The Leadership Skills Program is designed to help students develop the key leadership skills required to thrive and succeed in all areas of the legal profession. Facilitated by industry experts, the program workshops will help prepare students to effectively communicate ideas, collaborate with a diverse team, build a professional network, and manage conflict in a fast-paced, complex professional environment.

A total of eight seminars will be offered over the course of the academic year, and each seminar will take place on a weekday from 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm, with a pizza lunch.  Workshops will be open to all students, but will have a maximum registration capacity depending on the room size. 

This Fall, the Leadership Skills Program will offer four workshops, starting with: "The Law and Technology”  (Monday Oct. 2); followed by: "Discover Your Leadership Style” (Tuesday Oct. 24); and "Get Better at Talking to Everyone” (Monday Oct. 31), and "Ready to Write? Professional Writing Skills" (Tuesday Nov. 14).  All workshops are taught by highly skilled professionals in their respective fields.  Registration is limited and on a first come, first serve basis, so sign up early to reserve your seat.

Please go to the Leadership Skills Program web page (address below) to find out more details about each seminar, including a description of the topic, bios of the presenters, room location and capacity, and registration details. 

https://www.law.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/jd-program/leadership-skil...

Registration takes place through e.legal. Once maximum registration is reached, you may request to have your name added to a wait list.  Please see the website for the instructions and policy on registration, cancellation, and adding your name to the wait list. 

The Winter/Spring semester will continue in January with five additional seminars. Watch the website and Headnotes for details coming soon about each of those sessions. 

VOLUNTEER TO BE A JD STUDENT AMBASSADOR

 The UofT Law JD Admissions Office is seeking JD students in all years to volunteer as JD Ambassadors.

Under the direction of the Senior Recruitment, Admissions & Diversity Outreach Officer, JD Ambassadors will engage with prospective students, applicants and newly admitted students to motivate them to enrol in the Faculty.

Ambassadors will provide the student perspective and insight into the JD experience by portraying the vibrancy and depth of the academic, co-curricular, extra-curricular, professional development and student service opportunities offered by or available through the Faculty and University. 
________________________________________________________________________________________________

* BE VALUED & MAKE A DIFFERENCE *
We encourage you to use this opportunity to have a direct impact on the composition of future classes. Incoming students who have interacted with current JD students and alumni consistently rave about the value of their engagement. 
________________________________________________________________________________________________

* EVERYONE IS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE*
We seek a mix of Ambassadors in order to support the wide range of educational backgrounds, life experiences and demographics of our prospective students and applicants. The greater the mix of ambassadors, the better support we can provide.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

* REASONABLE TIME COMMITMENT *
The commitment is light enough not to be a strain with other commitments. Ambassadors should allot 6-10 hours per term (typically an average of 1 hr /forthnight) to volunteer.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

* MAIN DUTIES *

1. LAW SCHOOL TOURS [80%]
Conducting tours of the Faculty that highlight key services, facilities and personnel, and how they relate positively to the student experience, as well as communicating the history, academic and career strengths, and activities that occur among the student body and faculty. Tour groups range from 1 - 8 people comprising primarily of prospective students, applicants and their relatives/families. Tours are normally 45 min in length, and during the Fall &Winter terms they are scheduled within the 12:30-2:00 pm period on weekdays.

2. INFORMATION EVENTS [10%]
Assisting with the coordination and implementation of functions on-campus and off-campus, such as Welcome Day (winter term), open houses, JD admission information sessions and education/career fairs. Ambassadors may staff the event registration desks, serve as information resources via one-on-one/group interaction, panels, presentations, video streams, and assist with other logistics. The majority of events are on weekdays, with possibly 3-5 events held on a weekend day (usually Saturday).

