanced against the right to free speech on the facts at hand.

Since the decision was under the Quebec

Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which, unlike the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, includes human dignity as a freestanding right, it likely tilted the case more in favour of the child. The way that the Court split reveals a chasm in how the Court views equality and disability.

The panellists then discussed Quebec (Attorney General) v 9147-0732 Quebec Inc, 2020 SCC 32. Here, a Quebec company argued that imposing a mandatory minimum f ine for carrying out construction work without a licence was a violation of its right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment under section 12 of the Canadian Charter. The Court unanimously held that section 12 exclusively protects human dignity; however, there was debate over the primacy of texts and the role of international law. The majority held that the liberal reference to international jurisprudence needed to be reigned in. A consequence of the decision is that the text of the Constitution now has primordial signif icance compared to its purpose. Whether a court begins with the text or the purpose as an anchor for interpreting the Constitution will be signif icant in cases

such as the upcoming Bill 21 appeal.

Fine brought up Justice Rosalie Abella’s retirement from the Court on July 1, 2021, and wondered who would replace her as the “loud, progressive voice” on the bench. The panellists agreed that Justice Abella’s retirement was a loss but disagreed on whether she was necessarily an anchor for the socalled progressive wing. While she was known for developing Canada’s equality jurisprudence under section 15 of the Charter, she was also a swing vote on several criminal law cases.

As the discussion turned to the more frequent split decisions from the Court in recent years, some panellists pointed out that such decisions have the potential to erode the public’s esteem in the Court as a high court that is guiding the law. The law seems murky when there are four differing decisions. Dissents, however, are also effective in showing complexity and laying the groundwork for future changes in the law.

Fine brought up Indigenous representation at the Court and the Indigenous Bar Association’s call for a spot on the Court to be reserved for an Indigenous judge. The

panellists agreed that Indigenous representation on the Court is much-needed and pointed to R v Khill, 2021 SCC 37, a case that involved the death of an Indigenous man. The decision had no mention of the victim’s Indigeneous background. The panel concluded that increased diversity on the bench that better represents Canadians will lead to stronger jurisprudence and more conf idence in the courts.

The panel wrapped up with a discussion on unwritten constitution principles. In Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34, Toronto relied on the unwritten principle of democracy to argue that the change from 47 to 25 wards halfway into the election period was unconstitutional.

The majority in a 5-4 split held that unwritten constitutional principles cannot be used as a basis for invalidating legislation.

This shows the Court is interpreting the Constitution more narrowly. The closing down of the unwritten constitutional principles may be a canary in the coal mine in how the Court perceives the role of the judiciary in relation to the Executive and Parliament.

Why did you choose McMillan?

I chose McMillan because the firm has demonstrated a commitment to its core values, especially respect and teamwork. These key values are very personal and aligned with my belief system. As a result, I have felt included, supported and well positioned to contribute to the firm’s success, together with other firm members who embrace these values.

Kathy Martin

Partner, Financial Services Group

2017 - 2022 Take the lead in your career.

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January 26, 2022 | 11

The New Psychedelic Renaissance

An overview of recent changes to Canadian psychedelics law TAYLOR RODRIGUES (1L)

Psychedel ics are back! I nterest in psychedel ics is at its h ighest since t he 196 0 s.

Researchers are increasingly interested in using psychedel ic med icines for d if f icu ltto -t reat menta l hea lt h cond it ions such as post-t raumat ic st ress d isorder, depression, and an x iet y. T here are now about 25 compan ies on t he Canad ian Stock E xchange in t he psychedel ics sector. T h is g row t h in psychedel ics research and compan ies is a ided by recent att it ud ina l and lega l sh ifts.

W hat a re Psychedel ics?

I n t h is ar t icle, I def ine “psychedel ics” as substances t hat br ing on non- ord inar y states of consciousness, and a lter percep t ion, mood, and cog n it ive processes. I nd iv idua ls ta k ing psychedel ics t y pica l ly exper ience a d istor ted sense of t ime (i.e., a feel ing t hat t ime is sped up or slowed dow n), v isua l or aud itor y i l lusions, intense posit ive or negat ive emot ions, and myst ica l-t y pe ex per iences (e.g., feel ing a st rong connect ion to God, nat ure, or ot her humans).

Psychedel ics, broad ly def ined, include classica l psychedel ics such as L SD ( lyserg ic acid d iet hylam ide) and psi locybin (t he psychoact ive ing red ient in “mag ic mushrooms”), empat hogens (substances t hat produce st rong senses of emot iona l connect ion) such as M DM A (3,4 -Met hyl​e ned iox y ​m et hamphetam ine), and d issociat ive anest het ics such as ketam ine.

T he ef fects of psychedel ics var y g reat ly by t he t y pe of psychedel ic, t he dosage consumed, t he m indset t he ind iv idua l has going into t he psychedel ic ex per ience, and t he physica l env ironment t he psychedel ic is used in. Psychedel ics can be ta ken at a “macro dose” wh ich produces psychedel ic ef fects (e.g., v isua l i l lusions and a d istor ted sense of t ime) or a “m icro dose” wh ich is too low to produce psychedel ic ef fects but may produce ot her ef fects (e.g., improved mood).

Med icina l ly, psychedel ics are often used at a macro dose in combinat ion w it h psychot herapy. Ty pica l ly, pat ients w i l l have a sober psychot herapy session w it h t heir t herapist to prepare t hem for ex plo rat ion t herapy sessions where t he pat ient w i l l ta ke a macro dose of a psychedel ic.

Dur ing t he ex plorat ion sessions, t he pat ient is g uided t hrough t he t r ip by t heir t herapist to work on t he menta l hea lt h cond it ion t hey are t r y ing to add ress. A fter t he ex plorat ion sessions, t he pat ient w i l l have integ rat ion psychot herapy sessions w it h t heir t herapist wh i le sober to integ rate t he insights t hey ga ined from t he explorat ion sessions into t heir da i ly l ife.

Psychedel ics are genera l ly considered physica l ly safe and non-add ict ing. However, it is dangerous for ind iv idua ls to use psychedel ics unsuper v ised, especia l ly when around physica l hazards (e.g., heights and busy roads), as one’s spat ia l

senses and decision-ma k ing abi l it y may be af fected.

Most psychedel ics are cont rol led sub stances under t he Controlled D r ugs and S ubstances Act (CDSA), mean ing it is i l lega l to possess or manufact ure t hem w it hout aut hor izat ion. Researchers may possess cont rol led psychedel ics for research pur poses by seek ing an exempt ion under t he C DS A. Pr ior to Aug ust 2020, t he on ly way for pat ients to lega l ly access psychedel ics (w it h t he except ion of ketam ine) was t hrough cl in ica l t r ia ls. Now, t here are t wo new pat hways for pat ients to access lega l psychedel ics for med ica l use: sect ion 56 requests under t he C DS A and Hea lt h Canada’s Specia l Access Prog ram.

Sec t ion 56 Requests Under t he CDS A Sect ion 56 of t he C DS A g ives t he federa l M in ister of Hea lt h t he broad power to exempt a person or classes of persons from any prov ision of t he C DS A or its reg u lat ions if, “ in t he opin ion of t he M in ister, t he exempt ion is necessar y for a med ica l or scient if ic pur pose or is ot her w ise in t he publ ic interest.”

Sect ion 56 of t he C DS A was used to pro v ide lega l access to med ica l cannabis before med ica l cannabis reg u lat ions were created. It has a lso been used to a l low super v ised d r ug consumpt ion ser v ices and d r ug test ing ser v ices. Sect ion 4 of t he C DS A proh ibits t he possession of a cont rol led substance w it hout aut hor izat ion under t he C DS A, wh ich ma kes t hese serv ices i l lega l un less t hey receive a sect ion 56 C DS A exempt ion.

I n Aug ust 2020, t he federa l M in ister of Hea lt h approved t he f irst sect ion 56 C DS A request to a l low a pat ient to possess psi lo cybin mushrooms. T he ter m ina l pat ient requested t he exempt ion so t hey cou ld undergo psi locybin-assisted t herapy to add ress t heir end- of-l ife d ist ress. Psi locybin is a psychedel ic t hat is nat ura l ly occurr ing in hund reds of mushroom t y pes and has been show n to be cl in ica l ly ef fect ive to t reat end- of-l ife d ist ress, depression, and an x iet y. However, it does not yet have a Dr ug Ident if icat ion Number ( DI N ) and cannot be reg u larly prescr ibed in any count r y.

Since Aug ust 2020, t he M in ister of Hea lt h has approved nearly 10 0 sect ion 56 C DS A requests to a l low ind iv idua ls to possess psi locybin mushrooms. Most of t he requests have been to t reat end- of-l ife d ist ress in ter m ina l pat ients. However, a few requests have been to t reat menta l hea lt h cond it ions in non-ter m ina l pat ients and to a l low for hea lt hcare professiona ls to ta ke psi locybin to ex per ience its ef fects so t hey can better prov ide psi locybin-assisted t herapy.

T hera Psi l, a non-prof it organ izat ion based in Br it ish Columbia, has been help ing pat ients and hea lt hcare professiona ls ma ke t hese requests. T hera Psi l connects

request ing pat ients w it h t herapists t ra ined to prov ide psi locybin-assisted t herapy and t ra ins hea lt hcare professiona ls to prov ide psi locybin-assisted t herapy.

Requests under sect ion 56 of t he C DS A of fer a new lega l avenue to access psi locybin-assisted t herapy, but T hera Psi l does not have t he capacit y to help t he t housands of interested Canad ian pat ients and hea lt hcare professiona ls. Cur rent ly, t here is a lso no lega l way for requestees to purchase psi locybin—t hey are left to forage for mushrooms on t heir ow n.

T he Specia l Access Prog ra m T he Specia l Access Prog ram (SA P) is a Hea lt h Canada prog ram t hat a l lows hea lt hcare professiona ls (usua l ly physicians) w it h prescr ibing pr iv i leges in t heir prov ince or ter r itor y to request d r ugs for t heir pat ients t hat are not cur rent ly ap proved and ava i lable for sa le in Canada.

Nor ma l ly, d r ugs must be approved by Hea lt h Canada for sa fet y, ef fect iveness, and qua l it y before t hey can be sold in Canada.

To be el ig ible for t he SA P, pat ients must have a “ser ious or l ife-t hreaten ing cond it ion” and convent iona l t reat ments for t heir cond it ion must be unsuitable, have fa i led, or are not ava i lable in Canada.

T he SA P is t y pica l ly used for pat ients w it h rare cond it ions to access d r ugs t hat are approved in ot her count r ies but not yet in Canada.

To date, no psychedel ic med icine has ever been approved under t he SA P. Dr ugs t hat are not ava i lable for sa le in Canada, includ ing psychedel ic med icines, used to be el ig ible for t he SA P before 2013. I n 2012 to 2013, a sma l l number of pat ients used t he SA P to access prescr ipt ion hero in. I n response, Hea lt h Canada, under t he Har per gover nment, amended t he SA P to proh ibit any med icines conta in ing d r ugs t hat t he Food and D r ug R egulations classif ied as rest r icted from being accessed t hrough t he SA P. T h is change ef fect ively prevented heroin, psychedel ics, and a l l d r ugs common ly refer red to as “ i l lega l d r ugs” from being accessed t hrough t he SA P. Proh ibit ing “rest r icted d r ugs” from being accessed t hrough t he SA P was an arbit rar y bar r ier and was not suppor ted by cl in ica l ev idence. Even in 2013, t here was cl in ica l ev idence t hat prov id ing prescr ip t ion heroin to some ind iv idua ls w it h hero in use d isorder enhanced t heir l ifespan and reduced societa l costs compared to convent iona l t reat ments.

A fter 2013, t here were substant ia l advances in t he cl in ica l research of psychedel ic med icines. For example, t he Un ited States Food and Dr ug Ad m in ist rat ion desig nated M DM A-assisted t herapy for postt raumat ic st ress d isorder and psi locybinassisted t herapy for t reat ment-resistant depression as brea kt hrough t herapies in 2017 and 2018, respect ively. T h is demon-

st rates t hat t he prel im inar y cl in ica l ev idence ind icates t hat psychedel ics prov ide substant ia l improvements in hea lt h outcomes over cur rent ly ava i lable t reat ments.

I n 2019, t he Mu lt id iscipl inar y A ssociat ion of Psychedel ic St ud ies Canada, a Canad ian psychedel ics char it y sponsor ing cl in ica l t r ia ls for M DM A-assisted t herapy, and ot her psychedel ics and d r ug pol icy organ izat ions began advocat ing for Hea lt h Canada to reverse t he 2013 changes to t he SA P. On Januar y 5, 2022, Hea lt h Canada amended t he Food and D r ug R egulations to reverse t he 2013 changes to t he SA P. Now a l l d r ugs, includ ing psychedel ic med icines, are potent ia l ly el ig ible under t he SA P. However, t h is does not g uarantee t hat psychedel ic med icines w i l l be ap proved or t hat producers w i l l supply psychedel ic med icines.

Hea lt h Canada rev iews each SA P request on a case-by- case basis and eva luates if t here is cred ible infor mat ion on t he safet y and ef f icacy of t he d r ug to suppor t t he decision to prescr ibe it. T h is means t hat in it ia l ly, on ly t he more researched psychedel ics — such as M DM A and psi lo cybin— w i l l l i kely be approved under t he SA P. T he Fut u re of L ega l Psychedel ics Neit her t he recent changes to t he SA P nor t he t rend towards g rant ing sect ion 56 C DS A requests to access med ica l psi locybin w i l l open t he f loodgates to psychedelics. Bot h of t hese pat hways to lega l psychedel ics are cur rent ly l im ited to pat ients w it h ser ious med ica l cond it ions or to hea lt hcare professiona ls t ra in ing to pro v ide psychedel ic-assisted t herapy.

Even if pat ients receive lega l aut hor izat ion to obta in psychedel ics, t hey are ex per iencing d if f icu lt y purchasing psychedelics from aut hor ized dea lers. T h is issue w i l l hopefu l ly add ress itsel f t h is year as dea lers seek to ser ve g row ing SA P and sect ion 56 C DS A pat ients.

Psychedel ics-assisted t herapy st i l l rema ins cost-proh ibit ive for most Canad ians as psychedel ic med icines and psychedel icassisted t herapy is cost ly to access. Even reg u lar (sober) t herapy has no or l im ited coverage under most publ ic and pr ivate hea lt h insurance plans.

Using psychedel ics for ot her benef icia l pur poses such as spir it ua l it y, creat iv it y, or socia l bond ing rema ins i l lega l in Canada and t he Gover nment of Canada seems unl i kely to change t h is soon.

St i l l, we are seeing t he st ig ma of psychedel ics d issipate and our laws chang ing to a l low more access to psychedel ic med icines.

Editor’s Note: Taylor Rodr igues i s the National D r ug Policy L ead for the Multidi sciplinar y Association of Psychedelic Studies Canada and advocated for the recent changes to Health Canada’s S pecial Access P rogram .

12 | January 26, 2022

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An Interview with Paul-Erik Veel on Innovation and the Law Discussing developments in technological innovation in legal practice HUSSEIN E. E. FAWZY (2L) Paul-Erik Veel is a Partner at Lenczner Slaght LLP. On January 14, Veel sat down with Ultra Vires to discuss his experience leveraging data and technology with his work at the law firm. He shared his thoughts on how to foster a culture of technological innovation in legal practice, explained some of the limitations of legal technology, and reflected on where he sees technology in legal practice developing in the next decade.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Ultra Vires (UV): There has been an increased interest in incorporating technological solutions to legal practice. A few years ago, you started the Data-Driven Decisions program at Lenczner Slaght LLP. Tell me more about that.

Paul-Erik Veel (PEV): Data-Driven Decisions as a program is about using empirical and quantitative insights to inform the practice of lawyering.

I was working with a client in a case where we were going to a jury trial. It was a medical malpractice trial and I was giving the doctor some advice about how he should do such or such. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I was giving him some very conventional advice about the way we do things and what he should do. And he, being a doctor and trained in a very empirical background, said, “Okay, great, thanks very much.

