Law Times

Law Times • June 25, 2012 Ecojustice lauded for innovative legal clinic NEWS BY ELIZABETH THOMPSON For Law Times school yet. However, Will Amos, director OTTAWA — Over the past year they have worked on a World Trade Organization dispute, a submission to the Supreme Court of Canada, a National Energy Board review, and presentations before parliamentary committees. And they're not even out of law of the Ecojustice clinic, says that kind of real-world experience is one of the reasons the organiza- tion at the University of Ottawa recently received a McConnell Foundation prize for community service learning. "I don't think there is any doubt ested in practising environmental law, it gave me exposure into the kinds of practice and policy work, the kinds of ways that environ- mental law can be practised in the private law arena, which is what I do now, "As someone who was inter- " she adds. expects the legal clinic to get even busier in the future, in part because of the "unprecedented" changes at the federal level. "The changes that are being In the meantime, Amos proposed are massive and far- reaching, " he says. "So that does make it very challenging for us because many people are looking to Ecojustice in Ottawa to provide assistance in these files." The challenge, however, doesn't faze Amos. "It's almost always David and Goliath. That's part of LT the fun." Ecojustice is interested in the questions of a constitutional right to a healthy environ- ment, says Will Amos. Photo: Elizabeth Thompson that it is a unique partnership, a leading public interest charity devoted to environmental law and environmental protection and a law faculty, pretty special." " says Amos. "That's legal clinic has proven to be a win-win arrangement for both the University of Ottawa and Ecojustice, a non-governmental organization that focuses on using the law to help protect the environment. Each semester, 15 law students Founded in 2007, Ecojustice's receive course credit for working with the clinic and get specialized lectures and hands-on experience working on the kinds of cases many lawyers don't get to handle until well into their practice. In turn, Ecojustice gets help researching and preparing legal cases and office space at the University of Ottawa. At the same time, the university con- tributes to the clinic' $350,000 a year. The program has been so s budget of successful that it will soon be expanding to include a science component. The clinic is plan- ning to hire a science staff mem- ber who will work with 15 sci- ence students per semester on environmental identified by Ecojustice. "The point is to be able to science issues translate complex science into a language that we as lawyers can understand better and that our clients can understand better, says Amos. The legal clinic, which offers its " services pro bono, always has more potential cases than it can handle, says Amos. Consequently, it' tegic in which cases it agrees to represent and gives preference to those involving significant envi- ronmental issues or that have the ability to set precedent. "Not every wetland can be saved," Amos says bluntly. "Not s stra- every bad development project can be stopped and Ecojustice and, by extension, the clinic has to be very picky. We have to fol- low a very strategic approach to identifying the types of cases we want to bring, identifying fact patterns that are brought to us by prospective clients that may fit those strategic cases that we are identifying. " interested in cases that would make a healthy environment a constitutional right. "We are quite excited, for For example, Ecojustice is CONGRATULATIONS MURRAY SEGAL ON THE NEXT CHAPTER IN YOUR CAREER PAGE 5 instance, about work that is being done in the area of envi- ronmental rights and the inter- pretation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — in particular, s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — to incorporate a right to a healthy environment." Because the clinic is so stra- We are pleased to congratulate Murray Segal as he leaves his current role as the Deputy Attorney General for Ontario to start a new practice as counsel and consultant at Simcoe Chambers in Toronto. tegic about the cases it takes on, students often find themselves on the cutting edge of environmental issues and preparing matters to go before some of the highest courts and decision-making bodies. For example, over the past year alone, legal clinic students worked on a submission in a WTO trade dispute launched by Japan over Ontario' minimum price for renewable energy. Japan complained it was an illegal subsidy. "I guess you would call it a s guaranteed unique contribution to a really important global debate, Amos. "It's not just Canada where " says we are seeing this issue play out." When Parliament intro- duced its omnibus budget implementation legislation that includes significant changes to environmental reviews, clinic students helped Amos prepare presentations before parlia- mentary committees. "The breadth of impressive, I think, and I think that is what generates the students' interest because they know that no matter what aspect of envi- ronmental protection they are interested in, whether it is inter- national or domestic, litigation or law reform, they're all there for them," says Amos. "And they are going to be involved in some of the meatiest and most politically charged debates." In the case of former Ecojustice the files is legal clinic student Ashley Deathe, the passion continues to this day. She credits her experience at the clinic with helping her get her cur- rent job at Nelligan O'Brien Payne LLP in Ottawa. "It was amazing to come into a job interview having an inkling of what you can and cannot do with law and I could speak coherently about that," she says. Reach one of the legal and business markets in largest A former Chief Prosecutor for Ontario and recognized authority on access to justice issues, Murray Segal has written and lectured extensively across Canada. He is the author of several Criminal Law publications, published by Carswell, including Breathalyzer Law in Canada: The Prosecution and Defence of Drinking and Driving Offences; Disclosure and Production in Criminal Cases; Canadian Charter of Rights: The Prosecution and Defence of Criminal and Other Statutory Offences; The Manual of Motor Vehicle Law and Criminal Code Driving Offences as well as annual publications relating to provincial offences, highway traffic legislation and criminal practice rules. He also edits the Motor Vehicle Reports. We wish Murray Segal all the best in his new role as counsel and consultant in matters involving access to justice and complex litigation. Canada! With more than 192,000 page views a month, canadianlawlist.com captures your market The all-new canadianlawlist.com features: — A fresh new look, designed for improved user experience — Eff ective new ways to reach the legal market — Gold and silver advertising packages For more information contact: Colleen Austin at 416-649-9327 or toll free at 1-800-387-5351 colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.lawtimesnews.com Online Print and in

• Cover