3. E-ENGAGEMENT [10%]
Corresponding with prospective and incoming students via social media, email and live online chats, to assist them in understanding what it's like to be a JD student in the Faculty and the University.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

* QUALIFICATIONS *

Candidates must be:
- in ANY JD year of study, from1L to 4L(for combined programs)
- in pursuit of any legal area of interest
- in good academic standing at the Faculty 
- willing and able to be a positive and responsible representative of the Faculty and University

________________________________________________________________________________________________

* SIGN-UP TODAY ONLINE *

Complete and submit the online application asap at https://goo.gl/forms/kOBipxRcgjKscryV2

The first round of selections will be made from the applications received by September 20

________________________________________________________________________________________________

* HELP *

Jerome Poon-Ting
Senior Recruitment, Admissions & Diversity Outreach Officer
JD Admissions Office
Student Services Hub

jerome.poon.ting@utoronto.ca
tel: 416-978-6630

September 16-17, 2017

University of Toronto Faculty of Law Conference Room fl219

The conference is free and registration is not required

Conference information

LAW AND ECONOMICS COLLOQUIUM

presents 

Marin Levy
Duke Law School 

Panel Assignment in the Federal Courts of Appeals 

Tuesday, September 12, 2017
4:10 – 5.45
Jackman Law Building, Room J225
78 Queen's Park 

It is common knowledge that the United States courts of appeals typically hear cases in panels of three judges, and that the composition of the panel can have significant consequences for case outcomes and for legal doctrine more generally.  Yet neither legal scholars nor social scientists have focused on the question of how judges are selected for their panels.  Instead, a substantial body of scholarship simply assumes that panel assignment is random.   This Article provides what, up until this point, has been a missing account of panel assignment.  Drawing on a multiyear qualitative study of five circuit courts, including in-depth interviews with thirty-five judges and clerks of court, I show that strictly random selection is a myth, and an improbable one at that—in many instances, it would have been impossible as a practical matter for the courts studied here to create their panels by random draw.  Although the courts generally tried to “mix up” the judges, the chief judges and clerks responsible for setting the calendar also took into account various other factors, from collegiality to efficiency-based considerations.  Notably, those factors differed from one court to the next; no two courts approached the challenge of panel assignment in precisely the same way. These findings pose an important challenge to the widespread assumption of panel randomness, and reveal key normative questions that have been largely ignored in the literature.  Although randomness is regarded as the default selection method across much of judicial administration, there is little exposition of why it is valuable.  What, exactly, is desirable about having judges brought together randomly in the first place?  What, if anything, is worrisome about non-random methods of selection?  This Article sets out to clarify both the costs and benefits of randomness, arguing that there can be valid reasons to depart from it.  As such, it provides a framework for assessing different panel assignment practices and other court practices that rely, to some extent, on randomness.     

Marin Levy is an associate professor at Duke Law School, having joined the faculty in 2009 after serving as a law clerk to Judge José A. Cabranes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Prior to her clerkship, she was an associate at Jenner & Block LLP in Washington, D.C.   Her principal academic interests include civil procedure, judicial administration, remedies, and federal courts.  Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, and the Duke Law Journal, among others.  Levy is also a co-author of Federal Standards of Review: Appellate Court Review of District Court Decisions and Agency Actions (2nd ed.) with Judge Harry T. Edwards and Linda A. Elliott.   Levy received her J.D. in 2007 from Yale Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law & Policy Review.  She is a 2004 graduate of the University of Cambridge, where she earned an M.Phil in the History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine.  Levy received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and in English from Yale College in 2003, graduating cum laude with distinction in both majors.
  

For more workshop information, please contact Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.

Welcome to the First Movie Night at the Law School organized by the SLS and the Library's Student Engagement Committee:

An aggressive, very bright 1^st year Harvard Law School student comes to terms with his dreams in America's most competitive school. He must survive much more than the pressures, all-night cramming and insecurities he expected ….. when he finds out that the girl he is dating is a daughter of the school’s legendary and very much dreaded contracts prof…..

 Bring your friends and come early to get a good seat!   See you at the movies!