And just to confirm, of course, there [are] studies that validate that that’s the right strategy, and will increase my chances of success?” to which the answer was, well, no, that’s not actually how being a lawyer works. We don’t have empirical data. And the vast majority of academic work actually doesn’t focus on those types of questions. That was the honest answer. But it was an unsatisfying answer to him. And it was unsatisfying to me as well.

Since then, with the support of my firm and lots of colleagues, we’ve tried to incrementally change that by collecting data about things that are relevant to our practice and then leveraging that data to give our clients better, and more empiricallygrounded advice. Clients will often ask their lawyers “what are my chances of winning this case?”

And in the olden days, a lawyer’s answer was, “well, I can’t really tell you, but you've got a decent shot.” What is a business person—what is a rational client—supposed to do with that information?

It’s very difficult to understand what that means.

I’m seeing more and more clients that want to know: “Okay, what does that mean? Do I have a 70% chance of winning? Do I have a 50%? Do I have a 30% chance? Put some meat on the bones of your estimate.” That’s not something lawyers were comfortable doing historically, in part because it’s very hard to give those probability assessments without a broad range of data to inform them. So at its core, Data-Driven Decisions is about using and leveraging that empirical data to advise and advocate for our clients better.

UV: One of these applications at your firm is the Supreme Court Leave program. How does the data process work in the Leave program and what has been your experience with it in terms of successes?

PEV: From my perspective, our Supreme Court Leave program is actually one of the best examples of where a quantitative empirical analysis can be helpful because, as you know, the Supreme Court [does not] tell you why they grant leave in cases or not. Instead, every Thursday morning, they will release decisions just saying that leave applications were granted or dismissed, and you have no idea

why they’re doing what they’re doing.

I suspected that there were certain regular patterns that we could identify that would help us predict the likelihood of particular cases getting leave to the Supreme Court. When we started collecting the data, we had a whole series of hypotheses as to what might be relevant and what might not. We didn’t know what the data would show, but we hoped that we would find some fairly strong relationships. Lo and behold, once we actually collected several years’ worth of data and analyzed it, it did.

There is a whole laundry list of factors that we can say not only impact your chances of getting leave, but we actually have an estimate as to how they change your odds of getting leave. And that all feeds into a model that gives predictions. Getting leave to the Supreme Court is always unlikely; in past years, it’s been in the six to eight percent range of cases that get leave every year. So, our model does not tell you with certainty whether you’re going to get leave; it doesn’t give you a yes/ no prediction. What it tries to do, and what I see as its utility, is that it allows you to stratify your case by how good a shot you have. Is this a case where I feel like the Court of Appeal did me wrong, but the model says I’ve got a one percent chance, so it’s not worth spending any more time or effort on it? Or is this a case with a 30 or 40 percent chance where, maybe it’ll happen, maybe it won’t, but it’s worth spending the effort to pursue it to the next step?

UV: Every leap in technology comes with many challenges and hidden costs. What are some of the biggest challenges that you have experienced with the program and what did you do to ameliorate them?

PEV: I think the challenge in Data-Driven Decisions is that there’s always a change management element. With a lot of innovations, it’s hard to get people to adjust to a new way of thinking about things. The legal industry is inherently conservative in so many ways. There have been a lot of people who have remarked that a lawyer practicing 100 years ago, if you plop them down into a legal practice today, they would be much more comfortable doing their job than a doctor or a dentist or an accountant or one of any other panoply of professionals.

When it comes to numbers and data, regrettably, a lot of lawyers are allergic to using them. And that comes from a lot of different places, including the fact that for a lot of lawyers, their background before law school was not in a field that used data or math or statistics to any meaningful extent. I think there’s a lot of hesitancy, and oftentimes— not so much within my firm—but I can tell you other lawyers sometimes have had this reaction as well, “And what’s your model going to be able to do? What can aggregate data tell me?” My response to that is always, “judicial analytics and empirical legal analysis is not going to fundamentally change the way you practice. But it’s an additional tool that can improve your practice and allow you to do your work better, faster, cheaper.

It’s a second opinion. It’s a first pass. It’s a gut check. It’s a starting point and an input for you to formulate your advice and act for your client.”

To come back around to the question you asked, to get people to buy into a more data-driven mindset, you have to, on the one hand, show them concrete, tangible benefits, but also make sure that you’re not over-promising the capacity and that they understand what it can do and what it can’t.

Once you have the right mindset, it’s an immensely powerful tool that can complement all of the

PAUL-ERIK VEEL, PARTNER AT LENCZNER SLAGHT LLP. CREDIT: LENCZNER SLAGHT LLP

conventional lawyering that we do.

UV: The legal field is often regarded as one of the fields that is least vulnerable to automation compared to other occupations. To what extent do you view the development of technology as a means to either replace or supplement a lawyer’s work going forward in the next decade?

PEV: I would be shocked if there is a meaningful change in what lawyers are doing today, compared to what they will be doing a decade from now.

There will of course be a change. There will be additional tasks that will be automated. But a lot of the lowest hanging fruit has already been picked.

I’ve been at Lenczner Slaght for 11 years. When I started practicing 11 years ago, document review was still a relatively manual exercise. You would do keyword searches to try and identify relevant documents. If you had a set of one million documents to look through, the common way you would deal with that would be to hire a review team, write a coding manual, and give them instructions as to how to review documents. It was inefficient and expensive. Nowadays, that still happens sometimes. But, most of the time, you do some kind of technology-assisted review where you will have a machine learning tool that uses natural language processing to do a first pass analysis of the relevance of a particular document. That’s already happening. And there are still all kinds of advances being made every year, but the low hanging fruit has been picked.

I think we’re going to see incremental innovations in legal research, document assembly, and document review over the next decade. But I think it’s going to take longer than a decade to see fundamentally transformational change to the way that lawyers lawyer.

UV: The pursuit of technology may not be a priority from a day-to-day perspective in legal practice today. What has been your experience on how law firms should organize to foster a better environment for the development of technological innovation in their practice?

PEV: Innovation is one of those things that costs money and yields no good outcomes in the short term. In a law firm that is taking a short-sighted perspective and is not taking the steps necessary to incentivize innovation, management isn’t going to

send the signals necessary to say to lawyers: “We value you working on innovative activities.”

That being said, there are a handful of law firms out there—and I count myself lucky to be at one of them—that understand that if you’re trying to serve clients at a high level, you must continually be innovating to try and improve the quality or lower the costs of your service delivery.

What does that mean in concrete terms? It means firms can do all kinds of things, but the number one part of innovation is just a culture at the top that says, “if you have an idea that seems kind of crazy, pursue it, and if it doesn’t pan out, and if you fail, and if you put in 100 hours of your time, and it fails, that’s okay because if you don’t do that, we’re not going to generate innovation.”

Different firms do it in different ways. I’ve seen some reports of US firms that have billable hours targets that allow associates to count a particular number of hours towards sort of innovation-focused activities. Billable hours targets are in and of themselves controversial, so I’m not going to weigh in on the rightness or wrongness of that.

Certainly, those kinds of signals show that innovative activity is encouraged and failure is okay, that the firm is willing to spend upfront money and think about different ways of doing things. That’s what matters more than anything. There’s no sort of magic to innovation, other than having a group of smart people together, and being given the support to follow their seemingly crazy ideas, wherever that may lead.

UV: Is there anything else that we have forgotten or that you would like to add?

PEV: The only thing I would add is this. There really are a lot of different ways to be a lawyer.

Even the largest of firms and the most white-shoe Bay Street firms are recognizing that there are new ways to do things that are different from how we’ve done things in the past. And that’s great! So what I would say to every U of T Law student, and every law student in general, is as you’re figuring out your path through all of this, the law is complicated and there will be so much that you can learn from the people more senior to you. But anytime you have a good idea, put your hand up, and just take the initiative to follow it. Ultimately it will make you a better lawyer and, in the long run, that’s the way that the industry as a whole is going to get better. So, when you have a crazy idea, follow it.

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January 26, 2022 | 13

We’ve Got Beef

Toronto’s actual best hamburgers

LAUREN PAPAROUSIS (2L), KAITLYN NELSON (2L), SHAE ROTHERY (2L), AND JOHN METZGER (2L) Before t he hol idays, we st umbled upon Obiter D icta’s rev iew of Toronto’s best hamburger joints. Respect fu l ly, we d isag ree. A s law st udents who actually l ive in Toronto ( look ing at you, Osgoode), we offer our d issent ing opin ion on wh ich burgers reig n supreme, and wh ich f it squarely in t he P-range.

Perhaps more impor tant ly, now t hat restaurants are shuttered to indoor d in ing t han k s to t he pandem ic, t he g ift t hat keeps on g iv ing, t here’s no better t ime to sup por t t he restaurant indust r y and t reat yoursel f to an indu lgent ta keout burger.

Join ing us on our jour ney t h is mont h is specia l g uest and cu l inar y ex per t (in our opin ion), John Met zger (2L)!

Pro t ip: wh i le you’re wa it ing to col lect your order, sw ing by Grape Witches just a few doors dow n and pick up a fun bott le of v ino to pa ir w it h your burger Vegg ie opt ions: ava i lable

I mpossible

Burgers

Ration Burger | 335 Queen St W John: T hose early Canad ian federa l ism cases got you dow n? Despondent over 20 0 pages of lega l process read ings? You need a R at ion Burger. A classic smash burger w it h fresh, moder n toppings and sauces, one bite ma kes you sit back and feel l i ke you have reached t he pea k of t he human ex per ience. T h is burger singlehanded ly got me t hrough bot h Zoom School of L aw and t he 2L recr uit—it t r u ly is a taste of heaven bet ween t wo buns. A lso reasonably pr iced for its qua l it y and taste. Give it a t r y!

ONE OF SEVERAL LOCATIONS. CREDIT: LAUREN PAPAROUSIS

Rudy Burger | multiple locations K a it ly n: I n case you ever quest ioned our ded icat ion to t h is column, we endured an hour-long t rek in -18°C weat her just to t r y t h is burger. “T he Rudy ” is a simple smash burger topped w it h lett uce, tomatoes and A mer ican cheese (sor r y to a l l you A mer ican cheese haters). T he taste was not h ing spectacu lar, but what rea l ly stood out was t he pr ice. Just t h in k— when was t he last t ime you bought a burger from McDona ld’s, and how much d id it cost?

Wit h t heir st udent d iscount, Rudy’s comes in at around $6! W h i le Rudy’s ran k s low in ter ms of taste, it's t he best bang for your buck on our l ist. We d id n’t ex plore t he rest of t he menu, but wou ld def in itely consider com ing back to t r y a m i l k sha ke ( but in t he summer next t ime).

Pro t ip: t r uf f le fr ies and ja lapeno a iol i add- ons are a must Vegg ie opt ions: vegan patt ies ava i lable

GOTTA LOVE THE VALUE AT RUDY’S! CREDIT: LAUREN PAPAROUSIS

The Burger’s Priest | multiple locations L auren: Do you l i ke your burgers w it h a heaping side of rel ig ion? You w i l l be immed iately g reeted by bibl ica l verses when you wa l k into a Burger’s Pr iest locat ion— a non- Chr ist ian fr iend remarked t hat he felt l i ke he was going to burst into f lames on t he spot. Besides t hat, t he burgers are fa irly unremarkable (where are t he smash burgers?!). We w i l l g ive Burger’s Pr iest cred it for hav ing many rel iable locat ions t hroughout t he cit y, t hough.

Pro t ip: t hey have a secret menu w it h a var iet y of burgers (we d id n’t ex plore t hese, but wou ld love to k now if you do!)

Vegg ie opt ions: bot h vegg ie and vegan patt ies ava i lable

Pro t ip: f lash your T- Card to get 20 percent of f your order before 5 pm!

Vegg ie opt ions: N/A

CHECK OUT THE SAUCE AT BURGER DROPS! CREDIT: LAUREN PAPAROUSIS

Burger Drops | 116 Atlantic Ave EAT FIRST, SNAP LATER AT EXTRA BURGER. CREDIT: SHAE ROTHERY

Extra Burger | 1265 Dundas St W Shae: Fun brand ing? Check. Classic d iner v ibes? Check. Great pr ices? Absolutely — you don’t even have to pay ext ra for cheese! Ser v ing up a smash burger t hat r iva ls R at ion, E xt ra Burger is an unassuming West- end gem w it h ever y t h ing you need from a burger joint, w it hout t he fr i l ls. Wit h a simple, fresh potato bun and t he t h innest shredded lett uce you’ve ever had, t h is sub -$10 cheeseburger is def in itely one to add to your ta keout rotat ion. Perhaps t he best par t? E xt ra Burger’s cr ink le- cut fr ies ma ke me feel l i ke a k id aga in, and, for a moment, t he pa in of law school temporar i ly subsides.

L auren: Okay, hear us out. We k now it’s in L iber t y Vi l lage. We a lso k now t hat, if you’re l i ke us, you avoid t hat place l i ke t he plag ue. But if you are bold enough to brave t hat condo -hel lscape, you deser ve a reward— and t hat reward shou ld be a burger from Burger Drops. Persona l ly, t h is is my second favor ite burger on t he l ist ( E xt ra Burger ta kes f irst place). A single smash burger r ings in at $8 and t he side of fr ies was pract ica l ly over f low ing.

We opted for t he Or ig ina l wh ich comes w it h on ions, pick les, A mer ican cheese, and t heir homemade “ d rop sauce” wh ich was t he star of t he show. We wou ld 10 0 percent go back— and t hat means a lot consider ing how inaccessible t he t ransit sit uat ion is t here.

Pro t ip: t he desser ts are a sk ip (sor r y!)

Vegg ie opt ions: vegg ie patt ies ava i lable DON'T FORGET YOUR T-CARD! CREDIT: LAUREN PAPAROUSIS

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14 | January 26, 2022

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Another Café Review Exploring the best cafés in Kensington Market THOMAS ALEXANDER (2L) AND HAYA SARDAR (2L) You may be ask ing: “A not her café rev iew? How many of t hose does U V need?”

We’l l put it in perspect ive. T he average Canad ian d r in k s a lmost 10 0 0 cof fees a year. A nd t he average law st udent? We rest our case.

I n t h is ar t icle, t wo cof fee add icts compare t he product, place, and v ibes of f ive ca fés in Kensing ton Market. A s York v i l le’s younger, cooler sister, Kensing ton is a v ibrant neighbourhood. Luck i ly, it is a lso home to some of t he best cof fee t he cit y has to of fer — so you can get back to work as soon as your tears, and cup, are d r y!

T he A rch Ca fé L ocated on Aug usta Avenue, t he A rch is an int imate café w it h an excit ing select ion of Persian-inspired food and d r in k s. O pen for brea k fast, br unch, and d inner, its menu feat ures un ique hot d r in k s, l i ke t he honey and cardamom and saf fron lattes.

T he A rch has bot h front and back pat ios decorated w it h fa ir y l ights and lots of pi llows. A lso spor t ing a d iverse select ion of teas, t he A rch is a st rong contender for t he cosiest café in Kensing ton.

T he Order: Decaf cappuccino ( T homas) and af fogato ( Haya) Product: 4/5 We ordered a decaf cappuccino and an affogato. Bot h had a r ich, mel low f lavour — wou ld def in itely ret ur n to t r y t heir ot her of fer ings.

P lace: 5/5 A mong t he sma l ler pat ios of t he g roup, but what t he A rch lack s in size it ma kes up in st yle. T he A rch stays close to its roots, decorat ing its inter ior wa l ls w it h old fami ly photog raphs, heirloom ceram ic work s, and colour fu l tapest r ies.

Vibes: 4/5 T he A rch’s soft ambiance ma kes it idea l for a quiet st udy per iod or romant ic so jour n away from t he law school.

L ast Word T: Great decaf.

H: I’m not one to ex per iment w it h spice blends, but I wou ld come back for t he coffee and int imacy a lone!

INTERIOR OF CAFÉ PAMENAR. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

Ca fé Pa mena r For a more l ively ex per ience, Ca fé Pamenar, located just nor t h of t he A rch, feat ures a fu l l bar in add it ion to its caf feinated beverages. Wit h a spacious back pat io t hat reg u larly hosts l ive music, Pamenar br idges t he gap bet ween cosy ca fé and hopping venue. St udents, however, shou ld be aware of Pamenar’s “socia l zone” pol icy, wh ich proh ibits laptops for most of t he workday.

