Vol 44 No 18

QUID NOVI

Vol 44 No 18 11 April 2023

NCDH 305 - 3644 Peel Montréal, Québec H2A 1X1

quid.law@mcgill.ca @quidnovi.mcgill

McGill University Faculty of Law Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RÉDACTEUR EN CHEF Zack Goobie ART DIRECTOR DIRECTRICE ARTISTIQUE Souang Wu LAYOUT EDITOR ÉDITRICE DE MISE EN PAGE Souang Wu COPY EDITORS SECRÉTAIRES DE RÉDACTION Marie-Ève Ouellet Thomas Power COLUMNISTS CHRONIQUEURES ET CHRONIQUEUSES Alanna Molzahn Pablo Mhanna-Sandoval Song-Ly Tran CONTRIBUTORS COLLABORATEURS ET COLLABORATICES Anna McAllister Ben Delaney Janelle Deniset McGill’s North African Law Students’ Association Special thanks to Prairie Koo for designing the layout. ~

The Quid Novi is published weekly by the students of the Faculty of Law at McGill University. Production is made possible through the direct support of students.

All contents copyright © 2023 Quid Novi.

Les opinions exprimées sont propres aux auteurs et ne réflètent pas nécessairement celles de l’équipe du Quid Novi. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the McGill Law Students’ Association or of McGill University.

Envoyez vos commentaires ou articles avant jeudi 17h00 à quid.law@mcgill.ca.

Toute contribution doit indiquer le nom de l’auteur, son année d’étude ainsi qu’un titre et un sous -titre pour l’article. Les images doivent être soumises séparément. L’article ne sera publié qu’à la discrétion du comité de rédaction, qui basera sa décision sur la politique de rédaction disponible sur notre Facebook @quidnovi.mcgill.

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QUID NOVI

CETTE SEMAINE...

INSIGHTS

COMMUNAUTÉ

2 | LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

5 | BLAST FROM THE PAST

The Last Quid

3 | FAREWELL TO THE GOAT Zack Goobie Graduates

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Vol 44 No 18 11 April 2023

8 | ALUMNI FEATUREs 8 | INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

4 | NAVIGATING CHALLENGES DURING CLIENT 9 | OVERHEARD INTERVIEWS Reflections on IRAP’s Student Trip in Refugee Law to Amman, Jordan

12 | MEET THE TEAM

5 | A THANK YOU NOTE

13 | CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATES

6 | DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, IP, OH MY!

14 | THANK YOU/MERCI

How Hasbro Looked to Change Open Access Gaming, and How Fans Stopped it

Art Director, Souang Wu

9 | ON MOUNTAIN CLIMBIMG, SUCCESS, AND MCGILL LAW

10 | CAN CHATGPT BEAT THE B CURVE

Experimenting with Professor Adamski’s JICP Final

12 | NALSA, UN AN APRÈS SA CRÉATION

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Vol 44 ● No 18

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR The Last Quid

Zack Goobie | 3L

Three years is a long time. I remember writing a message to the Quid Novi Facebook page in September 2020. I knew online school was going to be a struggle, and that I would need some type of mental break from my constitutional law readings. Three (school years) later and this is my final Quid article as a McGill Law student (if everything goes according to plan).

time in NCDH 305 and enjoyed all my conversations with the EIC of the MJSDL, Jasen Erbežnik. This year I have gotten to know the editors and columnists through socials and coffeehouses, and it has been a pleasure. The people who go to this Faculty are so incredibly smart in law and in life. I have learned so much reading through your articles this year.

While I probably would have approached law school differently if I did it all over again (would not have read all of Adamski’s JICP cases), I think you kind of need to learn as you go. A lot of people at this Faculty have impressive CVs and it can be intimidating, but as I told my small group of 1Ls during Integration Workshop, never forget that there’s a reason that you’re here. I think a lot of people in my 1L class were afraid to speak on Zoom, thank God we had Ali Hachem.

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

At the end of the day, we can criticize our Faculty for its teaching style, but you can’t say that you didn’t meet incredible people. Good friends got me through Zoom fatigue and a torn ACL, and I will always be grateful. I met so many people through the Friday Beer Club in 1L, and I’ll never forget seeing everyone in person in 2L. One day when I look back on my seven years of post-secondary studies, being a part of two great student newspapers will be some of my fondest memories. There is something about writing an article and seeing your name by the title on printed paper.

When I look for a Blast from the Past for our Quid editions, it is easy to see the history that this paper has had. It is almost like we re-established the Quid Novi this year after a hiatus during the pandemic.

During my first two years of writing and editing for the Quid, the paper seemed empty of any sort of community. You would send your edits or weekly column to quid.law@mcgill.ca without ever seeing the person on the other end. I even had no idea that the Quid had an office until this year, but I loved spending

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I leave you with one last point about freedom of speech.