The ILS is the only student club within the Faculty of Law that encompasses all areas of international law. We aim to promote an understanding of public and private international law, as well as encourage discussion between students, scholars and the broader legal community. Over the 2017-18 academic year, we intend to hold speaker events, a potluck, and run the annual Canadian International Law Students’ Conference (CILSC) in partnership with Osgoode Hall Law School.

We are looking for enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and committed law students to fill three 1L Representative positions. 1L Representatives are encouraged to take on large amounts of responsibility within the ILS. They will assist with suggesting and planning events, soliciting speakers, organizing panels for the CILSC and performing any other duties as needed.

To apply, please e-mail a short (500 word maximum) paragraph describing your interest in the ILS and your relevant experience to toronto.ils@gmail.com by Monday, September 18, 2017.

We look forward to reading your applications!

The Health Law Club is recruiting 1Ls for our executive team. The Health Law Club organizes numerous events throughout the year helping students deepen their understanding of the practice of health law and network with various professionals in the field. At our events, these professionals will discuss current issues and topics of interest in the field, and provide students with more information about their practice.

1L executive members are responsible for communicating with their 1L classmates and helping coordinate our events. This is a great chance to gain leadership experience and learn more about health law. If you're interested in becoming a 1L executive member, please submit a résumé and a statement of interest (max. 150 words) by September 23rd. Please send applications, and any questions you might have to utflhealthlawclub@gmail.com.

 Work-Study Position with Asper Centre

The Asper Centre is looking for a student to provide research and technical support for the Centre’s website and social media (Facebook and Twitter). The position involves some research and drafting for content to be uploaded to the Centre's website related to Canadian constitutional law and the activities of the Centre (primarily case summaries). Training will be provided in respect to website; therefore, in-depth knowledge of website development, maintenance and design, although helpful, is not required. 

Apply by September 13^th at 5:00 p.m. through the University’s Career Centre page: http://cln.utoronto.ca (Job No. 101096).

Downtown Legal Services is the Faculty’s flagship public interest clinic.  For over 40 years, our staff and students have been providing free legal services to low income clients and University of Toronto students in a number of high priority areas of law.

As DLS volunteer, you will have the opportunity to get involved in many different aspects of clinic work.  You will assist with client intake, learn about the areas of law we practice, participate in our outreach program and get involved in client work.  

Want to hear more?  Visit our website and come to our Volunteer Program Information Session on Wednesday, September 13, from 12:30 – 2:00 pm (Room J250).  We look forward to seeing you there!

 Downtown Legal Services

Advocates for Injured Workers is now accepting applications for new volunteers for the 2017-2018 school year. 

Our Clinic

Advocates for Injured Workers (AIW) is a unique student clinic dedicated to providing high quality legal services to injured workers. We represent clients in their claims and appeals with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. AIW is a satellite clinic of the Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario, an expert clinic with a long tradition of advocacy for injured workers which specializes in workers’ compensation matters, including casework, community development, law reform and test case litigation. Clients come from across Ontario and from a wide variety of backgrounds and communities, including racialized, precarious and migrant workers.

Volunteering

New volunteers are responsible for 2-3 client files and must attend one three hour shift per week. Volunteers must also attend a mandatory training session, which will take place either either September 22nd or September 29th. 

Students at AIW get incredible experience working directly with clients and supervising lawyers, drafting submissions, and representing clients at hearings. 

Applying to AIW

We are looking for students with a genuine interest in representing marginalized workers. 

Please fill out the attached application and return it to aiw.clinic@gmail.com no later than 5pm on Friday, September 15th. Offers will go out on Tuesday, September 19th at 9am. Responses are due that evening at 5pm. 

Want to Learn More?

Join us for our joint pub night with the labour and employment law club on Tuesday, September 12th from 6pm to 8pm at the Fox and the Fiddle (280 Bloor Street West). The venue is wheelchair accessible. 

You can also contact us with questions at aiw.clinic@gmail.com.

