focus law | droit - fall 2010 - mcgill university

Facultyof LawFall 2010

Facultéde droitAutomne 2010

In the Eye of the BeholderLes « classes intelligentes »Le laboratoire de cyberjusticeThe Other Side of Human Rights

When it comes to career paths, McGill Law alums such as Jean-François Gascon, BCL’00, LLB’00,have a history of seeking out newvantage points. Story on page 10

Law,U N L I M I T E D

Droit :I L L I M I T É

rédactrices en chefLysanne Larose

Victoria Leenders-Cheng

editorial advisory BoardVéronique Bélanger

Daniel JutrasMelissa Poueymirou

Jennifer Towell

DesignerGerry L’Orange

editors and copyeditorsDiana Grier Ayton

Lysanne LaroseVictoria Leenders-Cheng

Melissa Poueymirou

collaborateursLaurel BakerDaniel Jutras

Victoria Leenders-ChengJoanne Simonetti

Marie-Christine ValoisPascal Zamprelli

PhotographersClaudio Calligaris

Bryan DentonAndrew Dobrowolskyj

Owen EganJohn Morstad

Lysanne LaroseShane Ward

Communiquez avec nousKeep in touch

Send your story ideas and AlumNotes to

our Communications team [email protected]

Phone 514-398-3424Fax 514-398-4659Send your change

of address toGina Sebastiao,

Development Coordinator,[email protected]

Phone 514-398-3679Fax 514-398-4659

inFocus is published byThe Faculty of Law’s Development Office

Faculty of Law, McGill University3644 Peel Street

Montreal QC H3A 1W9www.mcgill.ca/law

en couverture Jean-François Gascon, VP

Développement des capacitéschez SNC-Lavalin, est parmi

les diplômés en vedette dansLaw, Unlimited (page 10), notre article qui explore

comment une formation endroit peut mener à des

cheminements de carrière desplus diversifiés. Monsieur

Gascon a d’ailleurs reçu le prixJeune leader sans frontières

du Québec dans le cadre du Concours ARISTA 2010.

Photo par John Morstad

Une revUe De PaPier etD’éLectronS recycLéSà 100 %. L’an dernier, nousavons innové en imprimant larevue inFocus sur du papier defibre certifiée 100 % recycléepostconsommateur avec des encresvégétales écologiques. Votre réaction a été très positive et nous avons doncdécidé de continuer dans cette foulée.Cette année, nous allons plus loin. Vousremarquerez que la revue a suivi unecure d’amaigrissement, passant de 40

pages à 24. Ceci nous a permisde réduire notre consommation de papier et de ressources.

Mais nous n’avons rien perdu en contenu, car notre pendant

électronique, inFocus online, vous propose régulièrement nouvelles, articles et éditoriaux tout frais. Pointezvotre fureteur sur publications.mcgill.ca/droit ou abonnez-vous à notre fil denouvelles RSS à publications.mcgill.ca/droit/feed pour rester dans le coup.

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thursday, September 30 to Sunday, october 3, 2010 The Faculty will mark this year’s Homecoming with the following:

Dean’s BreakfastFriday, October 1, 8–10 am, in the Common Room, Old Chancellor Day Hall

41st annual Montreal Leacock LunchFriday, October 1, 11:30 am–2 pm, at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel

reunions for the classes of ’55, ’60, ’65, ’90 and ’95For more information on class reunions, visit

www.mcgill.ca/law/alumni

Planning a reunion?

Next year, McGill will be celebrating reunions for class years 1 and 6. If you are interested in volunteering for your class reunion, Maria Marcheschi, Special Events & Alumni Relations Administrator, is here to help.

For more information, you can reach Maria at 514-398-1435, or [email protected]

Homecoming 2010

FACULTÉ DE DROIT AUTOMNE 2010 1

La thématique de ce numéro du magazine inFocus évoquepour moi les matches de la Ligue Nationale d’Improvisationauxquels j’avais l’habitude d’assister il y a déjà longtemps.Avant chaque improvisation, l’arbitre tirait une carte auhasard et la lisait d’une voix forte : « Pour une improvisationcomparée! Nombre de joueurs : Illimité! Catégorie : Libre!!Durée : Quatre minutes!!! » Les thèmes proposés au hasardétaient tous plus fous les uns que les autres et le talent de ces artistes de l’impro ne connaissait aucune frontière. Dans l’espace circonscrit déterminé par les règlements et le thèmeimposé, la liberté créative s’exprimait avec une fougue extra-ordinaire. Cette forme de théâtre à la fois libre et fortementstructuré dure au Québec depuis des décennies, et elle ad’ailleurs été exportée un peu partout dans le monde fran-cophone et même au-delà.

The paradox of deep structure and total freedom that lies atthe root of theatrical improvisation is also reflected in themany ways in which we at McGill think about law and legaltraining. Legal education is at once tightly structured andopen ended. To be trained as a competent jurist is to acquiresome familiarity with massive amounts of conceptual knowl-edge, to develop habits of critical thinking, as well as strongethical and professional commitments. And yet receiving alaw degree does not dictate the shape of one’s career – fromthat point onwards, everything is possible. Law is, quite liter-ally, unlimited. A legal education merely provides a frameworkwithin which each one of us is free to improvise and constructa meaningful life in the law.

The stories you are about to read provide ample evidence thatthis holds true at McGill. Professors and students of the Faculty of Law move beyond the ordinary framework of the university classroom to construct new ways to learn the law.Legal research extends well past the traditional, the obviousand the typical, and maps the hitherto unexplored. A pluralityof legal traditions, languages, practical perspectives and inter-disciplinary frameworks are brought to bear on key contem-porary social and political problems. For their part, the alumniof the Faculty imagine the law and their careers as open space:some have stepped outside the fixed boundaries of legal practice while others have crossed physical frontiers to build acareer elsewhere.

À McGill, la formation juridique a toujours été conçue commele point d’ancrage d’une carrière riche et diversifiée. Le droitcontinue d’y être imaginé au pluriel, sans limites ni frontières. It is not just a commitment to thinking outside of the box – it is a tradition of thinking as if there is no box. Et ça, ça nes’improvise pas! ]

Daniel JutrasDean / Doyen


2 FACULTY OF LAW AUTUMN 2010

Facultyof LawFall 2010

Law,U N L I M I T E D

THE ARTICLES

Mot du doyen 1

In the Eye of the Beholder 6

Creating a Lasting Legacy 7

Merci! Thank you! 8

Prizes of Prestige 9

Information juridique pour tous 9

Law, Unlimited 10

La Clinique juridique des artistes de Montréal 13

The Other Side of Human Rights 14

Laboratoire de cyberjustice :un tribunal portatif peut-il améliorer l’accès à la justice? 15

Les « classes intelligentes » : Ne plus faire semblant d’apprendre 16

Formation continue pour juristes à la Faculté 17


Faculté de droitAutomne 2010

LES CHRONIQUES

News | Actualités 3

Gifts | Dons 8

AlumNotes 18

In Memoriam 21

16

16

10

13

13

9

10

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Back alleys and beyond:McGill professors, alumniand students venture into

new territories of teaching and practice. From the top:Olivier Plessis, Kent Mewhort, Jennifer Besner, Jean-François Gascon and Tina Piper.PHOTO BY SHANE WARD

9

Le Prix James A. RobbLe 14 juin 2010, la Faculté de droitcélébrait les contributions exception-nelles de quatre vétérans de l’en-seignement en leur présentant le PrixJames a. robb.

Au total, c’est plus de 85 années d’en-seignement que cumulent ces chargés decours et près de 2 500 étudiants en droitqui ont pu profiter de leurs expériencesprofessionnelles et de leurs connais-sances pratiques au cours des années.

claudette allard, BSW’74, BCL’82,LLB’82, pratique le droit des affaires etle droit fiscal, se spécialisant dans les fusions et acquisitions. Elle est associéechez Fasken Martineau.

Associé chez Borden Ladner Gervais,Kenneth S. atlas, BCL’80, LLB’80, estchargé de cours à la Faculté depuis 1985,où il enseigne le droit de la faillite et del’insolvabilité.

robert raizenne, BCL’80, associé chezOsler et expert de la planification fiscale,notamment les fusions et acquisitionstransfrontalières et nationales, enseigneà la Faculté depuis 1989.


A reception was held in New ChancellorDay Hall on June 7 to mark the end ofthe 2009–2010 academic year and to bid“au revoir” to five faculty members whoare retiring: ron Sklar, Dennis Klinck,Blaine Baker, irwin cotler and armandde Mestral. Moreover, Professors Bakerand de Mestral have been granted emeritus status this year.

Five younger faculty members gavespeeches, mixing poetry, humour andprose to honour each retiree and to ex-press our shared appreciation for theirloyal contributions to the Faculty ofLaw over the years.

Read more about academic renewal atthe Faculty on inFocus online at http://publications.mcgill.ca/droit/2010/06/30/renewal.

News | Actualités

Associé principal chez Woods, James a. woods, BA’70, BCL’73, LLB’74, estchargé de cours à la Faculté depuis 1984,où il anime l’atelier de litige civil et deplaidoirie.

Pour plus de détails sur l’atelier en ques-tion, consultez inFocus online : http://publications.mcgill.ca/droit/2010/05/31/woods/

De gauche à droite :Robert Raizenne, KennethAtlas, James Robb, James Woods et Claudette Allard.

We bid farewell to five Faculty members

LYSANNE LAROSE

OWEN EGAN


Voici quatre sympathiques visages quenos étudiants auront l’occasion demieux connaître dans l’année qui vient :(dans le sens horaire) ali Martin-Mayer,BSc’98, BCL’02, LLB’02, véroniqueBélanger, BCL’91, LLB’91, LLM’99,aisha topsakal, BCL’02, LLB’02, etrosalie Jukier, BCL’83, LLB’83, sont responsables de l’amélioration continuedes services étudiants à la Faculté.

Me Martin-Mayer dirige le service desadmissions et du recrutement, tandisque Me Topsakal est la nouvelle doyenneadjointe (études et vie étudiante).

