THE SCHULICH SCHOOL OF LAW ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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Blazing trails and inspiring others
Meet three health law alumni at the top of their fields
Judge Corrine Sparks and Justice John Bodurtha
Contents
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SCHOOL NEWS
FEATURES
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16 Mary Birdsell works on behalf of children and homeless youth
34 Against all odds, Angie Morris fought to conquer cancer
24 New course will explore various aspects of cannabis legalization
36 Legal professionals and students benefit from collaborative mentoring partnerships
STUDENT FOCUS
26 Meet four alumni who have taken very different career paths with their law degree
CONNECTIONS
12 Summer internships are a great way for law students to apply legal knowledge in the workplace and make important connections—and for alumni to give back
29 Alex MacNab helps clients create families through the growing practice of fertility law
Schulich Law houses new Access to Justice Institute, five law students win Impact Awards, Professor Adelina Iftene chairs prison law conference and more
COVER STORY 18 Two members of Nova Scotia’s judiciary are inspiring other African Nova Scotians to serve the public with humanity, dignity and respect
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30 Around the world, our alumni are doing innovative work in diverse areas of health law, policy and research 33 Past and present Mingo Memorial Scholarship recipients unite with the donors who made it possible
38 Three members of the Class of 1963 are part of an extraordinary tale in which two half-siblings find each other later in life 62 Over the years, many alumni have wed after meeting at Weldon. Here are the stories of how three couples first connected here
ALUMNI RECOGNIZED 40 Mark Knox receives the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service
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DONOR REPORT 41 Alumni and friends support the law school and its programs
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HEARSAY DEAN
THE WELDON PROFESSORS
CAMILLE CAMERON EXECUTIVE EDITOR
52 Schulich Law faculty members are working hard, as always
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VOLUME 40 • 2019 THE EDITORS OF HEARSAY AND THE MANAGERS OF THE LAW SCHOOL’S WEBSITE WELCOME EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND IDEAS FROM ALUMNI. PLEASE DIRECT YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO:
STEPHANIE HURLEY HEARSAY EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
SCHULICH SCHOOL OF LAW
JANE DOUCET
DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY 6061 UNIVERSITY AVENUE
GRAPEVINE 54 Find out what your classmates are up to
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
PO BOX 15000
CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS
HALIFAX, NS CANADA B3H 4R2
CONTRIBUTORS CRYSTAL ABOUD, TAMMI HAYNE, ALLISON LAWLOR, TOM MASON,
IN MEMORIAM
TRUDI SMITH, PROF. MICHELLE WILLIAMS
EMAIL: LAWALUM@DAL.CA TEL: 902-494-5100 FAX: 902-494-4222 MAILED UNDER CANADA POST PUBLICATIONS AGREEMENT #41890527
COVER PHOTO
58 Alumni and friends the law school said goodbye to this year
JIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRODUCTIONS
lawalum@dal.ca 2018 REUNION 60 2018 Law Alumni Reception in pictures 2019 H E A R S AY
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40 years of celebrating our alumni A look back at four decades of Hearsay magazine covers
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CAMILLE CAMERON, DEAN AND WELDON PROFESSOR OF LAW
MAKING US PROUD H
ello from everyone at Weldon! I write this message to you having just returned from our Convocation ceremony, and then having read the latest draft of the 40th edition of Hearsay, thus enjoying the double pleasure of seeing our talented and deserving students walk across the stage to receive their well-earned degrees and reading about the remarkable lives and achievements of those of you who did that 10 or 20 or 40 years ago. This year’s Hearsay cover story features two of our alumni trailblazers, Judge Corrine Sparks and Justice John Bodurtha. They came to law school and entered the profession at a time when there were fewer Black students than there are now, and when it was much harder for Black students and lawyers to be accepted than it is now. We have come a long way since then—in the law school and in the profession—and we still have a long way to go. These remarkable lawyers and jurists
well understand their legacy as role models and as people who are paving the way for others, and they are doing so with grace, expertise and humour. As always, Hearsay gives us a great snapshot of the diverse careers our graduates are pursuing. It is fascinating to see where you have ended up. One example is Alex MacNab’s uplifting story on page 29, which reminds me of the saying that sometimes life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. We are excited about some of the new and ongoing ventures and adventures at Weldon. Our summer internship program continues to grow, and feedback from our students has been excellent. This summer, 40 first- and second-year students have paid summer internships locally, nationally and internationally with a variety of businesses and organizations. These internships give students a paid summer job and the opportunity to apply their learning
in a workplace and to hone their timemanagement and networking skills. Hilary Angrove had one of these internships last summer at Common Good Solutions in Halifax (page 14). In her profile, she talks about what an excellent learning experience it was, including seeing the “practical operation of the law in new business ventures.” Today I received a note from one of our new graduates thanking me for the internship she had with a research organization in Ireland; she described how it had changed her life, made her a more confident person and inspired her to give back after graduation. We would not be able to offer what is now probably the best-paid student internship program at any Canadian law school without the generosity of our donors. Thank you. We committed in our strategic plan to increasing the number of clinical and continued on next page 2019 H E A R S AY
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2019–2020 DALHOUSIE LAW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
experiential learning opportunities for our students. Our Stewart McKelvey Technology Law Clinic (page 48) will certainly help us realize that commitment. Our first cohort of students will sign up for the clinic in January; it will be an opportunity for them to work with startups, and it will give the law school a more prominent role in the growing startup communities in Dalhousie and Halifax. This year we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our Indigenous Blacks and Mi’kmaq Initiative. It has grown to a cohort of over 200 graduates and has made a significant contribution to increasing the number of Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq lawyers in Nova Scotia and in other parts of Canada. We will let everyone know about the celebratory events that will be taking place, and if you can, please join the celebrations. In July we will welcome three new colleagues: Nayha Acharya, Maria Dugas and Andrew Martin. They bring lots of expertise to the law school, including in legal ethics, dispute resolution, criminal law and copyright law. You will see at various places in these pages that our faculty are all busy and engaged—teaching, publishing, winning prestigious awards and sharing their expertise in a variety of ways. We look forward to seeing many of our alumni from across the country and abroad at our annual law school reunion in September. Our Alumni Office is hard at work getting ready for it. In addition to the official schedule and the popular Lawbster dinner, they are available to help any class that is interested in organizing an event. Please enjoy Hearsay, and warm thanks from everyone here for all that you do to make us proud and to bring credit to our law school.
Camille Cameron Dean, Schulich School of Law Dalhousie University lawdean@dal.ca (902) 494-2114
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EXECUTIVE
BRANCH PRESIDENTS
NATIONAL PRESIDENT Mary Hamblin ’99 maryhamblin@gmail.com
YUKON Katie Mercier ’15 kmerc@hotmail.com
VICE-PRESIDENT Douglas Ruck ’77 ruckdg@gov.ns.ca
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Christopher Buchanan ’11 buchanan.christopher@gmail.com
PAST PRESIDENT Donna Franey ’86 donna.franey@dal.ca
BRITISH COLUMBIA Michelle Yung ’13 (VP) YungM@bennettjones.com
EX-OFFICIO Dean Camille Cameron lawdean@dal.ca
ALBERTA Brian Beck ’93 brianbeck@shaw.ca
HONORARY PRESIDENT Brian Flemming ’62 bflem8861@aol.com
SASKATCHEWAN Christina Meredith-Flister ’14 christina.meredith@gov.sk.ca
DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS Darren Dick darren.dick@dal.ca
SOUTHERN ONTARIO Chris Hale ’87 (BP) cchale@hotmail.com
SECRETARY-TREASURER Tammi Hayne lawalum@dal.ca
Shannon Portman ’13 (VP) srepaine@gmail.com
LAW STUDENTS’ SOCIETY PRESIDENT Ellen Williams Candidate ’20 president@dallss.com LAW STUDENTS’ SOCIETY VP EXTERNAL Meghan Faught Candidate ’21 vpexternal@dallss.com
MEMBERS AT LARGE Tony Amoud ’09 tonyamoud@hotmail.com Tyana Caplan ’02 tcaplan@stewartmckelvey.com Michael Deturbide ’89 michael.deturbide@dal.ca Ansley Simpson ’09 asimpson@carterfordlaw.com Alicia Arana-Stirling ’05 alicia.arana-stirling@novascotia.ca Dillon Trider ’10 dtrider@wickwireholm.com
SOUTHEASTERN ONTARIO Ian MacKay ’82 ian.mackay@rogers.com (BP) Jennifer Bond ’09 (VP) jennifersbond@gmail.com QUEBEC Nathalie Goyette ’89 ngoyette@dwpv.com NEW BRUNSWICK Peter T. Zed ’80 ptz@coxandpalmer.com PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Valerie Moore ’83 vamoore@gov.pe.ca CAPE BRETON Harvey McPhee ’84 hmcphee@sampsonmcdougall.com NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR Robert J. Hickey ’91 robert.hickey@mcinnescooper.com ASIA Stephanie Monteith ’93 monteith.stephanie@gmail.com MIDDLE EAST Maya Nix ’03 maya.nix@gmail.com UNITED KINGDOM David Gossen ’03 dlgossen@gmail.com
OUR GUIDING MISSION
I
t is an honour to be asked to address law alumni in the latest edition of Hearsay. Ever since the law school’s opening ceremony on Oct. 30, 1883, as the first university law school in any of the common law provinces of Canada and across the British Commonwealth, our alumni have embodied the Weldon Tradition in the spirit of our first Dean, Richard Chapman Weldon. The Weldon Tradition presumes that graduates of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University embrace its core values: collegiality, integrity, respect, courage, social justice and unselfish public service. To quote the mission, “At the Schulich School of Law, we serve society— locally, nationally and internationally—by providing a collaborative environment in which to learn, think and communicate about law, policy and justice.” The Weldon Tradition is one of concern for the community, systemic and natural justice, and service toward humanity. This tradition becomes a growing work in progress with every graduate who joins the more than 7,000 who have entered the global community of our alumni. Whether working in professional, private or public practice, the not-for-profit or for-profit sectors, government services or as selfemployed entrepreneurs, we hold a shared vision that each of us contributes to society in keeping with the Weldon Tradition. The Dalhousie Law Alumni Association (DLAA) thanks you for your involvement and invites you to become further involved through our association. Or you can become involved at the school through mentorship or volunteering, at community events or
attending or organizing a class reunion or a social gathering in your part of the world. The DLAA has chapters worldwide and invites alumni to join an existing one or start a new one in your area. Currently, DLAA chapters exist in Canada and in Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom. The DLAA recognizes extraordinary achievement by sponsoring three annual awards: the Alumni Teaching Award, the Bertha Wilson Honour Society Award and the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service. We appreciate receiving your nominations and look forward to future nominations highlighting exemplary service. As the years roll on, I find it delightful to meet a fellow law school graduate, whether it’s one who has graduated recently or long ago. Colourful reminiscences of faculty, classmates, classes, events, facilities and student life in Halifax liven our conversation. We usually discuss career paths, which are as wide and varied as the profession. Please get in touch, keep in touch and remain part of our proud law school family. Your involvement strengthens the greater alumni community, as well as the larger Dalhousie community. No matter where your career takes you, your law school experience will serve as a touchstone, encouraging mentorship, collegiality, integrity and unselfish public service. I wish you the best!
MARY D. HAMBLIN (’99) PRESIDENT, DALHOUSIE LAW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (DLAA)
With warmest regards, Mary D. Hamblin maryhamblin@gmail.com
The Dalhousie Law Alumni Association serves more than 7,000 alumni worldwide by supporting and sponsoring programming and events that provide a vital link between the law school and our increasingly diverse alumni body. For more information about the school or ways you can get involved, please contact your local branch president.
2019 H E A R S AY
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School News Jocelyn Downie appointed first Palmer Chair Prof. Jocelyn Downie was appointed Dalhousie’s inaugural James S. Palmer Chair in Public Policy and Law, which will provide intellectual leadership and engage in projects that have an impact on public policy and law in Canada and globally. Her agenda includes ideas for new learning opportunities
Schulich Law houses new Access to Justice Institute
Schulich Law ranks among world’s best law schools again
Naiomi Metallic among most influential lawyers
In the 2019 Times Higher
Prof. Naiomi Metallic was named to Canadian Lawyer’s The Top 25 Most Influential 2018 list in the Human Rights, Advocacy and Criminal law category. The list highlights the important and significant work jurists have done in the last 18 months or so. Inclusion in the Top 25 speaks to a level of respect; the ability to influence public opinion and to help shape the laws of this country and others; contribution to the strength and quality of legal services; involvement and impact within the justice community; and social and political influence and involvement. It’s split into five areas of influence; nominees were put in the category in which the individual most recently exercised their influence, which at times might differ from their main area of practice.
Education (THE) World University Rankings, the Schulich School of Law jumped ahead nine spots from last year, landing at No. 65 out of 100, up from No. 74. One of the most prominent global university rankings, THE evaluates research-intensive
for students and building networks of public policyengaged legal academics and initiatives to bring academics, practitioners and policy-makers together. Downie is a Member of the Order of Canada, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is also a Fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and a recipient of the CIHR Barer-Flood Prize for Health Services and Policy Research.
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universities across their core missions: teaching, research, citations, knowledge transfer and international outlook. In the 2019 results, our law school’s subject research score increased by 25.5 points (from 28.5 to 54), which largely contributes to the improvement in overall placement (the research component consists of volume, income and reputation). The 2018 rankings marked the first time law was included as a subject ranking.
The grand opening of the Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia was held in January 2018. The Institute will coordinate projects that allow work encompassing both traditional law reform and access to justice orientation. In attendance were faculty, students, staff, alumni, government officials and members of the judiciary and other legal professionals. Prof. Robert Currie, the Institute’s acting president, praised the work of the organization’s stakeholders. Speakers included The Hon. Michael MacDonald and The Hon. Mark Furey, co-chairs of the province’s Access to Justice Coordinating Committee. Prof. Bill Charles, who has dedicated his career to law reform, capped off the event with a moving speech, stating that Dean Horace Read would have been joyful and proud, as was he.
Schulich Law hosts prison law conference
Kim Brooks named Purdy Crawford Chair Prof. Kim Brooks was appointed Dalhousie’s fourth Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law since it was established in 2001 through the generous support of alumni and friends of Schulich Law. The Chair supports scholars in business law, including those with an interest in corporate law and theory, securities regulation, finance, bankruptcy and insolvency, taxation, competition law and other related fields. Brooks has expertise in business law and diverse areas of tax law, including corporate and international income taxation and aspects of tax administration. As Chair, she hopes to encourage business law scholarship, ensure that the Schulich School of Law offers a leading business law curriculum and facilitate the exchange of ideas among business law scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, judges and students.
Prof. Adelina Iftene organized and chaired the sold-out three-day Canadian Prison Law Conference, which took place from Sept. 21 to 23 and drew legal experts from across Canada and as far away as Australia
and Pakistan. The diverse session topics ranged from supporting imprisoned women in pregnancy and mothering to the return of sex offenders to the community to anti-Black racism in the criminal justice and prison systems. The conference led to meaningful conversations that challenged the issues of systemic racism in prisons and explored strategies for decarceration. The Canadian Prison Lawyers Association held its AGM during the conference and bestowed its first Lifetime Achievement in Prison Law Award to Michael Jackson, Q.C., Professor Emeritus at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law.
Jennifer Llewellyn wins SSHRC Impact Award Prof. Jennifer Llewellyn won a $50,000 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) 2018 Impact Award in the Connection category. These annual awards recognize the highest achievements from outstanding researchers and students in social sciences and humanities research, research training, knowledge mobilization and scholarship funded partially or completely by SSHRC. The Connection category is given to an individual whose project has engaged the campus or wider community and has generated intellectual, cultural, social or economic impacts. Llewellyn is the Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law at Schulich Law and an international expert in restorative justice. She has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to the values of restorative justice through both her academic work and her personal life.
Five law students win Impact Awards The Dalhousie Student Impact Awards is an annual event hosted by the Dalhousie Student Union to recognize outstanding individuals and student groups that impact the Dal community. The seventh annual Impact Awards gala ceremony was held in March of 2018, and five Schulich School of Law students were among the recipients: Sarah Boucaud (Faculty Leadership Award), Melissa Pike (DSU Gold D), Jennifer Power (Certificate of Distinction), Stefan Schmidt (Green Award) and Alexandra Terrell (Student Employee Award). In addition to working hard on their courses, these students found time to make important contributions to their Dalhousie community. They are ideal examples of the law school’s Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service.
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School News Schulich Law community celebrates great teaching On March 28, the annual Celebrate Great Teaching reception recognized the outstanding contributions of the Schulich Law community. “It’s a pleasure to be able to celebrate our faculty and students, and that’s what we’re doing here today,” said Dean Camille Cameron in her opening remarks. Professor Adelina Iftene was awarded The Hanna & Harold Barnett Award for Excellence in Teaching First Year Law and Professor Jonathan Shapiro received the Dalhousie Law Alumni Association and Law Students’ Society Award for Excellence in Teaching. Other acknowledgements included part-time faculty
member Kathleen McManus, who was honoured for teaching for 13 years, while the LSS Society of the Year Award was shared by two of the law school’s 36 student societies: the Dalhousie Youth Legal Education Society (DYLES) and the Student Animal Law Association of Dalhousie (SALAD). Third-year student Shannon Hale received the Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies Think Tank Award. A good time was had by all as faculty, students and staff mingled before and after the award ceremony, enjoying food and beverages and catching up with colleagues, classmates and friends.
Clockwise from top left: Dean Camille Cameron and Kathleen McManus; student Nick Foran and Professor Jonathan Shapiro; the Dalhousie Youth Legal Education Society; the Student Animal Law Association of Dalhousie; students Alex Terrell (left) and Shannon Hale; and student Nicole Kelly and Professor Adelina Iftene. 10
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New faculty members welcomed
NAYHA ACHARYA completed her LLB at the University of Alberta, then articled and practiced at the Edmonton law firm Reynolds, Mirth, Richards and Farmer. She has been part of the Schulich School of Law community since 2011, when she arrived to pursue graduate studies, earning an LLM in 2012 and a PhD in 2017. Her current research interests include legal philosophy, procedural theory, alternative dispute resolution and medical negligence. She has taught Civil Procedure, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Introduction to Law, and Law and Ethics at Schulich Law.