T he Order: Iced latte ( T homas), van i l la iced latte ( Haya), and iced matcha latte ( Haya) Product: 3/5 Pamenar k nows t he Toronto market and ser ves t he staples of bot h cof fee and a lco hol! A s a quasi- ca fé bar, Pamenar is t he

per fect seg ue bet ween read ing cases w it h a latté to spend ing happy hour w it h your col leag ues.

P lace: 5/5 Pamenar ran k s f irst for its place. Wit h bot h a front and back pat io (and have we ment ioned it has a fu l l bar a lready?), g uests can curate t he t y pe of café ex per ience t hey want!

Vibes: 4/5 Pamenar ma kes us feel l i ke we are in r ust ic, v intage Europe. From t he t rees to t he picn ic benches (and t he lack of lap tops), it is t he per fect place for a st udy date or a rea l date.

L ast Word T: Okay cof fee, h ip venue.

H: I t horough ly enjoyed my iced latte, so I came back a second t ime to t r y t he matcha. I wou ld come back a t h ird t ime!

Moonbea n Moonbean is t he Kensing ton café. L o cated on St. A nd rew St reet, Moonbean boasts a super menu of d r in k s and ba ked goods. Using beans from a l l around t he world, Moonbean has its ow n cof fee roaster to ensure freshness.

T he Order: Cappuccino ( T homas), cap puccino sha ke ( Haya), and iced L ondon Fog ( Haya) Product: 4. 5/5 Moonbean has it a l l: cof fee, tea, sha kes and smoot h ies. Wit h over 4 0 loose-leaf teas and severa l in-house roasts, its sprawl ing menu spans t he back wa l l and ma kes for a potent ia l ly int im idat ing sight upon f irst ar r iva l. Despite t h is breadt h, its espresso is r ich and wel l-made. A lso, t he L ondon Fog keeps us com ing back a lmost ever y week.

Moonbean persona l ly recommends you t r y t heir t hundercloud and mocha, using fresh ly-made chocolate sauce!

HAYA SARDAR (2L) ENJOYING FOUND COFFEE’S FRONT PATIO. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

P lace: 5/5 Moonbean has bot h a front and back pat io, as wel l as indoor seat ing. Its space

is insid iously big and qua int ly decorated.

It feels as myst ica l and chaot ic as its handw r itten cha l kboard menu. T he lad ies’ bat hroom is f i l led w it h g ra f f it i of k ind messages and dood les for anyone to add to ーt he per fect pick-me-up for a st ressed law st udent.

Vibes: 4/5 We never k now what to ex pect from our t r ip to Moonbean. A quiet date? A mov ie shoot ing? A cof fee roast ing show? W hat keeps us com ing back to Moonbean is t he a l lure t hat we won’t k now what we’l l have t he next t ime we go.

L ast Word T: Can’t go w rong here, but rea l ly w ish t hey stayed open past 5 pm.

H: I feel l i ke a brand ambassador for Moonbean. It is my favour ite café in t he cit y, and I rock a Moonbean tote bag to t he law school at t imes.

Found Cof fee Nest led bet ween a v intage clot h ing store and a restaurant ser v ing exclusively hot dogs is Found Cof fee. On f irst glance, we feel l i ke Found Cof fee is t r y ing way too hard to be cool. From t he aw n ing t hat announces “COF F EE SHOP ” to t he fau xmoder n pract ice of renam ing ex ist ing beverages as a cheap shor tcut to a un ique menu, Found Cof fee seems l i ke it belongs in a suburban h ipster’s dayd ream rat her t han its cur rent locat ion adjacent to Kensing ton Market. But Found Cof fee won us over once we got inside. T he staf f, including t he ow ner, were ver y welcom ing and happy to spend t ime ex pla in ing t heir menu to us.

T he Order: Iced wh ite cof fee ( T homas) and iced matcha latte ( Haya) Product: 2/5 T he wh ite cof fee is just an iced latte w it h way too much m i l k. T he matcha latte was severely under-sweetened.

P lace: 4/5 T he covered front pat io is less a pat io

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January 26, 2022 | 15

t han a few tables and cha irs, but we ap preciated t he shade and cush ioned seats.

T he back pat io is t he sma l lest of t he cafés we v isited, yet once we found a seat it was hard to leave.

Vibes: 4/5 We l i ked hear ing Mac Demarco com ing t hrough Found Cof fee’s stereo, and appreciate t hat t he propr ietor donates $1,0 0 0 ever y mont h to a char it y of t heir customers’ choosing. I f you decide to v isit Found Cof fee, don’t forget to cast your vote instore.

L ast Word T: Not my f irst choice, but it’s hard to hold a g r udge aga inst such a fr iend ly bunch.

H: I wou ld g ive Found Cof fee anot her t r y, par t ly to hear Mac Demarco aga in.

Film Ca fé Fi lm Café, anot her t r usted spot on Aug usta Avenue, seems hard ly l i ke just a ca fé. Wit h d r in k s, food, and enter ta inment, it cou ld be t he next bar n ight for t he L aw and Fi lm Societ y. I f you want a spot to ta ke your law school cr ush, Fi lm Café is a cof fee chat, d inner, and mov ie a l l in one!

T he Order: L ondon Fog ( T homas) and matcha latte ( Haya) Product: 3. 5/5 Fi lm Café’s menu of fers ever y t h ing, from cof fee to cockta i ls and ba ked goods to ent rées. It ma kes a mean matcha, using t he proper wh isk met hod ( I’m look ing at you, Starbuck s). For st udents look ing to get an ext ra jolt, Fi lm Café a lso ser ves n it ro -brewed cof fee.

P lace: 5/5 Fi lm Café has t he most spacious inter ior of t he cafés we v isited. It has t wo levels of seat ing, and an outdoor pat io big enough to host its famous mov ie n ights. W h i le it

INSIDE FILM CAFÉ. CREDIT: THOMAS ALEXANDER

may be too d im to st udy inside t he café in t he even ing, t he sk yl ights del iver a lot of nat ura l l ight in t he day t ime.

Vibes: 4/5 Ser v ing its matcha st ir red, not sha ken, t here’s no doubt t hat Fi lm Café is suave.

From mel low ind ie music to del icate latte ar t, it rem inds us of a f i lm noir. Spea k ing of wh ich, fol low ing its namesa ke, t he café reg u larly hosts f i lm n ights and curated documentar y ser ies, prov id ing a quasit heat re ex per ience.

L ast Word T: T he desser t counter is ver y tempt ing.

H: Big yet cosy. I hope to attend t heir next documentar y screen ing!

3. Fi lm Ca fé - 12. 5

T he Winners

T hese are our ran k ings. But you’l l never k now wh ich one is t r u ly t he best un less you t r y t hem for yoursel f. Ta ke a fr iend, a date, or even a law school professor to Kensing ton Market for your next cof fee chat. A nd feel free to d rop us an ema i l about what your ran k ings are, so we can ma ke t he next inev itable ca fé rev iew even better.

So wh ich ca fé reig ns supreme? T he ran k ings, on our 15 -point sca le, are as fol lows: 1. Moonbean - 13. 5 2. T he A rch Ca fé - 13

4. Ca fé Pamenar - 12 5. Found Cof fee - 11

Merit is everything.

If you’re talented and do great work, we have a place for you.

dwpv.com/students

@daviesstudents

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16 | January 26, 2022

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Wines to Keep You Warm on a Cold Night

In Vino Veritas JARED BARKMAN (1L) In recent years, “dry January” has been in Vogue as a floundering attempt to pay penance for the hedonism of the holiday period, or a resoluteness that when we say “never again” following the inevitable NYE hangover, we truly mean it this time. However, in a month of endless lockdowns and mind-numbing Zoom classes, surely your January will be dry enough without relinquishing one of life’s greatest pleasures just to assuage a pervasive guilt complex. Besides, it's a little oxymoronic to try to become a better person while also trying to become a lawyer, don’t you think? For those seeking some form of gratuitous self-flagellation, might I suggest Veganuary instead? That way you can at least enhance your Beyond Nuggets and wash down the disappointing taste of sustainability with some of our top vinous picks of the season: a selection of bold wines to keep you warm on a cold night.

I share my review of a love affair with a feisty French Gamay, while Tom moves us from the Loire Valley down to Rioja in appraising a bold, savoury Tempranillo. In keeping with the theme of drinking in the tastes of Europe in lieu of taking in its sights, Alexa introduces us to a unique white port from the Douro Valley, while Sawyer indulges in Italian escapism in reviewing a complex red wine from the hills of Verona. Quinn reminds us that when looking for a wine to weather the cold Canadian winter, perhaps we’re best off looking in our own backyard, highlighting a wonderful Niagara winery.

In school, love, and red wine, one must remember that fortune favours the bold, so press forward knowing that brighter (and warmer) days are coming! We hope you enjoy our recommendations for this month.

To my pleasant surprise, La Pause was just as sexy the second time around, the kind of bottle that makes you want to shower for the first time in a week and get all dressed up as if you were trying to convince the wine that you’re worthy of drinking it rather than the other way around. Laurent Saillard’s 40-year-old Loire Valley vines are grown on clay and limestone soil, creating a punchier Gamay than you might be used to. Jammy red fruit notes dominate (strawberry, raspberry) and its soft tannins allow for rapid consumption if one is not cautious, but it still has a few earthy notes that allow for greater pondering than your typical easy-drinking Gamay. This is more of a “jealous lover” wine than a one-night stand, and if your liquor cabinet is ever endowed with the honour of storing a bottle, I can guarantee that you’ll find yourself hiding it from your bourgeois friends who will undoubtedly be keen on once again drinking your stash dry postlockdown.

Alexa Cheung (3L) Fonseca White Port $17.45 at the LCBO Okay, white wines don't exactly scream warm and cosy, but I guarantee that a few glasses of this 20 percent ABV fortified wine will definitely warm you up.

This is my first time trying a white port. Ports are Portuguese wines made in the Douro Valley of North Portugal, and the wines are fortified with brandy to stop the fermentation process. I generally associate ports with sickly sweet, cloying reds that I can only tolerate two sips of at a time, but this wine was a pleasant surprise. With a sugar content of 106 g/L, it was definitely very sweet, but it did not taste too heavy on the tongue. The wine is a gorgeous honey golden colour, and it had rich floral notes of honey and pear.

In the summer months, I imagine this would make an excellent cocktail with some grapefruit juice, fresh mint leaves, and sparkling water. In the meantime, I am happy sipping it along with a delicious smoked salmon pasta.

fresh wine to create a more accessible, fruity, easydrinking product.

In true pioneering fashion, the good folks at Big Head Wines in Niagara employ these “old world” techniques to bring a big-bodied, flavourful richness to Canadian red wine that is utterly unique and so often lacking in our cool climate. This 2018 Big Red is a bordeaux-style blend with 20 percent Appassimento-style grapes and 30 percent Ripasso-style wine. The resulting blend is delightfully big-bodied and dry, with pleasant tannins and a lasting finish. It smells of ripe fruit and sour candy with notes of sweet red fruit, vanilla butter, spice, caramel, and, as my dad is fond of saying, hints of Welch’s grape juice. It goes well with rich umami flavours like burgers, steak, mushroom pasta, or French onion soup.

CREDIT: SAWYER PELOSO

Sawyer Peloso (2L) CREDIT: TOM RUSSELL

Tommasi Ripasso Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2018

Tom Russell (2L)

$24.95 at LCBO

Faustino I Gran Reserva Tempranillo Blend $31.95 at the LCBO

CREDIT: JARED BARKMAN

Jared Barkman (1L) Laurent Saillard ‘La Pause’ $44, Grape Witches I first tried La Pause on an impromptu trip to Montreal last November, around the time that I should have been taking a term paper deadline far more seriously. I recalled the bottle as being a complete showstopper, an evocative Gamay that turns the dullest night into a celebration. But, in recognition that my recollection may have been influenced by the parade of preceding bottles (and the sales pitch of Joe Beef’s smooth-talking sommelier), I was determined to give it another go—and what better way to ensure honest contemplation than drinking during a freezing, locked-down, dreadfully sober January in Toronto.

If you’re anything like me, January is a time to realise you don’t have the strength of character required to follow through on any of the lifestyle changes you promised you’d begin in the new year.

So why not keep yourself warm and push away this unpleasant reality with a wonderful Tempranillo blend from La Rioja, Spain!

The Tempranillo grape is native to Spain and obtains its name from the fact that it ripens much earlier than other Spanish red grapes. The origin of Tempranillo cultivation on the Iberian Peninsula is thought to have begun around the time of the Phoenician settlements in the southern provinces. Tempranillo is known to have a very neutral profile, so is often blended with other varieties from the region.

My wine review for this month is for the Faustino I Gran Reserva 2009 Tempranillo Blend. This is an extra dry wine with a sugar content of 2 g/L and an alcohol content of 12.8 percent. It has a deep ruby colour and aromas of vanilla and tobacco. I noted hints of cherry and chocolate with tobacco. This wine is best paired with red meat, mushrooms, and cheese.

CREDIT: QUINN HARTWIG

Quinn Hartwig (1L) 2018 Big Head Red $21.80 at Big Head Wines At the beginning of the pandemic, my family and I were looking for a way to order wine to our home. We turned to Big Head, my favourite Niagara winery, and fell in love with their great wines and super convenient delivery process. We continue to order from them regularly ever since. To understand what makes their wines in general—and this blend in particular—so special, a bit needs to be said about their techniques. Appassimento is a term native to Northeastern Italy meaning “passionate”, which describes wine made from grapes laid on mats or hung to dry for several months. During this time, the grapes lose a third of their water content, leaving them ‘raisinated’ and packed with sugar.

These grapes are used to produce uniquely complex, aromatic, and intense red wines which are often aged and priced considerably. Ripasso is another type of wine made from “re-passing” the discarded, processed Appassimento grapes with

These days, January is a time to pretend that I am anywhere other than in Ontario. Italy is one country in which I envision myself spending a lot of time—my great-grandparents are from Italy. Recently, I explored what it would take to get Italian citizenship. It turns out having distant relatives makes the process somewhat easier. Unrealistic Italian citizenship dreams aside, in January I explored some Italian red wines to enjoy indoors on a cold, winter night.

The Valpolicella region in Italy produces some fantastic wines. This specific Tommasi wine also uses the well-known Ripasso method, which adds grape skins from Amarone wine back to Valpolicella, giving it more alcohol content and flavour.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience.

It had a dark ruby colour, with intense aromas consisting of red fruit and oak. Taste-wise, I noted hints of cherry, pepper, and prunes. It was very smooth, medium-bodied, low in tannins, and had an excellent lingering aftertaste. I would recommend it to both experienced and inexperienced red wine drinkers. It has a complex, interesting taste while not being too overwhelming, bold, or tannic.

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January 26, 2022 | 17

Ryan’s Movie Corner

The best (and worst) films of 2021 RYAN SHAH (3L) Though 2021 was a phenomenal year for movies, 2022 has begun with a whimper. Awards season is well underway and there are dozens of new releases lining cinema marquees. The recent Omicron wave, however, has once again shut down theatres and forced Ontario moviegoers to retreat into their all-too-familiar living rooms.

Though cinemas are now shuttered, the lull in human activity occasioned by the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases has provided many of us with a renewed (but perhaps somewhat unwelcome) opportunity to delve into 2021’s impressive library of films.

In this edition of Ryan’s Movie Corner, I will discuss what are (in my opinion) the best and worst films of 2021. Hands down my favourite film of the year is C’Mon C’Mon, a perfectly executed black-and-white exploration of the complexities of motherhood and unclehood (if such a word exists). Coming in at the bottom of my list is Don’t Look Up—a film that is so concerned with being both smart and funny that it ends up being neither. In between these extremes, I’ll also list a few honourable mentions that I think are absolutely worth watching as we settle into a long winter.