La Pr. Jukier a été nommée vice-doyenne aux études supérieures pour unmandat de trois ans, remplaçant la Pr.Shauna van Praagh, qui part pour uneannée sabbatique. Me Bélanger,doyenne adjointe à la planificationstratégique, continue d’élargir nos initia-tives internationales destinées aux étu-diants. Dans le cadre de ces mandatsrespectifs, Mmes Jukier et Bélanger sontparties enseigner en Chine ce printempsdans le cadre d’un programme d’échangeavec l’Université de Shantou. Pour ensavoir davantage, lisez l’article dans inFocus online au http://publications.mcgill.ca/droit/2010/06/21/shantou.

News | Actualités

Kim Brooks aims higherIn March 2010, ProfessorKim Brooks, holder ofthe H. Heward StikemanChair in the Law of Taxation, was one of 10professors from acrossthe country selected to receive Canada’s mostprestigious university

teaching awards, the 3m National Teach-ing Fellowships. Her passion for tax law is contagious, and she is often praised by her students for the eΩort she putsinto keeping them engaged.

With such teaching success under herbelt, Brooks has decided to embarkupon a new challenge, accepting the position of Dean at the Schulich Schoolof Law at Dalhousie University startingJuly 2010. It is with mixed emotion thatthe Faculty bids Brooks a fond farewell.The Faculty has begun the search for anew incumbent for the Stikeman Chair,acknowledging that any new candidatewill have big shoes to fill.

Au servicede nos étudiants

Recent graduate Sam walker wasn’tsure who was trying to reach him thatmorning when his cell phone’s call dis-play read “private number.” After hesi-tating briefly, he took the call – and he’sglad he did. On the other end of the linewas Justice Morris Fish of the SupremeCourt of Canada, calling to oΩer Walkerone of the most prestigious legal jobs inthe country: Supreme Court clerk.

When asked what his duties will entail,Walker joked, “You know, fetching coΩee, giving massages.” That sense of humour will come in handy, as being aSupreme Court clerk in fact means longhours of research, analysis and draftingof judgments, with an unremitting com-mitment to intellectual rigour expectedthroughout.

But it is also a superb opportunity for a budding jurist to gain exposure to thecountry’s top legal minds as they delib-erate over the most important issues of the day.

“You get to be part of a small group ofpeople helping make decisions that havea huge impact on the lives of Canadi-ans,” Walker said. “It’s a great privilege.”

And it’s a privilege that an impressivenumber of McGill students have knownin recent years. Walker is one of seven tohave been picked this year (to begin in2011). Given that there are 27 positionsto fill with students from Canada’s 21law schools, it’s quite a feat for one faculty to land more than a quarter ofthe clerkships. What’s more, McGill’s

McGill Law keeps Supreme Court streak goingBy Pascal Zamprelli

success has become something of a tradition: from 2001 to 2009 inclusive, a whopping 54 clerks have come fromMcGill, including a record eight in both2006 and 2007.

Joining Walker will be Jasmine wahhab(Justice LeBel), James Gibson (JusticeDeschamps), Perri ravon (Justice Deschamps), Seo yun yang (JusticeCharron), anja Grabundzija (JusticeRothstein), and alexandre Bien-aiméBastien (Justice Cromwell).

All of them can look forward to a demanding but rewarding experience,and they can all expect a year duringwhich they will be far too busy to fetchany coΩee.

23–25 septembre La fiducie dans tous ses États

Comment les juridictions civilistes et les juridictions mixtes ont-ellesdéveloppé leurs propres institutionsfiduciaires? Quelles sont les diΩérentesmanières d’envisager la fiducie? La conférence explorera cet outil juridiquede plus en plus important.http://francais.mcgill.ca/crdpcq.

7–9 October Global Conference on Human Rightsin Diverse Societies

The second Echenberg Family Confer-ence on Human Rights will bring together panelists from around theworld to address how diverse societiesconceptualize and implement humanrights norms and policies. One of theobjectives of the conference will be toidentify ways to help diminish sourcesof cultural conflict and foster increasedparticipation from all members of society.http://efchr.mcgill.ca.

Major Conferences in 201026–27 September Transport: What Route to $ustainability?

Presented by the Institute for Air andSpace Law, this conference and exhibi-tion will precede the triennial meetingof the ICAO General Assembly. Themes covered include the state of the aviation industry, the environment,security and facilitation, and strategiesand the way forward.http://www.mcgill.ca/iasl.


During Spring ConvocationAlana Klein receives Durnford Award Assistant Professor alana Klein was thestudents’ pick for the Durnford Awardin Teaching Excellence this year. OnKlein’s nomination form, one studentdescribed her as “a thorough, insightfuland thought-provoking teacher,” whileanother added, “She gave me more comprehensive feedback than I’ve everreceived in my many years of undergrad-uate and graduate studies. It was veryhelpful for my learning around legalwriting.”

As is tradition, Klein was handed thehefty baluster-shaped prize during theJune 4 convocation ceremony by Principal Heather Munroe-Blum.

Zimmermann gets LLD honoris causaThis year’s honorary doctorate recipi-ent, Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. reinhard Zimmermann, is recognizedas one of the world’s leading authoritiesin comparative law and legal history. He is the recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany’s highest honour for scholarly achieve-ments, and has contributed significantlyto the study of mixed jurisdictions,bringing such research to bear on discussions surrounding the emergenceof European private law.

Less well-known, perhaps, is his role in a series of stories by Alexander McCallSmith, the author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The series, entitled The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom, is a tongue-in-cheek account of the exploits of threedistinguished German professors of philology, which makes frequent reference to a mysterious “ProfessorZimmermann.”

John Hobbins honoré pour sa carrièrecomme directeur de la bibliothèquede droitNotre collègue John Hobbins, BA’66,MLS’68, a reçu l’Attestation de mériteprofessionnel décernée par les biblio-thèques de McGill pour 2010. Selon leprofesseur émérite Stephen Scott,BA’61, BCL’66, « John Hobbins n’est passeulement un homme d’une profondeérudition, mais aussi un collègue loyal et habile. Il a montré son dévouement ànotre mission par ses savants écrits surl’histoire de notre Faculté. Nous lui de-vons beaucoup comme confrère et ami. »Toujours aussi attaché à la Faculté, Johna choisi de recevoir son prix lors de laCollation des grades de la Faculté dedroit ce printemps.

PHOTO CREDITS, OPPOSITE PAGE, LEFT TO RIGHT: RACHEL GRANOFSKY; LYSANNE LAROSE. THIS PAGE: OWEN EGAN


at the age of 48, lessthan a decade after hewas appointed justiceof the Superior Court

of Quebec, the Hon. James K-Hugessen,BCL’57, began to lose his eyesight. Byhis early 50’s, when he became a judge ofthe Federal Court of Canada, Appeal Division, he was legally blind.

Managing his case load with the help oftext-to-speech computer software,Hugessen served on the Federal Courtuntil 2008 and chaired the nationwideTask Force on Access to Information forPrint-Disabled Canadians. Earlier in2010, he made a gift of $550,000 to theFaculty to stimulate research in this area of the law. The Justice James K-Hugessen Fellowship for the Study of Disabilities and the Law will advancescholarship in this emerging field by supporting graduate and undergraduatestudents, and teaching and research.

“I spent my youth and most of my adult-hood to full middle age in happy igno-rance of the experience of physicalbarriers… My hope is to encourage studyin the Faculty of and by people with dis-abilities,” Hugessen says simply. Crucialto this endeavour, he adds, is engender-ing awareness of how disability bringswith it a diΩerent experience of theworld. “You’ve got to have been there orto imagine yourself there to under-stand.”

encouraging research in disability law at McGillOn a warm summer day, the o≈ce ofDCL candidate Futsum Abbay is dim –the lights are oΩ – and pleasantly cool.Abbay is working at his computer, butthe monitor is also oΩ. Instead of read-ing from the screen, he uses the scannernext to the hard drive and wears a pairof headphones to transcribe texts fromprint to voice.

Blind since childhood, Abbay completedhis undergraduate degree in law in Eritrea with the help of friends who dic-tated their class notes to him. At McGill,he holds a fellowship from the RathlynFoundation, another award dedicated to outstanding students conducting research in disability law.

“There is a theory that presupposes thatdisability is found in the environmentrather than in the individual him or her-self,” Abbay says. “If there are barriersthat prevent a person with a wheelchairfrom continuing, this theory says it isthe responsibility of society as a wholeto remove these barriers.”

As Hugessen notes, “Many of the barri-ers to people with disabilities are set upunconsciously. It’s a matter of balancingcompeting requirements: the needs of society and the particular needs ofpeople with disabilities.”

The problem, he adds, is that “there isno coherent and principled body of lawon disability because thus far, the matterof disability and the law is not some-thing the law has viewed as worthy ofstudy.” His gift to the Faculty, Hugessenhopes, will create a place for discussionand research.

an area of the law with expansive relevanceMontreal restaurant O.Noir faces a busysection of St. Catherine Street, but itswindows are permanently covered withblack curtains. The establishment servesits patrons in total darkness, with thehelp of waiters who are blind, so dinersgain a better understanding of what it islike to live with a visual disability.

In the eye of GERRY HUDDLESTON

Gifts | Dons

Support for research in disability law paves the way for new conceptions


Creating a Lasting Legacy

The Disability and the Law studentgroup at McGill organized a meal therein 2008, as part of its eΩorts to generateinterest in disability law.

Student initiatives such as these, as wellas a blog on disability and the law (http://legalfrontiers.ca/category/disability-law), draw upon support from the Rathlyn Foundation and the James K-Hugessen Fund to provide financialassistance for research and activities, as well as resources for McGill studentswith disabilities.

Much of the potential for change in disability law hinges on changing social perceptions about barriers to access,Hugessen says, pointing out that side-

walks are now much friendlier to wheel-chair access than a few decades ago.

“When I grew up in Montreal, there wasno question of there being sidewalk cuts[ramps between the sidewalk and thestreet] anywhere. Today, there are fewcities and towns anywhere which don’thave cuts.”