MARIA DUGAS earned her JD at the Schulich School of Law in 2015 and articled at Nova Scotia Legal Aid, then completed her LLM here in 2018. She is a recipient of the James Robinson Johnston Graduate Studies Scholarship and was the first African Nova Scotian to clerk at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Her research interests include copyright law, criminal law with a social justice perspective and critical race legal theory. For the 2018/2019 academic year, she is teaching Torts, Legal Research and Writing, and Legal Ethics.
ANDREW MARTIN holds a JD and an SJD from the University of Toronto and an LLM from Georgetown. He articled at the Government of Ontario and practiced as a law clerk and a staff lawyer at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. His primary research and teaching interests are in legal ethics, and his work focuses on law society regulation of the Attorney General, government lawyers and lawyer-politicians. He is the 2018–2019 OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellow in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Research.
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STUDENT FOCUS
CHARTING Summer internships are a great way for law students to apply legal knowledge in the workplace and make important connections—and for alumni to give back
by JANE DOUCET
A
n internship can change the course of a student’s life, opening doors to exciting and sometimes unexpected career paths. The Schulich School of Law offers funding for a number of paid summer internships in many different types of organizations in Canada and around the world. These work placements are a great way for law students to gain valuable experience, apply legal knowledge in the workplace and make important connections. “Our internship program is a law school priority,” says Dean Camille Cameron. “We had set a goal to double the number of paid internships in three to five years, and just over two years later, that goal has been reached. Not only are there more internships, but the dollar value attached to them has increased as well. That is great news for our students!” There’s no question that internships are good for students, but they also benefit employers who view the law school as an important recruitment resource. “We hire fantastic Dal graduates and have many alumni practicing in our offices,” says John Osler (’88), Q.C., a partner with McCarthy Tétrault in Calgary. “We are pleased to provide hands-on unique practice and industry-related opportunities to students to complement their academic experience. Supporting internships is beneficial to the students, to our clients and to us as a firm.” 12
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INTERNSHIP BY DESIGN
Growing up in Dartmouth, Justyne Leslie witnessed the mistreatment of members of her African Nova Scotian community. She knew she could make a difference by becoming a lawyer. “My cousin was murdered in 2017,” says the second-year Schulich School of Law student. “That’s when I started thinking about defense work and really began looking at issues of marginalization and systemic racism.”
Last summer’s internship at Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Halifax helped hone Leslie’s advocacy skills and gave her experience with access to justice issues. “My personal goal was to help protect those who didn’t have the means to protect themselves,” she says, “and to give them a voice that would be heard when they had no opportunity to speak or were simply not being listened to.” Leslie worked on case files, participated in court, drafted arguments
A COURSE to help counsel and took notes during client meetings, some of which were held at correctional facilities. This summer, Leslie will hone her courtroom skills even more thanks to the newly established Lenczner Slaght Advocacy Internship. Funded by the Toronto-based litigation firm, the internship is available to a Schulich Law first- or second-year student who is interested in developing advocacy skills and experience. It provides funding for the student to work at an organization with a focus on access to justice or social responsibility. Leslie is essentially designing her own internship, which will take place in two- to three-week blocks at Dartmouth Provincial Court, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court’s Family and Trial divisions. She will be supervised by a different judge in each court— Justice Ann Smith, Justice Anne Derrick (’80), Justice Lester Jesudason (’96) and Judge Jean Whalen (’84)—where she will be exposed to different areas of law and court matters. “I want to know how judges think and how they make decisions,” says Leslie, who aspires to become a judge someday. As part of the internship, Leslie will take part in a mock trial in July with articling students from Halifax firms in front of a Supreme Court Justice. “I’m really excited,” she says. “I like creating my own path and taking initiative. Hopefully I’ll be able to do some really significant work in helping change the law.”
RULE OF LAW INSIDE PRISONS
Third-year student John MacCormick did a legislative development internship at the Senate of Canada in the office of Senator Kim Pate (’84). In addition to doing research and writing in support of Pate’s legislative agenda, he answered calls from prisoners, reviewed draft legislation and liaised with the office of the Senate law clerk. MacCormick also supported Pate’s ongoing efforts to restore to judges the ability to tailor sentences to the circumstances of each particular offence, rather than being constrained to impose the mandatory minimum penalties that have recently proliferated in the Criminal Code. “A particularly valuable experience was communicating with the Senate law clerk about the drafting of amendments to legislation,” he says. “This offered insight into the importance of the work that drafters do at many stages. I also learned about the work of the non-partisan researchers at the Library of Parliament.” One of the most important lessons came from the many telephone conversations that MacCormick had with prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences. Those conversations made clear to him the extent of the access to justice crisis as it’s faced by prisoners, and its very serious impact on the rule of law inside prison walls. “Many of those I spoke with voiced serious and credible concerns but had little to no chance of vindicating their rights because they couldn’t afford legal representation and didn’t have access to an effective disputeresolution process,” says MacCormick. “In my opinion, many of the prisoners who called the Senator’s office did so simply because they had nowhere else to turn.” More generally, MacCormick learned a great deal about the legislative process during a time when the Senate appears to be experiencing a period of renewal, in part due to the growing number of independent Senators and the new non-partisan appointments process. “I felt lucky to observe, and to be a small part of, the Senate’s work at this moment in its history,” he says. 2019 H E A R S AY
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STUDENT FOCUS
Our student interns have helped over
60
ORGANIZATIONS in Canada and around the world
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ENTREPRENEURS AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Second-year student Hilary Angrove spent the summer of 2017 interning at Common Good Solutions. Part consultancy and part social impact incubator, the Halifax-based company devotes 60 per cent of all profits toward its social mission, which is to grow the social enterprise sector. “Before my internship, I didn’t know that a whole network of companies that puts social value before profit, and that works outside the restraints of the non-profit and charitable sector, existed,” says Angrove. “By not being afraid to do something a little different with my summer, I uncovered an entire network of innovators across Canada with a mission to do good.” Initially, Angrove’s task was to help entrepreneurs by providing practical legal information and tangible research on any potential legal barriers they may face while building their businesses. She also conducted legal research to develop online learning modules and tools for their subsidiary company, the Social Enterprise Institute. One of the entrepreneurs Angrove worked with was creating a “green” (environmentally sustainable) burial ground; she had concerns about how Section 180(2) and Section 182 of the Criminal Code might impact her business pursuits. Angrove helped her understand the potential risks and advised her on bylaw compliance. As a result of her combined skills in marketing and law, Angrove’s role shifted midway through her internship, when she was asked to develop an advocacy campaign for the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy for Canada. She travelled to Ottawa to meet with government officials to align their goals with the strategy. She also went to Montreal to build a working coalition with the McConnell Foundation, a private Canadian foundation that grants funding to innovative approaches to solving social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges. “I learned to co-ordinate individuals in executive positions, from across sectors and regions, whose ideas and nuances didn’t always align,” says Angrove. One of the most important things she gained was an in-depth understanding of the practical operation of the law for new business ventures. “I discovered that to move forward as a successful entrepreneur, people need to be comfortable with a certain level of risk.” To increase her knowledge of the growing sector, Common Good Solutions sponsored Angrove’s attendance at the Social Enterprise World Forum in Scotland in September of 2018. That November, in response to the ongoing advocacy, the federal government committed to several recommendations from the Strategy, including $755 million over the next 10 years to establish a Social Finance Fund to assist social purpose organizations in accessing new financing. “The CEO of Common Good Solutions called me to share the news,” says Angrove. “I felt grateful to my boss who was not afraid to challenge the status quo by trusting a young woman law student like me to take on such a big initiative. And I am proud to have delivered.”
MORE THAN
160 STUDENTS
HUMAN RIGHTS ABROAD
Second-year student Lindsey Wilson travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, to intern at the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office. One of the world’s leading volunteer organizations with projects in more than 50 countries, Projects Abroad encourages young people to do worthwhile work in developing countries. The mission of its law and human rights program is to promote and protect the fundamental human rights of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society by providing pro bono legal services, education, training, research and abuse resolution. Wilson spent her internship working at a Cape Town legal clinic because she wanted to gain legal experience in a new environment in order to gain a different perspective on the law, in addition to working with people with whom she otherwise would never have a chance to interact. “My expectation was to learn how to communicate with clients and other legal professionals while overcoming language and cultural barriers,” she says. “I looked forward to using the cultural competency strategies I was taught at the very beginning of my first year of law school during Orientation Week.” Wilson was thrown into the legal environment, working on up to 43 files at once. The issues touched on various areas of the law, including property, family, negligence, refugee, contract, employment and wills and estates. She drafted factums, affidavits, declarations for the certification of refugee status, divorce summons and letters of demand. She also made an appearance in front of the Refugee Appeal Board. In doing so, she discovered something valuable about the work process. “I’m used to working on something until I’ve completely finished it, but I learned that this couldn’t be the case when working in law, and especially at a legal aid clinic. I had to learn how to prioritize and adapt my time-management skills,” says Wilson. “There were so many cases that needed our help, and there was also a lot of waiting, whether it was on the client, the employers or the government.” Living in Cape Town, Wilson noticed that the city was still feeling a lot of the after-effects of apartheid and racial discrimination. “I learned a lot about the people and a lot about myself. I worked on many refugee files where the outcome was a matter of life or death for the clients. Working with those clients, as well as ones who couldn’t afford to pay for a university exam or the bus fare to come to our office, allowed me to develop a different perspective on how the law impacts individuals. This experience has made me a better law student, and it’ll make me a better lawyer.” n
have completed summer internships
OVER
$800,000
IN INTERNSHIP FUNDS
has been awarded to students
2019 H E A R S AY
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ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Building bridges Mary Birdsell’s work on behalf of children and homeless youth in Ontario helps them be heard and respected in both the justice system and society by ALLISON LAWLOR
F
or the past 23 years, the infectious energy of young people, coupled with her desire to help others, has kept pushing Mary Birdsell (’94) to provide legal services to some of Canada’s most marginalized and vulnerable youth. Knowing she couldn’t do this work effectively in Toronto’s influential boardrooms and elegant law offices, she went to where she knew she would find her clients—inside the city’s street-youth drop-in centres. “We help the teenager who has slipped through many or all of the cracks,” says Birdsell, the executive director of Toronto-based Justice for Children and Youth, a legal aid clinic representing and advocating for youth that provides services across Ontario. “We seek to help children and homeless young people to engage in the systems that impact them, to find a place where they can be heard in the justice system and in society in ways that ensure their dignity and participation.” Lauded for developing innovative ways to help young people get access to justice, Birdsell recently received several awards. In April, Legal Aid Ontario honoured her with the Sidney B. Linden Award, which is given to exceptional individuals who help low-income Ontarians in the pursuit of access to justice. Last year she received the Guthrie Award from the Law Foundation of Ontario for being an access to justice “champion” and the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal. Growing up in Calgary, Birdsell dis-
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covered early on that she liked working with kids. She was a camp counsellor and led teenagers on month-long canoe trips through the wilderness. She also did a short stint as a substitute teacher and considered education as a career. “I love working with young people,” says the mother of two teenagers. “I’m drawn to their creativity, their openness and their energy.” After studying psychology and sociology at the University of Alberta, Birdsell decided to write the LSAT. Still not sure what career path she wanted
to pursue, she thought law sounded interesting. She chose Dalhousie partly because she wanted to experience the Atlantic coast. Stimulated by her classes and professors, she was active on campus, becoming president of the Law Students’ Society in 1993. But it was her experience at Dalhousie Legal Aid Service that left the greatest impression on her, opening her eyes to a type of law she could imagine pursuing. Located in Halifax’s North End, the clinic began in 1970 as a summer project led by five law students. It was the first
“I hope we will create a dam. We want to catch these young people before they fall through the waterfall” — Mary Birdsell (’94)
legal service for low-income communities in Nova Scotia and is now the oldest clinical law program in Canada. “There is no question that Dal Legal Aid influenced my career decision,” says Birdsell. “It was a profound experience and framed what I thought I would want to do. Watching the compassion and the passion the people at the clinic brought to their work inspired me.” Before embarking on her current career path, Birdsell got an intense experience in applying tremendous rigor to her law practice while articling at Torys LLP (formerly Tory Tory DesLauriers and Binnington) in Toronto. “But it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she says. Called to the Ontario bar in 1996, she joined Justice for Children and Youth that same year as a staff lawyer; right away, she learned the value of empathy in the emotionally and legally challenging work. “It means treating people with dignity,” she says. “All people are experts in their own lives.” But not all people—especially those who are young and excluded from society—are experts in the law or understand that many of their troubles are legal problems. Birdsell and her team make them aware that help is available. “We take a rights-based approach,” she says, referring to the clinic’s method of not only empowering young people to know their rights but also furthering the awareness of judges, lawyers and institutions responsible for protecting and fulfilling child and youth rights. Early on in her career at Justice for
Children and Youth, Birdsell noticed that they weren’t reaching everyone; for example, few homeless youth were using their services. “We developed the idea that we needed to go to them instead of expecting them to come to us,” she says. The result was an innovative program called Street Youth Legal Services. One of the only programs of its kind, and recognized as a model service, Birdsell was the first lawyer to do that kind of work. At scheduled times, a lawyer from the clinic is at one of the city’s drop-in youth centres providing legal services in partnership with organizations helping street youth. The clinic’s clients have a multitude of issues. They might be a teenage mother living in a shelter whose baby has been taken by Child Services after marijuana was found in her blood. Or perhaps a 17-year-old transgender youth from South America who is struggling with addiction and has been kicked out of his home; with no government identification, the youth doesn’t know if he has permanent resident status in the country. Often humbled by her clients’ resilience, Birdsell uses their successes as motivation to keep going. “Sometimes personal stories buoy you up,” she says. “They are uplifting stories of perseverance.” Having devoted her law career to advocating on behalf of some of society’s most vulnerable people, Birdsell knows her work is far from over. “I hope we will create a dam. We want to catch these young people before they fall through the waterfall.” n
Enhancing access to justice in Nova Scotia Initiatives to improve access to justice are taking place across the country. The launch of the Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia was held on Jan. 16, 2019, in the law school’s Atrium. The Institute will co-ordinate projects that allow work encompassing both traditional law reform and access to justice initiatives. This includes gathering and analyzing data to help develop projects associated with government priorities, such as how to work collaboratively on access to justice initiatives, generate new policy goals and develop new legislative proposals to accomplish those goals. “We’re pleased that the law school could contribute to these discussions and provide space for the Institute,” said Dean Camille Cameron at the opening.
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History in the making Two trailblazing members of Nova Scotia’s judiciary are inspiring other African Nova Scotians to serve the public with humanity, dignity and respect
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orrine Sparks (’79) grew up in the historical and racially segregated community of Lake Loon outside of Halifax. The daughter of humble, religious and devoted parents, Helen and Spencer Sparks, and the descendent of Black Loyalists and Black Refugees, she is the eldest of nine children. Her community background and the lessons she learned from her ancestors taught her how to deal with struggles in life. “I knew that being born black in Nova Scotia meant I’d face racial discrimination, adversity and challenges,” she says. Sparks was the first in her immediate family to attend university. When she started studying at Mount Saint Vincent University in 1971, she had every intention of becoming a history teacher. Over the years, she had been inspired by several history teachers who were passionate about the subject, including one at the Mount. However, she also had what she describes as an “extraordinary” economics professor, so she majored in economics while having a keen interest in political science and psychology. 18
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While at university, Sparks lived in residence and met many students from the Caribbean and African countries. “I became connected with other Blacks from the diaspora,” she says. “It was a pivotal learning experience. They, along with others, helped shape me.” In high school and at the Mount, she volunteered in many groups, including as a probation officer through the Department of Justice and answering calls at a help line for teenagers. In high school, she received a scholarship that waived her tuition at the Mount, which gave her some financial footing, and she credits the Sisters of Charity for fostering a welcoming environment. After earning her undergraduate degree, Sparks searched for other educational opportunities. In the meantime, she obtained a summer job at the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission investigating complaints under the Human Rights Act. A second-year Dalhousie Law School student was also working there. “He encouraged me to apply to law school,” says Sparks. “I applied that summer, was put on a waiting list and eventually was accepted.” In her early 20s,
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COVER STORY
“I welcomed the opportunity to serve at the judicial level and knew my appointment would be monumental, especially for African Nova Scotians” — Corrine Sparks (’79)
Sparks was one of only three African Nova Scotians in her incoming class of 120 and the only Black woman. Law school was infinitely more challenging than the Mount. “Coming from a small segregated community, then a small liberal arts school, to a prestigious law school was challenging,” says Sparks. “It was the first time in my life I had been exposed to the upper echelons of Canadian society.” Due to financial demands she took on two part-time jobs, one in the law library and the other in the Rebecca Cohn’s box office. Several faculty members encouraged Sparks, including John Yogis, Art Foote, Philip Girard, Innis Christie, Robert Samek and Leon Trakman. (Girard later helped review the thesis for her master’s, which she earned in 2001; it was titled The Construction and Deconstruction of Africville: A Case for Reparation.) “It was a heavy workload, and I worked hard and got through it, but there were many times when I wanted to quit,” says Sparks. “There were lots of people from my community praying for me who wanted me to succeed, so I kept going. I didn’t even know if I would practice law after I graduated. But I knew I could use my law degree to advance human rights or to work in government, or as a launch pad for many other careers.” The cultural climate in Halifax then was very different than it is now. “I knew firms would not be receptive to hiring 20
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a Black woman, so I moved to Calgary,” says Sparks. There, she worked as a bank’s trust officer, then at a small oil and gas company in the corporate and legal department. Homesickness drew her back to Halifax in 1981. After her return home, she approached Helen Foote (’79), who had opened her own practice; together, they ran the first all-female law firm in Nova Scotia in Dartmouth, and they remain friends to this day. Fast forward to 1987, when Nova Scotia Social Services Minister Edmund Morris—who was aware of the obstacles faced by African Nova Scotians and Indigenous peoples in the province—called Sparks to ask if she would be interested in filling a vacancy on the Family Court bench. His offer surprised her. “Becoming a judge just did not seem to be an option for me in the mid-1980s in Halifax,” she says. Morris made it clear that if Sparks was appointed she’d be breaking down a barrier, but that he was asking her because he knew she was capable. She said she’d give it some thought. A week later, she accepted. “I welcomed the opportunity to serve at the judicial level and knew my appointment would be monumental, especially for African Nova Scotians,” she says. Sparks was sworn in on March 27, 1987, in Province House’s Red Chamber. She became the first African Nova Scotian judge in the province and the first Black woman
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“Being appointed the first Black judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a huge honour and responsibility” — John Bodurtha (’95)
to serve in Canada’s judiciary. Members of the African Nova Scotia community from across the province came out to support her. “This will inevitably be part of my legacy,” she recalls thinking at that moment. “I was in my early 30s and overwhelmingly thought that it would be the end of my social life, but, at the same time, it could be the beginning of my career and a rare opportunity to serve the public.” When Sparks first started sitting as a judge, she knew inherently she would be perceived differently by her community and peers, and that she would have to be mindful of her position at all times. Sparks is reflective after more than three decades on the Bench. “I’m most proud of serving the many children who are often born into unfortunate family circumstances and who need state support to create a positive path for their lives,” she says. Acutely aware of her legacy, she has this wisdom to share with future groundbreakers: “Whenever you’re the first in any profession, you’re going to face obstacles. It doesn’t mean you accept the criticism and barriers, but it makes you more determined than ever to eliminate those barriers for the next generation. I hope those in the legal community and beyond will see me as a hardworking individual who was given a rare opportunity to serve the public and serve humanity.”
