ELENA IOSEF <Legal & Lit President> Hi everyone! My name is Elena Iosef and I am the 137th President of the Legal and Literary Society of Osgoode Hall Law School. Now that we’ve gotten the obligatory formal introduction out of the way, I would like to say that the rest of the Legal and Literary Society members and I are incredibly happy to welcome you to a new year at Osgoode! Whether...
KAROLINA WISNIEWSKI <Opinions Editor> All Photos by Rob Noehammer Editor’s Note: The Obiter Dicta doesn’t run in the summer but we couldn’t resist sending Karolina off to Montreal to cover what was perhaps the most well-attended Osheaga ever. Partially a consequence of its exponential surge in popularity within the last year, Osheaga 2012 can best be characterized by a...
TRAVIS WEAGANT <Editor-in-Chief> I knew throughout my entire 8 months as a 1L that the summer of 2012 would be the last summer of my life. I don’t mean to say that I plan on departing this world before June 2013, but rather that the rest of my tenure as a postsecondary student is quite deliberately scheduled: 2L, summer at a law firm, 3L, bar exam, articles, real life. Not that this is...
Welcome (and for those of you returning, welcome back)! Last year, Osgoode’s new Strategic Plan, “Experience Osgoode” was unanimously adopted by Faculty Council – . It represents a bold roadmap for the future. For students, the Plan highlights the importance of experiential learning, community engagement, accessible legal education and undertaking research which helps shape public debate. A...
I remember picking up my first issue of the Obiter Dicta sometime during an O-Week lunch break two years ago. My initial thoughts were probably somewhere along the lines of “what does ‘obiter dicta’ mean” and “how does anyone have time to read this during law school much less produce its content?” But as every IL eventually learns, the scarce amounts of spare...
The Career Development Office (CDO) is excited to announce a variety of new programs and services being offered to students for the 2012/2013 academic year. There are also a number of new faces in the CDO and we hope that both those new to Osgoode, as well as those returning, will come by and introduce yourselves. The objective of the CDO is to assist students in defining and achieving their...
WESLEY FORGIONE <Osgoode Alum> As I am writing this article, I am staring at the list of 10-15 lawyers and other professionals with whom I have connected since graduating from Osgoode and with whom I maintain an ongoing relationship. I began this list during my second year OCI’s to keep in contact with the firms and people with whom I shared a common professional interest. This list...
GEOFF GOODSON <Contributor> As I write this article I am in a shierut (shuttle), from the Ben Gurion airport in Tele Viv to Hebrew University’s Beit Maiserdorf faculty club, which will be our home for the next month. The sparse palm trees and occasional bright flowers contrast against the ubiquitous side-reel running by my window. Everywhere, box-like buildings seem to be made from the...
CASS DA RE <Staff Writer> Summer makes us happy. It may be the increased Vitamin D intake, the great weather, the slushy cocktails, and/or all the extra free time. It is easy to be happy in the summer; quite simply, there is a lot less to be unhappy about. There are no goliath readings, exam summaries, essays, interviews, icy roads, or pressure-filled demands. Of course, since you are...
This. is. it. Wow. 3 years ago, I started working for the Obiter Dicta, doing layout between classes, and it blows my mind that this is my last issue ever. It’s even crazier to me that my time at school is almost done. Like some of my fellow writers in this paper, I wanted to write a piece on my time at Osgoode Hall. You know, something reflective, that was also kind of funny and epic. But how do...
With an eventful academic term and year winding down, I want to take this opportunity to offer this final message. It certainly seems like more than a mere 7 months ago when the Osgoode community returned to the newly renovated building. The sense of excitement and relief to have all of our faculty, staff and students under one roof, and light pouring in the new JCR, Bistro, and Library windows...
BURTON TAYLOR <Staff Writer> On Monday March 12th, Navigator Limited’s Jaime Watt came to give a talk to Ronald Podolny’s seminar class on Assessment of Litigation and Regulatory Risk. The topic of his talk was law and politics and the “cross pressures” that can occur when politics and law meet. For those unfamiliar with Jaime Watt, his day job is as the Executive Chairman and Senior...