Adds Abbay: “The law is not a totalpanacea for the problems of personswith disabilities, but I believe it can bean instrument for change.” ]

opposite: The Hon. James K-Hugessen,BCL’57, and Mary Hugessen, BA’55, BCL’58,BSW’77, MSW’83. right: Futsum Abbay, LLM’02.

the beholder

OWEN EGAN

of rights and responsibilities By Victoria Leenders-Cheng

GERRY L’ORANGE

the Faculty of Law would like to express its deep appreciation for thegenerosity and commitment of the lateDavid Mackenzie, QC, BA’48, BCL’51,[see obituary on page 21].

Thanks to a generous bequest from Mr.Mackenzie, the Faculty of Law will nowbe able to expand upon its oΩerings inthe area of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, with the creation of theDavid Mackenzie Fund in Securities,Corporate Finance and Financial Mar-ket Regulations.

This endowed fund will support such activities as new course development,

research assistantships, conferences andseminars in this increasingly dynamicarea of the law, and will provide an important legacy for Mr. Mackenziehimself, whose legal career was synonymous with excellence.

David Mackenzie graduated from theFaculty of Law in 1951 and went on tofound the prominent Montreal law firmMackenzie Gervais, which merged withMcMaster Meighen in 1998, and laterwith four other firms in March 2000, tobecome part of Borden Ladner Gervais,one of Canada’s largest law firms.

The Faculty of Law is grateful for thesupport of alumni like Mr. Mackenzie,who through foresight and planninghave made a lasting and meaningful contribution to the Faculty, helping toensure that McGill continues to providethe best legal education in the countryfor decades to come. ]

$100,000 + BoeingSandra and Leo Kolber

FoundationHydro-QuébecEstate of David Mackenzie, QCRio Tinto Alcan

$50,000 – $99,000Jean Gabriel Castel, OC, QCJames K-HugessenMcCarthy Tétrault FoundationOgilvy Renault LLPLi Ka-Shing (Canada)

Foundation

$25,000 – $49,999Penny & Gordon EchenbergOsler Hoskin & Harcourt LLPDonald W. Seal, QC

$10,000 – $24,999The Beaverbrook Canadian

FoundationBorden Ladner Gervais LLPBarry Campbell & Debra

Grobstein CampbellFasken Martineau DuMoulin

LLPPhilippe LetteIan C. PilarczykRobert RaizenneHillel W. Rosen

$5,000 – $9,999Marc BarbeauMaryse BertrandChristine A. CarronS. H. (Kip) CobbettDavid CrevierAndrew FlemingGluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.Yoine GoldsteinEthel GroffierStephen H. HalperinBryan Haynes

George R. HendyPatrick E. KieransJennifer Le Dain

& Philip SymmondsRoderick D. MargoXeno C. MartisMalcolm McLeodRon McRobieDaniel PicotteRyan Rabinovitch

& Shanna PerlusJames A. RobbWilliam StavertStikeman Elliott LLPSusan Wells TunnellJames A. Woods

$2,500 – $4,999Gary F. BellPeter & Caroline BurgessDiane G. CameronJohn B. ClaxtonBrett CodeMichael CytrynbaumDe Grandpré Chait LLPArmand de MestralSteven GarellekBrenda & Samuel GewurzAlan Z. GoldenHasso F. W. HagenTina HobdayIrwin Law Inc.Mahmud JamalClaire Kirkland-Strover

& Wyndham A. StroverHenri LafleurGary LawrenceDesmond LeeGeorge LockeMiller Thomson LLPRobert L. MunroGreg SomersNorm SteinbergMelissa ThomasMichelle WilliamsJean-Paul Zigby

$1,500 – $2,499Jon AndersonThe Canadian Maritime Law

AssociationH. Lionel ChetwyndDavid R. CollierSilvana ConteFrançois CrépeauGeorges DubeTony Fata

& Teresa CalandrielloHon. Mr. Justice William

FraibergFraser Milner Casgrain LLPTom FriedlandMarie GiguèreJohn H. GomeryAndrew GrossmanThe Harold G. Fox

Education FundSean J. HarringtonSarah HugginsDaniel JutrasNicholas KasirerStephen J. KellyPeter R. MacKell, QCWilliam I. Miller, QCDominique MonetGary NachshenStephen PanuntoMindy Paskell-MedeJames PeacockBrian C. PelStephen ScottPatrick M. SheaPierre SoulardDavid SternsMartin ToulouseKim WakefieldMarc WeinsteinPaul WickensGlenn M. Zakaib

$750 – $1,499Susan AbramovitchPatrice AbriouxSenator W. David AngusKen AtlasLe Barreau de MontréalDavid F. BellNathan BoidmanGregory BordanFred BramanRichard ClareJohn Cordeau, QCBrian DaleyAlix d’Anglejan-ChatillonVincent de Grandpré

& Sandra NishikawaMarie DeschampsGiovanni DolfatoJames DorisMarc DuquetteMaurice Forget, CMWilliam F. FosterHélène V. Gagnon

Thomas S. GillespieSally GomeryJoy GoodmanRichard (Rick) J. GoossenIsidore GreenbaumThe Hon. A. Derek GuthrieStephen Hamilton

& Janice NaymarkJulia HanigsbergBrian HellerAzim HussainNancy & Frank IacobucciTom JohnsonHoward KaufmanRobert KepesRobert A. KozlovAnthony J. LafleurBob LespéranceMark LessardFrancois LeTourneuxDaniel J. LevinsonMichael D. LevinsonFrançois LongpréMark A. LuzCharles MorganSean MuggahBradley NemetzMarek NitoslawskiKatia OpalkaPeter G. PamelSophie PerreaultJohn PopeRichard W. PoundBernard PoznanskiMichael QuigleyLisa Rambert

& Martin Jan ValasekMichael RankinOscar (Ingie) RespitzRobinson Sheppard Shapiro

LLPFrançois RobergeEric RoherCraig RosarioArthur H. RosenbaumMelvin L. RothmanAndré RoyGeneviève SaumierIsabel SchurmanLouis SéguinMarvin ShahinElliot ShapiroYusra SiddiqueeDamion K. L. StodolaJim SurbeyJohn J. SwidlerJean M. TardifDominic ThérienTim TherouxTroy Brennan UngermanNiko Veilleux & Pamela SierraRobert S. VinebergEdouard Dong Vo-QuangBrian Wright


Merci! Thank you!La Faculté de droit est reconnaissante envers ses généreuxdiplômés, amis et donateurs qui, par leurs dons, aident nosétudiants et professeurs dans la poursuite de leurs projets universitaires.

The following categories represent annual giving made be-tween June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010, rather than total multi-year pledge amounts. The list excludes anonymous donors.

Many thanks to all who contributed!

Gifts | Dons

For more information about giving, contact Melissa Poueymirou, Development Director,at 514-398-6611 or [email protected]


Based on the unanimous opinion ofthe award committee, robert Leckey,BcL’02, LLB’02, received the canadaPrize of the international academy ofcomparative Law (iacl) for his book,Contextual subjects: Family, state and rela-tional theory. The prize recognizes anoriginal legal work “of high scientificquality” that critically compares thecommon law and civil law systems.

Published by the University of Torontopress, the monograph analyzes shiftingviews of the legal subject and argues thatthe concept of the legal subject is notonly embedded in the social context andin relationships, but exerts an influenceon the application of family law and administrative law as well.

“I take great pleasure in seeing the prizeawarded to your subject,” said iaclSecretary General Jürgen Basedow, inspreading word of the news. “The inter-relation between family law and admin-istrative law has been neglected over agreat many years although it has becomemore and more important in real life.”

CLAUDIO CALLIGARIS (2)

L’idée de créer un moteur de rechercheest venue à Kent Mewhort, un étudianten 4e année, au beau milieu d’un courssur les contrats. « Je cherchais un arrêtparticulier en droit autochtone, mais jen’arrivais pas à me souvenir du nom, » explique-t-il. « J’ai essayé plusieurs mots-clés et j’ai consulté page après page derésultats, sans succès. En désespoir decause, j’ai fait une recherche sur Googleet je l’ai immédiatement trouvé! »

Chercher de la jurisprudence sur Googleest loin d’être idéal, note M. Mewhort,qui détient un baccalauréat en informa-tique de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique. Mais il a tout de même prisexemple sur le géant de la recherche weben concevant son propre site, qui se veutfacile d’emploi pour tous, et pas seule-ment pour les juristes.

« Le rôle des avocats va devoir changer,dit-il, car une foule de personnes sereprésentent déjà elles-mêmes devantles tribunaux. Il est clair que pour réus-sir, ces gens ont besoin d’avoir accès à del’information juridique qu’ils peuventaisément trouver et comprendre. »

Pour dessiner le logo du moteur derecherche, M. Mewhort a justement tiréson inspiration de cette notion d’accessi-bilité. Deux voiliers en équilibre évo-quent à la fois un compas et les plateauxde la balance de la justice, représentant,dit-il, « des informations juridiques quicirculent librement. »

Voyez vous-même : www.nomus.ca. ]

SHANE W

ARD

Information juridique pourtous

Prizes of Prestigeadelle Blackett, BcL'94, LLB'94,received the 2010 Bora Laskin national Fellowship in Human rightsto pursue research in contemporarylabour law. Her analysis will focus onthe conditions of domestic workers andthe regulatory frameworks in 75 coun-tries around the world, including Brazil,France, South Africa and Canada, andseeks to address the lack of compara-tive, international perspectives on the subject.

“Domestic work is one of the oldest andmost significant occupations for a stag-gering number of women around theworld,” Blackett says. However, she addsthat domestic work is often undervaluedor devalued as part of the informal econ-omy and as work that takes place in thehome.

“The hypothesis of this research is that,for domestic work to be recognized asdecent work, it must be regulated bothand at once as work like any other and aswork like no other,” Blackett explains.


Law, U N L I M I T E DCOVER STORY

1850–1900: early promise and a noble rosterEven in its infancy, the Faculty of Law produced some of the most influential legalminds in the country: by the time of Confederation, the Faculty had educated twoeventual Prime Ministers and one Father of Confederation: Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, BCL 1854, DCL 1867, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, BCL 1864, LLD 1899, and Thomasd’Arcy McGee, BCL 1861.