Best C’Mon C’Mon (Mike Mills) C’Mon C’Mon is my favourite film of 2021. It is an emotionally-fluent and self-aware meditation on the incredibly rich internal lives of normal people. The film centres on the relationship between Johnny ( Joaquin Phoenix) and his nephew Jesse (Woody Norman). Johnny is called on by his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) to mind Jesse while she cares for her husband who is suffering from a mental illness. Johnny is a documentary filmmaker who spends the bulk of C’Mon C’Mon creating a documentary about the personal narratives of American youth as they endure the many challenges of growing up in contemporary United States. The film eschews a plot-driven story for a slower and more meandering narrative.

This is not to say that nothing happens in the film. The film instead makes the emotional quirks and quandaries of its characters the focal point.

Shot in black-and-white, this film is a monumental achievement in audiovisual storytelling.

The film takes its time with the depiction of the internal, emotional world of each character.

Much of the film’s runtime is dedicated to documentary-style segments where Johnny narrates the emotions and feelings of the film’s characters.

Johnny’s most significant subjects are his sister and nephew. In these quasi-documentary moments, Johnny explores the rich emotional lives of Jesse and Viv—acknowledging their hopes, fears, and insecurities. The tone struck by Johnny and director Mike Mills is honest and forthright, but also non-judgemental. This directorial gaze creates the perfect atmosphere for the film, encouraging viewers to be compassionate in their comportment towards the film’s characters.

More than that, the film imparted upon me a strong impulse to take that same compassion into my real-life relationships. To me, this is the most significant sign of the film’s excellence.

One of the most deft moments of the film occurs when the directorial gaze of Johnny is reversed back upon him by Jesse. Generally, Johnny’s perspective guides both the action of the film and the brief documentary-like interludes that punctuate it. With a child-like curiosity, Jesse’s interest in Johnny’s life, history, and feelings inverts the relationship between artist and subject, serving as a reminder of the humanity on both sides of the camera. As the relationship between Johnny and Jesse deepens, it is incredibly refreshing to see Jesse reflect Johnny’s compassion back

A 9.5/10 FROM RYAN IS WORTH MORE THAN AN OSCAR! CREDIT: MARTIN VOREL

towards him, turning documentary to dialogue.

All this is depicted through an inspired cinematography that is concerned, primarily, with depicting the world and the people that live in it, as they are. This is without a doubt one of the most creative and innovative films of the year—it is a must-watch.

9.5/10

Worst Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay) Watching Don’t Look Up isn’t a terrible experience, but it is a terrible film. The film attempts to synthesize some of the most important political issues of our time into a single, 143-minute opus. Though the film is occasionally funny, it is consistently ham-fisted. Its political message feels half-baked and its sense of humour equally so.

Rolling Stone describes Don’t Look Up as “a blunt instrument in lieu of a sharp razor.” Though it’s generally considered lazy writing to rely on the turns of phrase of better writers to get your message across, I simply cannot think of a better way to put it.

The film depicts the uphill battle faced by astronomers Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky ( Jennifer Lawrence) in trying to convince the powers-that-be that a comet hurtling to Earth presents a grave threat to human civilization. Mindy and Dibiasky are 99 percent certain that the comet will collide with earth, annihilating virtually all life, unless the United States can destroy it before impact. Instead of garnering sympathy and concern, this urgent message falls on deaf ears. Policymakers, politicians, and journalists are skeptical, unconcerned, or both.

Don’t Look Up is directed by Adam McKay, who garnered considerable acclaim for his politically- and socially-aware films The Big Short and

Vice. Though these films were certainly funny, they were unlike some of McKay’s earlier directorial work (Anchorman and Step Brothers, to name a few) in that they were primarily dramatizations of important social and political events. The rest of McKay’s library is pure comedy. Don’t Look Up walks an uncomfortable line between these two forms. It at once tries to make a serious political commentary while inserting countless gag moments engineered to make the audience laugh out loud. Pulling off such a delicate balance would be no easy feat for even the most seasoned of filmmakers—and it turned out to be no easy feat for McKay, either.

Though Don’t Look Up purports to be a politically radical allegory for climate change, it trades on a tired and uninspired approach to social commentary. Viewers will no doubt have already had their fill of the film’s tone on the likes of Saturday Night Live. President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her chief-of-staff son ( Jonah Hill) are stand ins for the nepotism and incompetence of Trumpstyle Republicans. They are portrayed as raunchy, stupid, and scandalous. In trading on this well-worn line of attack, McKay exchanges polemic for denigration, critique for invective.

Though the caricature can arouse a chuckle or two on its first or second iteration, McKay beats viewers over the head with it for all 143 minutes of his film. This is not to say that the film is wrong for its strident critique of America’s political right—the film just spends a bit too much time patting itself on the back for this critique for it to be taken seriously. The film’s treatment of Big Tech feels equally amateurish. Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) is the CEO of a Google-like tech giant; he sees the comet as a potential source of profit, rather than danger. He is a slapdash combination of Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos that, much like Streep’s President Orlean, is more of a cartoonish caricature than anything else.

Overall, the film is not without its moments.

When the film isn’t taking its message too seriously, it can be genuinely funny. Generally, however, Don’t Look Up’s hyper-fixation with making a spot-on social and cultural commentary comes at the expense of the film’s comedic value, and vice versa. Everyone seems to have an opinion about this film, so it’s probably worth watching on that basis alone. I nevertheless count Don’t Look Up as my least favourite film of 2021.

4/10

Honourable Mentions Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson) A refreshingly positive (yet incredibly quirky) period piece depicting a 1970s love story set in the Valley.

9/10 The Green Knight (David Lowery) A bizarre riff on a medieval English poem.

Dev Patel portrays an Arthurian knight in a trippy and confounding anti-epic. I reviewed this film in full in a previous edition of Ryan’s Movie Corner.

9/10 The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson) An inventive compilation of stories that commemorate a fictional magazine modelled on the New Yorker. I reviewed this film in full in a previous edition of Ryan’s Movie Corner.

8.5/10 Spencer (Pablo Larrain) Kristen Stewart delivers a devastating performance as Princess Diana. This film is a vivid, disturbing depiction of the unravelling of Princess Diana’s relationship with the rest of the royal family.

8/10

RECRUITMENT SPECIAL

FEATURES

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January 26, 2022 | 19

CLSA Media Recommendations: Elizabeth Holmes Edition Our favourite books, shows, and podcasts that detail the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes YULIYA MYKHAYLYCHENKO (2L) I f you haven’t read t he news recent ly (or, let’s be rea l, seen t he Ti kTok s), E l izabet h Holmes, t he founder of T heranos who was dubbed “t he next Steve Jobs”, has recent ly been conv icted of t hree counts of w ire fraud and one count of conspiracy to comm it w ire fraud. At t he t ime of t h is ar t icle, she awa its her sentence.

Holmes env isioned a world where a single d rop of blood cou ld be used to r un hund reds of med ica l tests on a dev ice w it h t he size and por tabi l it y of an i Phone. Her company, T heranos, was at one point est imated to be wor t h more t han n ine bi l l ion dol lars, w it h par t ners such as Wa lg reens and board of d irectors members includ ing powerhouses l i ke for mer US Secretar y of State Henr y K issinger, for mer Secretar y of State George Shu lt z, med ia mog u l Ruper t Murdoch, and vent ure capita l ist Tim Draper. More r ivet ing t han t he board of d irectors’ composit ion, however, is how Holmes was able to conv ince such powerfu l investors over and over aga in t hat her technolog y was wor t h invest ing in when in rea l it y her technolog y simply d id not work. W het her you are brand new to t he stor y of T heranos or an av id fol lower itching for more, look no fur t her t han t he follow ing sources for a l l t h ings E l izabet h Holmes.

Bad Blood: Secrets a nd Lies in a Silicon Va l ley Sta r t up ( book, Joh n Ca r rey rou) T h is book is your u lt imate int roduct ion to t he world of E l izabet h Holmes and T heranos. Wr itten by t he t wo -t ime P u l itzer-pr ize w inn ing jour na l ist of t he Wa shington Post, John Car rey rou, t he novel is based on hund reds of inter v iews w it h former employees, includ ing ind iv idua ls who go on to test if y at t he Holmes t r ia l. Bad Blood deta i ls what is k now n about Holmes’s

l ife pr ior to T heranos, t he ex per iences of for mer T heranos employees of a l l ran k s, t heir impressions of Holmes, and Holmes’s relat ionsh ip w it h investors and t he a forement ioned par t ners. At cer ta in points, t he novel reaches t he cadence of a spy-t hr i l ler, deta i l ing t he leng t hs to wh ich T heranos and its lega l f ir m Boies Sch i l ler F lex ner L L P (wh ich was a lso impl icated in h ir ing a pr ivate intel l igence company to si lence some of Har vey Weinstein’s accusers) went to int im idate for mer employees of T heranos from spea k ing out about what t hey saw. I f you don’t want to ta ke my word for it, ta ke t he word of Bi l l Gates, who descr ibes t he novel as a “page t ur ner” and t he stor y as “a lmost…too r id icu lous to be rea l” on h is Good reads.

T he Dropout ( podcast, A BC New s) I f you can hard ly get t hrough your law school read ings and hate t he t hought of add ing more words to t hat ever-g row ing pi le, t h is podcast may be t he idea l a lter nat ive for you. Hosted by A BC News, T he D ropout deta i ls E l izabet h Holmes’s l ife, r ise, and fa l l as founder of T heranos, and averages around 45 m inutes per episode.

T he f irst si x episodes fol low Bad Blood closely, deta i l ing t he ex per iences of former employees and t he leng t hs to wh ich Holmes went to secure investors pr ior to t he ex posure of t he T heranos scanda l.

However, un l i ke Bad Blood, t he podcast goes beyond t he reach of t he novel to include updates about Holmes’s recent fraud t r ia l. Moreover, most of t he new episodes cover t he backg round infor mat ion ava i lable earl ier in t he podcast, ma k ing it t he per fect supplement to t he novel, or t he per fect f it for someone interested in t he t r ia l.

Pro t ip from a Holmes jun k ie who has read bot h t he book and t uned in to t he podcast: sk ip t he f irst si x episodes and go st ra ight to T he D ropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Tr ial. T hese episodes g uide t he l istener t hrough week-by-week updates of t he defence and prosecut ions cases, t he test imo ny g iven by w it nesses, jur y select ion, and ot her deta i ls of t he t r ia l process t hat anyone interested in l it igat ion cou ld benef it from lear n ing. T he podcast includes revelat ions not ex pounded pr ior to t r ia l such as Holmes’s accusat ion of physica l and emot iona l abuse by T heranos’ Ch ief O p erat ing Of f icer and Holmes’s for mer boyfr iend, Sunny Ba lwan i. Fa ir war n ing: t he podcast is not ter r ibly object ive and seems to lean away from bel iev ing in Holmes’s version of t he facts, so a l l ies of Holmes may f ind suppor t for t heir posit ion lacking.

Bad Blood

T he Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Va l ley

Fina l ly, if an indeter m inate f i lm release date w i l l not do, Hu lu is set to release a l im ited ser ies based on t he podcast T he D ropout on March 3, 2022, w it h t he same execut ive producers from t he podcast.

T h is ser ies w i l l star A manda Sey fr ied as Holmes and Naveen A nd rews as Ba lwan i.

A m in i-ser ies is t he per fect med ium to infuse d rama to an a lready d rama-f i l led ta le. No better t ime to cash in on t hat free Hu lu t r ia l!

(docu menta r y, A lex G ibney) No t ime to read and even less t ime to ded icate end less hours towards a podcast?

Not to wor r y. I’ve got you covered on t he telev ision side as wel l. From Academy Award Winner A lex Gibney, T he Inventor: O ut for Blood in S ilicon Valley is a documentar y cur rent ly st ream ing on Crave wh ich w i l l on ly ta ke t wo hours of your t ime. T he documentar y tel ls t he stor y of Holmes t hrough inter v iews w it h people who were close w it h her, includ ing for mer employees of T heranos. Even for av id fol lowers of t he case, t he documentar y br ings t he stor y to l ife, conta in ing shots inside T heranos and inter v iews w it h Holmes. Want to see if you cou ld be ba ited into invest ing m i l l ions by Holmes’s icon ic mock- deep voice, black t ur t leneck, and piercing blue eyes? Give t h is documentar y a t r y.

(f i l m, not yet released) I f, l i ke me, you’ve consumed a l l t he med ia cur rent ly ava i lable to you and rema in unsat iated, sit t ight. Apple St ud ios has Bad Blood in t he work s, a mov ie based on John Car rey rou’s invest igat ive novel. T he f i lm is set to be d irected by Adam McK ay, who has d irected br i l l iant mov ies such as T he B ig S hort, V ice, and most recent ly, D on’t L ook Up. Wit h Jenn ifer L aw rence as t he en ig mat ic E l izabet h Holmes and w it h McK ay’s impeccable abi l it y to inter t w ine w itt y humour w it h ser ious and compl icated topics, t h is f i lm is sure to del iver.

T he Dropout ( l i m ited ser ies, on Hu lu Ma rch 3, 2022)

T hi s ser ies by the C r iminal L aw Students’ Association introduces the law student body to the wild , wild world of cr iminal law and cr iminal justice . Articles will be publi shed in pr int in U lt ra Vires a s well a s on the CL S A’s website .

To pitch an article to CCC , plea se contact the Blog Editors, Nichola s Buhite or Anna Zhang at nichola s.buhite @mail .utoronto.ca and a s. zhang @mail .utoronto.ca , respectively.

20 | January 26, 2022

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R IGHTS R EVIEW

The International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law An independent student-led publication 2021-2022 Rights Review Editorial Board Co-Editors-in-Chief: Taskeen Nawab (3L) and Sabrina Sukhdeo (3L) Senior Editors: Martha Côté (2L) and Sterling Mancuso (2L) Junior Editors: Duncan Crabtree (1L), Ally Mastantuono (1L), and Julianne Schmidt (1L) Social Media Editor: Ellen An (3L)

THE NEOCOLONIAL UNDERBELLY OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY LEGAL EDUCATION, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE THIRD WORLD

By Sabrina Sukhdeo (3L) This piece references the work of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars, including James T. Gathii, Makau Mutua, Obiora Okafor, Antony Anghie, B.S. Chimni, and others.

Throughout our legal education, law students are lured by a fantasy of international law that conceals a more shameful story. The former regales us with a legal order forged by a community of equal and sovereign nationstates and fortified by a commitment to peace and cooperation. In this narrative, international law is a legitimate expression of universal values, righteously defended by a fair and impartial guardian. This regime, we are told, is a just and equitable form of global governance.

The other telling of international law uproots this romantic fiction, disturbing its settled wsurface to unearth—in one sense, quite literally一the bones beneath. It is a macabre account of a legal order fashioned to facilitate colonial conquest by legitimizing economic exploitation, territorial dispossession, and cultural subordination. Universality is but a smokescreen that allows the insidious impo-

sition of a racialized hierarchy, entrenching the dominance of Western interests and prejudices. Most significantly, this story is narrated in the language of Third World peoples who have long been denied a voice in international law as they struggle against a coercive and parasitic world order.

Notwithstanding our hopes for international justice, law students are inevitably hauled into these violent machinations. As such, we are forced to contend with our part in reinforcing unequal global power relations.

Legal professionals in the West wrestle with the ongoing shocks of imperialism and neocolonialism in the Third World through various interventions. International human rights organizations are plentiful, and their ambitions and ethical configurations are diverse.

As this issue of Rights Review reveals, students at the International Human Rights Program take part in several such interventions.

Working groups help compile legal resources for open-source databases, conduct legal research for refugee claims, and verify evidence to be used in legal proceedings to prosecute war crimes, among other under-

takings.

However, an uncomfortable truth that underlies projects like these is that the power of legal professionals necessarily relies on the inaccessibility of the law. When legal systems and knowledge are mystified, rendering it more difficult for oppressed peoples to advocate for themselves, the role of lawyers assumes more significance. We have a vested interest in the law remaining opaque and untraversable. In the international law realm, this asymmetry is sharpest between lawyers in the West and marginalized communities in the Third World.