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ova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Bodurtha (’95) was the featured speaker at Law Hour at the Weldon Law Building on Feb. 14, 2019. Although it quickly became clear that he takes his role as the first African Nova Scotian Supreme Court Justice extremely seriously, his wit revealed itself when he referred to his judge’s robes as the “Bat Suit.” He also admitted to his audience that since becoming a judge, he has stopped jaywalking and speeds less. “Being appointed the first Black judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a huge honour and responsibility,” Bodurtha shared at the session, which was hosted by the Dalhousie Black Law Students’ Association and part of the law school’s African Heritage Month events. “It shows people from my community that certain things are attainable, and I’m the proof. I always look to give back, to engage other young people.” Bodurtha’s robes impress, and sometimes confuse, young people when he visits schools. He relayed a story about speaking to students at St. Joseph’s–Alexander MacKay Elementary School in Halifax’s North End, wherein a boy asked, “Are you the vice-president?” Bodurtha replied, “No, I’m a judge.” “Many of these kids aren’t dreaming big, maybe just to work at McDonald’s,” said Bodurtha. “There’s nothing 2019 H E A R S AY
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I try to make sure
that everyone in court is treated with respect, that they feel heard and that they leave feeling the Canadian justice system is working” — John Bodurtha (’95)
wrong with that, but I say why don’t you dream that you’ll own a McDonald’s? I want to show kids that they can dream to become a judge. I don’t want to be the only Black judge on the Supreme Court in 10 years.” How to become a judge was the next topic that Bodurtha covered. His appointment on Aug. 31, 2018, at the age of 48 followed almost 20 years of tax litigation at the federal Department of Justice. His advice? “Be a damn good lawyer, to start. Be aware that everything you do as a lawyer, someone is watching you. The days in court that you haven’t been respectful will come back to haunt you. Your reputation is key—if you have a good reputation, people will speak highly about you. You also need to be prepared, on time and ready to go when your name is called, because you need to step up.” Bodurtha’s parents came to Canada from Jamaica in 1968. His father graduated in medicine and his mother in nursing from the University of the West Indies, and because of that institution’s connection to Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s, they moved to Halifax to work, where Bodurtha and his younger brother and sister were born. “Education was of the highest importance to my parents,” he says. “They saw it as a means to advancement in life, and they instilled the importance of education in all of their children. They worked hard and passed on that work ethic to us, along with the values of loyalty and respect.” After earning a BA in psychology from the University of 22
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Western Ontario, Bodurtha chose to study law. “I saw it as an opportunity to further my education and, at the end of it, hopefully get a job and start making a decent living,” he says. “Essentially, it was a means to get out of my parents’ house and become self-sufficient. To say that I had a plan would be wishful thinking. I was a wide-eyed 22-year-old wondering, what have I done?” While at law school, Bodurtha met an incredible group of students and professors who are still part of his support system today, including Professor Michelle Williams, the director of the IB&M Initiative, of which he was a member. “Law school had it all—systemic racism, overt racism, sexism—all within those four walls. Every societal issue was debated, discussed and analyzed. It’s important to have these conversations. You may not always be successful in changing people’s attitudes, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. You persevere. The goal is education.” Bodurtha also had the opportunity to meet two titans in the Black legal community: the late Rocky Jones (’92), who was a staff lawyer at Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, with whom Bodurtha worked as a law student, and Judge Corrine Sparks (’79). “To know the systemic and overt racism that Judge Sparks had to overcome is remarkable. She personifies grace and dignity. She provided hope and inspiration to a generation of Black lawyers.” He also credits recently retired Justice Valerie Miller (’85), who hired him as a justice department tax litigator in 1997. “Her belief in me never wavered, and she pushed me to reach my potential,” he says. “If I can be anywhere close to the Justice that she was, the people of Nova Scotia will be well served.” Each time Bodurtha steps into his courtroom, he tries to bring the human element into it, explaining the legal language to all parties in plain English so they’ll understand what’s happening. “I try to make sure that everyone in court is treated with respect, that they feel heard and that they leave feeling the Canadian justice system is working,” he says. In the future, Bodurtha aims to continue to be available and accessible to racialized youth, to inspire them to become the next generation of lawyers and judges. “They need to see and interact with people in these roles who look like them. It provides them with the belief that it is possible to achieve these roles in society. I want to share my experiences of racism in this province with them so they can better deal with it when it occurs.” Not yet one year into his judicial role, Bodurtha feels that he is in a constant state of learning and has been focusing on the present. “I’m trying not to drown under the responsibilities and expectations! But seriously, someone has to be the first. The historical significance of my appointment can’t be denied, but at the end of the day, it’s a number— that’s it. The number will follow me forever, but I want to be remembered for more than that. I want to be remembered for what I did as a trial judge on this court.” n
The IB&M Initiative turns 30 Celebrating three decades as a model for access to legal education in North America
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ince it was established in 1989, the IB&M Initiative has been working to increase the representation of Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaq in the legal profession and reduce structural and systemic racism. Today, more than 200 students have graduated from the Schulich School of Law through this program; they are working in private law firms, Aboriginal organizations,
government legal departments, the judiciary and myriad other legal fields. “Every day, students and alumni give life to the IB&M Initiative mandate. They are leaders and catalysts for change beyond the legal profession, ensuring that the next 200 years—the next seven generations—are marked by reconciliation and reparations.” — Professor Michelle Williams, director, IB&M Initiative n
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1 (From left) Terio Francis (‘16), Shawna Paris-Hoyte (‘94) and Cordelle Ellison (‘14) 2 Professor Michelle Williams (left) and Jalana Lewis (‘13) 3 David Marshall (left) and Jarvis Googoo (‘08) 4 Rocky Jones (‘92) 5 (From left) Donna Gauvin (’97), Heather McNeill (’94) and IB&M Advisory Council member Karen Hudson 6 Dahlia Bateman (‘04) 2019 H E A R S AY
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Leading
the way The Schulich School of Law is launching a new course this fall that will explore various aspects of cannabis legalization in Canada by TOM MASON
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n 2018, Canada became just the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, a dramatic move fraught with unknowns and untested legislation. The Canadian legal community is still working to understand the ramifications. To examine the issue further, the Schulich School of Law has developed a new survey course that will explore various aspects of legalization.
The two-and-a-half-day course, which will be taught over 12 hours to second- and third-year students this fall, will examine the long history toward legalization in Canada, starting with the 1972 Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs and the legalization of medical cannabis in 2001. Other major milestones addressed by the course will include the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation headed by Dalhousie Chancellor and former federal cabinet minister Anne McLellan (’74), and key court cases. The course will also delve into the pharmacological issues around cannabis use and the responses of different provinces to the mechanics of legalization. 24
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The one-credit course will be co-taught by McLellan and Darrell Dexter (’87), with contributions from other experts in the field, including regulators, legal professionals working for licensed cannabis producers and pharmacologists. McLellan will be able to speak to law students about her experience leading the task force on cannabis legalization. Dexter, who serves as an advisor to the cannabis industry, will also bring a wealth of knowledge to the course. The law school started planning for this course shortly after full legalization became a reality in the fall of 2018. Chelsea Cox, a graduate student who is working on a double master’s degree in law and health administration, is also involved in preparing the course. “We are very fortunate to have Chelsea’s help with this,” says Dean Camille Cameron. “She has a strong interest in and knowledge about cannabinoids, from both a health and a legal perspective.” Cox, who is interested in the intersections of law, health-care policy and ethics, is planning to complete a PhD in law that focuses on the impacts of cannabis legalization. “This is a brand-new area,” says Cox. “We’re the first country outside of Uruguay to legalize cannabis on a national level. It has really positioned Canada as a leader in the space. To take something like this from an illegal substance to a legal one touches on so many areas of law—commercial, criminal, constitutional.”
Identifying emerging topics in cannabis law
Covering everything from the pharmacology of cannabinoids to an examination of regulatory responses across Canada, the course will look at how provinces have responded to regulation in different ways. “It will also examine the commercial and industrial dimensions of legalization,” says Cameron. The course will kick off on Oct. 17, the first anniversary of the day cannabis officially became legal in Canada. “We really didn’t plan it that way,” says Cameron. “It just worked in everyone’s schedules.” McLellan is excited to be participating at her alma mater and says that courses like this one are crucial in helping legal professionals understand the complexities of the cannabis business. Canada is a pioneer in the legal cannabis industry, and legal scholars have much to learn. There is still a great deal of confusion surrounding the industry, which this course will explore. “There isn’t a lot of precedent for what Canada has done,” she says. “We’re only the second country to fully legalize cannabis on a national level. We skipped the decriminalization process altogether and went directly to legalization, so we still have things we need to figure out and learn.” Promoting public use isn’t the point of the new cannabis legislation; rather, it’s about promoting public health and safety. “It’s a new and emerging area, and the more people who have training in the area the better,” says McLellan. “Doctors and health professionals, the legal profession, businesspeople, agricultural businesses—the more people who understand this, the better it is. This issue is going to affect so many members of our society.” Cameron says the new cannabis course will be important for identifying new and emerging topics in the field of cannabis law. Having instructors like McLellan and Dexter, who are heavily immersed in the topic, will be invaluable. “Both Anne and Darrell were very keen on the idea of this course when we approached them,” says Cameron. “They both saw a lot of value in what we’re trying to do and were eager to participate.” With Canada essentially testing the “cannabis legalization waters” for the rest of the world, there is a lot of responsibility to get things right. “It’s important for us to identify present and future challenges,” says Cameron. “That’s one of the things this course will do.” n 2019 H E A R S AY
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CAREER CHOICES A law degree can lead in many directions. These four alumni have taken very different career paths with theirs
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LEARNING TO THINK LIKE A LAWYER When Mark Sakamoto (’03) started law school, he had already decided that he wasn’t going to spend his entire career in the legal field. However, he did know exactly what he wanted from his education, and that was to think like a lawyer. “I learned skills in law school that will last me a lifetime and that have served me well in the paths that I’ve chosen,” he says. Today Sakamoto is executive vice-president of software company Think Research, Canada’s leading digital health organization with operations in Canada, the United States, the European Union and the Middle East. He also wrote the memoir Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents, which HarperCollins Canada published in 2014 and which won CBC Canada Reads in 2018. Winning Canada Reads was a transformational event. “It really exposed me to the national media,” he says. That exposure has led to several endeavours in broadcasting, including Forgiveness being developed into a CBC mini-series. After earning his law degree, Sakamoto worked on Bay Street in Heenan Blaikie’s entertainment group, then spent from 2005 to 2009 as a business and legal executive at CBC inking TV deals. When
he worked in the entertainment space, he enjoyed helping clients solve unique financing and labour issues. “It was really interesting to work with different media personalities and guilds,” he says. Sakamoto has been a driving force in deal-making and business development at Think Research. Now he spends his time in equal measure on the ground and in the air. “We are helping our partners revolutionize the way patients receive care,” he says. He has fond memories of his time at law school; in fact, he loved studying law more than practising it, although he regularly relies on what he learned. “In all of my jobs, and in my current position, I use my legal education on an hourly basis, particularly when I’m preparing and reviewing proposals and contracts.” — JANE DOUCET
REPAIRING POWER IMBALANCE IN PRISONS For Hanna Garson (’17), the ability to help people who are not in a position to help themselves was one of the main things that attracted her to the practice of law. Garson worked as a mental health volunteer for seven years before entering the Schulich School of Law. “In the end I chose law because of the capacity to create systemic change,” she says. Today Garson spends much of her time practicing prison law with Halifax-based law firm Planetta Hughes. She helps prisoners who are in conflict with the system, working with them to exercise their rights while they’re incarcerated. “There’s an extreme power imbalance that exists in prison,” she says. “It’s very much like the Wild West. There’s not much law and very little oversight. For people who may be suffering from mental illness, under surveillance 24 hours a day, there’s a lot of capacity for them to have their liberty restricted in a way that affects their ability to be released.” Garson is chair of the East Coast Prison Justice Society. She has authored several guides to help
people who have been incarcerated, and she was involved in the Canadian Prison Law Conference, which Schulich Law hosted in September of 2018. Most prison law work is pro bono. “Because of the lack of funding, it’s not practical to make a career out of what is basically volunteer work,” she says, “but I would like to incorporate prison law into my practice.” The potential for winning cases isn’t what drives Garson either. “There isn’t a lot of winning in prison law,” she says. “Instead, I love the opportunity to be challenged intellectually every day.” She also loves being on the front lines, interacting with others who are involved with prison justice. “It’s a privilege for me to help people navigate this difficult system.” — TOM MASON 2019 H E A R S AY
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PROFILE
COMBINING CORE INTERESTS Throughout his life, Subrata Bhattacharjee (’93) has always tried to do things that are both useful and challenging. It was that quest that drew the Cape Bretoner to the study of law, and ultimately to his practice as an antitrust attorney. “I knew that I was interested in law in the abstract,” he says, “but I come from a family of doctors, so I didn’t have any firsthand experience with it.” To test the waters, as a Dal undergrad Bhattacharjee volunteered at Halifax’s Metro Community Legal Clinic and was hooked immediately. “I was using my brain to make things better for clients,” he says. “I quickly realized that there is a lot you can do with a law degree.” Today Bhattacharjee, a partner with Toronto law firm Borden Ladner Gervais, is recognized as one of Canada’s leading competition/antitrust lawyers. His practice focuses on all aspects of competition/antitrust law, foreign investment law and regulatory litigation. He defends clients in major international and domestic cartel investigations, clears major mergers
and provides advice to foreign investors on Canadian foreign-investment regulation issues. The job requires constant travel to destinations around the world. Bhattacharjee has been invited to participate in programs organized by the World Economic Forum, the World Knowledge Forum, the Asia Pacific Economic Council and the International Competition Network. He also sits as a director on the boards of Netflix Canada and the Canada China Business Council, and he’s one of the few non-U.S. attorneys to serve as an officer of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law. Bhattacharjee says that antitrust law is a highly specialized discipline that perfectly combines three of his core interests: economics, public policy and law. “It requires a deep understanding of business. You have to understand how mergers work and how the markets are impacted. You also need to have a basic understanding of criminal law for cartel cases. No two cases are ever the same, and there are very few decisions interpreting the law, so competition lawyers need a firm understanding of the underlying policy and enforcement trends to give advice. That’s one of the challenges I enjoy.” — T.M.
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION The Honourable Valerie Miller (‘85), Q.C., had been a teacher for 15 years when she decided to go back to school to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer. She had put the dream on hold as a young woman because she couldn’t afford to attend law school at the time. “There were no student loans in those days,” she says, “so I needed to find a job to support myself.” The Whitney Pier, N.S., native achieved her dream when she graduated from Dalhousie Law School. Miller’s legal career was shaped by her first job as an articled clerk with the Atlantic regional office of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) in Halifax. This led to a permanent position as a tax lawyer with the DOJ in 1986. She became the first director of DOJ’s Tax Law Services Section in 1992 and received a Queen’s Counsel designation in 2002— the first Black female lawyer in Nova Scotia to do so.
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Five years later, she was appointed a justice of the Tax Court of Canada. “I was honoured to be given the opportunity to serve the people of Canada,” she says. Miller was the only lawyer in the Tax Section of the DOJ in 1987. During her 21 years there, she recruited numerous young, competent, diverse lawyers and support staff. “I mentored those young lawyers to fulfil themselves and to advance their careers,” she says. “Many of those lawyers saw opportunities for themselves by viewing my journey.” In fact, serving as a role model for other lawyers is a significant part of Miller’s legacy. A number of lawyers who worked with her early in their careers have credited her with inspiring them to go on to achieve positions such as senior counsel, general counsel and justice. Miller says she had three careers: teacher for 15 years, lawyer for 22 and justice for 10. “In each, I adhered to the principles instilled in me by my parents. One was that the discipline of working hard is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.” — T.M.