AIW Application Form

Moral Responsibility, Blameworthiness, and Intention: In Search of Formal Definitions

The need for judging moral responsibility arises both in ethics and in law.  In an era of autonomous vehicles and, more generally, autonomous AI agents, the issue has now become relevant to AI as well.  Although hundreds of books and thousands of papers have been written on moral responsibility, blameworthiness, and intention, there is surprisingly little work on defining these notions formally.  But we will need formal definitions in order for AI agents to apply these notions.  In this talk, I take some preliminary steps towards defining these notions.

This is joint work with Max Kleiman-Weiner.

Joe Halpern
Cornell University
Computer Science Department 

Mon, Sep 11, 2017
04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto
Rm 200, Larkin Building

Runaway Trolleys or Distant Strangers? How (and How Not) to Study the Psychology of Utilitarianism

Recent work in moral psychology has been heavily influenced by three assumptions: (1) that we can directly map notions and distinctions from ethical theory onto everyday moral psychology; (2) that in this way, we can directly uncover the psychological roots of ethical theories; and finally (3) that this allows us to directly debunk or vindicate such theories. Greene’s work on trolley dilemmas is perhaps the most ambitious example of these assumptions at work. Alas, the relation between ethical theory and the psychology of morals is not that simple. Many have criticized (3) and (2). Here, I will instead largely criticize the first assumption, which is arguably more fundamental. Focusing on the case of utilitarian judgment, I’ll show that a great deal of current research deploys this philosophical notion in a manner that is both simplistic and unhelpful. I will outline a more nuanced framework for thinking about the relation between theories like utilitarianism and ordinary psychology, and report new empirical findings utilizing this framework. These findings strongly suggest that aspects of utilitarianism that go together at the philosophical context are actually independent, and even in tension, in the psychology of ordinary folk. I will end by exploring how such work might shed light on the psychological roots of utilitarianism.

Guy Kahane
Associate Professor
Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Pembroke College
University of Oxford

Wed, Sep 20, 2017
04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto
200 Larkin

Law Society of Upper Canada Special Event – Lawyers and Canada at 150.

On Wednesday September 27 the Law Society of Upper Canada will mark Canada’s 150^th birthday with a special event highlighting the role of lawyers in making the Constitution and in the development of the inclusive society we are committed to building.

The event will take place at the Donald Lamont Learning Centre, Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West, from 3.00-6.00, with a reception to follow, 6 – 7.30, in Convocation Hall at Osgoode Hall. The programme is reproduced below. The event is free but you are asked to register at  http://www.lawsocietygazette.ca/event/lawyers-and-canada-at-150/

The first panel will speak to the role of lawyers in the making of the Constitution in 1867 and beyond.

PANEL 1: Moderator: Professor Jim Phillips, University of Toronto

Christopher Moore, award winning author and historian, will discuss the confederation debates over the division of powers.

The Honourable Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal will assess the origins and significance of the Persons Case.

Eric Adams of the University of Alberta will examine the career and ideas of lawyer and political activist Frank (F.R.) Scott.

Leading constitutional litigator Mary Eberts will revisit the drafting of section 15 of the Charter, in which she played an instrumental role.

The second panel will examine the careers of visionary lawyers who, from the causes they pursued and the careers they built, were ahead of their time.

PANEL 2: Moderator: Professor Philip Girard, Osgoode Hall Law School

Hamar Foster of the University of Victoria will discuss the early lawyers who represented British Columbia’s Indigenous peoples in the struggle for recognition of their land rights.

Barrington Walker of Queen’s University will talk about the struggles and triumphs of Delos Rogest Davis, the son of an escaped slave who was the second African-Canadian called to the Bar in Ontario, in 1886.

Laurel Sefton McDowell of the University of Toronto looks at labour activist, civil libertarian and lawyer Jacob Laurence (J.L.) Cohen, the most influential labour lawyer of the turbulent 1930s.

Constance Backhouse of the University of Ottawa will discuss the ways in which women have contributed to the legal profession from Clara Brett Martin’s first entry in 1897 and beyond.