I generally think Latin is a waste of time (and pretentious), besides one of my favourite quotes “audi alteram partem”. Take a moment and listen to other viewpoints, try to understand why people feel a certain way. Don’t jump to conclusions, but rather do research and ask questions. Get outside of the “McGill Law Bubble”. Have meaningful discussions with people to learn more about different opinions. If someone doesn’t like your submission, you should expect feedback, and that is fine (unless you write on the last edition of the year hehe). There have been a few articles this year that have caused some controversy with students. Nonetheless, I really would not have had it any other way. Law students are bound to disagree on points. The Quid should be seen as a forum to share and debate, I think we are all better off because of it.

FAREWELL TO THE GOAT Zack Goobie Graduates

Anna McAllister | 2L and Co-Editor-in-Chief with the Amazing Zack

“He is brilliant, universally beloved amongst classmates, incredibly generous with his time, good to the bone, and somehow cool on top of it all (a particularly rare characteristic for a goalie).”

Despite all of the difficulties in acquiring an adequate number of summer courses to graduate in three years, it seems as though, unfortunately, Zack Goobie has actually managed to do it. After poking fun at the SAO’s organizational abilities at Skit Nite, it's hard not to interpret Zack’s successful summer-course pursuit as a karmic twist of fate.

Could McGill Law’s course selection nightmare not have worked in my favour just this once? Maybe Zack has the right idea leaving the Faculty after our Skit Nite presentation…

Alas, it seems as though my esteemed co-editor will be snatched from the Quid’s clutches and transported off to the “real world” of “gainful employment” - who would want that when the Quid pays so well?

Zack’s departure does, however, give me the chance to do one of my favourite activities - brag about how incredible my friends are. Working with Zack over the last year has been one of the best parts of my McGill Law experience this far. Zack is one of those people that makes me wonder what I am doing wrong in my life to not be more like him. He is brilliant, universally beloved amongst classmates, incredibly generous with his time, good to the bone, and somehow cool on top of it all (a particularly rare characteristic for a goalie).

This translated into Zack being the best editor the Quid has ever seen.

We would not have been able to get the Quid back up and running and navigate the challenges we did without his incredible skillset and strong

moral compass. He managed all this with a torn ACL, and an obnoxious co-editor who would interrogate his recovery plan at every opportunity. Even more incredibly, he put up with me filling Blank Space in the Quid with Taylor Swift editorial content, which admittedly not all co-editors would have signed off on.

Zack, you deserve all of the best in your next chapter, and I could not be more grateful to have been able to learn all that we did together this year. I look forward to you being the first alumni to make regular Quid contributions and seeing all of the amazing things you accomplish.

You better call me for a beer (and a cigarette?) next time we’re in the same city!

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Vol 44 ● No 18

NAVIGATING CHALLENGES DURING CLIENT INTERVIEWS Reflections on IRAP’s Student Trip in Refugee Law to Amman, Jordan Janelle Deniset | 4L

I am grateful to the Alumni Student Engagement Fund (ASEF) who awarded me with the inaugural award for International Law and Human Rights Student Initiatives.

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

In March 2023, I participated in a week-long student trip and training program in refugee law in Amman, Jordan. This program was organized by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a global legal aid and advocacy organization working with refugees and displaced people. Over the last 3.5 years at McGill Law, I have volunteered with the McGill Chapter of the organization in a variety of roles, including as Chapter Co-Director for the last 2 years.

From the 29 school chapters that volunteer with IRAP, 10 students were selected to participate in this weeklong training, including students from Osgoode, NYU, Georgetown, and American University. Over the first two days, students participated in training sessions on a wide vari-

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ety of topics, including on international refugee law, refugee resettlement pathways to the US, and the context of migration in the region. Subsequent training sessions focused on interviews with refugee clients and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement submission criteria, since students would be conducting client intakes and drafting referrals throughout the rest of the week.

Since IRAP’s work focuses primarily on resettlement to the US, we learned about the various legal avenues available for refugees and the barriers to resettlement. A common challenge in refugee resettlement to countries like the US is that there are systemic delays which prevent the expeditious review of claims.

Even in cases where refugees and their families demonstrate acute protection needs and are in situations of extreme vulnerability, they regularly wait months if not years to be resettled. This can present a significant chal-

lenge while conducting client interviews – urgent needs are often coupled with a reasonably founded expectation for urgent action. Unfortunately, during interviews with clients, we find ourselves in the difficult position of having to temper expectations. We have to explain that however promptly we submit a claim, it may not be reviewed for lengthy periods of time and there are no guarantees that the claim will be accepted.

One of the biggest challenges I faced while conducting client interviews was finding the correct balance between soliciting enough information to make a compelling case for the client and avoiding their re-traumatization. As you can imagine, these interviews can be immensely difficult for clients. In view of bringing forward their claim, they are asked to recount some of the worst experiences of their lives pertaining to the persecution they experienced in the past, or continue to

encounter. When someone shares with you a deeply emotional experience, you will naturally respond with empathy and recognition of the trauma they faced.

However, as a law student, I recognize the inherent limits of my response – I am not a trained professional who can provide the mental and emotional support that the person in front of me requires.

I was grateful to the staff, caseworkers, and lawyers at the IRAP Jordan office, who had many years of experience in this field and were able to provide helpful guidance for responding to these difficult issues. The weeklong student trip was an incredibly enriching experience and made me more concretely aware of the challenges faced by refugees attempting to navigate the resettlement process.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of IRAP.