More than a century later, when MegKinnear, LLB’81, took up her studies atMcGill, the list of prominent names wasstill growing.

“McGill comes with such a unique andpowerful legacy,” says Kinnear, who hailsfrom four generations of McGill alumni.“Francis Reginald Scott on constitution-al law: that is a name that is respectedwherever you go.”

Kinnear was recently appointed the firstfull-time Secretary General for the In-ternational Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington,D.C., one of five organizations thatmake up the World Bank. She says thather time at McGill honed the skillsneeded to tackle the complex problemsin the world of investment disputes.

“[Studying law at McGill] is an intensegrowing experience,” she says. “You canfeel yourself change, the way you think,the way you approach an issue, learn totake it apart and reorganize it in an analytical way. It exceeded all my expec-tations.”

Ann Soden, BCL’81, LLB’82, also has a list of names to add to the roster: “Thefirst students I met as we entered Chan-cellor Day Hall,” she recalls, “were BrianMcDonough, now legal counsel to theCatholic Archdiocese of Montreal;Louise Dubé, a CEGEP graduate whobecame a journalist after law school;François Crépeau, now an eminent expert on public international law; andKathleen Weil, today Quebec’s Ministerof Justice.”

After graduation, Soden initially embarked on a career in real estate butdevoted herself to the emerging field ofelder law after serving on the Board ofGovernors of a regional seniors’ groupand uncovering legal needs specific tothe elderly that were going unanswered.She is now the Executive Director ofthe National Institute of Law, Policy and Aging.

“I left McGill with a real passion for law,all its permutations and all its potential,”she says. “My training armed me withknowledge and with intellectual curios-ity to pursue any opportunity.”

1900–1945:civil law meets common lawIn 1914, the Faculty introduces the study ofcommon law to a program that had previ-ously devoted itself to the Civil Code in

When it comes to career paths, McGill Law alums have a history of seeking new

vantage points, an impulse that is closely connected to the history and character

of the Faculty of Law. inFocus profiles seven alumni who are breaking innovative

ground with their law degrees and offers a look at the pluralistic nature of

the Faculty itself. By Joanne Simonetti and Victoria Leenders-Cheng

Jean-François GasconMeg Kinnear


preparation for the Quebec Bar examina-tions. Support for the common law compo-nent of the curriculum fluctuates over thenext fifty years, but this initial decision defines the study of law at McGill for thecentury to come.

As Professor Herbert Arthur Smith elabo-rates in 1924, “the first motive [for providinginstruction in the ‘common law’] was to ensure that the Law Faculty… should be notmerely a provincial, but also a national anda Canadian institution.”

The broad scope of the integrated pro-gram of study is even more importanttoday, says Barry Campbell, LLB’75,BCL ’76. “McGill’s particular advantageis its program, its dual streams, whichoffer training that is suitable for legaland political careers,” he notes. “It wasand is superb training for any number of

opportunities. It prepares you for howthe world operates and how to operatein the world.”

After a decade in corporate law at McCarthy Tetrault, Campbell served asLegal Counsellor at the InternationalMonetary Fund in Washington D.C. In1993, he answered the call of the FederalLiberal Party to run for public office andwon, serving four years in Parliament.Campbell’s career then took an entre-preneurial turn: as founder and presi-dent of Campbell Strategies, agovernment relations firm, he now leadsa team that facilitates communicationand negotiations between the privateand public sectors.

An impressive number of McGill gradu-ates turn to the public sector over thecourse of their careers, in part because

the Faculty is uniquely positioned totrain its students in two languages andtwo legal systems, while immersed in avibrant, pluralistic environment.

“[The years of the late 1970’s] were an exciting time to study law at McGill,”says Jennifer Stoddart, BCL’80.“There was a changing of the guardwithin the Faculty, an influx of youngervoices with a more cosmopolitan per-spective… It was pre-Charter, so issuesof human rights, how criminal law wasbeing applied to minority groups andhow all this informed constitutional law,were starting to bubble to the surface. I was extremely fortunate to have wit-nessed it.”

Decades later, Stoddart would see another changing of the guard upon herappointment as Canada’s Privacy >

Jennifer Stoddart Shervin Majlessi Caroline Bérubé


how to think strategically and analyti-cally, how to handle sensitive informa-tion and how to communicate ideaseffectively so that they are actionable.”

Caroline Bérubé, BCL ’99, LLB’99, hasbenefited from McGill Law’s interna-tional presence on the corporate side,citing an excellent exchange program asa major advantage. A Managing Partnerwith HJM Asia Law & Co LLC, Bérubéis an expert on Chinese corporate law,advising European, North American andAsian clients on the complexities ofAsian legal structures.

“McGill trains people to have an interna-tional vision with a dual program that allows you to understand the basis of various jurisdictions, and also by havingexchange students from all over theworld come to the Faculty and by givingits own students the opportunity tostudy abroad,” Bérubé says.

1999-onwards: new century on the horizonThe Faculty unites the study of the commonlaw and civil law traditions under the um-brella of an integrated BCL/LLB program,the only one of its kind in the world. The addition of the Nahum Gelber Law Librarybuilding ushers in an era of intensive, cutting-edge legal research, and major classroom reno-vations herald a revamped approach toteaching the law.

Fascinated by new issues arising fromglobalization and yearning to travel theworld to see these forces at play, Jean-François Gascon, BCL’00, LLB’00, trusted that McGill’s interna-tional trade law program would take himwhere he wanted to go – everywhere.

After obtaining his degree, Gasconworked in the public sector as a tradepolicy advisor, contributing to the devel-opment of a social ISO to guide globalindustry practices. In 2003, he switchedover to the private sector and is nowVice-President of Capacity Building atSNC Lavalin, where he currently runsprojects in over 35 countries.

“International trade policy issues can behighly sensitive,” says Gascon. “MyMcGill Law training taught me to ration-

alize those issues, see them from differ-ent angles, find solutions and communi-cate them persuasively. The rigoroustraining and the strong internationalnetwork I developed at McGill meantthat all roads were open to me, includingthe one I always dreamed of: travelling.”

late june, 2010The campus is quiet, the classrooms deserted.The analog clock on the o≈ce wall of F.R.Scott Professor of Constitutional and PublicLaw Roderick Macdonald says it is 4:45 p.m.but something about the hands on the clock isa little odd. The numbers on the clock runcounter-clockwise, making it look backwards.

But Macdonald points out emphatically,“It’s only a backwards clock if you thinkconvention describes normal. It’s a per-fect clock and it’s perfectly understand-able. The only reason we call it back-wards is because most of the clockswe’ve had experience with go the otherway.”

In challenging the viewer to re-considerthe very ideas of forwards and back-wards and to question what is consid-ered normal, the clock is an apt symbolof the Faculty itself, says Macdonald,who was Dean from 1984 to 1989.

“You find at McGill professors with diversity of opinion who have non-standard views of the universe and arewilling to make the time to assist students with similar views in pursuingtheir dreams,” Macdonald explains, describing a Faculty composed of profes-sors who speak not only English andFrench but also Spanish or Mandarin –among others – whose interests rangefrom private practice to government or pro bono work, and whose prioritiesencompass academic research and student life.

This spirit of constant inquiry enables abroadening of perspective, academicallyand professionally, Macdonald says. “Ifyou come to the Faculty of Law wherepeople say, ‘Just because that’s whatmost people do doesn’t mean that’swhat we have to do,’ then the clock isn’tbackwards and these other careersaren’t alternative. They’re just part ofwhat you can do with a law degree.” ]

< Commissioner in 2003. Using toolslike blogs, YouTube and Twitter to pro-mote awareness of its work, the Officeof the Privacy Commissioner is at thevanguard of issues aΩecting Canadians,from the way personal information col-lected through online social networkingtools is stored and used, to educatingyoung Canadians about their privacyrights.

post–world war ii era: an international expansionDean Maxwell Cohen, himself an interna-tionally respected judge and scholar, re-asserts the Faculty’s hallmark commitment totrans-disciplinary study with the establish-ment of the Institute of Comparative Law in1966. Today, McGill boasts one of the largestand most international graduate programs ofany school of law and a thriving communityof students from all over the world.

Shervin Majlessi, LLM ’00, DCL ’09,left his home, friends and family in Iranto pursue graduate studies at McGillLaw. Majlessi was interested in a careerin international relations and knew thatMcGill credentials would open the rightdoors.

After graduation, he investigated fraudand corruption allegations for the WorldBank, and for the United Nations in theOil for Food Program. He is currentlystationed in Kabul as a strategy and anti-corruption advisor in preparation forthe 2010 Kabul Conference, where theAfghani government will present itsplans for development and governanceprograms to an international audience.

“Part of my responsibility is to be thevoice of reason as pressure builds to deliver a strategy in time for the confer-ence,” explains Majlessi. “There are a lotof ambitious ideas right now aboutAfghanistan, but not many practicalplans. My McGill training taught me

C’est stupéfiant de voir la scène musi-cale montréalaise! Ce qu’elle produit surpasse tout. »

Mais il faudra attendre presque deux ansavant qu’ait lieu la première séance deconsultation. « Nous avons passé touteune session à tenter de trouver des fondspour financer notre projet, mais sanssuccès, confie Keith Serry. Finalement,nous avons décidé de livrer un produitun peu moins complet, en le finançantde notre poche. Nous oΩrons le serviceseulement de temps en temps pour com-mencer. Le but, c’est de prouver qu’uneclinique pour artistes, c’est possible etqu’il existe un besoin. »

Les Robin des bois du droitcjam oΩre aux moins nantis ce qu’ils nepourraient s’oΩrir autrement. « On aideles artistes qui normalement n’ont pasbeaucoup d’argent et qui ont souvent laréputation de se faire avoir par lesgrosses compagnies, » a≈rme GuillaumeLavoie, bénévole et étudiant en droit àMcGill.