Thus, the overarching challenge is whether human rights initiatives involving legal professionals in the West resist the unjust underpinnings of international law. Who is making decisions? By what criteria are they making those decisions? With whose consent are they making those decisions? What principles and experiences shape these criteria and their application? Without fully attending to these issues, these initiatives risk reinscribing the politics of domination that animate our international legal order. More-

over, it is worth contemplating how these projects meaningfully contest the material divisions that separate the West from the Third World—namely, who has access to legal knowledge and the law, and who decides what constitutes legal knowledge and the law.

The ultimate danger of the West’s contributions to international human rights law is the further disempowerment and displacement of Third World peoples as full participants in their governance. As law students, without grappling with what it means to decenter the West in our legal work, we are unable to reimagine the international legal order as one that reflects the full humanity and dignity of people in the Third World. Thus, it is imperative that we critically examine our role in this fundamentally unjust system and take leadership from locally grounded progressive movements in the spirit of prefiguration.

Above all else, we must retell the past, present, and future of international law through the emancipatory aspirations of the Third World.

ADVANCING GLOBAL HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS MAKING HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE

By Frid Mughal (2L) and Max Levy (2L) Leads: Max Levy and Frid Mughal Members: Laura Clerk (1L), Masha Janjuz (2L), Erin Kim (1L), CeCe Li (1L), Samar Omidi (1L), Abdul Qarizada (1L), Ayushi Thakur (1L), and Aimee Veiner (1L).

What is the objective of your working group?

Our working group aims to further develop and expand the Global Health and Human Rights Database (“the Database”) by contributing case summaries. The Database is a free online legal resource with content from around the world relating to health and human rights. It offers an interactive, searchable, and

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fully indexed website of case law, national constitutions, and international instruments.

It is the first attempt at an accessible, comprehensive health and human rights law database from both common and civil law jurisdictions. Its goal is to promote the right to health and make records of health rights litigation from across the world accessible to NGOs, lawyers, governments, and society at large.

What kind of work are members of your working group engaged in?

Our volunteers are central to the work we do.

Volunteers are responsible for identifying two to three health and human rights cases that

are not currently in the Database and summarizing them. In doing so, our volunteers are mindful that their work will be used by those who may not be proficient in English.

The summaries, therefore, are written in an easily digestible style. Since legal cases are often the antithesis of plain language, distilling the cases is a unique challenge that our volunteers take on.

solutions to the most pressing health concerns facing the world.” The majority of their work is researching evidenced-based solutions to national and international health concerns, and proposing policies directed at solving those concerns. Their initiatives focus on addiction and mental health, food insecurity, health law, international development, infectious diseases, and more.

Who is your community partner organization?

The O’Neill Institute supports our work by providing us with access to the Database, supplying the necessary materials and resources needed to find and summarize cases, and reviewing our summaries prior to them being added onto the Database.

We work in partnership with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. The O’Neill Institute has a broad mandate of “discovering innovative

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RIGHTS REVIEW

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January 26, 2022 | 21

CAMEROON ANGLOPHONE CRISIS DATABASE OF ATROCITIES DOCUMENTING WAR CRIMES DURING AN ON-GOING CIVIL WAR

By Julianne Schmidt (1L) lite imagery, social media, and other online search methodologies.

Are other rights-advocacy organizations involved with this work?

The Database has a longstanding partnership with the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), a prominent human rights organization based in the conflict zone in Cameroon. Among its other activities, the CHRDA collects eyewitness testimony of atrocities. The combination of eyewitness testimony and OSINT-based visual verification makes for powerful documentation of events.

The Database has worked on occasion with other organizations such as Bellingcat on specific projects and has good relationships with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. In addition to the Faculty of Law, the Database works with research teams at the University of Exeter and the Edinburgh International Justice Initiative to verify incidents using OSINT methods.

How did the partnership between the Database and the Faculty of Law come about?

UN WOMEN HUMANITARIAN WORK WITH REFUGEES. CREDIT: FLICKR

In December 2019, the University of Toronto launched the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities (“the Database”). At the beginning of this academic year, the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) partnered with the Database, forming a working group in support of its activities. The Database and working group are led by Billy Burton, a graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and geographic information system (GIS) analyst; Arkady Silverman, a researcher at the Rotman School of Management; and Brian Silverman, a Professor of Strategic Management and the J.R.S. Prichard and Ann Wilson Chair in Management at the Rotman School of Management. The three leads generously provided the following information about this new initiative.

Members: Jasmine Anthony (1L), Julia Cappellacci (1L), Michaela Dennis (1L), Kimberly Dias

(2L), Mariah Watling-Eagle (1L), Lauren George (1L), Laura Hunter (1L), Eric Li (1L), Julianne Schmidt (1L), and Nicolas Williams (1L).

What is the objective of your working group?

The working group is conducting investigations to assist the Database. The Database collects and stores video evidence of war crimes in Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis and works to verify the evidence. The Database aims to: 1. Counter the culture of impunity that has pervaded the Anglophone Crisis since it began in 2016; 2. Procure evidence for future international accountability procedures and a possible national truth, justice, and reconciliation commission; 3. Assist human rights activists and jour-

nalists advocating for human rights in Cameroon; 4. Establish an archive for scholarly research on Cameroon and the Anglophone Crisis; and 5. Serve as a deterrent to warring parties from engaging in further atrocities.

The working group has currently assembled two teams to verify two large-scale burnings of villages allegedly conducted by the Cameroon government’s military. Our investigations of these events will form published reports that document the events.

What kind of work are members of the working group engaged in?

Members of the working group use opensource intelligence (OSINT) methods to verify photo and video evidence. This entails geolocation and chronolocation, often using satel-

The partnership began shortly before the Fall 2021 academic term. The Database is hosted at the University of Toronto and one of its leaders, Professor Brian Silverman, is a faculty member at the Rotman School of Management. Thus, the Database leaders were already familiar with the IHRP and proposed a partnership.

What makes the work of the Database increasingly important?

After five years, the Anglophone Crisis continues to rage on and intensify. Atrocities are ongoing and the warring parties’ weapons are becoming more sophisticated. The Database’s work is significant in the effort to monitor and report the atrocities that consistently are under-reported in the conflict. Increasingly, the Database is conducting analysis and considering how our work can support early warning mechanisms for atrocities. With growing international attention in 2022, the Database’s work will be especially important in providing verified information that can incite and galvanize the international community into action.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY TRACKING LGTBQ+ RIGHTS AROUND THE WORLD FOR REFUGEE CLAIMANTS

By Gursheen Cheema (2L), Julia Pimentel (3L), and Natasha Williams (3L) Leads: Gursheen Cheema (2L), Julia Pimental (3L), and Natasha Williams (3L) Members: Lauren Di Felice (1L), Caeleb R. Goff (1L), Cassandra Griffen (1L), Julia Horowitz (1L), Sanghun Justin Kim (1L), Luka Knezevic (1L), Fievel Lim (1L), Emily Rand (1L), and Mo Zeighami (1L).

What are the objectives of the working group? What kind of work are members of the working group engaged in?

Our working group conducts interdisciplin-

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ary research into domestic and international law, culture, and scholarship regarding the rights and treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals in different countries. We use this research to compile country reports which are then made available to immigration lawyers working to bring refugee claims in Canada.

This year, our team is creating resources on Nicaragua, Iran, and Pakistan. Past reports have highlighted the current status of LGBTQ+ rights in Lebanon, Brazil, Russia,

Iraq, and more. Our ultimate goal is to have up-to-date reports on conditions affecting LGBTQ+ communities in each country across the globe.

What is the current relevance of the working group?

As law students studying and living in Canada, we tend to reflexively take the rights and freedoms that we enjoy for granted.

LGBTQ+ rights are by no means guaranteed around the world. Our research shows

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that legal protections for those of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities are either weak or nonexistent in many countries. Even where legal protections formally exist, dated cultural sentiments may still present significant challenges.

While our reports aim to help refugee claimants, they are also important for raising awareness about the day-to-day realities of LGBTQ+ individuals living in other countries.

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WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS RESOURCES FACILITATING WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH ACROSS THE GLOBE

By Emma Tomas (2L) and Nancy You (2L) Leads: Emma Tomas (2L) and Nancy You (2L) Members: Ashley Chana (1L), Victoria Element (1L), Milana Grahovac (1L), Aditi Mallavrapu (LLM), Serena Meghji (1L), Megan Peters (1L), Michaila Pilcher (1L), Jackem Stewart (1L), Christine Wang (1L), Nicky Young (2L), and Christy Zsa (2L).

What are the objectives of the working group and what kind of work do members of the working group do?

The Women’s Human Rights Resources (WHRR) database provides annotations for key United Nations (UN) documents and

leading scholarly articles on a range of topics from economic globalization to reproductive rights to armed conflict. The WHRR database receives more than 15,000 hits per month, with diverse users from over 100 countries. This year’s group will continue to update the existing content while adding new content from the UN. When and how did the partnership between the organization and Faculty of Law come about? How does the organization support your work?

The WHRR database was created in 1995 and has since become an important tool for human rights defenders, professionals,

and international law scholars. The database provides a roadmap for scholarly and academic research, facilitating and disseminating research across the globe.

Each source is categorized based on type (article, document, or link), subject matter, and author. With the help of the Bora Laskin Law Library in 2011, the WHRR Working Group was initiated to keep the WHRR database current and to ensure that professionals and scholars around the world can continue to access recent key resources for the various subjects in the central location of the database.

How does this working group contribute to

the IHRP experience?

Participating in the working group is an effective and rewarding way to develop legal research and writing skills outside the classroom while exploring important topics in international law. Students gain foundational knowledge and become well-versed on the latest issues surrounding women’s human rights. The working group is continuously working to grow the Faculty of Law’s own resource database that promotes the dissemination of research and information on international women’s human rights.

THE VENEZUELA ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INVESTIGATING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY WITH A COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT

By Jean-Pierre D’Angelo (3L)

Executive Director: Jean-Pierre D’Angelo (3L) Members: About 20 students, including 1Ls, upper-year JD students, LLM students, and SJD students.

What is the objective of your working group?

International criminal law litigation frequently unfolds in large, multi-year trials or investigations at various international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice. But what most folks don’t see are the years (even decades) of preparatory work that go behind bringing violent state actors to justice. War crimes and crimes against humanity are some of the most notorious yet difficult to prove criminal offences, simply due to how widespread their effects are.

Hundreds, thousands, or even millions of

people can be affected by wanton state violence and coercion. This, in turn, leads to a dearth of documentary and witness evidence that the relatively small prosecutorial teams at international courts struggle to work through on their own.

The Venezuela Accountability Project (VAP), in partnership with the Global Accountability Network (GAN), aims to help.

By collecting, compiling, and analysing evidence of crimes against humanity, VAP provides prosecutors and non-state actors around the globe with a simplified, comprehensive, and legally-thorough analysis of the events that took place in Venezuela under the Maduro regime. We look at the potential crimes committed and what can still be done about them.

What kind of work are members of your

working group engaged in?

Our Investigations Team compiles and analyses evidence showing who may be responsible for what crimes against humanity in Venezuela. Our Intelligence Team works on long-term legal research projects that aim to empower third parties to understand international law and how it can be used to seek justice for victims.

VAP offers the opportunity to not only work on real cases, but also to contribute to an increasingly large legal effort that addresses the rampant physical, sexual, and political crimes committed against the Venezuelan people.

What is the current relevance of your working group?

This project’s relevance today is two-fold.

First, it directly contributes to the increasingly important and notable effort to address crimes against humanity in Venezuela, which have only been exacerbated in recent years.

Second, VAP and GAN approach our work critically, aware of our position and privilege in the world. Much of our work is inspired by and done in tandem with grassroots activists in Venezuela and across Latin America. VAP attempts not to be a mere exercise of Western imperialism under the guise of human rights advocacy.

Rather, the project is a collaborative effort to lend collective resources to where they are most needed. In doing so, I think VAP symbolizes a positive step forward for both the praxis of international law and the role of North American institutions therein.

THE GHOST OF EVIDENCE CORROBORATION PAST A CALL TO REVIVE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S DIGITAL VERIFICATION CORPS

By Taskeen Ather Nawab (3L)

There was a time when students passing through the hallowed U of T halls entertained varying interests in legal practice.

The offerings mirrored this diversity of interests as non-profit externships and pro bono assignments supplemented the ubiquitous issue-spotter that paved the way to Big Law. One such opportunity presented itself to incoming 1Ls and seasoned 2Ls in the form of a two-year commitment: Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps (DVC)— a coveted offering presented in only a

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handful of other law schools across the world, including Cambridge and Berkeley.

At U of T, it functioned as an IHRP working group that has now been defunct for over a year in the wake of the CAUT censure that was recently lifted in November 2021. Amnesty’s well-versed advocates trained students in the art of evidence corroboration before presenting the group with various instances of crowd-sourced human rights violations to confirm the veracity of the sources.

The tasks had an indelibly technical and international flavour, providing students with the chance to flex their language skills and acquire early exposure to the various ways in which their still-fledgling legal skills might eventually be put to use in the extraCanadian sphere. After gaining enough experience, the DVC cohort would join its sister groups in an international conference, the last of which was scheduled to be held in San Francisco before the pandemic gripped the world. The weekly assignments also stood in welcome contrast to the heav-

ihrp.law.utoronto.ca/rights-review-homepage

ily academic colour of the law school classroom, and are dearly missed by those who have since been deprived.

Besides being a general lament, this is a hopeful call to resuscitate the Faculty of Law’s partnership with Amnesty and restore the DVC in full form. This good faith endeavour would help outgoing advocates enter the profession better equipped to take on the injustices they will be confronted with in their practice, rather than being pigeon-holed into one form of lawyering from the get-go.

uoftrightsreview

OPINIONS

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January 26, 2022 | 23

Is LRW Valuable to the 1L Curriculum?

The problem lies not in its material, but in its inconsistent delivery HYE-SEON JUNG (1L) W hen I ta l k to ot her st udents about t heir ex per iences in t he f irst semester of law school, L ega l Research & Wr it ing ( L RW ) is t he course I get t he most d iverse range of opin ions on whet her t hey enjoyed t he class and what t hey lear ned from it.

I n 2020, L RW was t he subject of debate and scr ut iny in t he March Facu lt y Counci l meet ing d iscussing proposed changes to t he 1L cur r icu lum, w it h facu lt y members ex pressing a range of opin ions regard ing its ef f icacy. Some facu lt y members considered L RW t he most impor tant class in t he 1L cur r icu lum, wh i le ot hers considered it t he worst.

I n 2020, t he Cur r icu lum Comm ittee proposed to shor ten t he year-long sma l l g roup into one semester and extend L RW into t he second semester, add ing a 1L moot to t he course to g ive st udents a chance to pract ice ora l advocacy and incor porate elements of L ega l Process. T h is proposa l was u lt imately put on pause g iven t he COV I D -19 pandem ic, and has yet to be implemented.

However, I suggest t hat t he issues w it h L RW l ie not in t he scope of its content nor its leng t h, but in its implementat ion bot h w it h in and across t he d if ferent class sect ions.

T here’s no doubt t hat t he mater ia l taught in L RW may be t he most appl icable to st udents’ f irst lega l ex per iences as summer st udents. Its ma in goa l, as stated by Professor K at her ine Vita le L opez, is to t ra in st udents to “t h in k l i ke law yers” by “engag ing in problem-based, pract ica l lega l research and w r it ing.” By t he end of L RW, st udents shou ld have acquired a basic abi l it y to do t he fol low ing: • Read and comprehend appl icable pr imar y mater ia ls (cases and leg islat ion) and understand how t hey relate to each ot her; • Use secondar y sources in lega l prob lem solv ing; • Find and note-up case law and leg islat ion (includ ing jud icia l considerat ion of leg islat ion) using commercia l and free databases; • Prepare and organ ize a lega l ana lysis (in memorandum for m) w it h issue ident if icat ion and for mu lat ion and appl icat ion of r u les; • Wr ite succinct ly and clearly; and • Cite aut hor it ies using t he McG ill G uide .

T hese sk i l ls are not ex pl icit ly taught in doct r ina l courses, ma k ing L RW a l l t he more impor tant. Un l i ke in doct r ina l courses, t he a im of L RW is to wa l k away w it h a set of sk i l ls — a way of engag ing in problem-solv ing. Since t he pur pose of L RW is not to acquire substant ive lega l k nowledge, I feel t hat t here’s a lot of po tent ia l to improve t he class by simply implement ing st udent feedback on what is act ua l ly helpfu l in lear n ing t hese sk i l ls.