BLAST FROM THE PAST This confirms that the Quid has for many years been used as a persuasive source from courts around the world.

We do not see that changing anytime soon.

A THANK YOU NOTE Pablo Mhanna-Sandoval | 1L

As some of my dear readers—all three of them—will know, I’m a sucker for a punchy opening sentence. It’s fun.

But there’s no clever way to start a column dealing with this subject matter. This isn’t a column about Skit Nite or comedy. It’s about mental health. It’s also about gratitude.

Since late last semester, I have been depressed. Don’t worry, I’m doing better. This is in no small part thanks to some very kind people in the McGill Law community.

This column is a thank-you note to them.

This year was rough. The first weeks were nothing short of euphoria. The subsequent months were decidedly not. I floundered in nearly every category, from adjusting to living alone to learning how to manage the workload. Additionally, I had troubles in my social life, and I

found myself avoiding Chancellor Day Hall almost religiously to spare myself the worst of my anxiety. This self-imposed isolation only gave me a harder time. Decidedly not how I saw my first year of law school going.

I’m doing better. Without getting too personal in a Quid Novi column, I’ve begun the work to recover, including therapy. The returning sun also helped. Most helpful of all, however, were the faculty members and students who took time out of their busy schedules to check in with me. To Professors Poirier and Janda, to R.M., D.D., C.B., to the members of the Skit Nite team, and to many other members of the McGill Law community: thank you.

Your kindness and care got me through some dark times.

I’m proud to know you, to be your friend, and to be a fellow member of McGill Law. I hope to see you all next year.

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Vol 44 ● No 18

DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, IP, OH MY! How Hasbro Looked to Change Open Access Gaming, and How Fans Stopped it Ben Delaney | 3L

Introduction When one thinks about a story, it quite often deals with a fight between good and evil. From sci-fi such as Star Wars, fantasy in Lord Of The Rings, even comedies like Brooklyn 99 (or, Escouade 99) have some degree of “good” and “evil” and the conflict between the two. Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), a role-playing game that involves players and a game master playing through a collaborative story, is no different. Whether it is a prewritten, published story involving a vampire,1 or something completely original, created by the game master, D&D often has some kind of antagonistic force – what the Dungeon Masters Guide, one of three core rulebooks, refers to as “A Credible Threat”. 2 Now, with the recent release of the movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (it’s really good!), it is time to revisit a story from January 2023 that essentially pitted the owners of D&D, Wizards of the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro), against fans and other companies engaged in D&D-related paraphernalia. In short, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) were effectively “A Credible Threat” to the openness of the D&D community,3 and the community came together to successfully lobby against a change to the “law” of D&D.

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

What are OGL and SRD? To make a long story short, in 2000, WotC published two interrelated documents regarding the intellectual property surrounding the game. The Open Gaming License (OGL) effectively allowed an open, perpetual, and irrevocable license to allow for third-party companies to publish content using D&D material, royalty-free.4 Meaning, I could write and publish an original D&D book for players that uses characters, game mechanics, and related properties contained in the System Reference Document (SRD) without explicit permission from WotC, and without paying WotC royalties.

These two related documents – the OGL and the SRD – allowed for many companies and even new games to grow See Chris Perkins, D&D: Curse of Strahd (Renton: Wizards of the Coast, 2016).

Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, D&D: Dungeon Master’s Guide (Renton: Wizards of the Coast, 2014) at 71.

3 Linda Codega, “Dungeons & Dragons” New License Tightens its Grip on Competition” (January 5, 2023), online: io9 <https://gizmodo.com/ dnd-wizards-of-the-coast-ogl-1-1-open-gaming-license-1849950634>.

4 Ibid.

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and thrive in this niche economy. Companies such as Gale Force 9 have been successful in creating supplements for the game, namely game maps and player tokens, while Paizo has built two brand new games based on the OGL and the SRD that are now major competitors in the tabletop game space. Further, these two documents have also allowed for the D&D brand itself to grow, as companies such as Critical Role have taken advantage of the two documents to create a popular show where voice actors play D&D, which itself has spun off into two seasons of a massively popular and critically acclaimed animated show on Amazon Prime.5 Thus, these two documents allowed for the D&D brand and the tabletop community to grow in tandem over the last 23 years, in spite of three failed D&D movies that came out in that time.6 OGL 1.1 During a fireside chat last fall, the CEOs of Hasbro and WotC claimed the D&D brand was “under monetized”.7 The business decision resulting from this claim was, allegedly, an update from the OGL 1.0 to the OGL 1.1, for initial release on January 4, 2023, before it would take effect on January 13, 2023. 8 There were many changes to OGL 1.1 – OGL 1.0 was initially only about 900 words long, whereas OGL 1.1 was well over 9,000 words long,9 including new provisions addressing new technology like NFTs, and targeting third-party content that is discriminatory.10 While some of these changes were welcomed, much of the controversy surrounding the OGL 1.1 was in the ways it impacted the industry as a whole.

