OSGOODE HALL, 1890 It kind of gets old when you walk into Osgoode the third time around. Seeing familiar faces of friends made and those anew of friends-in-waiting—that doesn’t get old though. Although senioritis can dampen the excitement of a new slate of classes (and one or two give bad enough omens for me to fear they’d end up being duds anyways), the novelty of starting a new year...
IllustratIon By: Manpreet Bharj We asked upper year students at Osgoode to describe their course enrollment experience this year. This is what they had to say: *clears throat* “… so….”“Limited. Constrained. Conflicting. Minimal. Disorganised.”“Painstakingly annoying.”“I’m still traumatised by it!” “Almost as stressful as figuring out first year.”“Things need to be changed.” Course enrollment...
Changes to the 1L curriculum at Osgoode Hall bring changes to their semester breaks as well. First-year law students are now lucky to receive a full reading week during the fall semester of classes, which has not happened at Osgoode for several years. During the 2023-2024 academic year, the first-years only had two “reading days.” Students in 1L-3L now have a whole week off in November. This is...
DO THE CROSSWORD ONLINE HERE
Answers after: As Champions League and Club World Cup Schedules Expand, Concerns Arise Over Footballers Facing Detrimental Effects from Rising Stress Levels
This fall, the incoming class of 1L students stepped into a new era of course structure at Osgoode Hall. Major transitions from the year prior included the shifts for certain course delivery styles, shortened course lengths, and new mandatory requisites for completion of the program. The changes include the following: Legal Process I (LPI) has been changed to a full-year course called...
Photo CredIt: The CanadIan Press Images/Lars Hagberg As one of the oldest law schools in Canada, Osgoode Hall Law School has a wide and successful alumni network, ranging from sole practitioners to Supreme Court Justices. On 29 August 2024, the Honourable Arif Virani, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced the appointment of Osgoode alumna, Justice Bhavneet K...
If the music you listen to while condensing your lecture notes or briefing cases sounds anything like the Billboard Hot 100, you may have noticed that new music is almost entirely the product of solo acts— think Chapelle Roan, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Morgan Wallen, and, of course, Taylor Swift. Apple Music’s charts are similar. The only bands currently on their top 40 are Twenty One...
Photo CredIt: Western News/Brennan PhIllIps During its sixty-three-year history, the New Democratic Party (NDP) achieved its best election result in 2011, winning 103 seats in parliament. Led by the charismatic Jack Layton, the NDP secured the second-highest number of parliamentary seats by implementing their favourite political strategy. This strategy involves the NDP shifting their public...
Yesterday, I attended an event co-hosted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Association of Canada on gender apartheid by the Taliban’s barbaric regime. It was then that I was reminded of NATO’s strong importance. At a time of worldwide democratic decline – whether that is by despotic and authoritarian governments or the far right – we need NATO more than ever. The rules-based...
Hello, everyone, from your Arts & Culture editor. It’s only a few weeks into the new school year, but I imagine everyone—like myself—is feeling the burn as readings begin to pile on and midterms approach. However, even as you’re killing the academic game, you must remember to take a break from the law school world for some time and do something you enjoy. Outside of schoolwork, my...
“We may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later we all push up flowers.” Photo CredIt: LucasArts You have to be serious about a noir film. That kind of cynicism and brush up with hard-boiled reality isn’t pure escape. You might get a happy ending, sure—but then you might also hear whispers of “forget it, it’s Chinatown.” There’s a lot of prestige tied up in the genre, and there’s no...
Photo CredIt: Toronto InternatIonal FIlm FestIVal As the school year began, the yearly Northern migration of Hollywood A-to-Z listers, their agents, distributors, and directors took place at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Despite the shift from Bell as the festival’s biggest partner to Rogers after nearly three decades of partnership, the festival felt largely the same as...