Family matters Alex MacNab helps clients create families through the growing practice of fertility law
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hen Alex MacNab (’03) was a student at the Schulich School of Law, he had plans to become a labour lawyer after he earned his degree. But a pivotal event that took place in his personal life nine years later changed his course, leading him to an unexpected vocation. After graduation, MacNab articled at Stewart McKelvey in his hometown of St. John’s. During that time he met his future husband, Rodrigo, who was earning a master’s degree in geology at Memorial University. When MacNab finished articling, he was called to the Bar; a week later he was working in Goose Bay for the Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission, where he found himself defending a man on a sexual assault charge. “I had done my criminal rotation at Legal Aid, and I loved it,” says MacNab. “It was exciting travelling by helicopter or float plane to small communities for court. It’s very high energy, and you’re responsible for a lot.” After two years there he moved to Calgary, where Rodrigo was working as a geologist, and landed a job at Alberta Justice Civil Litigation–Family Law representing the director of Child and Youth Services. There, he gained experience at both the Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench. Although MacNab recalled enjoying the family law course he took from Professor Rollie Thompson while he was in law school, he still had his sights set on labour law. Following that came a short stint practicing family law at a Calgary firm. In 2006 MacNab joined Moe Hannah LLP, where he continued working in family law; he became a partner in 2009, and he and Rodrigo got married. After deciding they wanted to have a family, they were introduced to the concept of surrogacy by Ellen Embury, who was the only lawyer practicing reproductive technology law in Alberta at the time. “We met with Ellen in 2011 to talk about the process of surrogacy, and we chose to go down that road,” says MacNab. In April of 2012, they adopted a baby they named Elena, who was born via a sur-
Alex MacNab (centre) with his husband, Rodrigo, and their daughter, Elena.
“The law is changing and evolving. Is it changing for the better? The jury’s still out” — Alex MacNab rogate. “Through that process I started working in fertility practice, and that practice is growing.” Today MacNab travels all over the world speaking about the Assisted Human Reproduction Act and the legal aspects of third-party reproductions in Canada. While surrogacy is legal in Canada, a surrogate cannot be paid. “The law states that she may be reimbursed reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. The problem is that the law doesn’t clearly define what those expenses are. If you buy your surrogate flowers or a gold necklace, for example, you could be criminally prosecuted.” Last December, MacNab attended a public round table discussion in Halifax that drew industry providers, donors, health care professionals and federal government representatives, among
others. The goal was to solicit the public’s opinion on proposed regulations to the Act in three areas: sperm and ova donation; what reasonable out-ofpocket regulations should be; and how to enforce the Act. “The law is changing and evolving,” says MacNab. “Is it changing for the better? The jury’s still out.” What is clear is that Canada believes every person deserves to have a family, whatever “family” looks like to them. MacNab is happy that he didn’t end up pursuing labour law, because his career path led him to his true calling. “I feel lucky and grateful to be practising in this area of law. Family law is mainly redefining families through separation and divorce, but fertility law is helping people create families.” — JANE DOUCET 2019 H E A R S AY
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HEALTH LAW
Models for change Around the world, our alumni are conducting innovative work in diverse areas of health law, policy and research by JANE DOUCET
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he Schulich School of Law is taking the lead
when it comes to producing a new generation of graduates trained in health law. The Health Law and Policy Program prepares them to excel in one of the fastest-growing areas of practice. They may end up working in such varied areas of interest as conscientious refusals and health care, food security in the Canadian North, public health emergencies, mental health, health care in correctional systems and end-of-life treatment policy and practice. Here, we profile three alumni who are working at the top of their respective fields in this important and innovative area of law. 30
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“Law seemed like a perfect opportunity for opening doors” – MATT KUTCHER Bridging the gap between law and medicine
With a master’s degree in neuroscience from Dalhousie in hand, Matt Kutcher (‘10) considered his options for the next step in his path to choosing a career. “I had a broad interest in how our society operates,” he says. “Law seemed like a perfect opportunity for opening doors.” Kutcher became interested in health law after taking a class in second year from Professor William Lahey. Health law had both the scientific component and the human aspect that appealed to him. His interest developed further after spending the summers of second and third year working on research projects with Professor Jocelyn Downie. When he graduated, Kutcher was planning to do a Doctor of Juridical Science degree at University of Toronto but had a change of heart. Instead, he applied to Dal’s medical school with the plan of one day using both skill sets in a professional capacity. In law school, he had worked on projects at the interface of law and medicine, and this space intrigued him. “I felt that there was a gap between physicians
and lawyers. I thought it would be beneficial for a physician to have both backgrounds, to help bridge the gap.” During the six years of his medical training, Kutcher put law aside. Since he began practicing as a family physician in Summerside, P.E.I., in 2016, he has leveraged his legal background and moved back into the space that so intrigued him during law school. Perhaps the best known example is his role in the first medically assisted death of a patient in P.E.I. in 2017, which he told CBC was a “profound experience” that changed him as a physician. “We have a law that governs [medically assisted death],” said Kutcher in that interview. “It’s done with great care by the people involved in it.” That law is Bill C-14. Kutcher’s ability to read the bill makes him confident when he assesses patients to see if they meet the criteria and also while performing the procedure. Based on his experience as a medical assistance in dying (MAiD) provider and his legal background, Kutcher has become an advocate for reforming Bill C-14. Across the country, patients are choosing MAiD sooner than they would like to because the current law says they must be of sound mind at the time of the procedure, and they’re afraid they’ll lose decisionmaking capacity if they wait too long. “The law as it stands now has tragic, albeit likely unintended, consequences,” says Kutcher, “not just for the patients accessing MAiD who may be dying sooner than they want, but also for the providers who are forced to place patients in the situation of choosing death now or waiting and risk losing their opportunity to access MAiD.” Recently chosen as the new president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island, Kutcher regularly draws on his legal background to work toward improving the broader medical landscape on Prince Edward Island. “There are lots of opportunities for change, and we owe it to the public to constantly strive for improvement,” he says. “My law school training helped prepare me to work in this capacity.”
“I help health care leaders untangle complicated legal problems” – KATE DEWHIRST Pursuing life’s most important questions
When Kate Dewhirst (’99) was three years old, she was given a Harvard Law sweatshirt as a gift. She recalls knowing in that moment that she was going to be a lawyer. “My father was a police officer, and I wanted to put bad guys away with my dad,” she says. Her mother was a nurse, so when Dewhirst was growing up, her family had many conversations about crime, health, life, death and complicated people and circumstances. Because she was interested in topics with weight and meaning, Dewhirst took a health policy course during her undergrad at York University, where she majored in political science and women’s studies. “That course married everything I was drawn to in my life,” she says. After discovering that there was such a thing as being a health lawyer, she enrolled in the law school’s combined LLB/MHSA program and became Professor Jocelyn Downie’s first research assistant. “Jocelyn has been instrumental in my path. She taught me that any legal topic has an intersection with health, and that connecting with others will always get you further than a solo focus.” After graduation Dewhirst moved back to Toronto, where she held various positions, including corporate counsel for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In 2016, she launched Kate Dewhirst Health Law. Today her clients include hospitals, family health teams, mental health centres, community health centres and birth centres. “People are pursuing life’s most important questions in health law,” she says. “I help health care leaders untangle complicated legal problems. My business brings storytelling to the practice of law. The laws are there to guide people to do the right things. I tell clients stories to help get them to legal compliance.” 2019 H E A R S AY
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HEALTH LAW
More than half of Dewhirst’s work deals with privacy complaints from patients who are convinced that someone has looked at their confidential file without permission or whose records have been lost. In other instances, health care administrators might be facing a patient who is upset by an experience at a hospital or doctor’s office. Dewhirst considers those complaints a gift. “Otherwise, we can’t know if we’re treating people properly. It’s an opportunity for improvement.” In each case, she helps the administrators draft an appropriate response. “Emotions are raised, circumstances are charged. I bring objectivity, clear-headedness and an effective path forward.” Dewhirst’s next challenge will be to take her expertise outside Ontario’s legal jurisdictions by offering a coaching environment to a broader audience. “I’m always innovating. My practice has changed over time and moved more toward teaching and training, but I know that I’ll always work in health care.”
The Health Law Institute The Health Law Institute (HLI) at the Schulich School of Law offers expertise in health law and policy with a focus on the issues that will impact the professional practices of the law school’s cross-disciplinary students. Since 1999, the HLI has provided JD and graduate students (LLM and JSD) with one of the largest collections of health law and policy classes in Canada. In addition to offering a Health Law & Policy specialization to Schulich Law students, the HLI also offers lectures and classes to students in the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at the undergraduate, graduate and continuing education levels. The Institute’s current director is Professor Matthew Herder, who is an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology with a cross-appointment in law.
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“I was most attracted by Dal’s absolute expertise in health law” – FIONA MCDONALD
Creating high-quality health care systems
As a patient at home in New Zealand, Fiona McDonald (LLM ‘03, JSD ‘10) experienced the best treatment the health care system could offer—and the worst. At times, she found physicians and other health care professionals to be dismissive and disrespectful. It was those negative experiences that propelled her toward a career in health law. “It made me think a lot about how vulnerable we are as patients,” she says. “I wondered how laws could better protect us.” Health law wasn’t on McDonald’s radar when she was in high school, however. When she was 17, she knew she wanted to get a job as a government policy analyst, and she thought that having a law degree would be helpful. “I had no idea that I’d end up working in health law when I went to law school,” she says. After earning a BA and an LLB at Victoria University of Wellington, she worked as a health lawyer for two and a half years in New Zealand. Because she wanted to expand her understanding and knowledge of health law with an international focus, McDonald decided to apply to do her LLM overseas. “Australia and Canada were more affordable than the U.K., and a New Zealander can live in Australia anytime, so I looked in Canada,” she says. “I was most attracted by Dal’s absolute expertise in health law, as well as its reputation for a collegial and dynamic environment.” McDonald is now an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and co-director of the Australian Centre for Health Research. She is also an adjunct associate professor in Dalhousie’s Department of Bioethics and a member of Dal’s Technoscience and Regulation Research Unit. Her research interest has shifted from protecting patients to the use of law to create high-quality health care systems that are safe, just and accountable. This spring McDonald spent three months as a senior research fellow at Durham University in England, where she and a volcanologist (a geologist who studies volcanic activity) analyzed the health implications of volcanic eruptions and air pollution. She’s examining what, if anything, can be done to protect people from the short- and long-term effects of breathing in airborne particulates, which include respiratory and cardiac conditions and, potentially, cancer. While there is very limited evidence about whether wearing some types of facemasks offers adequate protection, McDonald’s research questions whether public and disaster agencies should be recommending them despite this, on the basis that some protection is better than none. “These can be lifeand-death questions for people with developing or compromised immune systems,” she says. “Health law is my great passion. It’s so diverse, and there are so many opportunities for collaboration.” n
The Mingo scholars by JANE DOUCET The Schulich School of Law celebrated the donors and recipients of the J. William E. Mingo Memorial Scholarship for International Study at a special reception at the law school on Sept. 19, 2018. Past and present scholars were in attendance and spoke about the impact the Mingo Memorial Scholarship has had on their lives. The 2018 recipient was Anthony Rosborough (JD ’15) from Halifax, who is an LLM candidate in intellectual property and the digital economy at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. The previous recipients (pictured above, from left, with Dean Camille Cameron) are Jonathan Coady, Devon Peavoy, Jennifer Taylor, Jenna Wates, Sarah Burton, Agathon Fric, Justin Milne and William Szubielski (missing: Rosborough and Ravi Amarnath). The Mingo Memorial Scholarship is awarded to out-
standing students and recent alumni of the law school who are going on to do graduate studies in law outside of Canada. The one-year scholarship of at least $25,000 has been awarded annually since 2007 to students demonstrating academic excellence, leadership ability, outstanding character and a rigorous program of study. This scholarship is the result of the generosity of close friends and business associates of the late William Mingo (1926–2005); it honours his distinguished career and his many contributions to the community and to the world of business. A loyal and generous supporter, Mingo graduated from our law school as the gold medalist in 1946, went on to complete a Master of Laws at Columbia University and was called to the Bar in Nova Scotia in 1950. n
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WELLNESS
Power in perspective
Against all odds, Angie Morris advocated for herself and fought to conquer cancer by STEPHANIE HURLEY
A
ngie Morris (’03) has always had a deeprooted belief in herself, even though she often felt like an underdog. Born to teenage parents in the tiny fishing village of Advocate Harbour, N.S., she attended a small school and was part of a graduating class of 10 students. Despite her humble beginnings, she knew early on the path she wanted to take. “In Grade 7, I dressed up as a lawyer for career day,” recalls Morris. “I borrowed a briefcase from someone and wore my mom’s blazer over a skirt and tank top.” She admits that she had no idea where the inspiration came from, since she didn’t come from a wealthy family or know any lawyers growing up. What she did know was that she had a passion and desire to help people.
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After high school, Morris earned a BA with honours in economics and business at Acadia University. Her next stop was law school at Dalhousie, where she found her niche in antitrust and competition law. “It was where law and economics intersected and impacted countries at a national and international level,” she says. “I wanted to make sure that was always fair and in the best interest of consumers.” Looking back on those years fondly, Morris says that law school was one of the best times of her life. “It was such a community, and there was amazing camaraderie and bonding with other students while going through challenging studies.” She was awarded multiple scholarships, elected president of the Law Students’ Society and chosen as graduate of the year.
Overcoming obstacles
his honesty, and when she left that meeting, for the first time she started to wonder if he was right.
Morris moved to Toronto after classes finished to begin articling. While there, she unexpectedly became pregnant with her daughter, Ava, who was born in 2004. Ava was just one ‘The three days’ month old when Morris carried her across the stage when “There was a moment in time where I wondered if I was she was called to the Bar. Being a single parent and working going to survive,” says Morris. “I call it ‘the three days.’ on Bay Street was challenging as she launched her career as a Through my whole illness, I believed I was going to be OK. competition lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault. I knew it was bad news, followed by more bad news, but Throughout that time, Morris continued to draw on the I never doubted that I was going to make it. However, for lessons she learned at Weldon. “Law school is a place where those three days, my hope was wavering.” you learn to think and analyze problems differently, and Morris wondered if she should write letters to her chilthere’s a lot of preparation and hard work. With my daughter dren that they could open in the future. But on the third I had to make it work every day, so day she experienced a mental shift. instead of being upset when things “I picked myself up and said, ‘No. didn’t go according to plan, I had to You have never doubted yourself. If be flexible and patient.” you are going to bet on anyone, it’s In 2006, Morris joined Blake, Casalways going to be you.’ I refused to sels & Graydon LLP, where she met accept the prognosis.” She told her her future husband, Michael, who family that she wanted to have the was a lawyer there. They married surgery. in 2009 and she gave birth to their Morris set up appointments with son, Jax, in 2011. On their third wedthe five surgeons who would be in ding anniversary, when Jax was 18 the operating room. She met with months old and Ava was eight, Moreach of them separately and the docris was diagnosed with cervical cantors reviewed her case again. “I was cer. “The moment someone says you convinced that if they met me, and have cancer, it’s a dark, overwhelmthey could see how hard I was fighting feeling,” she says. “But it also creing, they’d change their mind. And ated clarity. All of the other things honestly, it was like magic.” Because you worried about are suddenly unshe had advocated for herself, her — Angie Morris (’03) important, and your health becomes health care team started talking to your focus. There’s no greater drive each other, and the surgery suddenly than the desire to survive.” seemed doable. Nothing had really Morris took time off work to do changed except Morris’s persistence. concurrent chemotherapy and raThe surgery was scheduled. diation and undergo a radical hysterectomy, returning to her When Morris woke in the recovery room, she saw that position as senior legal counsel at Procter & Gamble after her husband was crying. She didn’t know what his tears four months. “I looked forward to coming to work. I missed meant until he said, “Everything is fine.” The surgery had my work friends and wanted to return to my career.” At that saved her life. “One of the things I’ve learned about resilpoint, there was no reason to believe the cancer would reience is that there’s always power in perspective,” she says. turn. In September of 2015, Morris received the devastating “You can look at something in your life as a crisis, or you can news that it had come back. look at it as a challenge to overcome. How you look at things Although she knew the chances of success drastically is really important, because you’re always unconsciously fall with a recurrence, Morris remained optimistic. She was talking to yourself, and what that track in your mind is tellscheduled to have surgery but received a call the night before ing you is very powerful. You have to know that life isn’t saying it was cancelled. Her doctors said that the surgery was happening to you—you create your own life.” much more challenging than they had originally thought, Today, Morris is vice-president, legal, general counsel and that she might not survive. and corporate secretary at Allstate Canada. In March, she Still, Morris refused to give up. She received treatment celebrated three years of being cancer-free and marked the again but it did not eliminate the tumour. After exhausting occasion with a trip to China with her children. “I feel like all other options, she told her doctor that she was considering all of my life may have set me up to get through the difficult having the surgery in the United States. Her doctor warned moments. As challenging as those times were, I am grateful her that she could die on the table and be robbed of the two for how things have turned out. I didn’t fight this hard not good years she might have left with her family. She respected to live the heck out of my life.” n
{{
You have to know
that life isn’t happening to you—you create your own life”
2019 H E A R S AY
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MENTORSHIP
Paying it forward Legal professionals and students benefit from collaborative mentoring partnerships by JANE DOUCET
I
n 2017, Deborah Gass (’74), a judge on the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division), was asked if she’d be interested in participating in the Weldon Mentor Program. Shawn Swallow, the Schulich School of Law’s director of Career Services and Employer Relations, had worked with the Alumni Office to develop the program and was searching for mentors to match with students. Gass didn’t think twice about signing up. “It’s always fun to share your story, especially with somebody who is just starting out and figuring out what direction they want to go in,” she says. “I almost quit law school several times, so I like to tell that story to help encourage students to stick with it. My career path was also pretty convoluted—I worked in a pub in England after I was admitted to the Bar in Alberta—so I’m a good example of someone who has had an eclectic career.” One feature of the program that appealed to Gass was that it was up to the student to initiate contact. “That was great because there was no pressure on me,” she says. “The challenge was finding the time to meet, but mostly from the student’s perspective.” She was matched with third-year student Fabian Suárez-Amaya, who was interested in family law but uncertain about what he wanted to do with his degree. “I was feeling a little lost,” he says, “and I was hoping to canvas experiences in the profession that were out there.” After emailing Gass to introduce himself, Suárez-Amaya observed her in court, then went back to her chambers to debrief on the proceedings. “Justice Gass asked me what I thought
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was going on, what I noticed and what I thought was effective,” he says. “The second time we met we did something similar, but it was a different case. Each time, she looked for the most interesting thing on her docket for me to observe.” Throughout second semester the two stayed in touch through email, discussing what was happening in court and in school, and in March they met for coffee. This kind of engagement is exactly what Swallow had envisioned. “That first year, 130 alumni signed up to be mentors, and we ended up with 77 matches,” he says. “The Weldon Mentor Program is about more than networking. It’s about students learning what it’s really like to work as a lawyer or a judge.” Before contacting their mentor, the students receive a Student Mentee Guide outlining the program’s goals and objectives. The guide covers everything from
how to introduce themselves in an email to details about the commitment that’s involved; for example, the relationship will last eight months, and there should be a minimum of four meetings in person. “If it isn’t a good match on either side, that’s OK,” says Swallow. “We’ll try to find another match.” Suárez-Amaya has benefited from the program in countless ways. “Watching Justice Gass in court and learning from her was important for my student placement at the Court of Appeal and at Nova Scotia Legal Aid through the Criminal Clinic because it prepared me for what I would see and do,” he says. “Even more than that, she humanized the judiciary for me.” n If you’re interested in becoming a mentor, contact Shawn Swallow at shawn.swallow@ dal.ca.