La Clinique juridiquedes artistes de Montréal

il est 19 h 30, rue Sherbrooke. Dansune vaste salle de conférence, une demi-douzaine d’apprentis juristes attendentleur premier client. C’est la troisièmeséance de consultation dans l’existencede cjam, la Clinique juridique desartistes de Montréal. À 19 h 35, Jean-Jacques Nigoul fait son entrée. Il aquitté la restauration dans le but devivre de ses écrits. Mais le chemin vers le métier d’auteur est ardu. Il est ici pourconnaître ses droits. Et cela ne luicoûtera pas un sou (voir www.cjam.info).

cjam, c’est l’idée de Keith Serry, un an-cien journaliste culturel et consultant encommunications. Il a entamé ses étudesen droit à McGill dans la mi-trentaine.cjam est née de l’alliance de ses deux passions : le droit et les Arts. « J’ai un intense désir de voir les gens créer. Laclinique, c’est l’occasion de mettre nosconnaissances juridiques au service decette création. Nous voulons redonner àla communauté artistique qui nous atant donné, par son art, par sa musique.»

commencer petit pour voir grandÀ l’automne 2008, une dizaine d’étu-diants, un professeur de droit et legérant d’un groupe de musique se réunissent dans le salon de Keith Serry. Un café à la main, ils voient grand. « Notre idée était de créer une cliniquepermanente, ouverte 5 jours sur 7, avecdes employés, et qui fournirait de l’infor-mation juridique objective et des con-seils aux artistes. »

« J’ai vu que ce genre de concept fonc-tionnait déjà dans d’autres grandes villes,comme New York, Los Angeles, SanFrancisco et Nashville, précise KeithSerry. Et comme Montréal a une com-munauté artistique fantastique, je mesuis dit que cela fonctionnerait ici aussi!

Et à en croire les artistes, cjam est unebénédiction du ciel. « Cette clinique estfort sympathique, a≈rme joyeusementl’auteur Jean-Jacques Nigoul, d’autantplus que les recherches se font une foisque les questions sont posées. Lesréponses ne nous viennent pas toutesprêtes, sorties de la bouche de celui quinous reçoit. Ça donne plus de crédibilitéaux réponses. » Un client de cjam peuts’attendre à obtenir l’informationsouhaitée dans les 10 jours suivant la rencontre.

« Tous les clients que j’ai eus jusqu’àprésent avaient des projets et ilsvoulaient savoir comment les réaliser,tout en minimisant les risques juri-diques, les risques de poursuites, etéviter que d’autres personnes s’appro-prient leurs idées, » a≈rme MaximeHébrard, étudiant en droit à McGill etbénévole pour l’organisme.

Toutefois, les bénévoles de cjam ne sontpas autorisés à donner d’avis juridiques. « On peut leur énumérer leurs droits,mais on ne peut pas leur donner des conseils, du genre il faut que vous alliezdevant le tribunal ou quoi que ce soit,ajoute Maxime Hébrard. Mais on peutleur dire, la loi, c’est ça; les droits d’au-teurs, c’est ça. Et en général, ils sont contents de l’aide qu’on leur apporte. »

Les fondateurs de cjam espèrent trouverles fonds nécessaires pour qu’un jour laclinique devienne un incontournablepour les artistes de Montréal. « Des services juridiques gratuits, ou très abor-dables, oΩerts en tout temps. C’est monrêve, » conclut Keith Serry. ]

Des étudiants et des diplômés décident de

redonner aux artistes qui leur ont tant donné.

Par Marie-Christine Valois


L’équipe cjam : Jennifer Besner, DavidShaΩner, Olivier Plessis et Keith Serry (co-directeurs), Owen Ripley et Ben Shemie


Human RightsThe Other Side of

Being arrested in North Caucasus drives home the

challenges – and the realities – of human rights

work for one recent McGill grad

when Daria Boyarchuk graduatedfrom McGill’s Faculty of Law in 2008,she packed her bags and headed back toMoscow to continue the human rightswork she started as an intern. Now working at the Stichting Russian JusticeInitiative (srji) as a human rights lawyer,Daria and her colleagues labour to obtain redress for human rights abusescommitted in the North Caucasus.

Since its founding in 2001, the srji, aMoscow-based non-governmental organization, has established itself asone of the leading legal representationand litigation organizations in Russia,

investigating incidents in the Chechenwar and the 2008 armed conflict inGeorgia.

Earlier this year, Boyarchuk and threecolleagues were in the Republic of In-gushetia, interviewing witnesses to taketheir stories before the European Courtof Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

“I wanted to have the families [I was rep-resenting] tell me how their father ortheir son or their daughter had disap-peared or been killed extra-judicially,”says Boyarchuk. “It was such a huge con-tradiction of seeing such a beautiful areaand knowing there were so many humanrights violations going on.”

The pristine landscape was also incon-gruous with what happened next. As Boyarchuk exited her hotel with hersuitcase, set to fly back to Moscow, sheand her colleagues were surrounded byover 15 armed guards. “This guy is infront of me with a huge Kalashnikov,”she says. “The information about ourpresence had leaked out to federal security headquarters, the former kgb. I burst out crying, there was so muchpressure.”

Their passports confiscated, they wereloaded into vans and taken to what Boyarchuk describes as a “dark cell of abasement” where they were questionedand taunted. “They were like, ‘Why areyou so upset? You should be happy we’renot hanging you upside down from theceiling like we do with the other de-tainees.’”

Boyarchuk was never given an o≈cialreason for the arrest, nor for their even-tual release, but she admits she washaunted for weeks afterwards. Living infear was not something she had consid-ered as a law student at McGill, eventhough she had interned at the srji.

“Like a lot of students who want to dohuman rights work, my head was in theclouds. This showed me the reality,” shesays, adding a maxim for other graduatesinterested in her field. “What humanrights lawyers do is great indeed, but itcomes at a great price.”

Despite this chilling wake-up call, Boyarchuk has not lost her faith in herability to help end impunity, even if theshort-term outlook is bleak. “Things willprobably not change while I’m here, orin 10 years, or 20 years. But they willchange slowly.”

In the meantime, she draws inspirationfrom the courage of the victims andtheir families. “I think of an applicantwe met whose son was detained sevenyears ago – he still had so much hope tosee him again and I think it is this hopethat I bring back with me to Moscow,”she says. “I hope that my presence andthat of other human rights lawyers work-ing here will help.” ]

Daria Boyarchuk, BCL/LLB’08, in the Moscow o≈ceof the Stichting Russian Justice Intiative

By Laurel Baker

ALEX PONOMAREV


Le professeur Fabien Gélinas colla-bore avec le centre de recherche en droit public de l’Université de Montréal au « Laboratoire de cyber-justice », une infrastructure derecherche visant à développer dessolutions technologiques aux prob-lèmes qui affligent l’administration de la justice. Le projet comprendranotamment une salle d’audience portative, dotée d’un système de visioconférence, d’ordinateurs et delogiciels, qui permettra la tenue deprocédures judiciaires ou arbitrales à distance. notre journaliste victoriaLeenders-cheng l’a rencontré.

Pourquoi le monde juridique a-t-il besoin du laboratoire de cyberjustice?

« Peu de gens sont conscients du fait que,dans la plupart des pays, le système juridique ne fonctionne pas très bien.Dans 95 % des litiges, le système esttrop lent et trop coûteux. De plus, le système juridique ne se prévaut pas destechnologies de l’information.

Le laboratoire est un forum de réflexionet d’échanges sur les développements etmeilleures pratiques dans le domaine.Nous sommes à créer une infrastructurelogicielle de base dont quiconque pourrase servir pour développer des modulesspécifiques. »

Donnez-nous un exemple du type de module que le projet pourrait engendrer.« Nous avons rencontré des juges quinous ont suggéré des projets très intéres-sants. Par exemple, un système virtuelde dépôt de documents qui simplifieraitet rendrait plus e≈caces les procéduresdes petites créances.

On peut imaginer aussi des banques dedonnées qui fourniraient de l’informa-tion aux juges, sur les sentences impo-sées pour une infraction particulière,par exemple; un logiciel pour recréer leslieux d'un crime en réalité virtuelle, oudes technologies pour faciliter l’accèsdes personnes handicapées au systèmejudiciaire.

Ces applications sont simples, maispourraient réduire considérablementcoûts et délais. »

Les outils informatiques sont disponibles depuis plus d’une décennie. Qu’est-ce qui freine leur implantation?« La communauté juridique est parti-culièrement attachée à ses traditions etréticente à l’idée du changement.

Cette réticence s’explique en partie parla force même des habitudes procédu-rales et en partie par la nature conserva-trice du droit. Certains chercheurs, parexemple, ont suggéré que l’architectured’un palais de justice en elle-même estessentielle à la perception qu’ont lesgens que justice est bel et bien rendue.

Qu’arrivait-il alors si, à l’aide des tech-nologies, on pouvait tenir des audiencesdans une collectivité éloignée? Nous devons mieux comprendre les enjeuxpsychologiques pour identifier les élé-ments de la pratique qui sont de simpleshabitudes et ceux qui sont d’une utilitéréelle. Voilà des questions que le labo-ratoire de cyberjustice nous aidera à explorer. »

comment le public perçoit-il ceschangements dans le système judiciaire? comment le projet y répondra-t-il?« Le système de justice pénale eΩectueune bonne part de son travail en sus-citant une crainte dans l’esprit des gens :‘si je fais ceci, je serai puni par la loi’.Bien que vague, cette notion est très dissuasive à l’égard des comportementsantisociaux; le système judiciaire s’ensert depuis bien longtemps!

Aujourd’hui, toutefois, les gens connais-sent mieux leurs droits et, dans lescauses civiles, sont beaucoup plus en-clins à entamer des procédures judici-aires ou extrajudiciaires.

Le public souhaite un système de justiceplus e≈cace et accessible. À cet égard,l’incorporation de nouvelles technolo-gies dans l’administration de la justice ale potentiel d’en accroître l’accessibilitéet de changer notre façon de considérerla justice et le rôle de l’état dans son administration. » ]

Laboratoire de cyberjustice :un tribunal portatif peut-ilaméliorer l’accès à la justice?

