Not home or work, but rather the “third place”—that café, library, park, or diner—is one of the most overlooked necessities of modern life. These are the spaces where we exist without agenda, where we don’t have to justify our presence with productivity. Yet, as cities grow denser and our lives busier, the third place is quietly disappearing. The third place is special precisely because it...
That tingle of satisfaction derived only from an embodiment of great human creativity manifests itself quite differently for each of us. I know some close to me for whom this occurs in the witnessing of a vast, sprawlingly colourful film scene filled with nonsensically perfect dialogue; still, others witness it in a perfect play on the football field, the impossible note in an orchestral...
‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’ – Winston Churchill There are only 24 legitimate democracies in the world; it appears that we forget what...
Photo Credit: Julia Dorian It’s Monday morning. You’re heading out for school and you’re running a little tight on schedule, but Google Maps is telling you that your bus is coming on time. Surely you’ll get to class on time, right? Potentially. Or you see two “not in service” buses, the subway slightly behind schedule, and the TTC instructor telling you to get off at the station right before...
Can lawyers have tattoos? This question might be on the minds of young lawyers who want to express themselves. It may also be on the mind of lawyers who have developed an interest in ink and are considering booking an appointment with an artist. Ever vigilant, these lawyers may be concerned about being judged down the road for anything other than their submissions in court. This concern also...
Photo Credit: Andranik Hakobyan – Getty Images After conversing with family lawyers from large firms and those who are sole practitioners, it becomes easier to understand the vastness of the field of family law. From what I can tell, family law captures a wide array of legal considerations, going beyond divorces, this area of practice explores wills and estates, torts, property law, and...
It’s emblematic of the current intolerant climate that I feel compelled to publish this letter anonymously. Nonetheless, as an individual of decent conscience, this matter is too important to neglect. This letter comes from a place of deep compassion and the moral obligation we owe humanity to speak up when grotesque injustice becomes the norm. These are the values Osgoode prides itself on, and I...
› 1l In the paper chase Photo CredIt: 20th Century Fox Upon the start of a new school year, Osgoode Hall sees its previous cohort of once bare-faced and impressionable 1Ls return as freshly minted 2Ls. What a milestone! Each one of these three hundred or so law students can confidently say that they managed to navigate the complexities of contracts and the capricious nature of the Canadian...
“I’m the child of immigrants, so they taught me important values such as working hard, being dependable, and resourcefulness.” This is how I answered firms when the inevitable “tell me about yourself” question came up. I know I am not the only one who frames part of my answer this way, an attempt to showcase that my background will make me a harder worker than others and provide value to the firm...
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...
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...
You hear talk of Gen Z everywhere nowadays—in the news, on your socials, in talks with friends. Maybe you’re part Gen Z, or maybe they’re a species of human completely foreign to you. Regardless of what you think of the young, feisty, and unconcerned group, one thing is clear: they have style. In 2022, a survey showed that in the United States, fashion was the favourite entertainment...
If you curl up quietly on the rocks somewhere along Maine’s rocky coast—maybe wear dark, camouflage clothing—and wait until the moon lights up the choppy water, you might see any number of fantastical sights. Mermaids, and selkies too. If you watched just about the spot where the waves hit the shore, you may see fairies flitting between the flecks of spray, each their own dynamic Venus. Ghosts...
I recently stumbled across a 2003 interview given to a German public television station by the late author of Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace. Though the entire interview is worth a watch, I found Wallace to be particularly insightful, as he lamented the inability of even the most intelligent of his friends to sit in silence and read a book. Even among my highly intelligent peers, it is...
“Sunny Ways,” Wilfrid Laurier’s famous words imagining a prosperous Canada, were repeated in Justin Trudeau’s 2015 victory speech. I remember being 14, excited for a Canadian transformation advancing Indigenous reconciliation, fighting climate change, and addressing growing inequalities. My naïve high school self quickly learned that politics is anything but ‘sunny.’ While I lack the space to...
Bill C-332, a private member’s bill in the House of Commons, aims to add coercive control as an offence to Canada’s Criminal Code. It’s argued by proponents of the Bill that criminalizing coercive control will provide an “additional tool” for women to leave abusive situations. In 1990, the government of Ontario attempted something similar. They passed a policy making it mandatory for police...
My journey is profoundly shaped by my parents’ past; my father survived the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia while my mother escaped from Vietnam. Their stories of resilience and silent sacrifices are not merely historical narratives. Rather, they form the foundation of my existence and have taught me the true meaning of resilience and the value of silent sacrifices. In our Asian family, mental...
I thought that I had an invincible immune system. I managed to last the past few years without getting COVID, despite my run-ins with people close to me contracting it. But whenever I did hear about others having COVID, I was told that they had ‘mild’ symptoms or that while it was terrible while it lasted, it was short-lived, lasting only a week. I stayed up to date with my vaccines, but I was...
Advertisement As law students, we have inevitably been thrown into the various neatly organised and spelt out fact patterns in cases. However, the real world functions far differently from that. In a way, courts act as a source of authority over what actually happened, regardless of the veracity of what is stated in judgments. I write this to urge you to think critically about your role as future...
The journey to the midpoint of my law school career at Osgoode has been far from linear, marked by traumas of both unforeseen violence and childhood trauma that have undoubtedly shaped my perspective. A random act of violence in 2017 nearly cost me my life, an event that profoundly altered my trajectory and introduced me to living with a disability. This, coupled with adverse childhood...
The Vital Role of Family Court Support Workers November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month and with the goals of education and awareness in mind, it is important to acknowledge the legal resources available for survivors in Ontario. The family court process is rarely a pleasant experience, especially when there is a history of domestic violence between litigants. For this reason, Family Court...
It should go without saying that affordability issues in Canada are on the rise, leaving many Canadians struggling to just get by. Not only is it difficult to find an affordable place to live, but it is also difficult to buy groceries or go out and to eat. Meanwhile, grocery store corporations such as Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Metro Inc. have continued to enjoy a rise in profits during the third...