Call for
Mentors We invite you to join the Weldon Mentor Program
The Schulich School of Law’s Weldon Mentor Program is an opportunity for you to help law students and recent graduates prepare for their legal careers.
Ideally, mentors will be available from traditional and non-traditional law careers, geographic regions and areas of practice.
The Law Alumni Relations Office, partnering with the Career Development Office, designed the program as a system of support and guidance for our students to connect with alumni.
We know you lead a busy life and our students will not ask much of your time. We ask that you commit to meeting or communicating with a student a minimum of four times over eight months. When the program is over, there is no obligation to continue – although we do hope that lifelong relationships will continue long after the program ends.
The Weldon Mentor program is open to current 1L, 2L and 3L students and recent graduates. The criteria used in assigning a mentor will be based on information provided by alumni and students on the student2mentors platform. Examples of criteria include geography and area of practice.
We are currently recruiting alumni to participate. To join, simply go online and complete the form at:
weldon.enpointmentorship.com To learn more about the program please contact:
Shawn Swallow shawn.swallow@dal.com 902-494-4296
Darren Dick darren.dick@dal.ca 902-494-3744
CONNECTIONS
An incredible journey Three members of the Class of 1963 are part of an extraordinary tale in which two half-siblings find each other later in life by JANE DOUCET
S
ometimes a story is so inconceivable that you couldn’t make it up if you tried. How Harold MacKay (or as his law school classmates know him, Hal or HH) learned that he had a half-sister is one of those stories. Even more surprising is that it involves three of the 22 graduates of the Class of 1963. In 2014, MacKay was working as a lawyer and an arbitrator in Regina and a member of TD Bank’s board of directors. On Feb. 26, during a break in a board meeting in Toronto, his wife, Jean, called to tell him that someone with Saskatchewan’s Social Services department in Regina had phoned their house wanting to talk to him but wouldn’t say why. MacKay, who was 73 and an only child whose parents had died, was mystified. When MacKay spoke with the woman, he was taken aback when she said, “We have a letter from your sister. Are you prepared to receive it?” His response: “You must have the wrong Harold MacKay.” After talking to the woman for a few minutes, it dawned on him that he might, in fact, be the right Harold MacKay. “Whenever doors have opened in my life, I’ve walked through them,” he says, recalling that pivotal moment. “I told her to send the letter by email, which I read that night before the board dinner.” 38
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The letter, which began “To my halfbrother,” gave some details about his sister without revealing her name and explained that she wanted to learn about her roots. She wrote that her husband had graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1963, and that she had worked as a nurse in Halifax then. MacKay was flabbergasted. He knew immediately who she was because there had only been one married couple in his class: Len and Sandy Compton. “I told the woman at Social Services that she was going to have to tell Sandy that I was her half-brother,” he says, “because Sandy was going to have a heart attack, and I didn’t want that to be on me!” The woman contacted Compton right away. MacKay called his sister the following night. They were both incredulous. Although MacKay and Len hadn’t been particularly close during law school, they had chatted with each other at class reunions, which they had attended with their spouses. They talked for a while, then they decided to meet. Because they had a shared history, they felt comfortable doing so for the first time without their spouses. On Good Friday, they met at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. “It was fairly emotional,” says MacKay. “I learned about nieces and nephews I didn’t know I had.”
A special bond
At that meeting, Compton brought the anonymous letters she had exchanged with their mother, who had rebuffed her first attempts to connect in the early 1980s. She had been adopted at birth in Regina in 1938 and had lived in Saskatchewan with her adoptive parents. “I had been told from the age of three that I was a chosen child,” she says. “My older brother was also adopted. Our parents had been open with us about wanting to look for our birth parents. In my late teens, I became interested in doing so.” After her adoptive mother died in 1976, with her father’s support, she began her search. During the early phase of Compton’s inquiries, she had contacted Regina lawyer Ian “Scotty” McLellan, a law school classmate of Len’s, who gave her some direction. Eventually there was an exchange of anonymous letters between Compton and her birth mother outlining her mother’s medical history, but that was all. She continued to search for information throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. The Comptons were at home in Kenora, Ont., in 2012 when they read an article about locating birth parents in the Winnipeg Free Press. It stated that due to a new policy, if the birth mother had died, Social Services would try to link
“I don’t think it could have turned out any better for us. I have a wonderful brother and sister-in-law. We’re going to spend the rest of the years we have doing things together” – Sandy Compton
adopted children who shared a birth parent. Compton filled out a form seeking that information; two years later, she got a letter saying that her birth mother had died in 2009 and that she had a halfbrother. It stated that the government could reach out to him to see if he was interested in connecting with her. When Compton learned her brother’s name from the Social Services employee, she screamed into the phone. “I said it can’t be Harold MacKay from Regina! The woman said yes it is. After I hung up, I said to Len, are you sitting down? I have news. I was crying at this point.
Len said is it good news or bad news? It was good news. I had such a wonderful feeling. It was unreal.” Today, the siblings talk frequently on the phone. Last September the two couples attended the 55th class reunion at the law school and vacationed on Prince Edward Island. They have welcomed each other’s families into their hearts and homes. “When you mix two families together, a lot of times things don’t work out,” says Compton. “I don’t think it could have turned out any better for us. I have a wonderful brother and sister-inlaw. We’re going to spend the rest of the
years we have doing things together.” Compton spent more than 30 years looking for someone who shared her DNA, and her persistence paid off. “I never stopped thinking about it,” she says. “I knew there was someone out there that I was related to.” She recalls the Fort Garry meeting fondly. “We each had a suitcase, and as we sat down to have tea, there were a few tears. Then Hal took out of his suitcase two Hummel figurines that were our mother’s. One was a little boy, the other was a little girl. I have them in my living room, and they look at each other every day.” n 2019 H E A R S AY
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The Schulich School of Law and the Dalhousie Law Alumni Association are proud to announce the 2018 recipient of the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service
Mark Knox Halifax, Nova Scotia Mark Knox (’85), Q.C., is the 2018 recipient of the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service. Knox has a criminal, family and civil litigation practice with offices in Halifax and Granville Ferry, N.S. Since 1983, the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University has presented the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service annually to an alumnus or alumna who has made outstanding contributions to the community and the legal profession on either a worldwide, national, provincial or local setting. “We have many deserving alumni for an award like this—alumni who are committed to serving their communities in myriad ways,” says Schulich School of Law Dean Camille Cameron. “That makes this a very competitive process. Mark’s commitments at the local and national levels to the legal profession made him a worthy candidate for the Weldon Award.” Knox came to Dalhousie Law School in 1982 from Southern California, attracted by the reputation, character and faculty of Weldon. During his studies, he made many lasting relationships, two in particular: his life partner and “inspirational beacon,” Karen Hudson, Q.C. (‘85, Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Department of Justice), and his best friend, Schulich School of Law Professor Archie Kaiser. In 1985, Knox articled in Halifax in a small litigationoriented firm before opening a solo office in 2008. His introduction to long-term volunteering began in 1988, when he became involved with 7th Step Society, an or-
ganization that helps repeat offenders change their behaviour and attitudes using a basic self-help philosophy. Today, Knox is the president and a director of 7th Step Canada and active with 7th Step Nova Scotia, where he is involved with prison projects, community groups and presentations. An ex-offender and 7th Step Society member wrote in his letter nominating Knox for the Weldon Award: “Mark has put countless hours into drumming up new members, organizing different committees, meetings and events, and reaching out to members. He has given me countless rides, taken me out for meals and has come to special events in my life outside 7th Step. He taught and continues to teach us that we are all just people and that the most important thing in this life is to try and help one another. Mark has been an inspiration to myself and to many others.” Among many other volunteer roles over the years, Knox is a member, past secretary and current president of the Canadian Prison Law Association (CPLA), a national organization of practitioners, jurists and academics dedicated to ensuring the rights of inmates and those under supervision. “Mark’s selflessness toward his clients, the legal profession and recidivist offenders comes naturally for him,” wrote Kaiser in his nomination letter. “There is not a scintilla of self-importance or entitlement, but there is extraordinary energy, purposefulness, groundedness and caring.” n
NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS:
Weldon Award for Unselfish
2020
Public Service
For more information or to make a nomination, please email lawalum@dal.ca. Deadline is June 1, 2020.
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SCHULICH SCHOOL OF LAW DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
2018–2019
DONOR
REPORT 2019 H E A R S AY
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1935
1959
1965
Class Participation.........................5%
Class Participation.........................6%
Total Class Giving.....................$2,100
Total Class Giving.................... $3,446
Arthur Thurlow
Hon. David Riche
Class Participation.......................15%
Class Participation.......................10%
Richard A. Wedge
Dr. George T. H. Cooper
Brian Bruce
Arthur Donahoe
Morris J. Haugg
Hon. Justice Gerard C. Hawco
Steve Konchalski
1949
1969
Class Participation.........................2%
1960
David J. Waterbury
Class Participation.........................9%
Ian H. MacDonald*
Paull N. Leamen
F. Garrick Homer
Hon. Theodore E. Margeson
Robert G. MacKeigan
1950 Class Participation.........................2% Robert Lyall
1951
Hon. Arthur M. Lutz Stuart MacKinnon
1961
1966 Class Participation.......................13% Peter Dey
John S. McFarlane David A. Milner
1970
Total Class Giving.....................$2,350
Paul Murphy
Total Class Giving.....................$4,972
Class Participation.........................2%
Class Participation.......................16%
William Rand
Class Participation.......................15%
Maj (Rtd) John A. Commerford
Paul Creaghan
Hon. Douglas Cook
Richard Cashin
1967
Milton H. Grant
Total Class Giving.................... $5,000
Mary Dawson
Total Class Giving...................$16,650
Boyd Lowery
Class Participation.......................14%
Clifford Hood
Class Participation.......................13%
David Matheson
Leo Barry
Ceri Hugill
Alan G. Hayman
George MacDonald
Robert Kelly
James (Skip) Oliver
1953 Hon. Justice Hiram Carver
Richard W. Cregan
Harold F. G. Stevens
1962
Hon. Ronald C. Stevenson
Total Class Giving.....................$3,200
Janette M. MacDonald
Dennis Y. Perlin
Herbert Wyman
Class Participation...................... 20%
Hon. George J. Mullally
John M. White
Alan V. M. Beattie
Ernest G. Reid
1954
1971
Hon. Robert Ferguson
David B. Ritcey
Class Participation.........................5%
Hon. Charles Haliburton
Dennis M. Starzynski
Kenneth Lund
Larry Hebb
Joel Matheson
Robert E. Radford
1968
Hon. Eugene A. Scheibel
Total Class Giving...................$10,543
Tom Boyne
Wayne R. Smith
Class Participation.......................18%
M. A. Cameron
Clyde K. Wells
Donald R. Brown
Hon. Judge William Digby
Kevin Carroll
Donald Gibson
1955 Class Participation.........................4% J. Roch Lalande A. J. Stone
1956 Class Participation.........................5%
1963
Total Class Giving.................. $24,250 Class Participation.......................15% Clarence A. Beckett
Patrick Furlong
George W. Kostyshyn
Class Participation.......................10%
James E. Gould
Walter A. McEwen
Harold MacKay
Heather Grant
Derry Millar
D. William MacDonald
Peter A. S. Milliken
J. Douglas MacEachern
Tarcisio Nella
Sir Graham Day
1964
Peter Power
Class Participation.........................9%
William R. McColm
David L. Parsons
Hon. Justice William Fitzgerald
Hon. Wilfred Moore
Michael Phelan
David Morris
David G. Newman
Hon. Justice H. J. P. Puddester
John A. Yogis
David H. Sohmer
Hon. Justice Barbara J. Reed
1958 Total Class Giving.....................$3,663 Class Participation.......................10%
David Wallace
Dr. William H. Charles
Charles White
Peter Darby* Edwin C. Harris June Nudelman Karlin
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SCHULICH LAW DONOR REPORT THIS REPORT IS A RECOGNITION OF GIFTS RECEIVED BETWEEN APRIL 1, 2018, AND MARCH 31, 2019
1972
1975
Total Class Giving.....................$9,041
Total Class Giving.....................$4,875
Les Grieve
Class Participation.........................9%
Class Participation.......................10%
Hon. Justice Kenneth C. Haley
Class Participation....................... 11%
Daniel M. Campbell
John Carr
Alison Taylor Love
David Almon
Cherry G. Ferguson
John Dauvergne
Colin Patrick MacDonald
Andrew Brands
William J. Leslie
Bruce M. Graham
Robert G. McNeil
Hon. Judge Marc Chisholm
Hon. J. Vernon MacDonald
Gregory S. Hildebrand
Ray O’Blenis
Hon. Judge Anne E. Crawford
George Macintosh
Beatrice Fejtek Hines
Susan C. Potts
John H. Cuthbertson
J. Fraser B. Mills
Christine A. McCulloch
Sheri J. Richardson
Keith R. Evans
Dolores M. Morrell
David Meadows
Hon. Judge Michael B. Sherar
Randall C. Fleming
Michael Rhodes Skutezky
Laurie S. Pascoe
Elizabeth J. Shilton
D. Suzan Frazer
David R. Thomas
Hon. Justice Paul J. Pearlman
Frans F. Slatter
S. Donalda MacBeath
Hon. Judge Jim Wilson
F. T. Mark Pujolas
T. Ann Smiley
Brian Maltman
Heather Robertson
Harold M. Smith
Marian McGrath
Wendell Sanford
James W. Stanley
Paul D. Michael
Michael Schelew
Robert Stewart
Maureen O’Connell
Mike Sullivan
Lawrence I. O’Neil
Tim White
David N. Ross
1973 Total Class Giving.....................$1,295 Class Participation.........................7%
Steven Enman
1979 Total Class Giving.................. $22,505
Michael Bird
1976
Brian Gibson
Total Class Giving.................... $4,302
Raymond F. Glennie
Class Participation.......................10%
Hon. Robert B. Hyslop
Hon. Jean-Louis Batiot
Thomas W. Patience
Roberta J. Clarke
Class Participation.......................13%
David C. Hicks
Frank Archibald
Class Participation.......................10% Kenneth L. Baggs
1974
1978 Total Class Giving.....................$4,662
Alan Tufts
1980 Total Class Giving.....................$9,405
Mary A. Kimball
Bernard J. Butler
Total Class Giving...................$23,750
Bud MacDonald
Elizabeth Callaghan
Richard A. Conway
Class Participation.........................9%
Brian MacLellan
James A. Chisholm
D’Arcy DePoe
Prof. Bruce Archibald
M. Clare MacLellan
Joseph A. Cameron
P. R. Hames
John W. Chandler
Timothy Matthews
Michael F. Donovan
Stuart Koskie
Prof. Brent Cotter
Stephen Mattson
Elizabeth Ellis
Mark MacDonald
Hon. Tamarin Dunnet
Hon. Justice Linda Oland
Anne Emery
James MacLean
Paul D. Jardine
Robert M. Purdy
Kari J. LeLacheur
Donald MacLennan
Mark Johnson
Lynne Redden
Valerie Macdonald
J. Brian Medjuck
A. Anne McLellan
John Stringer
Mary E. Meisner
Anthony Pylypuk
Dan O’Connor
Anthony L. Sweet
Keith F. Miller
Mark S. Rosen
Don Roger
Alison W. Scott
Hon. Judge Peter Ross
Randy Smith John Wilmot
John Plowman Elizabeth Roscoe
1977
Paul Stokes
Total Class Giving...................$12,850
Margaret J. Stewart
Class Participation.......................17%
Shirley Strutt
Hon. Robert Barnes
Tom Strutt
Hon. Justice Nancy J. Bateman
Prof. Rollie Thompson
Robert T. Booth Janice M. Bruni Eric R. Elvidge
* Deceased
2019 H E A R S AY
43
Charles Reagh
1981 Total Class Giving.....................$5,520 Class Participation.......................10% Jeff Berryman Patrick I. Cassidy Margaret Dickson K. Sara Filbee Michael Lynk J. Scott MacKenzie Arthur Oliphant Paul Radford Barry J. Ryan Clifford J. Shaw Paul L. Walter Vance Wirth Rhonda Wishart
1982 Total Class Giving.....................$2,525 Class Participation.........................5% Clare F. Barry Kenneth Godfrey Scott P. Gray Kerry M. Harnish Ian MacKay Linda Rankin
Hon. Geoff Regan Hon. Judge Robert T. F. Smith Ronald Stockton Natalie Vukovich
1984 Total Class Giving...................$16,794 Class Participation.......................13% Janet M. Chisholm Claire Christie John S. Fitzpatrick Andrea D. Gillis Peter Gorgopa Mark A. Greenberg Shirley Lee Robert R. MacArthur Hon. Justice Gillian D. Marriott Douglas McLean Jim Musgrave Kim Pate Heather Rae Johnson Maureen Reid Gregory D. M. Stirling Penelope Tham Jeremy A. Thomas
1986
1989
Total Class Giving.....................$1,870
Total Class Giving..................... $8,170
Class Participation.........................6%
Class Participation.........................6%
Linda G. Dolan
R. Glen Boswall
Kevin P. Downie
Peter Chisholm
Barry G. Fleming
Hon. Judge Stephanie A. Cleary
Hon. Justice Theresa Forgeron
Richard J. Freeman
Donna Franey
Jim Gormley
Donald B. Jarvis
Nathalie Goyette
Alex MacFarlane
John R. Manning
Ronald M. Snyder
Sylvain Rigaud
Ian C. Wallace
Janice Spencer
1987
1990
Total Class Giving.....................$3,370
Total Class Giving.....................$8,785
Class Participation.........................6%
Class Participation.........................7%
Robert A. Balcom
James K. Arends
Charlotte Davis
Diana Belevsky
Margery Fowke
Todd Burke
Paul R. Ives
James E. Fisher
John Kulik
Gareth C. Howells
Yvonne R. LaHaye
Bernadette Romanowsky
Mary E. Murphy
Donald MacDiarmid
R. Alexander Neve
Donald K. MacKenzie
Janice E. Younker
Diane L. McInnis
Hon. Judge Pam Williams
1988