The ways that the OGL 1.1 sought to shake up the bottom line of many third-party creators and longtime supporters of the D&D brand tarnished the legacy of the docuCass Marshall, “Critical Role’s Legend of Vox Machina indulges in D&D tropes to mostly fun effect” (January 21, 2022), online: Polygon <https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22893346/ critical-role-legend-of-vox-machina-review-amazon>.

6 See Dungeons & Dragons, 2000, DVD (Burbank, Cal: New Line Cinema).

See also Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, 2005, DVD (Burbank, Cal: Warner Home Video). See also Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness, 2012, DVD (Los Angeles, Cal: IM Global).

7 Claire Jackson, “D&D CEO Thinks Hobby Is ‘Under Monetized’Compared To Video Games” (12 December, 2022), online: Kotaku <https://kotaku. com/dungeons-and-dragons-dnd-fifth-edition-one-dnd-1849884812>.

8 Supra note 3.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

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ment, and the D&D brand as a whole. The first issue to note is that the old OGL 1.0, long considered irrevocable by WotC themselves, 11 would be “deauthorized”, without much of an explanation as to what that necessarily meant. This effectively left developers in the dark as to whether or not they should, much less could, create content under the old OGL 1.0, or if they would be forced into developing content for the newer OGL 1.1. Another important development was the new reporting requirement akin to disclosures of publicly traded companies, and an ensuing tiered royalty system aimed at capturing income from third-party creators.

This would require third-party creators to submit certain accounting records and financial documents to WotC for review and, should they reach a certain income threshold set by WotC, third-party corporations would have to pay royalties to WotC on the sale of D&D products.12 While this could, on its surface, appear logical, it fails to consider the nature of the industry. It is true that there are a few “larger” players in the space, namely the aforementioned Paizo, and Darrington Press, the publishers of Critical Role books. However, many companies in the broader role-play space are small businesses with very few employees, who likely have thin margins, owing to the niche nature of the industry. In this creative space, many are simply happy to be able to publish original works, and put them out for others to enjoy.

Response From The Broader Community The reaction from the broader community was swift and fierce. Shortly after a leaked version of the OGL 1.1 was released, many individuals expressed concern on the Internet,13 the news was spread far and wide,14 and third-party creators took a hardline stance against the OGL 1.1. On an individual level, users flooded the D&D monthly subscription website D&DBeyond to cancel their memberships, leading to an estimated 50,000 users looking to cancel their memberships, and crashing the website for a brief time.15 In the market, Paizo, one of the largest companies in the field, and certainly one impacted very heavily by the OGL 1.1, led a movement bringing together nearly 1,500 role-playing game companies, publishers, Linda Codega, “Dungeons & Dragons Scraps Plans to Update Its Open Game License” (January 27, 2023), online: io9 <https://gizmodo.com/ dungeons-dragons-will-no-longer-deauthorize-its-open-1850041837>.

12 Supra note 3.

13 u/Skyy-High “OGL 1.1 Megathread – Jan 7, 2023” (7 January, 2023), posted on dndnext.

14 Penguinz0, “Most Delusional Company Ever” (10 January, 2023) at 00h:02m:12s, online (video): YouTube, <https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=lGbcHyQ2v3c>.

15 Tara McCauley, “D&D Beyond’s Account Management Page Crashes as Users Cancel En Masse” (13 January, 2023), Online: CBR <https:// www.cbr.com/dnd-beyond-account-page-crashes-dnd-players-cancel-accounts/>.

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and more, towards creating a competing open gaming license, called the “Open RPG Creative License”, or ORC.16 This competing license would be a system-neutral set of rules for any tabletop role-playing game that would be owned by a separate non-profit, thus securing the industry’s future from being in the stranglehold of WotC, and also ensuring no single competitor would get an advantage over owning and licensing out its content through a license, akin to the OGL. Many competitors in the role-playing game field saw a huge increase in sales following the story of the OGL, with some companies having their most profitable quarter in their history as consumers flocked away from WotC and D&D.17 The End Well, with all this chaos and tumult, our “WotC vs the community” story will conclude with the following statement: The Community Won. Indeed, following the heavy backlash from community and industry, WotC ended up backing down from updating the OGL at all, and instead published the entire SRD under a Creative Commons License, meaning that it is a standardized license within international copyright law, not necessarily something that is unique to WotC or the D&D brand and mechanics.18 Now, for my fellow IP nerds, you might ask, what did WotC even “own” in this respect? Thinking about copyright, one cannot necessarily have copyright over a series of rules, in the same way that Baker v Selden tells us that an accountant cannot own the copyright to the mechanics of their accounting ledger.19 Sure, WotC definitely owned copyright on the “original” monsters and enemies created for D&D, including Venca and Mind Flayers (as made famous by the TV show Stranger Things), but also characters like Beholders, The Red Wizards of Thay, the Zhentarim, and the ampersand logo for D&D is a great example of an iconic trademark. However, it doesn’t necessarily solve the question about whether or not WotC owned the SRD under a copyright framework. Baker demonstrates that an accounting ledger could be protected under patent law,20 and it is thus possible that the SRD could be similarly protected. However, it is likely that WotC releasing the core rules publicly through Creative Commons effectively ends the discussion of intellectual property protection, and also ends our story for now.