Here are my t wo cents on why L RW

LEGAL RESEARCH, THE BANE OF EVERY LAW STUDENT’S EXISTENCE. CREDIT: JACQUELINE HUANG

may be t he “worst course we have in t he f irst year” for some st udents. T h is l ist is not ex haust ive.

Not Enough Oppor t u n it ies to Wr ite Fievel L im (1L) ex pressed t hat he w ished t he f irst case comment assig nment was a lega l memo w it h a pass/fa i l element. He noted t hat t he f irst case comment assig nment fel l shor t in prepar ing h im for w r it ing a lega l memorandum.

He commented t hat “t he second memo is t he f ina l assig nment and I felt l i ke I d id n’t rea l ly have t he chance to ref lect and improve on my m ista kes from t he f irst memo. O vera l l, it felt l i ke t he f irst memo was a complete shot in t he dark, and t he f ina l assig nment was just t he one redemp t ion, w it h on ly feedback from t he f irst memo’s comments.”

Moreover, for many of us, L RW is our f irst ex posure to lega l memo w r it ing.

However, t he f irst memo counts for 30 percent of our f ina l g rade. I w it nessed a lot of st ress and an x iet y among peers because of t he uncer ta int y over what const it utes good lega l w r it ing and genera l confusion about how to w r ite a memo.

L ega l Met hods is a course t hat intends to set st udents on equa l foot ing pr ior to t he star t of law school by a l low ing t hem to lear n how to read and br ief cases on a pass/fa i l basis. Shou ld n’t t he same pr inciple be appl ied to L RW ? It may be benef icia l to have at least one pass/fa i l or lowweighted memo assig nment to ease t he pressure of w r it ing a per fect memo on our f irst attempt.

L ack of Sta nda rd izat ion Professor Vita le L opez is t he coord inator of t he f irst-year L ega l Research & Wr it ing prog ram. I n response to how she has attempted to standard ize t he imple-

mentat ion of L RW, she stated t hat “L RW inst r uctors share a basic syl labus t hat conta ins lega l research and lega l w r it ing top ics we a l l must cover, such as sy nt hesis, case law research, w r it ing an ana lysis, research ing secondar y sources, etc. I nst r uctors teach t he mater ia l in d if ferent ways depend ing on what t hey emphasize and how t hey st r uct ure t heir classes. Each sect ion a lso has t he same number/t y pe of as sig nments t hat are weighted t he same and due around t he same t ime.”

Giv ing inst r uctors t he relat ive freedom to decide how to teach t he mater ia l has bot h pros and cons. For example, pract it ioners who teach L RW can incor porate t heir ex per t ise into t he course mater ia l and prov ide oppor t un it ies for st udents to lear n about t he inst r uctor’s pract ice area.

“I was luck y to have an inst r uctor who was k nowledgeable and passionate about [t heir] f ield … it was a neat oppor t un it y to enr ich my educat iona l ex per ience,” sa id Dong woo K im (1L). However, he a lso noted t hat “wh i le it’s neat to have cur rent pract it ioners, as opposed to tenure-t rack professors, as inst r uctors, t h is cou ld po tent ia l ly lead to inconsistent qua l it y of inst r uct ion and what st udents u lt imately lear n from t he course.” T he w ide range of st udent ex per iences and opin ions about L RW at least suggest t hat t h is may be an issue.

W h i le teach ing ex per ience is not necessar i ly related to t he qua l it y of inst r uct ion, professors have t he oppor t un it y to eva luate st udent feedback at t he end of ever y semester and incor porate it into fut ure courses. I nst r uctors teach ing a law course for t he f irst t ime wou ld not have had t he same oppor t un it y.

T he inconsistency in st udent lear n ing is a lso compounded by t he lack of standardizat ion on how to teach t he mater ia l and st r uct ure t he classes.

My ex per ience in L RW felt d ramat ica l ly d if ferent to what I saw my peers in ot her sect ions lear n ing. Wit h t he excep t ion of t he f irst assig nment, t he second and t h ird assig nments dea lt w it h my inst r uctor’s pract ice area. W h i le it was va luable to ga in ex posure to t h is area of law, t h is substant ia l ly changed t he content of what I lear ned from t he course.

For instance, wh i le in t he 1L L RW curr icu lum st udents are taught object ive lega l w r it ing sk i l ls, one memo required us to engage in persuasive w r it ing. T h is w r it ing met hod is usua l ly taught in Advanced L ega l Research and Wr it ing, an upper-year course.

Nevertheless, some students have positive exper iences in L RW, suggesting that there are methods of instruction or lessons that students f ind particularly ef fective.

A nnecy Pang (3L) commented: “I’m probably in t he m inor it y of st udents, but I enjoyed L RW. A long w it h L ega l Process, it was one of t he most d irect ly appl icable courses to my ex per ience as a summer st udent. I understand a st udent’s ex per ience m ight depend on wh ich sect ion t hey’re in, but my professor presented t he mater ia l clearly and prov ided helpfu l feedback.”

L im ident if ied t he classes dur ing wh ich t utor ia ls on West law and Quick law were g iven as being t he most helpfu l, stat ing: “I felt t hat I lear ned enough from t he course so t hat it wasn’t a complete waste, but I do feel l i ke t here were cer ta in par ts t hat weren’t as usefu l as ot hers.”

I f t he goa l is to help a l l st udents wa l k out of t he class feel ing conf ident about t heir w r it ing, research, and problemsolv ing abi l it ies, more ef for t shou ld be put towards ident if y ing t he va luable elements of L RW and ensur ing t hey are implemented in t he del iver y of a l l L RW sect ions going for ward.

24 | January 26, 2022

OPINIONS

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Reflecting on Our First Law School Exams Comments and thoughts about the exam experience after first semester of 1L FIEVEL LIM (1L) In the aftermath of the fall examination period, I have gathered up (a small sample of) 1Ls to give our perspectives on how the first semester went and whether the advice from professors was helpful in the end or not. Emily Hean (1L) sums up how I think many of us felt about exams overall: “The exam advice from professors were helpful (for the most part), but they talked a lot about making summaries and maps without actually walking us through how to make one, which probably would have been much more helpful than trying to figure it out on our own. Also, no advice could prepare us for the switch to online exams, which was incredibly stressful.”

Other 1Ls didn’t necessarily agree with how useful the advice was. While some said it was “pretty good,” they still felt that advice from upper years was more helpful. Others weren’t sure about the applicability of the advice since each professor expects different things.

One piece of advice a student did like was: don’t talk to others about the exam once it's submitted.

While they initially felt that their exams didn’t go too well, the results showed otherwise. This goes to show that your feelings about an exam may not always be reflected in the grades. I personally felt that the exam advice was all fairly generic, which makes sense; there isn’t really all that much any particular professor can say that would be universally helpful

and applicable.

Although students may not generally agree on what advice was helpful and what wasn’t, the overall consensus was that past exams were an absolute must. Where there were a plethora of past exams, students had a much easier time understanding what kinds of questions would be asked and a better idea of what answers would be expected. Multiple students agreed that they would start practice exams earlier in the semester this time around. One 1L advises that students shouldn’t “hesitate to shift to practice exams, even if [they] haven’t done thorough reading notes and summaries on every chapter yet,” emphasizing the importance of trying practice exams over drafting summaries. I tend to agree with this sentiment. I also know there were many of us who felt that the class notes and summaries we made weren’t particularly helpful; in the end, practice exams carried us through the finish line.

Although we were constantly told to make our own summaries and maps, some students felt that this wasn’t absolutely necessary. Falling back on the idea that doing past exams is paramount, they found that these guides weren’t actually the most helpful on the exam. Echoing this idea, I think while doing everything on your own is helpful, it is important not to spend too much time on it. Finishing a perfect summary and map without ever having looked at a past exam will likely lead to disaster.

It’s better to find that balance and focus more on past exams if you can.

One caveat with this exam-focused studying is what happens when there aren’t any practice tests in the repository. It was a bit unclear to some students how to properly prepare for exams when a new professor is teaching, or where a professor doesn’t often teach a course. Another problem with this kind of studying is that most students lose sight of attaining a broad understanding of the course. It really does devolve into the exam grind, where topics that don’t appear on an exam don’t matter and understanding isn’t that important if you are able to answer the question. With the amount of competition and pressure riding on these 100 percent exams, it is unsurprising that this is the case.

Another thing everyone agreed on was that the learning curve is steep. No matter what academic background you come from, the best learning tool is really just to walk through the fire yourself. Most of the sampled 1Ls agreed that they feel better about exams going into the second semester, having gone through them once already. As many upper years and professors say, exam writing is a skill that is built with practice and everyone gets better over the years. No matter what the results were from the first semester, it is definitely an encouraging message that improvement is on the horizon.

Overall, many of us also felt the dramatic and

sudden shift to online exams on the second last day was extremely stressful. The instructions were unclear and vague at best, and many students felt stranded and isolated compared to inperson exams, where the stress is at least alleviated by peers. On the other hand, one 1L said that they actually appreciated the silence of taking an exam from home and hopes that it remains an option in the future. I would tend to agree with this, and not just in reference to exams. I would personally like the choice to take classes and exams online or in person, at least through the rest of the pandemic. This would alleviate a lot of the confusion and panic scrambling; however, I can understand why it may be simpler logistically to have one or the other.

Undoubtedly there will be those of us who are happy with the results, and others who are not so happy. However, I think it is safe to say that, overall, we feel more prepared for next semester in terms of what to do and knowing what professors are looking for. I don’t think many of us will be drastically revamping our studying techniques, but we will be adding more of what worked and taking out what didn’t. Personally, having a study group and chatting with peers about the law really helped with my own understanding. It’s important to know what works for you and what doesn’t. And remember— grades aren’t everything. Wishing you all the best of luck this semester!

Welcome Back … To Online Learning Zoom-of-T Law Round Two? VIVIENNE STERN (1L) Winter break has come and gone, leaving a bittersweet aftertaste … at least in my opinion. The sweet comes from the holidays, the snow, the lack of required reading, and the readiness to move from my post-holiday dinner food coma and into the real world once more. But the bitter—all the readings and job applications that I told myself I was going to accomplish over the break, didn’t do, and now need to face—has hit me head-on. On top of all that, there’s the COVID-19 pandemic and online school until February 7.

With the change in learning atmosphere comes a host of new challenges which, as an incoming 1L, I did not need to face up until this point. The worst one for me thus far has been the Zoom fatigue. The amount of caffeine (and snacks) I consume in a day has exponentially increased. While at least some of us dealt with online school in undergrad, the senioritis that came along with it seemed to make it more bearable. However, the winter semester has already taken me by storm and the light at the end of the tunnel—the February 7 return to in-person classes—seems far off. To be blunt, I miss my classmates, the after-class discussions when people bonded over and argued about where we should grab coffee, and even the library (which I thought would be impossible to miss after exam season).

Of course, it would help if we were guaranteed to stay in-person for the rest of the semester, but the air of the unknown still hangs heavy, much like it does in the cramped rooms of my apartment downtown. As a 1L, so much of what I am doing is new, and it sucks to add the semi-likely possibility that we go back online after February 7 to the list of things that consume my seemingly decreasing mental space. I can’t say I pictured my post-undergrad life to include sweatpants at all hours of the day and a lack of social interaction.

In any case, my message to 1Ls is to stay strong.

We can handle this new normal, and a little adaptability is good for the soul. However, if people need an extra boost of mental wellness, a good non-legal book usually does the trick for me, possibly coupled with a glass of wine on a weekend evening.

BACK TO ZOOM SCHOOL OF LAW. CREDIT: JACQUELINE HUANG

OPINIONS

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January 26, 2022 | 25

The Illusion of Mindfulness A critical analysis of the mindfulness program and other mental health supports at U of T Law MITHUSHAN KIRUBANANTHAN (2L) ‘Bel ieve, and you sha l l receive’— a g reat dea l of t ime has been spent in prayer on t he basis of t h is prom ise, I’m sure. Some cer ta in ly are rewarded, but bel ief in itsel f is not a lways enough to keep t he i l lusion going for t he rest of us. W hat inference are we to d raw if we aren’t receiv ing, t hen? T hat we aren’t t h in k ing hard enough? Perhaps our bel ief is simply insuf f icient?

Unfor t unately, t hat seems l i ke a va l id conclusion to be d raw n by t hose who do not f ind repr ieve in m ind fu lness pract ices. M ind fu lness, we’re told, is “t he act of pay ing attent ion, on pur pose, in t he present moment, w it hout judgement.” T he ver y mant ra ma kes one wonder —is t he impl icat ion t hat suf fer ing, an x iet ies, pa in, etc. are completely inter na l? W hat if exter na l factors are t he source of t hose ma lad ies? Is t he ca l l to exercise non-judgement and object ive obser vat ion tel l ing us our problems are fundamenta l ly a matter of inter pretat ion or perspect ive?

M ind fu lness champions perhaps never intended t heir ph i losophy to invoke such pessim isms, but t hey seem inev itable wherever an overemphasis on m ind fu lness is coupled w it h a lack of a lter nat ive menta l hea lt h suppor ts. I fear t h is may be t he case at our Facu lt y, where m ind fu lness has been posit ioned as a tool t hat can accompl ish more t han it's capable of.

L et me be per fect ly clear. I t h in k m indfu lness is helpfu l for t hose encumbered by day-to - day st resses, an x iet ies, and depressions. T here is a lso a wea lt h of k nowledge suppor t ing t he ef f icacy of m ind fu lness.

T h is is by no means a scient if ic rebutta l of

t he pract ice. M ind fu lness has become genera l ly accepted over t he past decades, becom ing increasingly commonplace in academ ic env ironments.

M ind fu lness pract ices have been integ rated in var ious t herapy models ( M BCT, M BSR), and such t herapies have been show n to moderately reduce depressive sy mptoms and sy mp toms of an x iet y. M ind fu lness has done undoubtable good—but it is not immune from cr it icism.

My concer n l ies in t he posit ion ing of m ind fu lness. M ind fu lness is somet imes suggested to st udents seek ing menta l hea lt h suppor ts and so it’s wor t h br ief ly not ing a few cr it icisms t hat have sur faced in t he last severa l years. Wr iters have pointed out semant ic and met hodolog ica l problems in assessing t he act ua l ef f icacy of m ind fu lness, not ing t he l im ited body of research conducted outside research contexts. Ot hers have noted insuf f icient act ive measurement of adverse ef fects, point ing out t he potent ia l for m ind fu lness to exacerbate deep -seated psycholog ica l issues. I’m not suggest ing t hese f laws can be found in t he Facu lt y’s m ind fu lness pro g ram, but I do t h in k t hey reinforce t he need for st ronger a lter nat ive suppor ts.

I n add it ion to t he t y pica l pur por ted effects, t he U of T L aw website cla ims t he pract ice of m ind fu lness has been show n to posit ively benef it, amongst ot her t h ings, “empat hy, concent rat ion, react ion t ime, memor y reca l l, and academ ic per formance.” T hough t here may be some basis to t hese g rand cla ims, t here a lso seems to be a deg ree of exaggerat ion at play. For example, some recent st ud ies have pushed

back on t he not ion t hat br ief m ind fu lness sessions increase empat hy, and even favourable st ud ies adv ise caut ion in d raw ing connect ions. W h i le st ud ies ack nowledge some posit ive psycholog ica l ef fects from shor t m ind fu lness pract ices, st ud ies sub stant iat ing t he Facu lt y’s cla ims t y pica l ly involve m ind fu lness t herapies and pro g rams del ivered in mu lt iple sessions over a ded icated per iod.

By posit ion ing m ind fu lness as a genera l t herapeut ic techn ique of w ide appl icat ion, are we obscur ing t he need for comprehensive, ind iv idua l ized menta l hea lt h sup por ts? Par t icu larly for st udents st r uggl ing w it h menta l i l lness, t he presentat ion of a ‘one-size-f its-a l l’ model— one t hat suggests a person can reor ient t hemselves by look ing inward—may be unhelpfu l at best and damag ing at worst.

