Law Times

Law Times • June 8, 2009 NEWS PAGE 3 provincial governments kicked in $25 million to renovate the exist- ing facility and create over 20,000 square feet of new space. "We are going to have the best Osgoode Hall Law School getting $25-million facelift O BY ROBERT TODD Law Times sgoode Hall Law School will get a complete face- lift after the federal and contribution to the project. Said Monahan: "I'm pinching myself — is this really happen- ing?" He called the project, "the most important development for Osgoode Hall Law School since we came to York 41 years ago." Monahan, who on July 1 will law school building in Canada," Osgoode dean Patrick Monahan told an audience gathered out- side the law school to announce the funding. "It will have state- of-the-art facilities." Both levels of government have pledged $12.5 million for the initiative, which the school said will help it take in more gradu- ate students, improve its teaching facilities and student community space, and house research centres. Osgoode has attracted $10 mil- lion in private funding to meet the project's total cost. The federal funding comes through the $2-billion Knowl- edge Infrastructure Program to revamp colleges and universities, part of Ottawa's $12-billion Eco- nomic Action Plan to stimulate the recessionary economy. The province has matched the feds' finish his six-year reign as head of the law school to become York's new vice-president academic and provost, recalled being a student at Osgoode in the late 1970s, shortly after the current building was erected: "Even then we were complaining about the building. I mean, the cafeteria was in the basement, the student lounge was in the basement — there were no windows. All the student clubs and all the facilities for students were in the basement. "Now for the faculty it wasn't bad; they had the place with the windows . . . There was no place for the students to gather." Mo- nahan said the problem worsened over the past decade as the school expanded its programs and added faculty and graduate students. He added, "This has been a consis- tent source of dissatisfaction for our students and our alumni." Monahan specifically thanked businessman Ignat Kaneff for his Those gathered for the Osgoode announcement are, from left to right, Mamdouh Shoukri, Mario Sergio, John Milloy, Ignat Kaneff, Peter Kent, Sanford Murray, and Patrick Monahan. $2.5-million donation to the Building Osgoode Campaign. He announced that the new building will be called the "Ignat Kaneff Building" in recognition of the lead donor's contribution. Other major donations in- clude $1 million from Canada Law Book and $750,000 from Goodmans LLP. Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent said the project is an example of an infrastructure project that can bolster the economy. "This government of Canada investment in the York Univer- sity Osgoode renovation and expansion will not only expand one of Canada's foremost law schools, but will also provide a significant short-term econom- ic stimulus to this corner of the GTA and will create jobs in this region," said Kent. York University president and vice-chancellor Mamdouh Sh- oukri thanked the governments "for their vision and their under- standing of the importance of funding the postsecondary sec- tor. . . . This investment in Os- goode Hall Law School is a vote of confidence in York, and it will help us build a better learning and teaching environment for our faculty, students, and staff." Here are some features of the new building, which will be de- signed by Jack Diamond of Dia- mond + Schmitt Architects Inc.: • Single-storey addition over the library for a new cafeteria and administrative offices; • an atrium, with a skylight, that will connect the addition with the existing building; • new space for centres and programs: • space for the world's first dispute resolution centre and electronic courtroom; • library reconfiguration for in- creased student access. Osgoode hopes the facilities will reach Leadership in Ener- gy and Environmental Design silver classification. "It will be a modern facility that will rank amongst the best in North America, as we aspire to our vision to be Canada's law school," said Monahan. LT LSUC complaint reviews on the rise quests for review to the society's complaints resolution commissioner, Convocation has heard. Benchers last month received the 2008 annual A report of the LSUC's complaints resolution commis- sioner, Clare Lewis. He's charged with offering an in- dependent review of the law society's handling of a complaint and its decision to reject it. Lewis acknowledged in his report that there has been a noticeable rise in the number of complaints funneling through to his office since he was appointed to the role in April 2005, when the law society ad- opted a new system of complaint reviews. His office received 188 requests for review last year, up from 154 in 2007 and 109 in 2006. A similar n upswing in complaints to the Law Society of Upper Canada and more public awareness have led to a "marked increase" in the number of re- total for 2005 was not included in the report. Last year 158 file reviews were actually conducted, compared to 108 in 2007 and 79 in 2006. Of the 2008 reviews, 18 — or about 11 per cent — were sent back to the law society with a recommendation for further action. In 2007, 14 reviews — or about 13 per cent — led to further action. In 2006, 13 complaints — or about 16 per cent — were returned to the law society. Lewis attributed the increase in requests for review to the "overall rise in the number of complaints to the law society," and an "increase in public awareness of the process." Wrote Lewis, "The change in practice by the direc- tor of professional regulation requiring that a copy of the complaints review process information sheet be enclosed with every closing letter from the complaints resolution and investigations departments has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of requests." Professional Regulation Committee vice-chairwom- an Bonnie Tough told Convocation that Lewis, at one of the committee's meetings, expressed concern about an increase in time to review complaints. He currently is assisted by two part-time counsel and a complaints resolution co-ordinator, noted Tough. "He was encouraging us to maintain the staff, that he sees it necessary to do a performance update of his role," she said. Lewis has told the law society that he will not seek reap- pointment as complaints resolution commissioner at the end of his current term in March 2010, said Tough. In a statement to Law Times, Lewis said he will be 72 years old at that time, having spent 45 years in the profession. "It's time," said Lewis, who at one time served as Ontario's ombudsman. LT The Winning Brief The Acclaimed LawProse Workshops — 2009 Series 100 Tips for Persuasive Brie ng in Trial and Appellate Courts Featuring one of America's most effective and entertaining CLE speakers: Bryan A. 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