Paizo, “The ORC Alliance Grows” (19 January, 2023), online (blog): Paizo Blog <https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6si7y>.

17 Matt Jarvis, “Pathfinder and Call of Cthulu RPGs sell out months’ worth of books in two weeks after D&D OGL backlash” (27 January, 2023), online: Dicebreaker <https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/news/pathfinder-call-of-cthulhu-rpgs-sell-out-dnd-ogl-backlash>.

18 Supra note 11.

19 Baker v Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879) at 103-104 [Baker].

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Ibid.

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Vol 44 ● No 18

ALUMNI FEATURES Jetez un coup d’oeil aux témoignages des anciens de la faculté Bart Dzikowski BCL/LLB’02 I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do when I started at McGill Law but hoped that I would meet smart people who could help me figure things out. I wasn’t a particularly good student but was lucky enough to get a summer stint at a NY firm and follow some of my newly found friends there (to this day, we are all very close and I credit them for helping me find my way). After a few years of private practice, I joined an investment bank and then moved to Switzerland where I have spent the last 14 years as a Managing Director at a healthcare venture fund managing several portfolio investments, our junior investment and operational team and our transactions.

Paul Moen LLB’93 How it started I was excited to study law at McGill as a pathway to a legal career that would enable me to actively participate in politics and public affairs more generally. McGill’s talented teachers, its smart and fun students, and its national as well as global perspectives - taught me that the law indeed permitted a multitude of potential pathways to serve others, whether through business, government and/or the not-for-profit sector. Also, the McGill magic meant that I met my wonderful wife Isabelle Daoust (LLB, BCL ‘96) all those years ago in the halls of Old Chancellor Day Hall.

How it’s going Thirty years later, after most of my career in the private sector, I am on my second tour of political service for the Government of Canada as Chief of Staff to the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Jr., Minister of Labour.

INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

The Supreme Court was again crowned champions of the Mixed Tier 1 intramural league. 1L Michael Tshimanga paced the team with 23 points while 3L Benjamin Marc Panier Brown chipped in for 8 points.

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ON MOUNTAIN CLIMBING, SUCCESS, AND MCGILL LAW Alanna Molzahn | 2L

My high school’s motto was “Good, better, best, never let it rest.” It was a school full of over-achievers and I still feel pressure to succeed, either to prove something to myself or prove something to my peers. Which of the two it is, I’m not really sure.

Last fall, I became really interested in Mt. Everest. At an elevation of 8,848 m above sea level, Mt. Everest is the highest mountain on Earth (although if we measure from below sea level, Mauna Kea is technically taller). I have absolutely no desire to climb Mt. Everest, but I am fascinated by those who have attempted the summit, and even more fascinated, perhaps morbidly so, by those who were unsuccessful and died. Through my research, I learned that although it is the tallest mountain, it is not the most technically difficult to climb. The hardest part is not the summit, but rather making it down successfully.

The problem is that, above 8,000m, aka “the death zone,” there is insufficient oxygen to sustain human life. At this altitude, climbers are more likely to develop cerebral and/or pulmonary edemas, or simply become disoriented because of the lack of oxygen to their brains, which can cause poor decision-making and lead to deadly consequences.

Besides the lack of oxygen, climbers have to contend with cold temperatures, hurricane-strength winds, and the possibility of avalanches or storms.

Despite the danger, people continue to make bids for the summit. Why? For some, it probably feels like the ultimate success. Nothing demonstrates sheer willpower, perseverance, and mental strength like climbing the highest peak on Earth.

Reading about the numerous fatalities on the mountain has made me realize that sometimes, turning back is a bigger indicator of strength than pushing to finish in unsafe conditions. There is a phenomenon called summit fever, in which climbers become obsessed with reaching the top, no matter the cost. Disregarding their health, the time of day, and the amount of supplemental oxygen they have left, many climbers push ahead to the summit. Often, these climbers are successful in reaching the top, but blinded by the desire to conquer their goal, their names are added to the list of lives claimed by the mountain because they missed their chance to descend safely.

There’s a quote that says “every dead body on Mt. Everest was once a highly motivated person.” It is definitely true, but also illustrates the danger of too much motivation, or rather the motivation to succeed at all costs. As law students, we are in a competitive environment. Most of us probably come from backgrounds where we were pushed to succeed, and probably have some iteration of “good, better, best” drilled into our minds. We have our

own Mt. Everests – goals we want to conquer, grades we want to achieve, jobs we want to obtain. Sure, it’s great to make it to the “summit,” but it’s better to be able to make it back down alive. In other words, achieving our goals is great, but not when the cost is severe burnout and physical and psychological damage from stress.