Among the most prominent storylines of the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was that of the Minnesota Frost (formerly PWHL Minnesota). From significant on-ice accomplishments to questionable offseason antics, the team incorporated approximately a decade’s worth of drama into a singular season. The Frost’s meteoric rise and subsequent fall from favour, seemingly...
Photo CredIt: Getty Images/DennIs Pajot On 9 September 2024, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) released the official names and logos for their “Inaugural Six” teams. The new team names are Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. The new names and logos come ahead of the league’s second season. The league played its entire...
This year, the expansion of major international football competitions will result in players participating in more games than ever before, raising concerns about the physical and mental toll on athletes as they are pushed to their limits. More games and tournaments are on the football calendar than ever before. Major tournaments, like the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and the Club World Cup are...
Across:
1 KARAKATSANIS, 3 STEVENSON, 5 MARKHAM, 6 LEXIS, 8 CAREER, 9 AMAR, 12 FORTY, 13 PIE, 14 OWL, 16 CANLII, 17 Library, 18 MCDONALDS.
Down:
2 IGNATKANEFF, 4 SUMMARIES, 5 MARKETPLACE, 7 STATUTORY, 8 CHAMBERS, 10 YEO, 11 WILLIAM, 15 VILAW.
In planning Obiter Dicta’s first in-person event earlier this year, I found myself in the student paper’s basement office leafing through past print issues dating well back to the 1960s. As we phrased it to one another on the management team, we planned this event with the goal of reminding the Osgoode community that Obiter exists and that it does interesting, creative things. We used...
The Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta are advocating for the implementation of a new law—the Nehiyaw and Dene Nations of Treaty No. 8 Adoption and Private Guardianship Law—which aims to protect First Nations children. This law works to end the adoptions and private guardianships involving Treaty 8 children without written consent from either parents or guardians, and the First Nations themselves...
Photo credits: Doo Lee, CC BY 4.0 from Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law In the jurisdiction of intellectual property, few names shine as bright as Mickey Mouse. Yet, as the clock struck midnight on 1 January 2024, Micky took a historic step: he entered the public domain.[1] For many, this is their chance to dive into their creative minds and transform Mickey into distinct...
Osgoode Hall Law School is set to represent Canada at The Hague in May, the renowned court for international criminal law and the seat of the United Nations. Competing against top law schools such as Georgetown, University of Chicago, and University of Miami, Osgoode’s team will face a challenging and intellectually rigorous competition. This year’s case touches on critical issues...
Depreciation of goodwill in trademark infringement cases is highly subjective, and alternative arguments to those of the court can be made in the case of Subway IP LLC v. Budway, Cannabis & Wellness Store.[1] This Federal Court case was one in which Subway claimed that Budway violated their trademark, directed business away from Subway towards Budway, and depreciated the goodwill of the...
In the ever-evolving landscape of innovation, neurotechnology stands as both a beacon of promise and a nexus of ethical complexity. While patents fuel innovation, they also risk creating barriers that hinder society’s access to life-changing advancements in brain science. As Canada ventures into this domain, it confronts challenges regarding the patenting of life-saving devices, navigating...
On Saturday, 16 March, the Election Commission of India announced the dates for India’s upcoming 2024 General Elections. They are to take place between 19 April to 1 June, over a period of forty-two days and in a total of seven phases. These elections are the second longest to ever be held in the country, with the longest being the first ever General Elections held in 1951. Conducted 3 years...
Simply put, partisan appointment of judges erodes confidence in the integrity of the administration of justice. A fundamental principle of our justice system is that “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” This stressing of the image of justice is informed by the overriding public interest in maintaining confidence in the integrity...
Since the rise of Chat GTP, there has been a correlated increase in the debate of whether artificial intelligence will eventually render the role of the lawyer futile. After all, AI is gaining traction as a useful tool to analyze and synthesize great amounts of documentation, a large part of what lawyers and legal clerks do. In fact, in 2023, Goldman Sachs reported that generative AI currently...