Leading figures in Canadian justice with connections to Osgoode Hall Law School are on Canadian Lawyer magazine’s list of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada. The list was published in the magazine’s August 2012 issue.
Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Warren Winkler (LLB ’62, LLM ‘64, Hon. LLD ‘12), appears first on the list as the most influential person in Canadian law. During Spring Convocation Ceremonies, York University conferred an honorary degree on Winkler (see YFile, June 20). “Winkler has spent much of his career on the bench pushing for improved access to fair, timely and affordable civil litigation in the justice system and he continues to fight that battle,” said Canadian Lawyer. The magazine noted that as Winkler approaches retirement, plans are underway to create the Winkler Institute for Dispute Resolution and the Winkler Chair in Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School.
The magazine described Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin (LLB ’92) as being at the “vanguard of access to justice efforts. He is the founding director of the Centre for the Legal Profession and has been a member of the steering committee of Ontario’s joint civil legal needs study, and served as research director for the Law Society of Upper Canada’s task force on the independence of the bar.”
On Canadian Lawyer magazine’s Top 25 list since it began is Osgoode Professor and civil libertarian Alan Young (LLB ’81, BA ’84). Young “has brought constitutional challenges to Canada’s gambling, obscenity, bawdy-house and drug laws, and for more than a decade has provided free legal services for people whose alternative lifestyles have brought them into conflict with the law,” said the magazine.
Gail Cohen, editor of Canadian Lawyer magazine, writes in her introduction to “The Top 25 Most Influential” that the list is “not just about bright stars, big deals, or number of media mentions – although those may play a part. We have endeavoured to select lawyers who have been influential within the profession as well as Canadian society over the last 18 months.”
The other Osgoode notables on Canadian Lawyer’s list are:
Michael Geist (LLB ’92), professor, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, is described by the magazine as “arguably the most influential voice on law and technology in the country, not only within the legal profession but also by educating the Canadian public through his newspaper columns and highly regarded blog.”
Justice Paul Perell (LLM ’89, PhD ’98), of the Ontario Superior Court, Toronto, “manages many of the most prominent class action files in the country and is shaping the field through his judgments,” said Canadian Lawyer magazine.
Full details are available in the August issue of Canadian Lawyer magazine.