KYLE REES <Osgoode News Editor> Guys, I have a confession to make. And now that it’s the last issue of Obiter, I feel safe doing so. I have been, and am currently, a spy for the Newfoundland legal profession. I’m serious. I was sent to Osgoode on the orders of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador as an ambassador for the Province, to boldly go where so many have gone before and...
RJ WALLIA <Staff Writer> On March 8th, the JCR was host venue to an amazing event. It was part fundraiser and part memorial to Wendy Babcock, a student at Osgoode who fought for social justice issues within her community and a fierce friend for many at this school. It was a magnificent event where everyone was able to enjoy amazing performances by their fellow students, some of who went out...
NICHOLAS VAN DUYVENBODE <Opinions Editor> As the last issue of this year, the articles in here are largely reflective of a saying goodbye to Osgoode and of course, looking back on the last 3 years. I, myself, will also be saying goodbye to Osgoode, but like many I am also saying goodbye to Toronto. I’ve had an overall great experience at Osgoode. The school work did challenge me to rise to...
HASSAN AHMAD <News Editor> As many students, including myself, begin the dreaded month of April, filled with stressful paper deadlines and 100% exams, it behoves us to reflect on the fact that not in the too distant future there looms the possibility of another international war. This time the primary parties seem to be America, Israel, and Iran. Since World War II, the principles of...
COMRADE SHELLZ AKA DAVE SHELLNUTT AKA BIG DAVE SHELLZ AKA STRAWBERRY FIELDS AKA PREZ AKA THAT MOFO, ETC. <Legal & Lit President> This is my last communiqué to you all. Thank goodness, thank God, thank whomever you wish. On my end it has been trying, yet rewarding to write to the student body each week. Clearly I have enough to say but I have been perpetually self-conscious about saying...
Is our law library an open resource for every member of the Osgoode community? Apparently not. Who would have thought that our law library was being used to store books that students are banned from reading! After a request for an accompanying instructor’s manual to Bruce Ziff’s first-year text: A Property Law Reader was made by a student this past week, the library bureaucracy...
WAX FATERSON <Contributor> We all have our ways of coping with law school. I know a girl that bakes to shake away her stress, I know a guy who crawls under his bed when he’s overwhelmed with reading, and I know handfuls of people that cry in the shower during exams. My way of coping with academic stress is to go to hardcore shows. To the uninformed person, hardcore shows may sound like the...
TRAVIS WEAGANT <Staff Writer> I’d say it’s been quite a year, but I’m not so sure. You see, this is my first time around the block at Osgoode, and I’ve got no point of comparison. Ask me again in March 2013, and I’ll tell you what kind of year 2011-12 was. Nonetheless, I think I can make a few objective statements about our collective experience that began seven months ago. We have a badass...
RJ WALLIA <Staff Writer> This is a topic that people have been asking me to write about. Well, when I say ask, the conversation usually goes like this… “If you think you’re so smart, how do you think people should approach others at Osgoode?” – paraphrased and expletives removed. Fair enough. Challenge accepted. I gave this topic some serious thought, and to be honest, I was...
ERIC MARQUES <Staff Writer> I sat down for dinner with Kyle in his Passy apartment to broker peace between our two lands. Stephanie Marple joined as my half-Portuguese backup. We also had editor Monkhouse, an Ottawa native, present with his European wife, acting as arbitrators for the respective continents. Ryan Heighton was also there as an observer, hoping to absorb some of the richness...
KYLE REES <Osgoode News Editor> RJ WALLIA <Staff Writer> RJ: Well ladies and gentlemen, this is it, our final edition of Fake it or Make it. From the beginning, we’ve tried to provide you with the solutions and answers to life’s toughest questions that you may ever face while being in law. From vodka to scotch, wine and cigars, boating and shooting and a list of other things, we’ve...