Law Times - Newsmakers

top stories Lakehead University The new law school opened in a former high school earlier this year. New law school opens for first time since 1969 By Heather Gardiner The new law school that opened at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., in September 2013 is already making waves. First of all, it's the first law school in northern Ontario and the first one to open in Ontario since 1969. In July 2011, the provincial government announced it would give Lakehead $1.5 million to revamp a former high school, the old Port Arthur Collegiate Institute, to house the new law school, as well as $800,000 a year in operating funds. The idea behind having a law school in northern Ontario is to attract lawyers to set up shop there. "There is a lack of lawyers in northern Ontario in particular. Law school graduates tend to flock to major urban centres for the most part and there are a lot of small communities that are underserviced in terms of the provision of legal services," said Thunder Bay lawyer Kevin Cleghorn, who's also an adjunct political science professor at Lakehead. "It's anticipated and hoped that Lakehead will basically train lawyers who are interested in remaining in the smaller communities throughout northern Ontario and will service the needs of those people who have been underserviced in the past." Since before its inception, Lakehead law dean Lee Stuesser has stressed that the law school will focus on training students to practise law in the north. It's a law school "in the north, for the north," he said. The faculty plans to draw lawyers to underserviced communities by offering courses on northern issues such as aboriginal and natural resources law. "Most Canadian law schools offer courses in these areas . . . but I think the difference is the integration," said Jason MacLean, a former associate at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP who left his commercial litigation practice to become an assistant law professor at Lakehead. Promising to be an educational leader in aboriginal law, Lakehead has weaved it into its core curriculum. Also, with a professor-to-student ratio 14 December 2013 of one to 15, Lakehead plans to have small class sizes where "professors will know their students by name," according to its web site. There are currently five full-time professors, along with a head librarian who also teaches, with three more faculty members set to start in 2014 and two others in 2015. In addition, Lakehead submitted a proposal to the Law Society of Upper Canada to become a provider of the law practice program launched as part of a pilot project in 2014 to provide an alternative path to licensing as a result of the lack of positions available in Ontario. Stuesser is hoping that if graduates can get accreditation in northern Ontario, they're more likely to practise there. The proposal he submitted to the law society suggests integrating the law practice program into the existing three years of law school at no extra cost and without having to article. At the time of publication, the LSUC hadn't yet named the providers of the law practice program. The law dean is also a big advocate of practical training in law school. "Our students will be as lawyer-ready as we can make them. Part of that will be getting them to do hands-on things," he said. "The problem with so many Canadian law schools in the last few decades is that there's a pendulum in education and the pendulum has swung towards the academic side," he said. "We're fusing academics with practice, integrating the two." Students seem supportive of this different approach. Adam Schenk, one of 55 students in the inaugural class, said he looked at the program because the curriculum promises to make students "not only legally knowledgeable but also well prepared to enter the field and actually practise law." Motion delays spark major outcry The legal profession has long complained about court delays, but the issue took centre stage this year as lawyers started reporting waits of up to seven months to have simple motions heard. "The population in the GTA has exploded, and the resources — the number of courtrooms and the number of judges — hasn't changed appreciably for decades," personal injury lawyer Roger Oatley said in September. And the concern wasn't just about motions. In a case this year, Oatley challenged a bid to move a personal injury matter to Toronto from Barrie, Ont. At the time, Barrie courts were booking trials for as early as November 2013 whereas in Toronto, the earliest available slot was in the fall of 2016. While Oatley put the blame on a lack of judges and courtrooms, others said the system itself has a role due, for example, to poor case management. In response, Superior Court Chief Justice Heather Smith vowed to make the issue her top priority for the coming year. Speaking at the opening of the courts ceremony in September, Smith vowed her office was working to fix the time lags. "The issue is already being addressed as our top priority for 2013-14 by me, by the associate chief justice, by the regional senior judges of the GTA regions most directly affected by this trend," said Smith. In terms of solutions, Smith noted Justice Geoffrey Morawetz was conducting a significant internal review of the court's scheduling and assignment practices. By glenn kauth

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