This article was mostly an excuse for me to infodump about Mt. Everest (even though I restrained myself and didn’t share all my fun facts), but it’s also an apt analogy for all of us students, especially around exam time. Winning, conquering, and being the best may not be all it’s cracked up to be, and maybe we should begin to valorize the strength it takes to recognize our health and wellbeing is more important. “Good, better, best, never let it rest” is actually a horrible motto, because although it probably isn’t meant to be taken literally, it encourages us to distance ourselves from our psychological and physical needs in pursuit of an unattainable ideal. These days, I have to consciously resist the idea that I need to be the best, because although I’ve been relatively successful so far, that mentality has caused me to be excessively hard on myself when I face any sort of adversity. It’s great to strive to be better and to encourage yourself to grow, as long as you remain mindful about your limits so that you can still make it down the mountain.

OVERHEARD Professor Adamski in Ethics: “a corporation is like Mickey Mouse. So to the extent that Mickey Mouse can do crime, a corporation can too”.

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Vol 44 ● No 18

CAN CHATGPT BEAT THE B CURVE? Experimenting with Professor Adamski’s JICP Final Song-Ly Tran | 2L

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

With every passing day, your Winter 2023 semester exams creep nearer and nearer. Eyes darting from a lengthy course syllabus to a neglected outline you wonder: where did the time go? This might only be the experience of some, but even for those purporting to have everything under control, the thought of running an upcoming fact pattern

by OpenAI’s learned ChatGPT may have come to mind. To the end of testing whether this large language model can perform to the level of your “average McGill Law student,” I offer you this very unscientific experiment based on a part of Professor Jakub Adamski’s Fall 2022 Judicial Institutions and Civil Procedure (‘JICP’) final exam which he graciously allowed me to use for the purpose of this article.

The parameters of the experiment are as follows. While GPT-4 has had much success in completing the Uniform Bar Exam and the LSAT, landing in the 90th and 88th percentiles respectively, its predecessor, GPT-3.5, has known less positive results, only reaching the 10th and 40th percentiles respectively. Quite the steep dip. However, assuming the average student’s unwillingness to pay the $20 monthly subscription fee for the superior version, I will conduct this test with ChatGPT-3.5. Admittedly, at the time of writing, I myself do not have access to the top-of-the-line model. Indeed, OpenAI is currently withholding the upgrade option due to high demand.

Next, as you are probably well aware, the “average McGill Law student” can expect to secure a solid B- or B on any given evaluation in a lecture style course such as JICP. The question is whether this generated answer will blend in with the crowd’s or stand out in a direction or other. One explanation for GPT-4’s success on standardized tests is the vast resources available in the form of practice questions, answer sheets and guides coming together as a solid basis from which the model can take reference. In terms of putting together a cohesive piece of writing to accurately address the issues weaved into a professor’s brainchild hypothetical, expectations are low. In all likelihood, ChatGPT will fail miserably.

For your consultation and pleasure, here is Professor Adamski’s FTX (Futures Exchange) scandal-inspired fact pattern: “In 2017, four friends, Alpha, Bravo, Delta, and Gama who knew one another from their college days, pooled their money and talent together to create an app to trade bitcoin and other digital currencies. The app, called Eldorado, was launched soon afterwards and was an immediate success. The app is run from offices located in Canada.

Many individual digital currency owners located throughout the world used Eldorado to trade their digital currency holdings in exchange for a transaction fee. The four friends really felt as if they had found their mountain of gold!

Alpha, who the three other friends selected to run the daily 10

operations of Eldorado, also set up a separate corporation, AbWealth Inc. (“AW”), of which Alpha was the only shareholder. AW was set up to allow Alpha to personally invest in digital currencies and to also allow others to invest in such currencies. While AW’s had offices in Canada, it operations were run on servers located in the Bahamas. The spectacular increases in the value of digital currencies since the creation of Eldorado and AW had led to large amount of income for Eldorado and its owners and to large inflows of investment with AW – AW would obtain Canadian dollars from investors and use them to buy various digital currencies, on the promise that the customers, upon demand to AW, would be able to obtain from AW either the digital currency they had purchased or its current value in Canadian dollars. Alpha invested her income from Eldorado in AW and AW also invested in Eldorado. As Alpha was very busy in running AW and working with Eldorado, Alpha did not focus on proper record keeping at either enterprise and, with respect to Eldorado’s operations, the three other friends did not mind. Unfortunately, this tale has turned sour.

In 2022, the price of digital currencies significantly declined.

In October, a large number of investors who had put money in AW demanded that their investment be terminated and for a return of money – almost invariably in Canadian dollars, actually – to them. Unfortunately, AW has refused their demands.

In setting up AW, Alpha consulted Alpha’s parents, who are both well-known law professors at a leading Canadian university. After AW refused to satisfy the investors’ demands for a return of money, several of them created a webpage page – www.AbWealthTruth.com – on which they posted the latest information about the situation with AW; but they also posted several statements alleging that AW and Alpha engaged in fraud and that they were assisted in this fraud by Alpha’s parents.”

Students were given the choice of assuming the events occurred in either Quebec or Ontario in tackling the question of: “Two AW investors now desire to obtain a return of their investment with the help of the courts. Please advise them on what steps are open to them, what steps they should take and explain succinctly the benefits of taking those steps.”

