It is a new year and time for a fresh start! On behalf of the Osgoode Women’s Network (OWN) Executive Committee, we wish to give you a few pieces of advice to kickstart this new year: Remember that balance is key. Try not to forget about your friends, family, and the hobbies that you love. Taking the time to recharge will only benefit you.Reach out if you need help! Whether it’s connecting with...
Industry, regulation, and lawyering Every time you are using your phone to pay, check a bank statement online or transfer money through an app, you are using FinTech. Short for “financial technology”, FinTech includes any innovation and automation in the use of financial services. The technology helps business owners, companies, and consumers to better manage their finances by...
Upper year advice for applications, interviews, and morale In the annual law school life cycle, January marks the beginning of the 1L summer frenzy for Osgoode students looking to find work. While the east coast and the Ottawa intellectual property recruits for 1L happened in first semester, the beginning of this semester is when students begin applying for other opportunities, mostly in...
Initial Public Offerings are arguably one of the most exciting times for both investors and the firm itself. The step of bringing a company public is an incredible milestone, allowing businesses to access what is likely the largest pool of capital available to grow and expand. The year 2019 had no shortage of IPO drama, with several tech unicorns––a unicorn being a privately held company worth at...
A Note from the Editor in Chief: We are pleased to welcome Priyanka Sharma to Obiter’s Editorial Board, as our News Editor. Her previous experience with campus newspapers, and her enthusiasm for student journalism will make her an excellent addition to our team. What is news writing? For the Obiter, it’s many things. It means reporting on the impact of legal aid cuts to the Parkdale...
It’s been a great year for the Muslim Law Students’ Association (MLSA) so far! Our biggest achievement? Finally getting a pull-out banner. It’s huge, you will definitely see it around if you haven’t already. In all seriousness, we have had a lot of fun hosting a wide variety of events this fall, and are grateful for the support and response we have been receiving from students, fellow...
As Osgoode’s main contact with Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, CLAIHR Osgoode has been hard at work planning and collaborating on events related to International Human Rights. For our first event, CLAIHR is partnering up with U of T’s Love 146 for their fourth annual conference on Human Trafficking. This event will be held on November 21st at 6pm in Room 1101 of the Sanford...
Have you ever wanted to actually know how your friends are doing when they waste their time playing sports instead of studying? No? Well, you get to anyway! Whew, what a month it has been for Osgoode Intramurals. These law students continue to show that they know how to do more than just read cases. About a month ago we saw Osgoode unite in the annual slo-pitch tournament that happens right near...
The LSAT has changed forever Every student at Osgoode is well aware of the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). You know, the test that we all were anxious taking? If you can recall, the LSAT was comprised of five sections: two logical reasoning sections, one reading comprehension section, one logic games section, and one writing sample section. The grade assigned would be based on three...
On Tuesday, October 29, hundreds of protestors swarmed the Toronto Public Library in response to a controversial blogger who was hosting a speaking engagement. Megan Murphy, a self proclaimed feminist, had a sold out talk at the library that evening. However, Murphy’s views on transgender women have seriously offended the LGBTQ+ community. She argues that womanhood is...
The slogan “the personal is political” began with the second-wave feminist movement and was popularized by Carol Hanisch. It referred to the idea of ‘consciousness raising’, where women would gather together to discuss the problems within their homes and marriages in order to realize that these problems were universal. Whereas in the 1960s, the phrase was designed to draw attention to...
As a lover of video games, I have always been enamoured by the earliest days of gaming. I grew up with an aging Nintendo Entertainment System in my household – the old grey-and-black box one would use to play the classics of the late 1980’s like Super Mario Bros. or the original Legend of Zelda – and have ever-since had a passion for retro games and gaming. However, until very...
On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, The Osgoode Women’s Network (OWN) held its annual career panel. Every year, OWN invites a diverse panel of lawyers who identify as women to Osgoode Hall Law School to share their journey and experiences practicing law. The panel touches upon various topics, including: entering the profession, what it is like being a woman in law, work-life balance, and overcoming...
On the Occasion of Remembrance Day Originally published in the Fall 1945 issue of Obiter Dicta (Vol. 19.1), this was the cover story, announcing the end of World War 2. Attributed to “R. Wilson,” this article came from a future Queen’s Counsel, who just returned from service with the Navy. Mr. Wilson passed away April 30, 1979. At the time of Publication, Robert M. Sedgewick was the Editor, and R...
How the Criminal Justice System Fails the Mentally Ill On December 4th, 2016, Soleiman Faqiri was taken into temporary custody at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ontario. A judge had ordered his transfer to a mental health facility, the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health. However, on December 15th, he was found dead in his cell. “It was horrible,” his brother, Yusuf Faqiri...
Today Obiter Dicta has filed a request through York University’s Information, Privacy and Copyright Office. We are curious to learn about how administrators handled the Student Choice Initiative, and we are requesting copies of correspondence that will explain how the opt-out process (and related communications) were developed. Stay tuned in January when we are likely to have a decision on...
From the Osgoode Alumni Profile Series This year, Obiter will be sharing alumni profiles, courtesy of the Osgoode Alumni Office. You can access the full collection of these profiles through your MyCareer account MyCareer > Resource Library > Alumni Advice/Virtual Career Panel: Osgoode Alumni Profiles combined… Regularly, the Osgoode Alumni Association reaches out to graduates to...
Since January of this year, student governments have been under attack from the Ontario government, specifically the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities. This is not hyperbole or opinion. It is a submission made to the Ontario Divisional Court on October 11, 2019 by the Canadian Federation of Students (“CFS”) and the York Federation of Students (“YFS”) which the panel of judges...
After participating in a climate strike in Victoria, BC, the leader of the Federal NDP, Jagmeet Singh, took the time to sit down and call me from the other side of the country. Upon introducing myself as a 1L at Osgoode, he immediately wished me good luck and offered advice about the OCI process, recalling his own experience and the pressure he acutely recognized. “I feel...
Going to court is often considered the last resort in family law. Resort to it should only be had after attempts at negotiation, mediation, and arbitration are undertaken. Court is expensive, and in the realm of family law, the issues presented are often extremely sensitive and involve intimate matters such as the end of relationships and best interests of children. We are not the first to...
For many years, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) had a clear mission: to provide compensation in a compassionate manner to those who have identified themselves as victims of violent crimes. This adjudicative tribunal system required applicants to provide details of the crime(s), the resulting injuries, and the lasting impacts on the person within two years of the incident(s). In...
At its September 11 convocation, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) voted to repeal its statement of principles (SOP) requirement, an obligation that would have compelled licensees of the Ontario legal profession to affirm their duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion by signing a written statement to this effect. The requirement was replaced with an acknowledgement of Ontario human...
From the Career Development Office
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Public gatherings were banned, tourists were asked to leave, telephone and internet services were shut down, schools were closed, and prominent leaders of the opposition were detained or placed under house arrest. This isn’t a piece about Pol Pot’s Cambodia, but about India, the world’s largest “democratic” regime. On August 5, 2019, the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir (“Kashmir”) was plunged...
Obiter Covers the 2019 Election Last month, in Fundy National Park, a 40-something lumber mill worker named Brent told me, “I just want Trudeau gone – I don’t trust him! Might go Green this time around.” A few days later, in Montreal, a group of friends nodded solemnly over cans of beer when I asked if they’d consider voting for the Green Party this October. Regardless of where I was, a...