LYSANNE LAROSE


« Une centaine d’étudiants, cordés surleurs chaises pendant des heures, re-copient le discours blasé d’un pro-fesseur tout aussi blasé. C’est le genrede vision d’horreur qu’on a toujours re-fusé ici, » a≈rme Daniel Jutras, doyen dela Faculté de droit de l’UniversitéMcGill. Entamer un grand virage péda-gogique, c’est sa priorité. « J’aimeraisque, lorsque les étudiants vont en classe,ce soit une aventure chaque fois, que cesoit engageant, excitant, qu’ils aientenvie d’être en classe tous les jours.»

Depuis janvier 2010, la Faculté de droitde McGill donne des cours dans ce quel’on appelle des « classes intelligentes ».Frédéric Mégret et Tina Piper ont étéles premiers professeurs à s’investir dansce projet. Et ce fut tout un contrat! Car dans les classes intelligentes, l’en-seignement magistral cède complète-ment sa place à la participationétudiante.

« Ces salles n’ont pas de podium, où leprofesseur récite son cours, expliqueTina Piper. Il y a huit tables rondes,placées en cercle, et le professeur se déplace dans la salle. »

adieu, enseignement magistralFrédéric Mégret ne croit plus en la sco-larité passive, ni au confort de l’enseigne-ment magistral. « On passe beaucoup detemps et d’énergie à tenter de leur in-culquer un savoir théorique. […] Mais on se rend compte, quand on leurpose des questions pratiques, que les étudiants ont compris sans vraimentcomprendre. »

Que ce soit des mises en situation concrètes, un système de clicker pour per-mettre aux étudiants de voter en tempsréel sur des questions de droit, ou en-core des débats virtuels où les étudiantsargumentent via un réseau informatique,presque tout l’apprentissage se fait par

des exercices pratiques. « Je dois enquelque sorte scénariser mes cours, ex-plique Frédéric Mégret. Ils sont devenusdavantage des happenings, des événe-ments, des rencontres de concepts, quede la transmission de savoir pure et simple. »

« J’ai dû complètement changer monstyle d’enseignement pour m’adapteraux classes intelligentes, a≈rme TinaPiper. C’est comme si j’enseignais moncours pour la première fois! » La transi-tion n’est pas simple non plus pour lesétudiants, car elle exige des eΩorts plussoutenus de leur part.

« C’est un peu de notre faute à nous, lesuniversitaires. Nous avons souvent en-couragé des modes d’apprentissage unpeu attentistes, où les étudiantss’adaptent au professeur, où ils font sem-blant d’apprendre, et où ils se bourrentle crâne quelques jours avant l’examen.

Les « classes intelligentes »

La série de formation continue 2009–2010 de la Faculté, Think Ahead / Unepensée d’avance, a obtenu un grand succès,proposant 15 heures de formation continue accréditées par le Barreau. Lasalle du tribunal-école Maxwell-Cohenétait bondée à chaque conférence.

Brigitte Quintal, BCL’91, a apprécié laformule et « la qualité des conférenciers,à l’avant-garde de leurs domaines, inté-ressants dans leurs propos. Impossiblede s’ennuyer! » Elle ajoute : « Mais au-delà de ces considérations, c’est le retourà Chancellor Day Hall qui m’a le plustouchée, ce sentiment de revenir à lamaison. Nul doute que ce ‘retour auxsources’ marque le début d’une traditionde formation continue que je ne voudraipas manquer. »

claire Kusy, ancienne conseillère ju-ridique à l’O≈ce national du film duCanada, a renchéri en confiant que « chaque conférence fut une véritablepièce de théâtre en trois actes. Les pro-fesseurs se sont faits de brillants met-teurs en scène et nous ont entraînésdans leur monde. Jamais je n’aurais cruapprendre autant sur des sujets pourlesquels mon intérêt n’était que lointain.Voilà que je me prends à vouloir prendredes cours en droit de la famille ou en ar-bitrage international. McGill à sonmeilleur! »

Forte de ces succès, la Faculté de droitentend répéter le programme.véronique Bélanger et rosalie Jukieront entamé l’organisation du deuxièmecycle des conférences Think Ahead / Unepensée d’avance. Le calendrier proposeraaux avocats et notaires deux conférencespour l’automne 2010 et trois autres pourl’hiver 2011.

restez dans le coup :mettez notre page web dans vos signetshttp://francais.mcgill.ca/law/fcou abonnez-vous à notre fil de nouvelles.


d’évoluer dans un cadre technologique,et de combler les attentes des clients,quels que soient leurs besoins.

« Ce dont le marché du travail a besoinchez les juristes, au-delà des questionsdéontologiques et morales, c’est la capacité de résoudre des problèmes, ditDaniel Jutras. Les entreprises et lescitoyens veulent des gens capables dedonner des réponses. » Les mots clés :souplesse, ouverture sur le monde et ha-biletés d’interaction. Les classes intelli-gentes sont en quelque sorte le reflet decette société en plein changement. ]

Formation continuepour juristes à la Faculté

Ne plus faire semblant d’apprendre

Les nouvelles salles de cours, dites

« classes intelligentes », encouragent

les étudiants à participer activement

à leur formation et les professeurs

à revoir leurs méthodes

d’enseignement.

Par Marie-Christine Valois

Daniel Jutras,Tina Piper,Frédéric MégretANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ

Les plus malins sortiront leur épingle du jeu, mais ils n’auront pas forcémentappris! »

Des juristes flexiblesSelon Daniel Jutras, il est tout aussi urgent d’eΩectuer un virage dans l’en-seignement pour répondre aux boule-versements dans le milieu de travail. Car le droit n’échappe pas à l’influencede la mondialisation et à l’essor des technologies. Les juristes doivent êtrecapables de manier diΩérents contextestransnationaux, d’interagir avec des professionnels de toutes sortes,

« J’ai dû complètement changer mon style

d’enseignement pour m’adapter aux

classes intelligentes »

Avocats émérites 2009 & 2010

Les diplômés suivants ont reçu la prestigieuse distinction Advocatus emeritus du Barreaudu Québec.Bernard Amyot, BCL’82, LLB’83William David Angus, c.r.,

BCL’62Jean-Louis Baudouin, c.r.,

BCL’58, LLD’07Max R. Bernard, BA’66, BCL’69William Brock, BCom’77, BCL’78,

LLB’80Monique Dupuis, BCL’76Maurice Forget, CM, BCL’69Georges R. Hendy, BCL’71Colin K. Irving, BA’55, BCL’58Warren J. Newman, BCL’81,

LLB’81, BA’97Alex K. Paterson, OC, QC,

BCL’56, LLD’94Richard W. Pound, OC, OQ,

QC, BCom’62, BCL’67Isabel J. Schurman, BCL’83,

LLB’83Manuel Shacter, c.r., QC, BA’44,

BCL’47Pierre Sylvestre, BCL’70Martine Turcotte, BCL’82,

LLB’83

Pierre-Gabriel Jobin :Mérite du Barreau

Le 3 juin 2010, à La Malbaie, lorsdu Congrès annuel du Barreau duQuébec, le professeur éméritePierre-Gabriel Jobin recevait unprix Mérite.

Les prestigieux Mérites sont attribués par le Barreau pour « l’accomplissement d’un hautfait professionnel, la réputation,le dévouement à la cause du Barreau, l’engagement dans ladéfense des intérêts de la justice,l’engagement social, une contri-bution particulière à l’avance-ment du droit et de la justice, ou tout autre motif pertinent. »

Saisi de cette nouvelle, Daniel Jutras, doyen de la Faculté dedroit, a lancé : « Dans le cas dePierre-Gabriel Jobin, le Mérite luiest sans aucun doute attribuépour tous ces motifs! »

Pierre-Gabriel Jobin a égalementreçu la distinction d’AvocatÉmérite qui récompense les juristes qui se sont distingués parleur parcours professionnel exemplaire.

THE 1950s

David R. Franklin, AdE, BA’56,BCL’59, Honorary Consul of Iceland, recently published International Commercial Secured Transactions (Carswell,2010). An expert in the areas of international debt collection,commercial law and commerciallitigation, he has taught law atConcordia’s John Molson Schoolof Business for 45 years and isalso partner at Franklin &Franklin.

Donald J. Johnston, PC, OC,QC, BCL’58, BA’60, LLD’03, wasinvited by Iceland in February2010 to participate as a specialadviser in negotiations with theNetherlands and Britain on thecollapse of Iceland’s banking system following the recentworldwide financial crisis. Johnston is a founding partner ofHeenan Blaikie, a former cabinetminister for Pierre E. Trudeau,and former Secretary-General ofthe Organization for EconomicCo-operation and Development.

Joseph R. Nuss, QC, BA’55,BCL’58, whostepped down as a judge of theQuebec Court of Appeal in December 2009,has joined

Woods LLP as senior counsel,where he focuses his efforts onarbitration and mediation. Beforehis appointment to the bench, heappeared as counsel before theSupreme Court of Canada, theFederal Court, all the courts ofQuebec, as well as before admin-istrative tribunals in various areasof the law.

THE 1960s

Roy L. Heenan, OC, AdE, BA’57,BCL’60, LLD’08, was named 2010Montreal Labour and Employ-ment Lawyer of the Year by theeditors of The Best Lawyers inAmerica. Chair and foundingpartner of Heenan Blaikie, he was chairman of the McGill Law Faculty Advisory Board from1990 to 1996 and is now chair-man emeritus. He has also taughtlabour law for the Faculties ofManagement and Law.

David P. O’Brien, OC, BCL’65,was appointed Officer of theOrder of Canada for his contribu-tions as a corporate leader andhis generous support of post-secondary education acrossCanada. A member of McGill’sCampaign Executive, O’Brien ischairman of the Royal Bank ofCanada and EnCana Corp. Healso serves as Chancellor of Concordia University. He is thecreator of the O’Brien Fellow-ships for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill.

Richard W. Pound, OC, OQ,QC, AdE, BCom’62, BCL’67, re-ceived the Foundation for GlobalSports Development’s 2010 Hu-manitarian Award. McGill’s formerChancellor accepted the award ata ceremony during the February2010 Vancouver Games and wascited as a “pre-eminent leader inhealthy sport and someone whohas changed the face of Olympiccompetition in his promotion ofmajor anti-doping efforts.”