In this case, I requested ChatGPT operate in the province of Quebec. Having fed the program the JICP course syllabus, along with the exam fact pattern and the above question, and after a bit of tweaking and a few clarifications to the prompts, I present to you notable excerpts of the generated text: “In Quebec, the investors in AW have several legal options available to them to obtain a return of their investment through the courts. Firstly, the investors could choose to file a

claim against AW for breach of contract, as AW had promised to return the investors' money upon demand but has failed to do so… Alternatively, the investors could bring a claim against Alpha personally for fraud, as the investors have alleged that AW and Alpha engaged in fraudulent activities. […]

The investors may also choose to bring a class action lawsuit against AW and Alpha, if they believe that other investors have been similarly affected by AW's actions. Class actions in Quebec are governed by articles 1003 to 1009 of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure. If the investors are successful in bringing a class action, they could benefit from a more efficient and cost-effective resolution of their claims, as all of the investors could be included in one lawsuit. […]

Finally, the investors may wish to seek an injunction to prevent AW from disposing of its assets, which could be granted under article 756 of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure if the investors can demonstrate a real and urgent need for such relief. This would prevent AW from disposing of its assets while the investors pursue their legal claims against AW and Alpha.”

Upon request to elaborate on the class action route and applicable injunctions, ChatGPT obliged providing the following response: “In the context of the fact pattern, the investors who wish to obtain a return of their investment through the courts may have the option of pursuing a class action. Under Quebec law, a class action is a procedure that allows a group of people who have suffered a similar injury or harm to join together to sue the same defendant or defendants.

This may be a viable option for the investors if there are a large number of them with similar claims against AW. To initiate a class action, the investors would need to satisfy the criteria set out in the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure. These include having a representative plaintiff who can adequately represent the interests of the class members, demonstrating that there are common questions of law or fact, and showing that a class action is the preferable procedure for resolving the dispute. If the court authorizes the class action, the investors would be able to pursue their claims as a group, potentially making the litigation more efficient and cost-effective.

In terms of injunctions, the investors may consider seeking a variety of different types of injunctions to protect their interests. An injunction is a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing something.

In this case, the investors may seek a mandatory injunction that would require AW to return their investment, or a prohibitory injunction that would prevent AW from disposing of their assets until the dispute is resolved.

Additionally, the investors may seek an interlocutory injunction, which is a temporary injunction that is granted before the final determination of the case. This type of injunc-

tion may be necessary to prevent AW from dissipating its assets while the litigation is ongoing. To obtain an interlocutory injunction, the investors would need to show that there is a serious issue to be tried, that irreparable harm would result if the injunction is not granted, and that the balance of convenience favours granting the injunction.”

Of course, when solving a fact pattern, one must apply the law to the facts and reach conclusions on each issue raised. When asked to offer its opinion, ChatGPT deferred to a higher authority: “As an AI language model, I cannot predict the probability of success in any specific legal case… In the case of the fact pattern provided, the success of a class action or obtaining an injunction would depend on various factors such as the evidence of fraud, breach of contract or other causes of action, and the strength of the legal arguments made by the parties involved.

It would be up to the court to determine the outcome based on the evidence presented and the applicable law.”

Lastly, students must be able to properly cite their references.

When asked to pull cases from the syllabus relevant to the question, ChatGPT reached outside the course materials in its answer. However, the model did provide this list of pertinent provisions from the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure: “Yes…Based on the fact pattern and the question asked…

• Article 4: Fundamental principle of access to justice • Article 11: Duty of parties to act in good faith • Article 46: Jurisdiction of Quebec courts • Article 49: Class actions • Article 515: Interlocutory injunctions • Article 525: Preventive injunctions • Article 526: Mandatory injunctions • Article 547: Seizure before judgment • Article 553: Provisional execution of judgments and orders” Certainly, there are many ways in which the methodology of this highly informal experiment could have been improved.

However, with the minimal adjustments made over the course of my chat, rather non-miserable results were yielded from the free and less sophisticated version of OpenAI’s large language model.

What does Professor Adamski make of ChatGPT’s performance?

“Let’s just say that I hope that someone else “assists” this “student” when the time comes to write their applications!”

While this article has reached its end, the experiment has not.

ChatGPT is not the first large language model, but it is the one which has broken into the mainstream, peppering our social media feeds and alimenting the news cycle. It seems we will be moving by leaps and bounds in the decades to come as the Fourth Industrial Revolution kicks into full gear. But, for now, I will caution you against relying on these models in their current instantiations and wish you the best of luck on your final exams.