Hon. Justice Michael Wood
1985
Total Class Giving.....................$6,150
1983
Total Class Giving.................... $6,340
Shauna Sullivan Curley
Total Class Giving.....................$6,070 Class Participation....................... 11% Colin D. Bryson Brian W. Derrah Guy Desmarais Trinda L. Ernst Daryl Fridhandler James A. Graham Elizabeth M. H. McCormick Donald Allan Landry Christopher W. Morris Scott Norton Gretchen G. Pohlkamp
Class Participation.......................10% Deborah Amour Brenda Christen Prof. Steve Coughlan Hon. Judge Pamela Goulding Jay C. Humphrey Mark Knox Karen Hudson Hon. Justice Mona M. Lynch Jim MacAulay Kevin MacLean Brian E. McConnell Francine McIntyre Dean D. Pietrantonio Samy F. Salloum
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Class Participation.........................6%
David H. Taylor James D. H. Wood
1991
Peter Dale
Total Class Giving...................$52,783
E. W. Scott Dickieson
Class Participation.........................6%
Donald J. Dow
Steven Baldwin
Coleen Kirby
Simon P. Barker
Gordon Manuel
Colin J. Clarke
Alnasir Meghji
Jane Fitzpatrick
Mark Schmidt
Bob Hickey
Ann G. Wilkie
Sean F. Layden Catherine Poyen Saul T. Schipper Andrew C. Staples David Zemans
SCHULICH LAW DONOR REPORT THIS REPORT IS A RECOGNITION OF GIFTS RECEIVED BETWEEN APRIL 1, 2018, AND MARCH 31, 2019
1992
1995
2001
2012
Total Class Giving.....................$9,067
Total Class Giving........................$875
Class Participation.........................3%
Class Participation.........................1%
Class Participation.......................10%
Class Participation.........................4%
Joe Burke
Laura Neals
Mike Brady
Jennifer G. Carmichael
Sandra Oxner
Josh Nodelman
Sheila J. Cameron
Anneke Driessen van der Lieck
Andrew Wilson
Peter D. Crowther
Jay Maw
Andrew M. Grant
Garth Stevens
2002
Dale E. Ives
Patricia Thiel
Class Participation.........................2%
Cameron L. Foster
Patricia E. Doyle-Bedwell
Jalana Lewis
John T. Kalm Geoffrey Litherland
1996
Toby D. Mendel
Class Participation.........................2%
Dr. Stephen G. A. Pitel
Zarah E. Walpole
T. A. Pratt
D. Scott Worsfold
Darren Stratton
Leigh Lampert Andrew J. Wadden
2003 Total Class Giving........................$965
2013 Class Participation.........................2%
2014 Class Participation.........................1% Ronald Muir
1997
Class Participation.........................3%
2015
Samira G. Zayid
Total Class Giving.....................$1,330
Mala Joshi-Lomaga
Class Participation.........................1%
Rodney J. Zdebiak
Class Participation.........................4%
Claude Martin
Michael Potter
Cheryl Canning
Chris Peddigrew
Susan E. Carruthers
Donald Zarow
Hugh Wright
1993 Total Class Giving..................... $7,156
Douglas R. Downey
Class Participation.........................5%
Vincent C. Kazmierski
2005
Brian Beck
Robert F. MacDonald
Class Participation.........................1%
Subrata Bhattacharjee
Duaine W. Simms
Matthew Owen-King
Frederick L. Glady
1998
2006
Erin Iles
Total Class Giving..................... $1,979
Class Participation.........................1%
Peter MacKenzie
Class Participation.........................5%
Keri Gammon
Laura B. Stewart
Paula Boutis
Julien Ranger
Scott Warwick
Paul Falvo
Eric Bremermann
Sean Foreman
2007
Julienne Hills
Class Participation.........................1%
Total Class Giving.....................$3,565
James Rossiter
Peter Dostal
Class Participation.........................7%
Peter J. Salah
Wendy Miller
Mary Birdsell
Genevieve Taylor
1994
Timothy Costigan
Class Participation.........................1% Graeme Maitland Billy Sparks
2008
Jane D. Harrigan
1999
Lale N. Kesebi
Class Participation.........................2%
Erik Bruveris
John Le Blanc
Sunny Ho
William Callaghan
Daphne C. Loukidelis
Harry Korosis
Jarvis Googoo
Garry A. McCay
2016
Class Participation.........................2%
S. Lori McCurdy
2011
David C. Perlmutter
Class Participation.........................1%
Greg Shirley
Teresa-Anne Martin
Eric Taylor
* Deceased
2019 H E A R S AY
45
ESTATES
Susanne M. Litke
ORGANIZATIONS
N. Murray Edwards Charitable Foundation
Geoffrey Loomer Estate of R. B. Viscount Bennett
Lindsay Loomer
Bereskin & Parr
Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Estate of Douglas Coombes
Elizabeth Lusby
Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP
Patterson Law
Estate of Dianne Pothier
Kevin MacDonell
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (ON)
Philip J. Star QC Inc.
Estate of Alex Ross
Jennifer MacDougall
Boyne Clarke LLP
Pink Larkin
Christine M. MacInnes
Burnet Duckworth Palmer LLP
Private Giving Foundation
Audrey Macklin
Canadian Bar Association–Nova Scotia
Schulich Foundation
John MacLatchy
Branch
Schwab Charitable Fund
Greg & Marie MacNeil
Canadian Energy Law Foundation
Sea Spruce Investments Ltd.
M. Jo-Anne Matheson
Cape Breton Barristers’ Society
Smithson Employment Law Corp
Colin R. Arnold
Roy Matsui
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Stewart McKelvey
Jennifer K. Bankier
G. M. May
Dinyar Marzban Law Corporation
T & W Holdings Limited
Patricia Bauer
Jonathan Mousley
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Thomson Reuters
Camille Cameron
Beth Parker
Gowlings LLP
Tiller Holdings Ltd.
Mary L. Campbell
Wendy Parker
Havergal College Class of 1970
Torys LLP
George Clarke
Joan A. Pugsley
Henderson & Henderson PC
W. Donald Goodfellow
Constance M. Darby
Gillian Pullen
Jay C. Humphrey Professional
Waind Management & Consulting
Jessica Dawkins
Isabel M. Reid
Corporation
Stanley Dwyer
Jane Robinson
Jewish Community Foundation of
Jo-Anne Embree
Linda J. Smith
Montreal
Dick Evans
Virginia Vaughen
Law Foundation of Nova Scotia
Tim W. Faithfull
Tom Welch
Lenehan Musgrave LLP
Jeanne Fay
Frederick* & Eve Wickwire
Manning & Associates Law Office Ltd.
Jane Fraser & Paul Deveau
Michelle Williams
Mark T. Knox Inc.
Keith Gallant
Susan Young
McCall MacBain Foundation
FRIENDS OF THE LAW SCHOOL
Catherine S. Harrison*
McCarthy Tetrault
Debbie Hogan
McInnes Cooper
John Joyce
Michelle C. Christopher Barrister &
Karen Kavanaugh
Solicitors
Lucy Kerr
Miller Thomson LLP
Catherine M. Leiper
MLT Aikins LLP Mylesdon Investment Limited
* Deceased
While every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of this report, we apologize if your name has been misspelled, omitted or incorrectly listed. Please let us know so that we can correct our records. Total Class Giving amounts are excluded for those classes with three or under donations, to protect confidentiality. The names of those who wished to be anonymous are also excluded.
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SCHULICH LAW DONOR PROFILES A generous gift to Dalhousie Legal Aid Service
In 2018, David Zemans (’91) and Catherine Poyen (’91) made a significant gift to the Schulich School of Law’s Annual Fund. They designated the gift to Dalhousie Legal Aid Service to commemorate their time as Clinic students in the spring of 1991 and to honour Zemans’ father, Professor Fred Zemans of Osgoode Hall Law School. After five semesters of traditional legal courses at Dalhousie, and with jobs lined up for after graduation, both Poyen and Zemans wanted the legal experience offered by the Clinic for their final semester. Poyen loved her criminal law class with Professor Archie Kaiser and constitutional law with Professor Lorenne Clarke, who was the Clinic’s director at the time. Zemans was exposed to legal aid clinics during his childhood and fondly remembers painting the walls of Parkdale Community Legal Services in Toronto when it first opened under his father’s directorship. “Fresh from a summer internship working at an anti-apartheid clinic in South Africa, just months after Nelson Mandela had been released from prison, I was keen to be exposed to poverty law practice in Halifax and the great work the Clinic was doing,” says Zemans. Poyen was immediately immersed in many cases at the Clinic and saw firsthand how her legal education could help others. “Dal Legal Aid is where I learned to quickly synthesize a situation and find words to express what clients could not,” she says. It’s a skill that has proved invaluable to her throughout her career, and one that she imparted to law students as a part-time lecturer at the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law, where she taught Legal Skills, a variation of the course she took from Professor John Yogis in 1988. After graduating from law school, Zemans and Poyen practiced in Toronto—Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt and McCarthy Tétrault, respectively—before moving to Singapore. Zemans joined Milbank LLP in 1997; today his practice encompasses a wide range of complex financial work, including commercial
“Dal Legal Aid is where I learned to quickly synthesize a situation and find words to express what clients could not” — Catherine Poyen (’91) mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and leveraged finance for clients across Asia. As Milbank’s Asia managing partner, he oversees five offices (Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore) and sits on Milbank’s Global Executive Committee. Poyen practiced securities law at Shearman & Sterling in Singapore until 2001. Since then she has taught at the National University of Singapore and held a variety of volunteer positions, including a decade on the board of Singapore American School, where their children, Madeleine (Cornell University, Class of 2023) and Oliver (Choate Rosemary Hall, Class of 2022), are students. They regularly welcome
Canadian university exchange students to their home in Singapore, as well as Dal classmates, including friendships that were renewed at their 25th reunion in 2016. Both Poyen and Zemans found the Clinic to be a deeply rewarding experience and are happy to be giving back to it as alumni. “It’s where we developed skills that we use to this day,” says Poyen. “We were supervised under the care and guidance of Lorenne Clarke, Vaughan Black, Richard Evans and Donna Franey, whose long career and devotion to law students and Clinic clients we greatly admire.”— JANE DOUCET
2019 H E A R S AY
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SCHULICH LAW DONOR PROFILES Stewart McKelvey supports new Technology Law Clinic A new legal clinic is positioning the Schulich School of Law as a leader in advancing innovation, not only at Dalhousie University but also in the wider community. “We are thrilled to support the launch of the Stewart McKelvey Technology Law Clinic at the law school,” says Lydia Bugden, chief executive officer and managing partner of Stewart McKelvey, Atlantic Canada’s largest regional law firm. “While a main focus of the clinic is to assist startup businesses and entrepreneurs who are not otherwise able to afford legal services, we also see the clinic as helping law students develop the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing legal industry.” The Technology Law Clinic, which was made possible by a $300,000 donation from Stewart McKelvey, will launch in September. It will welcome local innovators and entrepreneurs seeking early stage legal information and advice on everything from commercial structures and licensing to intellectual property, IT and Internet law. The clinic will also educate and create a new cohort of graduates with significant knowledge of and experience in specialized areas of technology and innovation. Students enrolled in the law school’s Information Technology Transactions course will work in the clinic. “While lawyers will always require deep knowledge of the law,” says Bugden, “increasingly, modern legal practice and the evolving needs of clients demand lawyers with a broadened skill set that includes technology, data analytics, process improvement, design thinking, pricing and project management.” Recent studies indicate that Canada underperforms in innovation and global competitiveness. A key factor impeding innovators is a lack of knowledge about, and access to, legal information and
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advice on intellectual property, technology and new business ventures. Without this knowledge, startup businesses and entrepreneurs can stall at critical points during commercialization. By working closely with other faculties and leading accelerator programs at Dalhousie such as the Creative Destruction Lab–Atlantic, the clinic will provide specific legal information and advice to startups on important decisions such as when to formalize a business structure, how to apply for a patent and how to take a product
or service to market. With a full-time co-ordinator at the helm, it will also host seminars and other events for startups on campus and in the community. “The clinic is a fantastic opportunity for both entrepreneurs and law students to learn from each other, collaborate on shared challenges, co-create solutions and gain a deep understanding of new techniques and perspectives on technology and innovation that will help shape the future of law practice,” says Bugden. — ALLISON LAWLOR
Pink Larkin creates opportunities for diversity students
Pink Larkin associates (from left) Balraj Dosanjh (‘14), Katrin MacPhee (‘17) and Jaime Burnet (‘16) with Raymond Larkin.
A new award and internship initiated and supported by Pink Larkin, a Canadian dispute resolution law firm based in Atlantic Canada, will provide support and opportunities to diversity students at the Schulich School of Law for a six-year term beginning this June. “We’re honoured to lend a helping hand to Schulich Law students at Dalhousie University who aspire to take a leading role in providing legal services to various communities within Atlantic Canada,” says firm co-founder Raymond F. Larkin (‘76), Q.C. “We look to these individuals for leadership, guidance and judgment—and a future bright with promise.” The Pink Larkin Diversity Award and Internship in Law consists of a renewable scholarship for a second-year diversity student and a biennial summer internship in law for a first-year diversity student.
The recipients will have completed the voluntary selfidentified section of the application, be in the top half of their class scholastically and will have demonstrated leadership ability and community involvement, along with a desire to remain in Nova Scotia. “Pink Larkin’s generous support by way of a scholarship and an internship fits very well with our law school priorities to continue to increase the diversity of our student body and the experiential and workplace learning opportunities available to our students,” says Schulich School of Law Dean Camille Cameron. Supported by Pink Larkin lawyers and staff, these gifts to talented Schulich Law students coincide with the firm’s 30th anniversary. “We respect that while our 30-year history has provided a solid foundation for growth, success depends on the strength of
future generations,” says Ronald A. Pink (‘73), Q.C., co-founder and managing partner of Pink Larkin. “Over the past three decades, we have evolved. We’ve grown from our work law heritage based on labour relations to dispute resolution, all the while remaining true to our foundation of human rights.” As a future-focused law firm, Pink Larkin has a strong culture of valuing diversity and aims to create a safe, welcoming, inclusive and culturally sensitive environment. The firm has found that doing so provides a positive influence in the places in which individuals work and extends to neighbourhoods where people live. “This is the right thing to do,” says Larkin. “It’s important for us to give back to the local communities that have been supportive and welcoming.” — STEPHANIE HURLEY
2019 H E A R S AY
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SCHULICH LAW DONOR PROFILES New student prize blends the Weldon Tradition and international law There’s one place that students visit regularly over the course of their legal education, and that’s the law library. For nearly three decades, Tom Weeks would have been a familiar face to the students, faculty and staff coming to the Sir James Dunn Law Library at the Weldon Law Building. Weeks worked there as a government documents specialist and encountered thousands of Weldonites who greatly impacted his life. Although he retired in 1997, Weeks still has a passion for education and global issues, particularly public international law. To help give back to the place and the people who gave him so much over his career, he created the Thomas E. Weeks Prize in International Law for a student who is pursuing graduate studies in this area. It will be awarded to a deserving student who exemplifies academic excellence for the first time in the 2019–20 academic year. Just as unselfish public service is an integral component of the Weldon Tradition, Weeks thought it was fitting that it also be part of the criteria for the recipient of his prize. Having volunteered in Halifax all of his life, he knows how valuable public service is to both the community and the individuals who benefit from it. The award will have a positive impact at the law school and add to the mark already left by Weeks. “Tom was an important presence in the law school and the library,” says Professor Archie Kaiser. “He supported the students, the faculty and the public devotedly for decades, always diligent, thorough and humble but gifted with a quick wit and real insight into people. He was very much missed after his
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retirement, although it’s been a delight to see him both in the community and when he has visited the law school subsequently. Tom set a high standard of unselfish service.” When asked what his fondest memory of his time at the law school is, Weeks says, “The rapport among students, faculty and staff was out of this world. Professors had an ever-open-door policy for the students, there was a congenial working relationship and a camaraderie that made going to work every day a pleasure. I feel blessed to have been part of Weldon for so long and hope that my prize will help students achieve their dreams, even if in a small way.” — CRYSTAL ABOUD
“I feel blessed to have been part of Weldon for so long and hope that my prize will help students achieve their dreams, even if in a small way ” — Tom Weeks
THE ANNUAL LAW ALUMNI
REUNION
WEEKEND SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2019 Who says that once you graduate your university days are over? Come back to Weldon and relive those life-changing moments. Catch up with classmates, tour the law school and join Dean Camille Cameron and professors for a lobster dinner. And this time around, no exams, no papers! For a list of class organizers and a schedule of events please visit law.dal.ca/reunion For more information contact Tammi Hayne, lawalum@dal.ca 902-494-5100
2019 H E A R S AY
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The Weldon Professors
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H E A R S AY 2019
Professor NAYHA ACHARYA teaches Civil Procedure, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Ethics, and Introduction to Law for the Law, Justice and Society program. Last year she taught Law and Ethics for Process Engineers. Her writing projects have been about legal theory—what justifies judicial decision-making, medical negligence and mediation within civil justice. She also writes and presents on higher-education teaching and learning.
