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Lloyd and the Legislative Void: Representative Actions in Transatlantic Context
Get PDFThe Canadian class action regimes have had a strong influence on the development of collective redress procedures in England. Canadian class proceedings legislation provided a model for the competition law class action regime in the UK, and before then, it featured prominently in the Civil Justice Council’s report that recommended the enactment of generic class actions legislation in England. It is fitting, then, that the UK Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lloyd v Google referred to the Canadian jurisprudence on the representative rule, which allows one or more claimants to represent a group with the ‘same interest’. While Lloyd did not follow the Supreme Court of Canada in allowing representative actions for individualised damages, the decision represents a more liberal reading of the representative rule than in previous cases. Specifically, it affirms the use of the rule for a declaration of the answers to common questions, with individual actions to follow (the ‘bifurcated approach’). This article will situate Lloyd within the context of Canadian and English representative action jurisprudence, and, based on the rule’s development in Canada, will make predictions for its use in England. Article length: 9,963 words
Commentary on Dodge v. Ford Motor Company
No full textThe plaintiffs, John and Horace Dodge, owned a ten percent share in the defendant’s, Ford Motor Company (FMC), corporation. The Dodge brothers had recently started their own car company, but the Dodge Brothers retained interest in FMC, which had paid hefty dividends. Henry Ford very publicly decided to stop paying dividends to investors and to build a new plant in River Rouge, Michigan, which would drive competition for lower priced vehicles. The Dodge brothers filed this suit in response. The case highlights the debate over the fundamental purpose of business: investor benefit or societal benefit. Through the lens of feminist theory, Ford’s approach would promote both the financial interests of FMC and the equitable access to private transportation to the betterment of society. By withholding dividends, FMC could maintain a cash reserve in times of financial adversity; meanwhile, by driving down the price of cars, private transportation could be more widely available to even the most marginalized groups who were more likely to experience harassment on public transportation. The feminist perspective argues that the notion that a corporation’s only purpose being to immediately maximize profits for the sake of stockholders is too narrow a view
Digital Updates
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Assisted Suicide in Canada: Moral, Legal, and Policy Considerations by Travis Dumsday
Get PDFTHE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA’S (SCC) decision in Carter v Canada (“Carter”) was a landmark moment in Canadian jurisprudence. In Carter, the SCC declared two sections of the Criminal Code to be of no force and effect because the “prohibition on physician assisted dying…deprives a competent adult of such assistance where (1) the person affected clearly consents to the termination of life; and (2) the person has a grievous and irredeemable medical condition…that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual.” Not only did Carter overturn an earlier decision in Rodriguez v British Columbia (Attorney General) (“Rodriguez”), which had upheld prohibitions on medical assistance in dying (MAID), but Carter was also instrumental in two other aspects of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) jurisprudence
Book Review: Lisa Kloppenberg, The Best Beloved Thing is Justice: The Life of Dorothy Wright Nelson
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Osgoode alumni give back by establishing $1.2-million Davies Fellows Award to create positive change in the legal profession
No full textYork University’s Osgoode Hall Law School receives transformative contribution to its No Barriers campaign from alumni working at leading Canadian law firm Davies
TORONTO, March 1, 2023 – York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, one of Canada’s leading law firms, jointly announced today a $1.2-million Davies Fellows Award that is designed to break down barriers to legal education.
The new bursary is created with donations from Osgoode alumni at Davies with matching funds from the law school.
Every year, the bursary will help support one first-year student in the law school’s juris doctor (JD) program, who has demonstrated financial need and exceptional promise.
The successful candidate’s personal and professional achievements will include overcoming obstacles related to financial means, racial, cultural, gender inequalities, mental health, and/or physical or learning challenges. The recipient will be known as a Davies Fellow.
The award is renewable for the student’s second and third years in the JD program, provided the student remains in good academic standing and continues to demonstrate financial need and exceptional promise.
“We count among our lawyers at Davies, individuals who have overcome obstacles to achieve excellence in the profession, and we recognize that we have an opportunity to expand access to a legal education to students from equity-deserving groups,” says Osgoode alumna and Davies senior partner Patricia Olasker.
She adds that the initiative reflects the firm’s commitment to creating a more inclusive legal profession by removing barriers that stand in the way of students of exceptional promise. “Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is a core value of our firm, and the creation of the Davies Fellows Award is an impactful way for us to turn our values into action.”
“I am so grateful for the amazing support our alumni working at Davies have given to this initiative, which will see generous alumni donations matched by Osgoode to help reduce systemic barriers to law school for students from equity-deserving groups who will, in turn, change the face of the legal profession,” says Mary Condon, dean of Osgoode. “The creation of the award is a transformative contribution to the law school’s No Barriers campaign, which aims to make Osgoode one of the most diverse and inclusive law schools in Canada.”
As the first Canadian law school to adopt a holistic admissions policy 15 years ago, Osgoode has been a leader in making legal education more open, inclusive and diverse, the dean adds.
Images from the cheque-presentation event available for download:
https://www.yorku.ca/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2023/03/osgoode-2-scaled.jpg
https://www.yorku.ca/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2023/03/2023_Davies-Fellows-Award-006-scaled.jpg
About Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, founded in Toronto in 1889, is among the oldest, largest and most diverse law schools in Canada, with an accomplished alumni community of more than 18,000 worldwide.
About York University
York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, York brings a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare its students for success.
About Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Davies is a leading Canadian business law firm focused on high-stakes matters. The firm is pre-eminent across each of its practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, tax, litigation, and competition law. Davies has made equity, diversity and inclusion a fundamental component of its corporate culture and is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives both within and beyond its doors.
Media Contacts:
John Schofield, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Osgoode Hall Law School, 416-736-5820, [email protected].
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 647-464-4354, [email protected]
Quiet Rebels: A History of Ontario Women Lawyers
No full textIt\u27s a girl! As the Ontario press announced, Canada\u27s first woman lawyer was called to the Ontario bar in February 1897.Quiet Rebels explores experiences of exclusion among the few women lawyers up to 1957, and how their experiences continue to shape gender issues in the contemporary legal profession. Author Mary Jane Mossman tells the stories of all 187 Ontario women lawyers1897-1957, revealing the legal profession\u27s gendered patterns. As a small handful at the Law School, (sometimes the only woman), they were often ignored, and they faced discrimination in obtaining articling positions and legal employment. Most were Protestant, white, and middle-class, and a minority of Jewish, Catholic, and immigrant women lawyers faced even greater challenges. The book also explores some changes, as well as continuities, for the much larger numbers of Ontario women lawyers in recent decades. This longitudinal study of women lawyers\u27 gendered experiences in the profession during six decades of social, economic, and political change in early twentieth-century Ontario identifies factors that created - or foreclosed -women lawyers\u27 professional success. The book\u27s final section explores how some current women lawyers, in spite of their increased numbers, must remain quiet rebels to succeed. -- Provided by publisher.https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty_books/1416/thumbnail.jp
Exploring the Importance of Criminal Legal Aid: A Canadian Perspective
Get PDFThere is a growing global recognition that, in order to address the current access to justice crisis, more research, together with a better understanding of data, is needed. This article, through an examination of existing legal aid research primarily in the area of criminal law, explores some of what we know and do not know about the relative benefits and costs of providing different kinds of criminal legal aid services. Although not a comprehensive review of all available research, this article identifies data strengths and gaps and the need for further research and reforms