An extraordinary reunion in Paris

Jean Ritchie, LLM’69, from London, John Keenan, BA’64,BCL’67, LLM’69, from Montrealand Gerrit de Bœr, LLM’69,from the Hague, met in Paris tocelebrate 40 years since theirgraduation from the McGill Insti-tute of Air & Space Law. Beforeretiring, Ritchie was a London-based barrister and head of herchambers. De Bœr, who has alsoretired, was Vice-President of theCourt of Appeal at the Hague.Keenan remains active as an

attorney in Montreal. Over theyears, the three have remained intouch. Many dear memories wereevoked of their time at what theycalled “their” Institute back in1968.

THE 1970s

Robert Berman, BCL’76,LLB’77, a divorce lawyer, was fedup with what people endurewhen they must represent them-selves before the Ontario FamilyCourt because they can’t afford alawyer, so he wrote two books tohelp them “survive the divorceprocess without a lawyer.” In 2009, he launched www.MyOntarioDivorce.com, a do-it-yourself divorce website that allows people to navigate theirway through the complex courtprocess.

Christine Carron, MA’74,BCL’77, a reçu le« Zénith » deLexpert 2009 endroit des affaires.Lexpert a classéMe Carron, quiest associée

principale au sein du groupe Litiges d’Ogilvy Renault, parmiles 25 meilleures avocates auCanada. Le magazine Entre-prendre l’a aussi citée parmi les101 Femmes entrepreneurs lesplus en vue et La Presse etRadio-Canada lui ont décerné letitre de Personnalité de la semaine en janvier 2010.

Stuart H. (Kip) Cobbett,BA’69, BCL’72, was appointedChair of McGill’s Board of Gover-nors in January 2010 for a five-year term. A long-time supporterof McGill University, Cobbett willserve on a number of Board committees. A former managingpartner and COO with StikemanElliott, he has been an activemember of the McGill Alumni Association for years, and servedas its president in 2002–2006.

Guy Fortin, BSc’72, BCL’76, waselected to the Board of Directorsof Power Corporation of Canadain May 2010. Fortin is Vice-Chair-

AlumNotes

What’s new? Send your AlumNotes to Victoria Leenders-Cheng, Communications Officer, at [email protected], tel. 514-398-3424.


man and a Director of Sanpalo Investments, a private investmentand management corporation,and is a director of numerousother private corporations. Hewas previously a senior partnerwith Ogilvy Renault and he stillteaches Estate Planning atMcGill’s Faculty of Law.

Roderick Margo, DCL’79, apartner at Condon & Forsyth inLos Angeles and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Air &Space Law, was recently named2010 Aviation Lawyer of the Yearby Who’s Who Legal.

Martine Turcotte, BCL’82,LLB’83, was appointed to theMcGill Board of Governors inFebruary 2010. Her career withBCE and Bell Canada spans over20 years, where she is currentlythe Executive Vice-President andChief Legal & Regulatory Officer.

Bartha Maria Knoppers,LLB’78, BCL’81,was appointeddirector ofMcGill’s Centre of Genomics andPolicy andGénome Québec

Innovation Centre in 2009. Aleading expert in ethics, law andpolicy within the field of humangenetics, reproduction and bio-technology, Knoppers leads a research team that tackles issuesranging from stem cell contro-versies to privacy concerns surrounding individual geneticmakeup.

Paul Skolnik, BCL’75, receivedthe Robert-Sacchitelle prize forexceptional work by the Associa-tion des avocats de la défense de Montréal for his successful defence of Brigadier General Gratien Kabiligi, who was acquit-ted of ten counts of conspiracy,genocide, crimes against human-ity and war crimes at the Interna-tional Criminal Tribunal forRwanda.

Ian M. Solloway, BCL’73, hasbeen appointed to a second termas Chair of the English-speakingsection of the Bar of Montreal.

Solloway, a Fellow of the Interna-tional Academy of MatrimonialLawyers and a past-President ofMontreal’s Lord Reading Society,injected fresh energy into thesection last year, organizing apractical tips learning sessionthat attracted over 450 lawyers.He microblogs at twitter.com/sollowaylaw.

Margaret Somerville, DCL’78,was awarded an Honorary Doc-torate of Sacred Letters from St.Mark’s College in British Columbiain May 2010. In addition to hold-ing professorships in both theFaculty of Law and the Faculty ofMedicine at McGill, Somerville isthe Samuel Gale Professor of Lawand the Founding Director of theMcGill Centre for Medicine, Ethicsand Law.

THE 1980s

John A. Coleman, BA’75,BCL’80, LLB’80, was appointedmanaging partner of Ogilvy Renault in June 2009. He hasbeen with the firm for over 25years and was named 2009 Montreal Labour and Employ-ment Lawyer of the Year by theeditors of Best Lawyers in America. Coleman taught labourlaw at the Faculty until 2008.

Rita de Santis, BSc’76, BCL’80,was honoured asone of Canada’sTop 100 MostPowerful Womenfor 2009, in theTrailblazers andTrendsetters

category, by the Women’s Execu-tive Network. De Santis is a top-ranked mergers and acquisitionslawyer and project financing spe-cialist with the Montreal office ofDavies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg.

Sharon G. Druker, BCL’85,LLB’85, a reçu le prix « Recon-naissance » lors du gala annuelLes Talentueuses de l’Associationdes femmes en finance duQuébec en avril 2010. Le prixvient souligner l’implication decette dernière au sein descomités Affaires Internationales

et Gouvernance et au conseild’administration de l’AFFQ.Madame Druker est associéechez Robinson Sheppard Shapiro.

Pearl Eliadis, BSc’81, BCL’85,LLB’85, was the recipient of the2009 Woman of the Year Awardfrom the Montreal Council ofWomen. An international humanrights lawyer in private practice,Eliadis has worked in Rwanda,East Timor, Ethiopia, and othercountries for clients including theUN and the European Commis-sion. She has published onhuman rights, constitutional lawand women’s rights, and sits onthe editorial board of the journal,Charter and Human Rights Litigation.

David Paul Olsen, LLM’80, wasappointed a full-time member ofthe Canada Industrial RelationsBoard by the Federal Minister ofLabour in October 2009. Withover 35 years of experience inlabour, employment and humanrights law, he has held progres-sively senior positions within theCanada Post Corporation. He is amember of Senate committeeson reform of labour law, humanrights law and pay equity.

Michael Polak, BCL’82, LLB’82,was named Hon-orary Consul toMontreal by theKingdom of theNetherlands for a five-year termin January 2010.

Polak specializes mostly in cor-porate and commercial law. He is a member of the internationalboard of directors of the Busi-ness International Network, thelargest business networking association in the world.

Kathleen Weil, BA’78, BCL’82,LLB’82, a été nommée ministrede la Justice du Québec endécembre 2008. Elle est aussi VPdu Comité de législation et membre du Comité ministériel dudéveloppement social, éducatifet culturel. Avant d’être élue dansla circonscription de Notre-Dame-de-Grâce en décembre2008, elle était PDG de la Fonda-

tion du Grand Montréal. Depuisplus de 20 ans, elle s’impliquedans plusieurs conseils d’adminis-tration d’organismes du secteurdu développement communau-taire.

En avril 2010, Lori Weitzman,BCL’84, LLB’85, était nomméejuge à la Cour du Québec, chambre criminelle et pénale, à Montréal. Elle œuvrait depuisplus de 20 ans comme pro-cureure de la Couronne. MeWeitzman a longtemps participéà la vie intellectuelle de la Fa-culté, d’abord comme diplômée,puis comme membre du Comitéconsultatif. Chargée de coursprisée par les étudiants, elle aaussi beaucoup contribué en lespréparant aux concours deplaidoirie en droit pénal.

THE 1990s

Ruwantissa Abeyratne,DCL’96, who is a Coordinator ofRegional Affairs at ICAO in Montreal, has published AviationSecurity Law (Springer, June2010). In the book, he addressesnew and emerging threats to civilaviation, evaluates security toolsnow in use, and discusses appli-cable security treaties.

Tricia Kuhl, BCL’98, LLB’98, wasthe winner of the Canadian Bar

Association’s2009 YoungLawyers ProBono Award forher work assist-ing the PortageProgram for

Drug Dependencies. An associatewith Blake, Cassels & Graydon inMontreal, Kuhl provides legal assistance to Portage on corpo-rate, commercial and intellectualproperty matters.

Jeanette Lee, BCL’98, LLB’98,recently moved to Stohn HayCafazzo Dembroski Richmond in Toronto, after practising at McCarthy Tétrault. Lee special-izes in IP, marketing and enter-tainment law. She blogs onlegaleve.wordpress.com.


AlumNotes

En février 2010, TroyMcEachren, BCL’97, LLB’97, estdevenu associé chez HeenanBlaikie. Il s’était joint au cabineten 1999, après y avoir fait sonstage. Concentrant sa pratiquesur la planification fiscale et suc-cessorale, il est d’ailleurs l’auteurd’un fascicule sur « L’administra-tion du bien d’autrui » portant surles obligations fiduciaires auQuébec dans le JurisClasseurQuébec – Biens et publicité desdroits (LexisNexis, 2009).

Perry Narancic, BCL’93, LLB’93,who works out of Silicon Valley,reports that his practice atNarancic & Katzman is very busyand interesting. He has recentlylaunched a software company(www.lexfusionsw.com) and anorganic fertilizer company(www.agrothrive.net). Narancicserves as outside general counselin IP counselling, licensing and lit-igation and has negotiated multi-million dollar licensing transac-tions. He adds that it’s not justwork that keeps him busy: “I havea son now as well – so my handsare full.”

Marko Pavliha, DCL’92, wroteto tell us that it’s been 20 yearssince he completed his DCLunder Prof. William Tetley. Re-turning to Slovenia with his fam-ily after graduation, he waselected as Secretary General ofthe Comité Maritime Internationalin 2003 and invited to join theSlovenian Government as Minis-ter of Transport in 2004. ADeputy Speaker of the Parlia-ment of Slovenia (2004–2007)he has been Full Professor at theUniversity of Ljubljana since2004, where he heads the Maritime & Transportation LawDepartment.