T h is ra ises more quest ions. Is m ind fu lness outsourcing t he burden of st ress onto t he suf ferers? Divorced from its et h ica l and rel ig ious roots, is it funct ion ing as a tool to ma ke sure you’re just wel l enough to do your job? Rona ld P urser, aut hor of McM ind fu lness, cer ta in ly seems to t h in k so, going so far as to character ize t he ways in wh ich cor porat ions and inst it ut ions have adopted genera l catch-a l l m ind fu lness prog rams as an ex pression of ‘capita list spir it ua l it y.’ Hav ing ex ploded in popular it y and becom ing a mu lt i-bi l l ion dol lar indust r y in t he past decade, it’s d if f icu lt to ca l l h is cla ims baseless.

T he ava i labi l it y of comprehensive menta l hea lt h suppor ts wou ld render t he cr u x of my compla ints a non-issue. W here can we t ur n to if m ind fu lness is not for us? To

my k nowledge, t he Facu lt y has one ded icated on-locat ion menta l hea lt h counsellor to suppor t over 6 0 0 st udents. It’s no sur pr ise t hat appoint ments are rat ioned out, w it h each st udent able to access t he ser v ice on ly a hand fu l of t imes. L aw Chats and t he Peer Menta l Hea lt h Sup por t Prog ram are ad m irable ef for ts, carr ied out by compassionate members of our commun it y, but much l i ke m ind fu lness, t hey shou ld be v iewed as helpfu l accompan iments to professiona l menta l hea lt h ser v ices, not appropr iate subst it utes for t hem. Of course, outside suppor t can be engaged w it h hea lt h insurance, but to say t he lack of inter na l suppor ts is just if ied simply because ot hers ex ist elsewhere is a wea k def lect ion of responsibi l it y.

I hope you w i l l ta ke away from t h is art icle t he state of our menta l hea lt h sup por ts. T hough m ind fu lness has caught a few st ray bu l lets here, my cr it icisms were intended to h igh l ight t he genera l lack of comprehensive menta l hea lt h suppor t and not to repud iate t he prog ram a ltoget her.

I’l l reiterate —m ind fu lness is a sol id pract ice, w it h proven ef fects t hat many wou ld, and do, benef it from. However, we must be carefu l to ensure it does not assume a role as a v iable replacement for professiona l suppor t ser v ices. We shou ld a lso d iscuss m ind fu lness w it h nuance and ack nowledge its l im itat ions, or else we r isk st udents inter na l izing fa i lure when it simply doesn’t work for t hem. I f you’re sin king, t here’s l itt le va lue in being told to v isua l ize yoursel f as a stone at t he bottom of a la ke. T hat’s t he last place you’d want to be.

Out of Province? Out of Luck Constant changes in delivery format disadvantages out-of-province and international students DOMINIQUE WIGHTMAN (2L) It’s funny how words mean different things to different people. For example, an email from Assistant Dean (Academic) Sara Faherty that “students should plan to be in Toronto to attend in person classes” means different things to students who live in Toronto than it would to out-of-province students.

For the former, that email might mean “I should f igure out how to commute.” For students coming from outside of Ontario— provinces outside Ontario do exist—that email means “I have to sign a lease.”

The same can be said for an email from the Dean’s Off ice that “the University will largely shift from in-person to remote operations until January 31.” For students living in Toronto, that email might mean “I’m keeping my camera off in admin law.” For students outside of Ontario, that email means “I’m paying Toronto rent for an education I

could get from home.”

In an all-too-predictable twist of fate, outof-province students were locked into sunkcost rental agreements for January. I won’t be the f irst to say that the Faculty should’ve seen this coming. No one was particularly surprised that Ontario went into another lockdown. In fact, public health experts had been predicting a winter lockdown since late summer. Everyone knew that summer 2021 was the eye of the storm. Whether it was blind optimism or laziness, the Faculty didn’t seem to consider the possibility of a return to remote learning in their 2021–2022 COVID planning. Many out-of-province students were left with no option but to sign year-long leases for what we correctly anticipated to be a truncated semester.

Over the last year and a half, the Faculty has demonstrated a complete lack of pre-

paredness for and willingness to communicate with students about lockdown protocols.

The abrupt switch from in-person to remote classes and back is disorienting for all students, including those living in Toronto.

We’ve all been screwed over. That said, outof-province students have arguably been screwed over the worst. We’ve had to book plane tickets at the drop of a hat, and shuttled ourselves across provincial borders while locked into year-long leases for empty rooms.

Given this pandemic-planning gongshow, I went into second semester pessimistic. I expected February would be another month of Zoom University and that the administration would wait until February’s rent was due to tell us. Happily, I was proven wrong.

I’m sure we all know by now we’re returning to in-person classes on February 7. While it’s surprising to f inally hear some good news

after two years of doom and gloom, what really surprised me was that we received it before January 31. In a shocking departure from precedent, the administration has informed students of their COVID-19 planning updates before the eleventh hour. We were given notice and ample time to plan for the latest switch in the remote learning/inperson class see-saw.

If we’ve learned one thing from the chaotic semester, it’s to expect the unexpected.

So, maybe, I should’ve expected a bare minimum of notice rather than sprinting across provincial borders on 48 hours’ notice. As much as I’d like to complain about our return to in person class, I f ind myself in the unfamiliar position of not having anything to really complain about. I guess I couldn’t even rely on the Faculty to be unreliable— how perverse.

26 | January 26, 2022

OPINIONS

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The Unjust Academic Offence System at the University of Toronto U of T fails to communicate standards and provide procedural rights ELLEN AN (3L) st udents as innocent unt i l proven g ui lt y and ent it led to proper not ice, d isclosure, and an object ive decision-ma k ing process t hat can f i lter out fr ivolous charges and on ly consider rel iable ev idence.

3) The Long Wait for a Fair Hearing

THE OFFICE OF THE DEAN, WHERE THE FIRST STAGE OF THE ACADEMIC OFFENCE SYSTEM TAKES PLACE. CREDIT: JACQUELINE HUANG

Since t he pandem ic began, academ ic of fence cases have soared at t he Un iversit y of Toronto. Accord ing to t he Provost’s A nnua l Repor t, t he number of accused st udents doubled in t he past t wo years, d isr upt ing t he steady t rend of decl ine ob ser ved since 2016. Notably, instances of cheat ing, for ma l ly ca l led unaut hor ized a id cases, increased by more t han 250 percent in t he 2020 -2021 academ ic year and, for t he f irst t ime, sur passed plag iar ism as t he lead ing of fence at U of T. Despite mu lt iple issues in T he Varsit y add ressing t he cha l lenges and impl icat ions of academ ic of fence cases, law st udents, eva luated a lmost exclusively t hrough open book exams, are insu lated from t hese adm in ist rat ive proceed ings. L ast fa l l, wh i le work ing as a fu l l-t ime Dow ntow n L ega l Ser v ices ( DL S) caseworker in t he Cr im ina l L aw and Un iversit y Of fences Div ision, I was st unned by t he lack of t ransparency and procedura l unfa ir ness our academ ic of fence system produces. My cl ients accused of comm itt ing cr imes were often t reated w it h more respect and deference by t heir prosecutors t han a n ineteenyear- old suspected of hav ing an ext ra tab open dur ing her on l ine test.

1) The University failed to communicate the standards and procedure to students Unbek now nst to most st udents, U of T’s Code of Behaviour on Acade mic Matter, conta ins a catch-a l l of fence: “any for m of […] academ ic d ishonest y […] to obta in academ ic cred it or [...] advantage.” T herefore, seem ingly innocent m ista kes such as incor rect ly cit ing an academ ic paper can lead to sanct ions. I n t h is context, ig no rance is not bl iss. T he mens rea for an academ ic of fence is based on what t he st u-

dent “ought reasonably to have k now n,” whereas t he Un iversit y’s burden of proof is on ly on a ba lance of probabi l it ies.

T he combinat ion of a broad def in it ion of academ ic of fences, a counter int uit ive standard of fau lt, and a relat ively low burden of proof empowers t he Un iversit y to conv ict a st udent even if t he latter d id not have t he specif ic intent to comm it an act of academ ic m isconduct. T he burden on t he Un iversit y is on ly to show t hat, based on t heir academ ic ex per ience and/or t he content of t he course syl labus, t he st udent more l i kely t han not shou ld have k now n better.

Dur ing t he pandem ic, t he Un iversit y has a lso fa i led to war n and educate st udents on t he relevant standards and pro cedures. Dur ing remote lear n ing, inst r uctors often on ly not if y st udents of “a lar m ing ev idence” suggest ing t hey comm itted “a ser ious academ ic infract ion” v ia ema i l w it hout of fer ing t hem an oppor t un it y to d iscuss what t he a l legat ions are based on or may enta i l. Even t he Dean’s meet ing, in it ia l ly desig ned to of fer st udents an op por t un it y to demonst rate t heir innocence to an unbiased decision-ma ker, is somet imes reduced to an ema i l not if y ing st udents t hat t hey can plead g ui lt y w it h in ten business days and accept t he proposed sanct ions, or t he matter w i l l be automat ica l ly refer red to t he Provost. T h is heightens st udent an x iet y w it hout prov id ing t hem w it h proper d isclosure.

2) The University failed to train Deans’ designates to respect students’ procedural rights Despite t he Academ ic I nteg r it y website fram ing it as a four-step -process, t he academ ic of fence system has t wo stages: (1)

t he Decana l stage where l itt le d isclosure, meet ing oppor t un it y, or t imely response is prov ided to st udents, and (2) t he Tr ibuna l stage where st udents are prosecuted in a quasi- cr im ina l and for ma l manner by a un iversit y-h ired law yer. Dist urbingly, at t he Dean’s level, t he st rongest pred ictor of whet her t he st udent w i l l be t reated w it h respect or prov ided w it h proper d isclosure is whet her t he Dean or t heir desig nate — a professor who volunteers to act as t he Dean in academ ic of fence cases —is n ice or compassionate.

Since t here are no standard g uidel ines across facu lt ies, some Deans can be ver y adversar ia l and closed-m inded. A DL S cl ient, K , met w it h a Dean’s desig nate over Zoom. A fter show ing her incomplete Quercus logs suggest ing t hat she consu lted course content dur ing one of K’s closedbook tests, t he Dean’s desig nate pressured K to plead g ui lt y to t wo charges of unaut hor ized a id wh i le austerely stat ing: “t he t r ut h is t he t r ut h … no point in d ragg ing t h is.” K pleaded g ui lt y to resolve t he matter prompt ly as a pend ing academ ic offence wou ld post pone t heir g raduat ion, wh ich wou ld in t ur n a f fect t heir imm ig rat ion stat us. A week later, Quercus suppor t team ema i led DL S to conf ir m t hat t he Quercus t imestamps and access logs are “genera l ly far from accurate” and shou ld not be rel ied on “ for any ser ious matter.”

Even more d isappoint ingly, when t h is ema i l was used by anot her DL S caseworker to quest ion t he rel iabi l it y of t he same t y pe of ev idence in anot her case, a d if ferent Dean’s desig nate simply sa id, “Quercus is rel iable” and agg ressively t ur ned dow n t he caseworker’s attempts to show t he defense ev idence. T h is agg ressive att it ude adopted by some Dean’s desig nates revea ls t he Un iversit y’s fa i lure to t reat

A lmost a l l of my cl ients in 2021 wa ited around si x mont hs to lear n about t he basis of t hese a l legat ions. From Apr i l to June, eight st udents who event ua l ly reta ined DL S lear nt t hat t heir g rades were w it hheld pend ing rev iew for a l legat ions of academ ic of fences. Bot h t he mean and med ian of t heir wa it ing t ime for a Dean’s meet ing was si x mont hs. Moreover, it often ta kes over a semester for t he Dean to refer matters to t he Provost for rev iew.

A not her DL S cl ient, C , who ma inta ined t heir innocence at t he Decana l level, wa ited nearly 20 mont hs for t heir matter to be refer red to t he Provost.

At t he f irst meet ing, C cor rected t he Dean’s m ista ken asser t ion t hat a “no co py-paste” r u le was feat ured on t he exam in quest ion. T h is was t hen fol lowed by mont hs of si lence from t he Un iversit y.

Upon DL S’ request, a second meet ing was held dur ing wh ich t he Dean sh ifted t he a l legat ions from cheat ing to plag iar ism from g roup -made notes. A fter C asser ted t hat t hey were innocent, instead of ver if ying t he cla im, t he Dean ind icated t hat she wou ld refer t h is matter to t he Provost.

O ver t he next n ine mont hs, a fter severa l rem inders sent by DL S, she f ina l ly sent t he matter to t he Provost for rev iew. A s of Januar y 2022, C is st i l l wa it ing for t he Provost to conf ir m whet her charges w i l l be la id. I f t hey are, C w i l l probably wa it anot her semester to receive for ma l d isclo sure (i.e., t he Un iversit y’s fu l l ev idence aga inst t hem).

Fortunately, for students who can af ford to wait through the delays, the Tr ibunal stage of the academic of fence system is procedurally sound. Once a case has been referred to the Provost by the Dean, the Universit y w ill hire a law yer to prosecute each case. Unlike Deans’ designates, lawyers understand the standards and ev identiar y issues required to conv ict a student, and, therefore, w ill drop fr ivolous charges and respect the accused students’ r ights to disclosure and a fair hear ing.

However, of t he 39 01 accused st udents last year, less t han 30 received a Tr ibuna l hear ing. T he vast major it y of cases w i l l be resolved at t he arbit rar y and often int im idat ing Decana l stage. T h is means t hat many st udents, w it hout lega l representat ion or pr ior k nowledge of t he relevant process, w i l l be faced w it h a d if f icu lt decision: to plead g ui lt y or r isk jeopard izing t heir el ig ibi l it y for a scholarsh ip, t heir prog ram’s exter nsh ip, and even reg ist rat ion for t he fol low ing academ ic year.

I n cr im ina l law, w rong fu l conv ict ions are often ind icat ive of a system ic fa i lure.

I n my v iew, t he pressure on st udents to plead g ui lt y generates fa lse posit ives t hat, a long w it h some Deans’ desig nates’ rel iance on quest ionable ev idence or int im idat ion tact ics, renders t he academ ic integ r it y system at t he Un iversit y of Toronto unjust.

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OPINIONS

January 26, 2022 | 27

Please Stop Pitting Members of the Legal Profession Against Each Other A response to Grayson Alabiso-Cahill’s “Movement Lawyering: Which Side Are You On?” VIVIAN CHENG (3L) A lthough we are told that law degrees are versatile, we are also told that some career choices are better than others. However, the idea that one type of career is superior to another —without regard to an individual’s particular circumstances—is harmful as it shames members of the legal community and fails to alleviate the root causes of injustice.

Grayson Alabiso-Cahill’s op-ed, Movement Lawyering: Which Side Are You On?, reinforces a stereotype we know all too well: that lawyers “facilitate injustice.” To this end, Alabiso-Cahill raises valid points. For example, he notes that public dispute resolution mechanisms are overwhelmed and that legal systems can make unjust rules. Movement lawyering can help transform the legal system to one that is more just.

Until then, we must operate within our current system. No one is above the law. As A labiso-Cahill points out, this system is largely capitalistic and reliant on corporate activity. Irrespective of one’s views on this system, we live in a society that houses vast corporate infrastructure, and as such, has developed a complex corporate law landscape. Therefore, corporate law f irms pres-

ent many employment opportunities for law students, and students may f ind themselves drawn to these careers for many reasons.

A lthough some students are interested solely in the nature of corporate work, some pursue corporate work for a combination of interest-related and f inancial reasons.

While dedicating one’s life to the struggle of working-class people can be noble, many come to law school to lift themselves and their families out of f inancial hardship.

Pursuing high-paying careers to secure better futures is not an unlikely scenario.

By asking readers to evaluate the side they’re on, A labiso-Cahill implies there is a wrong side to movement law yering (or the “struggle for justice”). While working for the public interest is undoubtedly important, it seems cruel to ask students to be “part of the struggle” when some have f irsthand experience with f inancial insecurity.

Fighting one another also distracts from the real enemy so to speak—stakeholders that preclude access to justice, such as the Ontario government reducing the province’s student f inancial aid program.