Associate Dean, Academic MICHAEL DETURBIDE taught Business Associations, chaired the Studies Committee and Admission Committee and was a member of the Academic Committee. He participated in a review of a graduate program at the University of King’s College and in the administration of the Law & Technology Institute. He is working on a new book on digital transactions to be published by LexisNexis.
Professor JAMIE BAXTER has been working mainly on food, agriculture and local government law. The best part of this work has been the chance to build new relationships with community groups, municipal officials and other researchers around Dalhousie. This year, students in Planning Law got a chance to be involved in some of this work.
Professor RICHARD DEVLIN completed his term as Acting Associate Dean (Research) on Dec. 31, 2018, and began a sixmonth sabbatical on Jan. 1, 2019. His primary research project for the sabbatical is to edit an international collection of essays titled Disciplining Judges: Contemporary Controversies and Challenges.
Professor KIM BROOKS was pleased to take on the corporate tax class and the editorship of the Dalhousie Law Journal. As the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law, she has been working with colleagues, students and alumni to revisit Dal’s Business Law specialization. She joined the board of the Trudeau Foundation and serves as the inaugural president of the Canadian Centre for Legal Innovation in Sexual Assault Response.
Professor MEINHARD DOELLE spent his sabbatical completing the third edition of Environmental Law: Cases and Materials and started two new book projects, one on loss and damage from climate change and another on the proposed new federal Impact Assessment Act. He also participated in workshops and conferences related to climate change and impact-assessment processes in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Dean CAMILLE CAMERON was a keynote speaker at a Canadian Bar Association Law Firm Leadership conference in Toronto and a panelist at a national meeting of the Law Leaders Forum, an annual conference for managing partners of Canadian law firms and general counsels of corporations. She continued as a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission Expert Panel for the Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third Party Litigation Funders.
Professor JOCELYN DOWNIE was inducted into the Order of Canada and appointed Dalhousie’s inaugural James S. Palmer Chair in Public Policy and Law. Her vision for the Chair is to have a positive impact on public policy and law and to contribute to Schulich Law and Dalhousie being, and being seen to be, a great place for public policy and law. In her first year as Chair, she is focusing on community building, bridge building and capacity building for policy impact.
Professor ALDO CHIRCOP is principal investigator on a grant from the Ocean Frontier Institute on Safe Navigation and Environment Protection. The project is investigating how ocean change and anthropogenic impacts on the transportation corridor in the Northwest Atlantic and Eastern Arctic influence our understanding of maritime risk, policy, management and regulation. Its purpose is to enhance navigation safety and environment protection and safeguard Indigenous peoples’ rights.
Professor MARIA DUGAS taught Legal Research and Writing, Torts and Legal Ethics. Next year she will also teach the new upper-year Copyright Law course. In April, she attended a panCanadian workshop on establishing IP legal clinics at Osgoode Hall Law School. This summer she plans to finalize her paper “Committing to Justice: The Case for Impact of Race and Culture Assessments in Sentencing African Nova Scotian Offenders,” which will be published in the Dalhousie Law Journal.
Professor ROB CURRIE has been focused on reforming Canada’s extradition laws. In 2018–19, he chaired the Halifax Colloquium on Extradition, a group of experts that developed a set of proposals that are being presented to the Minister of Justice. He also co-wrote an amicus curiae brief that was submitted to the International Criminal Court regarding crimes against the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
Professor ELAINE GIBSON is on a six-month sabbatical in Europe. Her current research concerns whether the medical malpractice legal system in Canada needs an overhaul. She is also collaborating with Professor Brent Cotter of the University of Saskatchewan on the respective approaches of the legal and health professions to client threats of harm to third parties as juxtaposed with duties of confidentiality.
In 2018 Professor LUCIE GUIBAULT became Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and taught Intellectual Property Law and the Fundamentals of Public Law. She is currently developing two projects: one on blockchain and copyright licensing, in co-operation with Computer Science, Management and the Killam Library, and a second on prisoner transport in the 19th century, in co-operation with Dal’s history department and a team from the University of Plymouth.
In addition to continuing to teach Criminal Law and Evidence, Professor ADELINA IFTENE taught an inaugural seminar on Imprisonment and Prison Policy. In collaboration with the Canadian Prison Lawyers’ Association, she organized the Canadian Prison Law Conference, hosted by Schulich Law, in September 2018. Her book, Punished for Aging: Vulnerabilities, Rights, and Access to Justice in Canadian Penitentiaries, will be published by University of Toronto Press this summer.
Professor COLIN JACKSON started in a tenure-track position at the law school in July 2018. He spent the 2018–19 academic year teaching Taxation I, Bankruptcy, Secured Transactions and Sale of Goods. He has continued his research on access to justice in Canadian tax law, some of which he presented last fall at the Purdy Crawford Emerging Business Law Scholars Workshop hosted at Schulich Law.
Following articles and lectures on the legalization of cannabis, Professor ARCHIE KAISER has become involved with local harm-reduction efforts and in a campaign to create an overdose prevention site. He continues advocating for individuals labelled with an intellectual disability, now principally through his roles as a board member of the Nova Scotia Association for Community Inclusion and a provincial advisor for People First Nova Scotia.
Professor JODI LAZARE taught Family Law, Constitutional Law, Animals and the Law and Introduction to Legal Ethics. Her research examines ways to overcome the unequal economic impacts of family breakdown on women and mothers. She combines her interests in family law and animal law, arguing that traditional property law concepts are ill-suited to determining ownership of companion animals when families split up. She is a co-organizer of this October’s inaugural Canadian Animal Law Conference.
Professor JENNIFER LLEWELLYN continued her work on a restorative approach to human rights as scholar-in-residence at the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in 2017–18. She holds a SSHRC Insight grant on this topic, and in July 2018 she was appointed the law school’s Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law. She continues to serve as a commissioner of the Restorative Public Inquiry for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children.
Professor CONSTANCE MACINTOSH became Acting Associate Director for the Dalhousie Health Law Institute this year and started her term as the Viscount Bennett Professor of Law. She was a visiting professor at the University of Witswatersrand School of Law in Johannesburg, where she led workshops on land dispossession, property reparation and Canadian law-reform experiences. Locally she has been active with the Halifax Refugee Clinic’s workshops.
Professor Emeritus WAYNE MACKAY served as an independent investigator and wrote an extensive report for Acadia on issues of academic freedom in respect to psychology professor Rick Mehta. He is also preparing the fourth edition of his book Teachers and the Law: Diverse Roles. He remains active in the IMPACTS project on sexual assaults on university campuses, a national SSHRC-funded project led by McGill. He is a regular media commentator and CBC’s Information Morning legal columnist.
Professor NAIOMI METALLIC taught the new survey class in Aboriginal Peoples and the Law this winter. With collaborators, she received a SSHRC Connection Grant to bring together Mi’kmaq knowledge holders and elders to discuss the development of a research agenda to explore Mi’kma’ki legal principles and establish an Indigenous Legal Institute in Atlantic Canada. She has been involved in empirical research on the enforcement of First Nations bylaws and other Indigenous laws.
Professor SARA SECK took on the role of Associate Dean, Research while teaching Business and Environment Law, Private International Law and new graduate students. She co-organized a conference in Toronto on multinational corporate accountability and co-edited a Canadian Journal of Women and the Law special issue on resource extraction. She published a Canadian Journal of Law and Society article on transnational labour law and the environment and a chapter in The Extraterritoriality of Law.
Professor ROLLIE THOMPSON spoke on spousal support and Quebec family law at the National Family Law Program in Vancouver in July 2018. He serves on the Program’s organizing committee and is preparing for the July 2020 Program in Halifax. He and Carol Rogerson received an Award for Excellence in Family Justice from the Ontario branch of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts for their work on the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines.
Professor DAVID L. VANDERZWAAG taught International Environmental Law. He is co-editing a Research Handbook on Ocean Acidity to be published by Edward Elgar and was a contributing author to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme’s Arctic Ocean Acidification report. He co-authored “Ocean Acidification Post-Paris: Gauging Law and Policy Responses in Light of Evolving Scientific Knowledge” in Volume 33 of the Ocean Yearbook.
Professor MICHELLE WILLIAMS taught Criminal Law and African Nova Scotians and the Law and served as co-lead of Dalhousie’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Direction 5.2 and lead of Dalhousie’s African Nova Scotian Strategy. With former Chief Justice Michael MacDonald, Associate Chief Justice Lawrence O’Neil and Judge Corrine Sparks, she organized the first judicial conference within an African Nova Scotian community that led to the formation of the African Nova Scotian Access to Justice Judicial Committee. 2019 H E A R S AY
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GRAPEVINE 19 6 5
19 8 0
retired as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on May 1, 2019. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY
19 6 6
CARMAN MCCORMICK,
a
partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Health Care Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
DEBORAH GASS, a
judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia’s Family Division, retired on July 31, 2018.
19 7 5
JOSEPH MACDONALD,
ROBERT GRANT, a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Corporate and Commercial Litigation in Best Lawyers of Canada.
LAWRENCE GRAHAM,
counsel at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Mergers and Acquisitions in Best Lawyers of Canada.
BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
counsel at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Trust and Estates in Best Lawyers of Canada.
a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was elected to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
19 6 9
19 7 3
19 7 6
THERESA (WAKEHAM) MCDONALD
ROBERT MACKEIGAN,
counsel at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Insolvency and Financial Restructuring in Best Lawyers of Canada. JOHN YOUNG, a
partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Corporate Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
ANDREW WOLFSON of
DAVID MILLER, a
partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
VAN PENICK, counsel
at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Natural Resource Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 74 W. RICHEY CLARKE, a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
ROB PURDY, a partner at Patterson Law’s Halifax office, was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
19 7 7 19 7 1
BRUCE P. ELMAN received CLARENCE BECKETT, a
partner at Patterson Law’s Truro, N.S., office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation in Best Lawyers of Canada. THOMAS BOYNE, counsel at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Banking and Finance Law, Corporate Law, Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law and Real Estate Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 7 2 DAVID BRIGHT, counsel
at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Litigation in Best Lawyers of Canada.
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H E A R S AY 2019
an honourary Doctor of Laws by the Law Society of Ontario on June 20, 2018. The Windsor Law professor and former dean teaches full-time and is finishing his second term as chair of the Law Commission of Ontario’s board of governors. He also serves as the Integrity Commissioner for the City of Windsor and the Town of Amherstburg. Elman has published several works on criminal law, evidence, constitutional law, freedom of expression, law and religion, multiculturalism and ethics, and professional responsibility and is co-editor of Rotman, Elman, and Gall, Constitutional Law: Cases, Commentary, and Principles (Thomson Carswell, 2008).
WILL MOREIRA, a
partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Maritime Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
BRIAN JOHNSTON,
was appointed to the Provincial Court of Manitoba on Oct. 10, 2018. She was inducted into the Bertha Wilson Honour Society in 2012 and received the Equality Award in 2015 and the Isabel (Ross) MacLean Hunt Award in 2017 from the Manitoba Bar Association. In 2017, she received the CBA’s Cecilia Johnstone Award. She joins her husband, the Hon. Malcolm McDonald, on the Manitoba Bench. JAMES TRAVERS, a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Charlottetown office, has been named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Corporate Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 8 1 19 7 9
an associate at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense in Best Lawyers of Canada. BRIAN CASEY,
B. RICHARD BELL was
appointed Chief Justice of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada on Feb. 6, 2015. He was previously a judge of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick. J. MICHAEL MACDONALD,
who retired as Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on Feb. 1, 2019, joined Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office as counsel.
MARJORIE HICKEY, a partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was appointed chair of the Board of Commissionaires Nova Scotia. She was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Administrative and Public Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 8 2
19 8 8
was appointed Chief Justice of the Appeal Court of Nova Scotia on April 17, 2019. He was previously a justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
JOHN FITZPATRICK, a
MICHAEL WOOD
partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Insolvency and Financial Restructuring in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 8 3
CHRISTINE HIRSCHFELD, a
a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Family Law Mediation in Best Lawyers of Canada. DEBORAH CONRAD,
counsel at Stewart McKelvey’s Charlottetown office, was elected a Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants.
partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Entertainment, Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law in Best Lawyers of Canada. NEIL JACOBS, managing
RON KEEFE,
was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Pictou, N.S., on Dec. 3, 2018. He was previously a partner at Stewart McKelvey.
partner at Stewart McKelvey’s St. John’s office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Insolvency and Financial Restructuring in Best Lawyers of Canada.
was named interim president and CEO of Halifax Partnership.
a partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Banking and Finance Law in Best Lawyers of Canada. FAE SHAW,
19 8 4 a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Defamation and Media Law and Transportation Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
KATE HARRIS of Patterson Law’s Halifax office was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Tax Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Halifax on Dec. 3, 2018. She was previously managing partner with Merrick Jamieson Sterns Washington & Mahody.
19 8 5
counsel at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Insolvency and Financial Restructuring in Best Lawyers of Canada.
a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Family Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
TIM HILL,
a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was appointed to the Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards.
JOLAINE ANTONIO was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeal of Alberta on Dec. 13, 2018.
J.W. STEPHEN JOHNSTON
joined BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth as counsel.
19 9 5
DAVID COLES,
19 8 6
19 8 7 of Patterson Law’s Halifax office was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense in Best Lawyers of Canada. STANLEY MACDONALD
RAY ADLINGTON, a
partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, is the 2018–19 president of the CBA. a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Moncton office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Insurance Law in Best Lawyers of Canada. ROBERT DYSART,
a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Corporate Law and Tax Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 9 8 was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on March 26, 2019. Previously, she was a legal aid lawyer with the Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission. MICHELLE COADY
19 9 4
received the Law Foundation of Ontario’s 2018 Guthrie Award and the Senate of Canada’s Sesquicentennial Medal. She is executive director of the Torontobased Justice for Children and Youth legal aid clinic.
KATHRYN RAYMOND,
19 9 6
NATALIE WOODBURY,
PETER CROWTHER,
a partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, has been named to the firm’s board of directors. GAVIN GILES,
CANDACE THOMAS, a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was featured in the second edition of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women. In May, she was named chair of Dalhousie’s board of governors.
DARLENE JAMIESON
19 9 2
SCOTT NORTON
JOHN ROGERS
was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island on Aug. 31, 2018. He was previously a partner at Cox & Palmer in Charlottetown. GREGORY CANN
MARY BIRDSELL
JOHN BODURTHA was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Halifax on Aug. 31, 2018. Previously, he was director and senior counsel at the Department of Justice Canada.
TERRANCE SHEPPARD, a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Family Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
19 9 9 DAVID FRASER, a partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year for Information Technology Law in Best Lawyers of Canada.
2019 H E A R S AY
55
2004 JENNIFER GRAY, a
partner and project management professional at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax and St. John’s offices, won the 2018 Lexpert Zenith Award for Mid-Career Excellence in the Legal Profession. DAVID NURSE, counsel
at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, was appointed to Immigration Services Association of Nova Scotia’s board of directors.
2000 a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was named to the board of directors of the Dalhousie Alumni Association and Laing House. RICK DUNLOP,
2009
was named a co-recipient of the 2019 Torys LLP Spirit of Barbra Schlifer Award for her work on the legal profession’s role in causing unnecessary harm to complainants in sexual assault trials. In 2018, she published Putting Trials on Trial: Sexual Assault and the Failure of the Legal Profession. was named president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund Canada in December 2017 after nearly two years at the organization, first as a consultant on oceans governance, then as head of ocean conservation. She was awarded an honourary degree by Mount Saint Vincent University in May 2018. MEGAN LESLIE
2 0 01 NICOLE (BOROVAN)
previously counsel for the federal Department of Justice, was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board. GINSBERG,
a partner and leader of the Energy and Natural Resources Practice Group at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office, joined the firm’s board of directors. MICHAEL SIMMS,
2003 CHRISTINE POUND, a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, received an Institute of Corporate Directors designation.
JONATHAN SHAPIRO
received the 2019 Dalhousie Law Alumni Association and Law Students’ Society Award for Excellence in Teaching.
2005 SARAH ANDERSON
has earned the Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada credential through the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She practices in McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office.
named to one of the Top Six Group Fitness Instructor of Excellence Awards out of an estimated 3,700 instructors. He is the first Mi’kmaw to achieve this.
H E A R S AY 2019
DAVID WALLACE is a partner at McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office.
2 0 12 is practising with Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Yarmouth, N.S.