Ian C. Pilarczyk, BA’92, LLM’97,DCL’03 recently accepted theposition of founding director ofthe Executive LLM in Interna-tional Business Law at BostonUniversity’s School of Law. Thisinnovative blended-learning program is scheduled to launchin March 2011.

THE 2000s

William Amos, BCL/LLB’05,was appointed Director of theuOttawa-Ecojustice Environmen-tal Law and Policy Clinic, wherehe had previously served as stafflawyer since 2007. Amos is apart-time professor at the Uni-versity of Ottawa’s Faculty ofCommon Law.

En août 2009, Stéphanie Armengau, BCL/LLB’05, a éténommée procureure de laCouronne et fait partie de la Cour itinérante basée à Amos quidessert les communautés au-tochtones. « Mes confrères et moipartons une semaine par moisdans le grand Nord à bord d’unavion, avec le juge et le personnelde la Cour. Nous tenons lesprocès directement dans lescommunautés Cris et Inuites.C’est une expérience formatrice,mais les crimes contre lesquelsnous luttons sont très violents etbien méconnus des médiasquébécois. »

Dominic C. Belley, BCL’00,LLB’00, a éténommé « Leaderde demain» dansla catégorie Litige civil etcommercial parl’Association du

Jeune Barreau de Montréal. Ilpratique le litige fiscal en matièred’impôt sur le revenu et de taxesà la consommation chez OgilvyRenault.

Axel Bernabe, BCL’01, LLB’01,became partner at ConstantineCannon (NYC) in February 2010.Bernabe, who joined the firm asassociate, focuses his practice onantitrust litigation and counsel-ling, representing clients in thehealth services and pharmaceuti-cal industries, as well as in insur-ance and real estate brokerage.He was recently part of a trialteam that tried a health care antitrust conspiracy case to asuccessful conclusion.

Noah Billick, MBA’06, BCL/LLB’06, a récemment quittéFasken Martineau DuMoulin, où

il était avocat au sein de leurgroupe des Litiges et résolutionde conflits. Il est aujourd’hui vice-président chez Gestion Palos Inc.,une firme de gestion de porte-feuille.

After graduating, Daria Boyarchuk, BCL/LLB’08, movedto Moscow, Russia, where she hasbeen working at the Russian Jus-tice Initiative as a human rightsattorney. There, she investigatescases of human rights abusesand violations of international humanitarian law. (See article onpage 14.)

Andrés Jonathan Drew, BA’03,LLB/BCL’07, won the WilliamRobson Prize for best overall performance and dissertation forthe MSc Regulation Program atthe London School of Economicsthis past December. Currently, heis working on research projects inEurope that analyze the impactsof climate change on the aviationindustry.

After graduating and working inNYC for a few years, Jodi Ettenberg, BCL’02, LLB’02, quit her job to start a round-the-world trip on April 2008. Sinceher departure, she has docu-mented her colourful adventures,including witnessing the Bangkokprotests, at www.legalnomads.com.

Sophie Lamonde, BCL’01,LLB’01, est de-venue associéechez StikemanElliott en janvier2010. Sa pratiqueest principale-ment axée sur les

domaines des fusions et acquisi-tions, du capital d’investissementet du financement de sociétés.Me Lamonde a conseillé plusieursclients canadiens et étrangers,notamment en ce qui concerneles ententes de prestation deservice et les contrats d’approvi-sionnement.

Salim Nakhjavani, BCL’01,LLB’01, is currently Senior Lecturer at the University ofCape Town in South Africa,

where he teaches public interna-tional law and international crimi-nal law. Prior to his appointmentat UCT in 2006, he served as Associate Human Rights Officerat the UN Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rightsand as Assistant Legal Adviser inthe Office of the Prosecutor ofthe International Criminal Court.

Geeta Narang, BEd’94, BCL’00,a été choisie comme « Leader dedemain » dans la catégorie ProBono / Implication sociale parl’Association du Jeune Barreaude Montréal lors de son gala enautomne 2009. Après avoir pra-tiqué le droit autochtone et ledroit public dans un cabinetmontréalais, elle a démarré sapropre pratique en 2008 en fon-dant la Clinique juridique du Mile-End (www.justicemontreal.org).Elle fait également partie ducomité qui conseille le Barreaudu Québec sur des questions culturelles, raciales et d’égalité.

Mohammad Nsour, DCL’09, recently published his doctoral

thesis as a book,Rethinking theWorld TradeOrder: Towards aBetter Legal Un-derstanding ofthe Role of Re-

gionalism in the Multilateral TradeRegime (Sidestone Press, TheNetherlands, 2009). His worklooks at the proliferation of re-gional trade agreements andtheir effects on multilateral tradeagreements. Dr. Nsour is cur-rently in Jordan, teaching law atthe University of Jordan andworking in a law firm.

Mariam S. Pal, BA’82, MA’86,BCL/LLB’05, was appointed tothe Immigration and RefugeeBoard of Canada in February2009 for a three-year term. Priorto obtaining her BCL/LLB, Palworked for nearly 20 years as adevelopment economist, holdingpositions at the Asian Develop-ment Bank in Manila and at theAfrican Development Bank inAbidjan.


Anthony Barauskas, BCL’62

Marc Casavant, BCL’79

André P. Casgrain, BCL’49

Brock F. Clarke, BCL’42

John H. E. Colby, BCL’47

Romanus J. Curran, BCL’50

Stanley Cytrynbaum, BCL’59

J. Edward Drody, BCL’51

John Dennis Flood, BCL’85

André Gadbois, BCL’49

Jean J. Gagne, BCL’48

Isabel (Dawson) Gales, BCL’36

William A. Grant, BCL’48

Brent K. Hussey, BCL’78

P. Emmet Kierans, BCL’48

Ronald Linden, BCom’76,BCL’80, LLB’80

Walter Paterson Molson,BCL’66

Brien Hubert Noble, LLB’82

Wilbur R. Patterson, BCL’50

Alfred J. Pick, BCL’40

James G. Shetler, BCL’61

Nirari Sheeno, BCL’01, LLB’01

James A. Soden, BCL’50

David Angus Steele, BCL’57

David Mackenzie, QC, BA’48, BCL’51 June 26, 2009, age 82A founder of the distinguishedMontreal law firm Mackenzie Ger-vais, David Mackenzie graduatedfrom the Faculty of Law in 1951.In 1998, Mackenzie Gervaismerged with McMaster Meighenlater to become part of BordenLadner Gervais, one of Canada’slargest law firms. Deeply commit-ted to public service, DavidMackenzie served for many yearson the governing board of theMackay Centre School, whichprovides services and schoolingto children who are deaf and dis-abled. He is survived by his wife,three children and seven grand-children. (See also page 7.)

Brock F. Clarke, QC, BCL’42August 29, 2009, age 79The top student to graduate fromthe Faculty of Law in 1942, BrockClarke was stationed on the WestCoast as part of the Royal Cana-dian Navy Volunteer Reserve dur-ing World War II and returned toMontreal to join the firm thateventually became Ogilvy Re-nault. His encyclopedic knowl-edge of Canadian tax andmaritime law made him muchsought after as both counsel andboard member for many corpora-tions, including the family busi-ness, Clarke Transport Inc. Amember of the Faculty of LawAdvisory Board and of the Orderof Malta, as well as a generousbenefactor to many Montreal in-stitutions and charities, he wasdeeply devoted to his family: hiswife, Simonne de Fonville Ethier,and their five children. ]


In Memoriam

Jeff Roberts, BA’00, BCL/LLB’05 is taking a hiatus fromlegal practice to double down onwriting. He finished an MA inbusiness writing at the ColumbiaGraduate School of Journalismwhere he wrote a thesis on freespeech and copyright issues re-lated to the Google Books settle-ment. Roberts is moving to Paristo join the Reuters news agencyas a foreign correspondent.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon,BCL’01, LLB’01, a laissé StikemanElliot en 2009 pour sillonner leQuébec et rencontrer des jeunesde la « Génération Y », échangersur les défis qui attendent la société québécoise et consulterces jeunes quant aux raisons deleur distance face à la sphèrepolitique. Le résultat est Des jeunes et l’avenir du Québec (LesMalins, 2010), un livre qui pro-pose des pistes de solution pourrevitaliser la démocratie auQuébec. Il est également cofon-dateur de Génération d’idées(www.generationdidees.ca) et avocat chez Delegatus.

After graduation, Pierre-Hugues Verdier, BCL’01, LLB’01,clerked at the Supreme Court ofCanada, and practised corporateand financial law with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton inNYC. He then pursued graduatelegal studies at Harvard and fur-ther studies in international law.He was appointed Associate Professor of Law at the Universityof Virginia Law School in 2009.

Grégoire Webber, BCL/LLB’03,took leave from his position asSenior Policy Advisor at the PrivyCouncil Office in October 2009to take up a position with the Department of Law at the Lon-don School of Economics andPolitical Science. Webber is oneof the people behind theSupreme Court Advocacy Insti-tute (www.scai-ipcs.ca). (You canread about this on inFocus onlineat http://publications.mcgill.ca/droit/ 2010/06/30/scai) ]

Dr. Tamar Oppenheimer,

OC, BA’46, LLD’94

June 9, 2010, age 84

Dr. Oppenheimer was the

first Canadian woman to

serve as Assistant Secretary-

General of the United

Nations. She began her

distinguished career with

the UN in 1946, three weeks

after her graduation from

McGill. Over the course of

more than 40 years, she held

a number of high-level posts

in Human Rights, Settle-

ments, Narcotic Drugs, and

as Deputy to the Director

General of the UN o≈ce in

Vienna. Dr. Oppenheimer,

who received an honorary

doctor of laws degree from

McGill in 1994, endowed

the Hans and Tamar

Oppenheimer Chair in

Public International Law

at the Faculty in 2006.

GERRY L’ORANGE

Architectural detail, Old Chancellor Day Hall

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