The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism, with membership spanning from across the Bench and the Bar, the Law Society and the Academy, focuses on a number of initiatives to support the teaching of professionalism in our law schools and throughout the profession.
As part of this effort, the Committee established an annual award in 2010, sponsored by the law firm of Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP, to encourage law students to think and write about the legal profession and acknowledge the best student papers on any subject relating to legal ethics and professionalism.
The prize is awarded annually by the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism to three law students registered in a JD or LLB program at a law school in Ontario for the best previously unpublished papers on any topic relating to legal ethics and professionalism.
Papers must be at least 2,000 and not more than 6,000 words inclusive of footnotes or endnotes. Submissions must be in a Microsoft Word compatible format. The applicant’s name and university should be noted on the front page of the essay, but must not be shown on any other pages of the essay.
The author of the best paper will be awarded $3,000. The authors of the other two award winning papers will each be awarded $1,000. The first-prize paper will be published in a suitable venue. Additionally, all winners will be invited to a dinner with the Chief Justice of Ontario and the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP are proud to announce the winners of the 2012 Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP Essay Prize in Legal Ethics.
First Place
Jeremy Tatum, University of Windsor, JD Candidate, 2012: “Navigating the Fine Line of Criminal Advocacy: Using Truthful Evidence to Discredit Truthful Testimony”
Other winners
Megan Seto, University of Ottawa, JD Candidate, 2013: “Killing Ourselves: Depression as an Institutional, Workplace and Professionalism Problem”
Kaitlyn MacDonnell, University of Windsor, JD Candidate, 2012: “Ethics of Class Counsel: Is there a need for restrictions on investigating class claims?”
The OBA Foundation, a charity established by the Ontario Bar Association, has assumed funding and administration of The OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism (“Fellowships”), formerly The Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism.
The 2013-14 OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism have been awarded to Professor Alice Woolley of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law (Fellowship in Research) and Amy Salyzyn, a graduate student at Yale University Law School (Fellowship in Studies).
Professor Woolley’s research project will consider the significance of the lawyer’s status as a fiduciary in defining the lawyer’s duties, in particular duties of loyalty and confidentiality.
Amy Salyzyn’s project will study the ethical implications of lawyers’ pre-litigation demand letters.
Media inquiries contact: Lee Akazaki lakazaki@gilbertsondavis.com
The Committee awarded grants for the following projects for the 2012-2013 year.
Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Research – A grant of $15,000 was awarded to Professor Brent Cotter of the University of Saskatchewan and Professors Richard Devlin and Jocelyn Downie of Dalhousie University. Their project is “Video Vignettes in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility (Confidentiality, Conflicts of Interest, Competence and Quality of Service, Civility and Professionalism and Access to Justice / Pro Bono)”.
Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Studies – A grant of $5,000 was awarded to Ms. Hanna Askew, student, Osgoode Hall Law School. Her project is “Educational Strategies to Foster Inter-cultural Understanding of Aboriginal Legal Perspectives among New Legal Professionals.”