SEAMUS MURPHY
2009 DANIEL YAVERBAUM joined Vancouver’s Harper Grey LLP as an associate in its Commercial Litigation Group.
2 0 10 a senior Crown attorney in Halifax, was appointed prosecutor of environmental law for Nova Scotia. He will take cases to court related to the Environment Act, food safety, public health, meat inspection, fisheries and aquaculture, animal welfare, natural resources and the fur industry. BRIAN COX,
2 0 13 JENNIFER (HUYGEN) KELIHER and CHRISTOPHER KELIHER welcomed their first son, Patrick Andrew Paul Keliher, on Nov. 12, 2017. Jennifer is an associate at Burchells LLP and Christopher works for Ernst & Young Inc. as a manager in the Transaction Advisory Services team.
2 0 14 AMANDA WHITEHEAD
is an
associate at Stewart McKelvey’s St. John’s office.
DYKEMA
a partner with BoyneClarke LLP in Dartmouth, was named 2019 Lawyer of the Year Corporate and Tax Law, as well as Trusts and Estates, in Best Lawyers of Canada. ROBERT MIEDEMA,
NAIOMI METALLIC,
Dalhousie’s Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy, was named to Canadian Lawyer’s 2018 Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers list in the Human Rights, Advocacy and Criminal Law category.
is working as a financial recovery lawyer at HSM Chambers in the
ADAM CRANE
2 0 15 is a Crown attorney in Antigonish, N.S.
JONATHAN GAVEL
Caribbean. an associate at McInnes Cooper’s St. John’s office, was appointed to the board of directors of the Murphy Centre, which offers an alternative high school and career experience designed to meet the unique needs of learners. BRITTANY KEATING,
is the manager and editor of Hansard, the official report of what was said in the Nova Scotia Legislature’s House of Assembly. Previously, she worked in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and the family courts. DONNA DAVIS
2 0 16 a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office, was elected vice-chair of NSCAD University’s board of governors.
is practising at Ecojustice in Halifax.
SEAN KELLY,
SARAH MCDONALD
ANDREA SHAKESPEARE
MATTHEW MOULTON is practising at Cox & Palmer in Halifax.
was named a partner at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office.
56
2 0 11 JARVIS GOOGOO was
ELAINE BROOKS-CRAIG
is practising in the Truro, N.S., office of the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.
CHERIE WHEELER MCLEOD
2 0 17 MITCHELL BROUGHTON is practising at EMM Law Inc. in Port Hawkesbury, N.S.
JUSTIN SONG is an associate at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office.
GEORGE FRANKLIN is an associate at Pink Larkin in Halifax.
is an associate at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office.
KYM SWEENY is practising at Sipekne’katik First Nation in Indian Brook, N.S.
KATIE GIACOMANTONIO
is the coastal research co-ordinator at East Coast Environmental Law in Halifax.
MADISON VEINOTTE
is an associate at MacGillivray Law’s New Glasgow, N.S., office.
MIKE KOFAHL
SYDNEY LOGAN is practising
at Lenehan Musgrave LLP in Dartmouth. DANIELA LOGGIA is an associate at Gonzales and Company in Vancouver.
is an associate at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office.
2 0 18 won the Jim Davey Award (PhD category) in the 2017–2018 Canadian Transportation Research Forum’s student-essay competition for his paper “Autonomous Shipping and Seaworthiness: How Emerging Technologies will Affect the Carriage of Goods by Sea.” He is articling at Bernard LLP in Vancouver. RYAN BERNARD
SIMON MCCORMICK
ADAM MCCULLEY was appointed a Crown attorney for Halifax on Sept. 25, 2018. He articled with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice. MARY ROLF is
practising at Barteaux Durnford in Halifax. BRIANNE RUDDERHAM is an associate at Stewart McKelvey’s Halifax office.
SEAN SEVIOUR
joined Cox & Palmer’s St. John’s office as an associate. ELLIOTT BURSEY
joined Cox & Palmer’s St. John’s office as an associate.
LUKE HAYDEN
Send us your news The law school’s alumni magazine is a great way to communicate with your classmates and let them know what you have been up to. Send your submissions to Tammi Hayne: lawalum@dal.ca (tel) 902-494-5100 (fax) 902-494-4222
is
an associate at Stewart McKelvey’s Charlottetown office.
Schulich School of Law 6061 University Avenue PO Box 15000 Halifax, N.S. B3H 4R2
2019 H E A R S AY
57
IN MEMORIAM WILLIAM GEORGE CHIPMAN (’48)
RICHARD BEN SORENSEN (’53)
died on Feb. 9, 2018. He graduated from Acadia with a bachelor of arts degree and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, attaining the rank of flying officer. After obtaining his law degree from Dalhousie, he relocated to Alberta to practice, first in Calgary and then Edmonton, where he lived for the rest of his life. He remained active in the legal profession into his 90s, maintaining his membership in the Law Society of Alberta and serving as a senior advisor with Gunn Law Group. In 2016, Canadian Lawyer magazine named him “the oldest practising lawyer on the Prairies.”
died on Oct. 11, 2017. Born in Denmark, he came to Canada with his parents, four brothers and sister just before the war started in 1939. He served in the Canadian reserve navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant commander. He attended Queens and then Dalhousie, where he earned his law degree. Afterward, he practised law in Kingston, Ont., then in Ottawa for 43 years.
ARCHIBALD AUSTIN CROWELL (’52) died on March 6, 2018. He graduated from Acadia with a bachelor of science degree and from Dalhousie with a law degree, winning the Stuart Lane Memorial Prize. For a time he practiced law in Nova Scotia, first in Bridgetown, then Yarmouth. In the mid-1950s in Paris, he taught English conversation in a French high school while pursuing postgraduate studies in conflicts of law at the University of Paris’ Faculty of Law. He returned to Nova Scotia in 1956 to become executive assistant to the premier. He subsequently held roles with pharmaceutical company Smith, Kline, and French, Philadelphia, as head of the Montreal branch, and Canadian Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd. in Toronto. An avid sports lover, he was named the CEO of the Canadian Olympic Association in 1972 and accompanied the Canadian team to the Olympics in Munich. GORDON HENRY HALE READ (’52)
died on Dec. 2, 2017. He earned bachelor of arts and bachelor of laws degrees from Dalhousie. 58
H E A R S AY 2019
ERIC MESH LANE (’54) died on
May 2, 2018. After obtaining his law degree at Dalhousie, he moved to Toronto for a job in the legal department of the Canadian National Railway. He joined 411 Squadron, a reserve unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and became a jet pilot, flying on weekends for 10 years. When it became known that he was a pilot, he began acting on behalf of Air Canada and its insurers. Moving to a small firm, he travelled to many parts of the world to deal with aviation accidents of all types and the ensuing legal actions. Later, he joined the law firm Miller Thomson and worked there until his retirement.
JOHN LAUGHLIN MACKINNON (’54)
died on Jan. 31, 2018. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at Saint Mary’s University and was named “most liked student.” After receiving his law degree at Dalhousie, he practised in Halifax for a few years before moving to Ontario, where he became a teacher and, drawing on his years playing football at Saint Mary’s, a high school football coach. After several years teaching in places like Wawa, Aurora and Toronto, he retired from teaching at age 56.
IAN LESLIE MCCULLOCH (’54) died on Sept. 2, 2017. He earned bachelor of arts and law degrees from Dalhousie, then had a long and distinguished career with Cassels, Brock and Blackwell in Toronto. DAVID ARCHIBALD STEWART (’59)
died on Oct. 18, 2017. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at Mount Allison University, a law degree at Dalhousie, a master’s in comparative law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and did further studies at the London School of Economics. He then joined the law firm of Stewart, McKeen and Covert in Halifax, which later became Stewart McKelvey. Specializing in corporate, tax and estate law, he worked with many clients throughout his 56-year legal career. GERALD JOSEPH DOUCET (’61) died on Nov. 23, 2017. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a law degree from Dalhousie. He was first elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature at age 26 and nine months later became a member of the Premier Robert L. Stanfield cabinet. He was successively elected in the ensuing elections of 1967 and 1970 with increasing majorities. He served as Minister of Education, Minister of Youth, Provincial Secretary and Minister of Emergency Measures. He practiced law during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. In the 1980s and ’90s, he was a leading pioneer in the field of government-business relations consulting for corporate clients with great expertise of all levels of government. CLARE HERBERT DURLAND (’62)
died on May 27, 2018. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from
Acadia and his law degree from Dalhousie. He practised law in Middleton, N.S., from 1962 until 1997. He believed deeply in the importance of giving back to his community; he was an exceptionally accomplished hockey coach, inspiring the lives of many young local athletes. C. MARK CLEARY (’64) died on Jan. 19, 2018. He earned his teacher’s diploma in fine art from NSCAD, then an engineering diploma, a bachelor of science degree, a doctor of civil law from Saint Mary’s University and a law degree from Dalhousie. Earning his electrical journeyman’s certificates from the City of Halifax and the Province of Nova Scotia, he was a successful electrical contractor and president and CEO of Western Electrics Ltd. from 1964 to 1984. He demonstrated his commitment to the construction industry through the exemplary service and leadership he extended to numerous organizations. JOHN BENNETT “BEN” MACDONALD (’64) died on March 30, 2017. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier University, then earned a law degree at Dalhousie. Between degrees, he served 10 years with the RCMP in New Brunswick, Ottawa and Saskatchewan. He then practised law in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, becoming a Crown prosecutor in 1980. He continued working part-time in that capacity for many years after retiring in Fredericton in 1996. MARY JANE DODGE (’68) died on
June 8, 2018. She graduated from Mount Allison University, then earned a law degree at Dalhousie. She moved to Vancouver, where she worked for the Department of Justice.
J. PAUL LORDON (’69) died on Aug.
25, 2018. After earning his law degree, he obtained a master of laws from the London School of Economics. He initiated the general law practice of Martin Lordon and McKenna, then taught law at the universities of Alberta, New Brunswick and Ottawa. Following 15 years with the Department of Justice Canada, he was general counsel for Corporate Services, co-ordinating the response of the Government of Canada to the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, and later as general counsel for Judicial Affairs and Administrative Law Reform. In 1990, he returned to New Brunswick, serving as deputy minister to The Hon. Frank McKenna, chairperson of the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board and deputy minister with the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs. PETER MCGREGOR ARCHIBALD (’70)
died on Sept. 7, 2018. He graduated from Mount Allison University in 1967 with a bachelor of arts degree, then received his law degree from Dalhousie. He had a distinguished career in labour law that lasted more than 40 years, and he was recognized as one of Canada’s leading employment lawyers. He finished his career as a vice-chair of the Labour Relations Board. S. CHARLES “CHUCK” FACEY (’70) died on Nov. 21, 2018. He
graduated from St. Francis Xavier University before earning his law degree at Dalhousie. He worked with Nova Scotia Legal Aid out of the Port Hawkesbury, Antigonish and New Glasgow offices before opening his own practice in 1979. He was a former member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. He loved the law and its practice, and he was tenacious in his efforts for his clients.
ROBERT JAMES HAMILTON (’70)
died on Aug. 29, 2018. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Toronto, then a law degree at Dalhousie. He was a senior partner with Kopperud Hamilton Beyer LLP, where he had practised for over 15 years. WILLIAM “BILL” CHARLES HOSKINSON (’70) died on June 9, 2018. He
attended Wilfrid Laurier University before earning a law degree at Dalhousie. He practised in the Kitchener–Waterloo area until his retirement. He taught real estate law for broker-licence candidates at Conestoga Community College in Kitchener and was a part-time commissioner with the Residential Tenancy Commission in Kitchener, as well as a part-time commissioner on the Assessment Review Board of Ontario. JOHN DAVID MURPHY (’73) died
on Dec. 15, 2018. After earning his law degree at Dalhousie, he served as law clerk to The Hon. Roland A. Ritchie, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He then practiced at Stewart McKelvey and its predecessor firms for 27 years, focusing primarily on admiralty law, marine and fisheries, commerce and litigation. He received his Queen’s Counsel designation in 1991 and was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on March 1, 2001. He served as vice-president of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, a leader for the Boy Scouts of Canada and a legal advisor for the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities.
ALAN ROBERT LAZARE (’74) died
on Oct. 5, 2017. He was a just and uncompromising lawyer as well as a wise and caring counsellor.
A lover of music and comedy, he was a world-class saxophone player and a hilarious storyteller. He had a brilliant mind with an amazing memory. JOHN FREDERICK CARTEN (’76) died
on May 28, 2018.
died on died on Feb. 5, 2019. She was a scholar, entrepreneur, policy analyst, constitutional lawyer, consultant and adviser to governments, politicians and private entities. She was also a passionate advocate for reason, common sense and the rule of law.
MOLLIE DUNSMUIR (’76)
CHRISTOPHER KEITH PARKER (’77)
died on Nov. 13, 2018. After receiving bachelor of arts and law degrees from Dalhousie, he practised law for almost 40 years in Greenwood, N.S.
LEO IVAN MACDONALD (’80) died on Aug. 26, 2018. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1954 at age 17 and was chosen by the navy to attend Dalhousie, where he received his bachelor of arts degree with distinction in 1970, by which time he was a lieutenant commander. In 1972, he attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College. He was appointed executive assistant to the commander of Maritime Command and promoted to commander in 1973. He retired from the navy in 1977 and returned to Dalhousie to earn a law degree, remaining in the naval reserve while at law school. He practiced in Dartmouth and Halifax before returning home to Pictou in 1984, where he practiced with the firm MacLean and MacDonald until he retired in 2004. PAUL KENNETH LEPSOE (’86)
MICHAEL IRWIN STOBER (’78) died
on Aug. 24, 2018. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at McGill, his licientiate in law at the University of Ottawa, his bachelor of laws at Dalhousie University and his master of laws from the University of Ottawa. He practised law both privately and with Yarosky Daviault and was later appointed a judge of the Quebec Superior Court of Justice. BERNARD “BERNIE” PATRICK O’ROURKE (‘79) died on Oct. 13,
2017. He earned a bachelor of business administration degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a law degree from Dalhousie. He worked as a corporate lawyer in North Sydney at Khatter and Khatter and Nickerson’s and later in Halifax at SeaForth Fed Nav and IMP.
died on July 3, 2018. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at Queens University and Cambridge University, a bachelor of laws at Dalhousie and a master of arts at Cambridge. He practised law in Ottawa, most recently with Low Murchison Radnoff LLP. SHEILA MARIE (MCDONAH) LANDRY (’88) died on April 9,
2018. She earned bachelor of arts, bachelor of education and bachelor of law degrees from Dalhousie. She was employed by the Nova Scotia government, most recently with Community Services.
MICHAEL ZSOLT GALAMBOS (’90) died on Aug. 29, 2018. He
earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of British Columbia, then a law degree from Dalhousie. He had a private practice in Vancouver. n 2019 H E A R S AY
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Law Alumni Reunion Reception 2018
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2019 H E A R S AY
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CONNECTIONS
Love at law school Over the years, many alumni have wed after meeting at Weldon. Here are the stories of how three couples first connected here Jeff Ellis (‘09) and Carla Hunt (‘09) were first-year students who started chatting on a tall ship during Orientation Week activities in 2006. “I teased her about hockey, as she had played during her time at Western,” says Ellis. “I had never met a cute girl hockey player before, and I thought that was awesome.” They started dating right away, and Hunt shared her class notes with Ellis. The first semester of third year, they went on an exchange to the National University of Singapore, where they lived together for the first time. The pair moved to Calgary in 2009 to do their articles and married two years later; now they’re the parents of two children. “If I hadn’t gone to law school, I’d never have met Carla or have had my wonderful family,” says Ellis, senior legal counsel at Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (Hunt is a senior associate at Torys LLP). “I wouldn’t change our experience in any way. We made such great friends all over the country and abroad.” Natalia Mikiciuk (‘08) and Craig Bryant (‘08) come from different coasts; she’s from Vancouver, he’s from Carbonear, N.L. They met as second-year students in the winter of 2007 in their International Trade Law course. “We ended up being paired together to do a mock trade negotiation,” says Mikiciuk. “I thought he was super interesting. In true Craig fashion, he was completely oblivious to my interest.” That semester they became Facebook friends, and they kept in touch over the summer. In third year, Bryant and a mutual friend of Mikiciuk’s were roommates. “We reconnected once we both came back to town after the summer and ended up spending most of our time together,” she says. The couple married in 2012 in St. John’s, surrounded by friends from Weldon. Today they live in New Westminster, B.C., where she is legal counsel and he is a senior labour relations officer, both for a large health care union, and they have one child. “Halifax will forever hold a special place in our hearts,” says Bryant. Lisa Li (‘10) and Adam Picotte (‘09) met during Orientation Week in 2007. There was talk about going on the Harbour Hopper, which she wasn’t keen on. Picotte was a year ahead of her in the Class of 2010 and an O Week volunteer. “He said, ‘You should come. It’s not about the activity but the people you meet.’ I remember thinking to myself, he’s certainly positive. But it wasn’t a compliment the way I thought it in my head!” Fast forward to the Sir James Dunn Law Library, where Li saw Picotte several times. “I thought it was ridiculous that he carried his copy of the Income Tax Act in a plastic grocery bag. Who does that?” Picotte ended up passing on some class notes to her, and they kept running into each other. After Li had surgery halfway through law school, she was surprised when Picotte delivered flowers. When she felt better, they went for dinner. They got married in 2010, have one child and live in Burnaby, B.C., where Picotte is legal counsel at the Health Sciences Association of B.C. and Li is legal counsel at Technical Safety BC. “Turns out the people you meet can change your life,” says Li. “You just have to be willing to go for the ride.”
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The Legacy Effect Anne McLellan
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Dalhousie provided me with the opportunity to do things and go places that I would not have thought possible. It laid the foundation for my entire life. Including Dalhousie in my will is a privilege.
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Read more about Anne McLellan, Dal’s chancellor, at dal.ca/dept/senior-administration/ chancellor.html
We Can Help
If you’re thinking of including Dal in your estate plans, we can help you match your gift to your wishes. Explore the possibilities at dal.ca/plannedgiving Or get in touch, we’re here to answer your questions. Please contact Siobhan Doherty at siobhan.doherty@dal.ca or 902.494.6853.