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NALSA, UN AN APRÈS SA CRÉATION Association des étudiant.e.s nord-africain.e.s en droit de McGill | McGill’s North African Law Students’ Association

Jeudi dernier, l’Association des étudiant.e.s nord-africain.e.s en droit de McGill (AÉNAD) a reçu Rayene Bouzitoune, étudiante en droit et conseillère pour le North African Policy Initiative ainsi que Bochra Manaï, commissaire à la lutte contre le racisme et les discriminations systémiques à Montréal pour un panel suivi d’un iftar traditionnel. Il a été passionnant de discuter de divers enjeux tels que la dualité identitaire chez les jeunes issus de l’immigration, la place de la communauté nord-africaine dans le milieu juridique ou encore la façon de naviguer dans une société quelquefois hostile envers les personnes perçues comme « arabes ». Cet évènement n’aurait pas pu voir le jour sans la générosité du Fond des diplômé-e-s pour la vie étudiante (ASEF).

droit de McGill et Outlaw, le prix du meilleur coffeehouse remis par l’Association des étudiant.e.s en droit.

Notre plus grande fierté demeure notre programme de mentorat pour étudiant.e.s nord-africain.e.s souhaitant soumettre leur candidature au programme B.C.L/ J.D. Après avoir organisé une tournée des cégeps à forte concentration maghrébine pour présenter la Faculté et son processus d’admission, nous avons passé des heures à conseiller et à accompagner les candidat.e.s universitaires et cégépien.ne.s tout au long de la période d’admission. Pour tous ces efforts, nous tenons à remercier Samar-Balkiss Benaskeur, Mey Chiali, Osayma Saad, Rayan Tibiche-Dahmoune, Rita Chiboub, Kamil Chaoui et Azzedine Issa Abdoulaye.

Cet évènement clôt une année active pour l’AÉNAD, dont le travail acharné a permis plusieurs autres activités, telles qu’une projection du film Un divan à Tunis et un coffeehouse haut en couleur dont la qualité a valu à notre club ainsi que ses collaborateurs, la Revue de

Le club qui a été créé il n’y a qu’une année n’en est qu’à ses débuts et des projets pour l’année prochaine sont déjà en cours de préparation. Tou.te.s les étudiant.e.s s’identifiant comme nord-africain.e.s et souhaitant s’impliquer au sein de leur communauté sont les bienvenu.e.s !

MEET THE TEAM Art Director

Souang Wu | 2L

What drew you to the Quid?

What drew me to the Quid was its layout editing position because I wanted to contribute to our community while getting my mind off my studies.

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

What did you do before McGill Law? I studied in Health Science at Champlain College Saint-Lambert, an anglophone cegep. I graduated in December 2020 and worked until the summer at two part-time jobs.

Where are you from / where have you lived?

I was born in Montreal, but I am now living in Candiac, a city on the Southshore of Montreal.

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Quel était ton cours préféré avant de commencer à la faculté de droit?

Mes cours préférés étaient les cours de philosophie et de biologie. On peut dire que j’aime comprendre et analyser les différentes structures de nos vies.

Qu'aimes-tu faire quand tu n'étudies pas ?

If I am not studying, you’ll most likely find me in the gym or paddling with my

dragon boat team. I also enjoy painting, cooking, hiking, and spending quality time with friends and family.

As-tu un quartier préféré à Montréal?

C’est difficile de ne choisir qu’un quartier, car chacun à son charme et des souvenirs chéris que j’y rattache (oui, même Hochelaga-Maisonneuve). Après de longues réflexions, je dirais que mon quartier « préféré » est le coin de Verdun/ Côte Saint-Paul à cause de sa paisibilité, sa chaleur accueillante, ses bons restaurants et cafés, ainsi que le nombre d’activités physiques qu’on peut y pratiquer.

Coureurs, cyclistes, patineurs à roues alignées et pagayeurs longent le canal.

Où aimerais-tu travailler dans cinq ans?

Je n’ai pas une vision claire de ma direction. Je vais simplement profiter de chaque moment de mes études et aller où mon cœur me mène.

CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATES We asked recent and upcoming graduates to send in their grad pictures for the last Quid Novi of the year. The Quid hopes you enjoyed reading the paper, and we wish you all the best in your future plans. Thank you for all your contributions to the Faculty. Bon succès!

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Thank You Anna and I would like to thank the entire Quid Novi staff for their tireless work all year. Le Quid était choyé d’avoir une équipe dynamique et engagée.

Art Directors: Souang Wu & Hanna Rioseco Social Media Director: Gabrielle Torrealba Layout Editors: Camille Duhaime, Ezequiel Indriago Perez & Jamey Irwin Copy Editors: Roxanda Mirzac, Muna Tojiboeva, Kim Baronet, Giuseppe Sutera Sardo, Thomas Power & Marie-Ève Ouellet Columnists: Darien Bahry, Sofia Watt Sjöström, Nicolas Kamran, Gary Preteau, Ella Johnson, Alanna Molzahn, Pablo Mhanna-Sandoval, Meagan “Meg” Beattie, Marc-Elder Piard, Kamil Chaoui, Ali Hachem, Félix Desrochers, Priti Majumdar, Song-Ly Tran & Brandon Grimaldi

QUID NOVI • 11 APR 2023

The Quid would also like to thank Luther Mourinet and the LSA for their help and support throughout the year. Lastly, thank you to everyone who contributed to the Quid this year. It has been a pleasure to read your articles this year.

Merci 16

BON SUCCÈS DA N S VO S EXAMENS F I NAU X !

S E E Y O U ALL IN FA L L 2023.

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