Contrary to the author’s belief, law yers are not uniquely insulated from the strug-

gles of the working class. Rather, many privileged individuals, law yers or otherwise, do not want to face the challenges associated with f inancial insecurity. Movement law yers even aim to alleviate the ef fects of income inequality on the working class by fostering more equitable wealth distributions. Given all these factors, choosing a higher-paying career is understandable, and students should not be shamed for doing so.

Further, it is erroneous to believe that law students and law yers can relate to the same hardship as the working class simply by virtue of choosing a socially-justice oriented career path. On account of our education and network, we have access to opportunities that others don’t and can choose to leave the working-class struggle—a luxury others do not have.

Finally, individuals who work in corporate roles are not precluded from activism in the public sphere. For example, many Big Law f irms dedicate themselves to pro bono work and donate to social justice causes; importantly, much of the non-prof it work in the legal f ield depends on grants from corporate law f irms. Law yers can also choose

to volunteer their time or donate funds to a cause of their choosing, even if they do not participate in their f irm’s pro bono initiatives. Even if law yers choose to forego the aforementioned initiatives, lifting themselves and their families out of f inancial insecurity benef its disadvantaged communities—and that is commendable.

As law students and future law yers, we should be cognizant that we belong to an immensely privileged group. We have access to high-paying careers, job stability, and most importantly, the ability to represent others with their legal issues. Given these privileges, we should be mindful of access to justice in our community. But we should also be mindful of the dif ferent circumstances others face that preclude them from pursuing careers perceived to be at the forefront of social change.

My point isn’t that we should never criticize societal shortcomings, but rather that we shouldn’t divide the legal profession based on career choices. As we f inish another recruit cycle, and enter another year of the pandemic, we should promote collegiality within the profession and be kind to one another.

Take Me Out to the Ball (Arbitration) Game U of T Law competes at its first (but hopefully not its last) International Baseball Arbitration Competition GERRIT YAU (3L) Toronto is a large sports market—not just within Canada, but within North America.

We have the only NBA team in the Raptors, the only MLB team in the Blue Jays, and one of the most historically successful NHL teams in the Maple Leafs [Author’s Note: choose among countless 1967 jokes].

Yet, for a Toronto law student, there are surprisingly few opportunities to explore the sports industry as a legal career. From a competition standpoint, by far the most valuable opportunity is the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada (HACC) hosted by U of T’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society. From an internship standpoint, the most sought-after opportunity is the summer student position with the NHL Players’ Association.

So, as a 3L student who has learned from, but in the process exhausted, those limited opportunities, I was immensely grateful for the chance to compete at the 15th annual Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition ( TIBAC) alongside my wonderful colleague, Peter Voltsinis (2L), on January 20 and 21. This was the f irst time U of T Law has competed at this competition. I would also like to express my gratitude to Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP and the law school’s Advancement Of f ice for their support of our participation at TIBAC

this year.

TIBAC closely mirrors U of T’s own annual HACC event. It is a mock salary arbitration competition modelled after a professional sports league’s salary arbitration mechanism as outlined by the league’s collective bargaining agreement; in TIBAC’s case, it follows MLB, while HACC follows the NHL . There is a written component and an oral component to the competition, with the latter being adjudicated by baseball industry professionals.

T I BAC is t y pica l ly hosted as an in-person event in New Orleans, w it h net working oppor t un it ies among g uest arbit rators and compet itors a l i ke. A lt hough t h is year’s compet it ion was or ig ina l ly schedu led to be in-person as wel l, t he recent up t ick in t he spread of t he Om icron var iant led to t he late decision to move t he event to a v ir t ua l sett ing. Shou ld fut ure ed it ions of T I BAC ret ur n to t he in-person for mat, I have no doubt t he va lue of par t icipat ing in t he compet it ion wou ld be g reat ly increased.

Serendipitously, Peter and I were assigned the arbitration case for the Toronto Blue Jays’ budding superstar, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., for the written component of the competition. Our task was to write both a Player brief, which represented Guerrero

Jr.’s case, and a Club brief, which represented the Blue Jays’ case.

We researched Guerrero Jr.’s career, from his signing as a 16 -year-old international free agent to his years as MLB’s #1 prospect to his outstanding M VP-calibre season in 2021. Dusting of f our advocacy caps, buried somewhere in our respective cabinets along with our 1L LRW notes, we developed themes for Guerrero Jr.’s arbitration case on both sides. We met frequently over the holiday season to discuss and debate the strength of our arguments. Our efforts culminated in two ten-page arbitration briefs, of which we were tremendously proud.

Next, we prepared for the competition’s oral component. For this, we were assigned four cases: both sides of the Guerrero Jr. case, the Club side (Cleveland Guardians) for the Shane Bieber case, and the Club side ( Los Angeles Angels) for the Shohei Ohtani case. Hours of research and many Excel spreadsheets and graphs later, we prepared four 50 -slide PowerPoint presentations in advance of competition day.

Our opening round was the Shane Bieber case in front of Rachel Luba, a trailblazing MLB player agent who had previously worked for the MLB Players Association as a law yer. With 15 minutes for our opening

presentation and 7.5 minutes for our rebuttal, it felt as though our time was up as soon as we started the clock. The pace was quick with a lot of content to cover.

After both sides presented their cases, arbitrator Luba shared some feedback based on her experience participating in realworld MLB salary arbitrations. She expressed how the dynamics of salary arbitration are often complex and emotional: the Player sits in the hearing room as the Club— his team—argues that he is not worth the salary he believes to be fair. Words cannot be unsaid or unheard, so a diplomatic approach, especially by the Club, is required to preserve the future working relationship between the two parties after the arbitration ends.

In all, we presented three cases, learning and growing from the feedback we received after each hearing. We did not advance to the quarter-f inals, but it was an experience I will not soon forget as I write the f inal chapter of my law school career. Having helped build U of T Law’s growing pathway for sports law, TIBAC is an excellent addition to the opportunities available for students to explore the sports industry as a career. This may have been our school’s f irst time competing at TIBAC, but I sincerely hope it will be far from our last.

DIVERSIONS

28 | January 26, 2022

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New Year, New You? First mercury retrograde of 2022 shows no mercy SABRINA MACKLAI (2L JD/MI) The start of a new year and new semester is no joke. Add on recruiting season, clerkship applications, intensive papers, mooting materials, and Zoom School of Law, and it’s safe to say that law students are having it hard. Have no fear, though! UV’s got your back with fresh horoscopes to help you tackle this year’s particularly brutal mercury retrograde.

Aquarius ( Jan 20 – Feb 18) It’s your season, babes! Put on that hot pink blazer and strut … right into Bora Laskin. I’m sorry. That memo ain’t writing itself. Somehow, you managed to fall behind before classes even started. But have no fear. Against all odds, your procrastinating ways haven’t completely bitten you in the ass and you’ll pull through after another all-nighter. You’ll tell yourself you won’t do it again. Spoiler alert: you will do it again.

Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20) Remember reading those crazy hypotheticals in torts and thinking who in the world would actually be stuck in those situations?

Meet Pisces. They’re the reason you're writing a three-hour exam about a kid who slipped on some ice and ended up causing World War III. Causation? Most likely.

A r ies ( Ma r 21 – Apr il 19) You’re the sadistic guy who actually enjoyed administrative law and legal process. I’m a little too afraid to even write about you, Aries. If Vavilov didn’t break you, I’m not sure what will.

Tau r us (Apr 20 – May 20) Taurus, baby, are you alive? We haven’t seen you since the last time the law school gave us free pizza. Please @admin, give us back free food.

Our poor Tauruses are suffering.

Gem ini ( May 21 – June 20) It’s everyone’s favourite two-faced rat! We could all learn a lesson from you, Gemini. Somehow, you managed to earn opposing counsel’s trust (and their oral arguments) through a wellplayed puppy eyes move. I’m not sure how ethical that is (I’ve only finished two weeks of Legal Ethics), but after all, you’re becoming a lawyer. Teetering on the line of ethics is part of the gig. Just ask the IHRP hiring committee for advice.

Ca ncer ( June 21 – Ju ly 22) Cancer, you wrote in your personal statement that you came to law school to “help change the world.” And while 99 percent of people who wrote that went on to defend Big Pharma, you actually stuck to it. Sure, you’re eating Cup-of-

Noodles for dinner for the third time this week.

But hey, the view looks great up there on your moral high horse!

Leo ( Ju ly 23 – Aug 22) How does it feel to be the main character? Perfectly highlighted notes to match your perfectly highlighted balayage, you’re living your Elle Woods life! You should be the one giving us advice. I’ve never seen someone actually make a summary, outline, AND a map … clearly someone paid attention in Legal Methods. Some may call you a gunner—and don’t get me wrong, you are—but god, did you have to make being a keener look so good?

It t ur ns out forcing people to pr int exam notes is t he best way to ra l ly t he st udent body aga inst t he ad m in ist rat ion. L et’s use t h is moment um to get t uit ion dow n to a lean $25,0 0 0!

Su r pr ise! Tu r ns out of fer ing hybr id lea r ning isn’t that ha rd a f ter a l l?

A fter t he Un iversit y announced t he ret ur n to in-person classes, t he Facu lt y quick ly fol lowed up w it h a plan to prov ide hybr id lear n ing unt i l t he end of read ing week.

Despite refusing to of fer t h is opt ion t hroughout t he fa l l semester, it seems l i ke it’s act ua l ly quite easy to implement. W ho wou ld have t hought?

(Editor’s note: Not only did Scorpio go here, but they went on to be the gold medalist, clerked at the SCC, partnered at a Sister, and eventually became Chief Justice. Real G's really do move in silence.)

Sag it ta r ius ( Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Libra (Sept 23 – Oct 22)

Capr icor n ( Dec 22 – Ja n 19)

Dude … you need to chill. I promise that you’ll be okay without overcommitting to ten different extracurriculars on top of a maximum course load. What’s that—Libra, where did you go? No, Libra, back away from the volunteer moot. Fine, then don’t complain about how Law Review is

You’ve been busting your ass, Capricorns, and I see that, even if you don’t want to be perceived.

Your hard work will pay off. But please get some sleep. Or at least take a shower. Getting a whole table to yourself at the fishbowl isn’t the flex you think it is.

HARRY MYLES (2L) AND SHAE ROTHERY (2L)

Pr inting exa m notes leads to a n unprecedented level of st udent cohesion

What’s it like being the most mysterious sign?

No LinkedIn, no Facebook, cameras off during the Zoom class. Mic is perpetually broken so you only communicate vaguely through the chat. Do you even go here???

Please stop telling everyone that your daddy owns a law firm. I promise you that nobody cares. Unfortunately, daddy’s money can’t pay for that HH (though it will, probably, get you that six-figure job anyways, so who’s really crying? It’s me. I’m crying).

Zoom School of Law

I n an unfor t unate t ur n of events, t he Facu lt y has of f icia l ly gone back to t he wonder fu l world of Zoom. W h i le t h is is not t he prefer red star t to t he year, at least we don’t have to t r udge t hrough 30 cent imeters of snow to lear n tor ts!

Scor pio (Oct 23 – Nov 21)

Tbh I have no idea how y’all are surviving this pandemic. But then again, I also have no idea how you survived pre-pandemic. Sagittarius is the person who will go out for drinks the day before their crim exam and spend the whole night explaining the intoxication defence to the poor bartender. Somehow, they’ll still get the HH. Cheers to the next Call Come to the Bar!

Vi rgo (Aug 23 – Sep 22)

Intra Vires Totally real news from the Welcome back to the Zoom School of Law

kicking your ass.

2L st udent “devastated” they ca n no longer use “back in my day” t rope with 1L mentee A 2L st udent is repor ted ly upset t hey can no longer engage in t he classic law school compet it ion of who’s had it worse by recount ing t heir Zoom war stor ies to t heir 1L mentee. Luck i ly, gett ing to t he Zoom School of L aw doesn’t require wa l k ing uph i l l bot h ways.

St ressed about impending recr uit dead lines? Tr y br ushing you r teeth with you r non-dom ina nt ha nd!

T he Facu lt y has found an a l l-in- one solut ion to your law school woes! Br ush ing your teet h w it h your non- dominant hand is g uaranteed to remove t he st ress of 1L recr uit appl icat ion dead l ines, t he 20 0 pages of read ing you haven’t had a chance to get to t h is week, and suppresses your hunger when you don’t have a chance to eat bet ween back-to -back classes and mandator y luncht ime t ra in ing sessions. It’l l even clear up t he dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep! I ncred ible!

Ultra Vires Presents: A Love Story The highs and lows of love, in a playlist HARRY MYLES (2L), ERICA BERRY (2L), AND EMMA TOMAS (2L) For this issue’s playlist, the UV Playlist Committee prepared a collection of songs that tell the story of a relationship from the initial crush to falling in love to devastating heartbreak, and, finally, moving on. Be sure to listen in-order to experience all of the highs and lows of love.

Featuring Snail Mail, Alicia Keys, Otis Redding, FKA Twigs, and Shania Twain.

DIVERSIONS

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January 26, 2022 | 29

Seven Friends Personality Quiz Which friend are you?

HARRY MYLES (2L) AND SHAE ROTHERY (2L) As you know, there are seven distinct personality types in every friend group. If you don’t know which one you are, have no fear!

UV is here with a simple quiz to help you figure it out.

A re you the ta lk of the tow n? a) I am the most popular person wherever I go. b) I don’t care about petty personal politics, I am committed to my studies. c) I love all people! d) I have a small group of loyal friends. e) I’d say I might be a whisper? f) Yes, because I am the star athlete! g) Of course, my family built this city.

Do you like to work more tha n a l l of you r other f r iends? a) As long as it doesn’t interfere with ~social outings~! b) Is that even a question? Merit is everything! c) Work hard, play hard—am I right? d) I do what is necessary to achieve success. e) I’d say I’m reasonably average? f) Do you mean work out or “work-work”? g) I work enough to maintain my family’s reputation.

Do you have fond memor ies of sum mer ca mp? a) Of course! Everyone loved me! b) I spent most summers brushing up on my studies for the next year. c) Some of the best times of my life! d) I have memories—some fond, some not so fond. e) I never went to summer camp. f) I loved sports camp! g) I spent most summers playing polo on my family’s estate.

Do you like to do things the way they’ve a lways been done? a) You don’t get popular by rocking the boat! b) I do things in the way that gives me the most personal gain. c) I’m just here for a good time tbh. d) Absolutely. I thrive with well-established routines. e) I don’t really like to do things at all … f) Yeah! Just like my fraternity! g) I like to do things the way my family has for generations.

Do you like to sta nd in the crowd?

THROWBACK TO UV’S 2013 RECRUIT SPECIAL COVER PHOTO! THE SEVEN SISTERS, ILLUSTRATED BY CAITLIN RUSSELL (HTTP://CAITRUSSELL.COM/)

Is a qua r ter-zip you r favou r ite a r ticle of clothing? a) No. b) No. c) No. d) No.

a) Of course—crowds always form around me.

e) No.

b) As long as the crowd is accomplishing something.

f) Hell yeah!

c) Is the crowd a party? If so, then yes!

g) No.

d) Yes, but only if the crowd was always there. e) I can’t imagine being anywhere else—certainly not standing out from the crowd! Preposterous! f) I love to stand in the middle of a crowd when I’m doing a keg stand. g) I like to stand in a small but tight-knit circle.

Did you pay for law school with the interest f rom you r t r ust f und?

d) I do have a trust fund … e) I’d prefer not to discuss finances. f) I paid with the money I made off meme stocks. To the mooooon! g) How else would I pay for anything?

Time to add up those scores!

If you had …

Mostly As: You are the popular friend.

Mostly Bs: You are the overachieving friend.

Mostly Cs: You are the fun friend.

a) I crowdfunded my tuition because people love me!

Mostly Ds: You are the friend with traditional values.

b) With a high enough paying job, you don’t have to worry about tuition, am I right?

Mostly Fs: You are the bro-y friend.

c) Come on, do we have to talk about tuition?

Mostly Es: You are the boring friend.

Mostly Gs: You are the friend with old money.

30 | January 26, 2022

DIVERSIONS

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