Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, has announced the three inaugural recipients of the law school’s McMurtry Visiting Clinical Fellowship.
Raj Anand, a partner at WeirFoulds LLP in Toronto, Joseph Arvay of Arvay Finlay Barristers in Vancouver, and Fay Faraday, a sole practitioner in Toronto, will each spend a term or part of a term at Osgoode providing mentorship to students and lawyers engaged in experiential education initiatives. Click here to view their biographies.
“This is the first program of its kind in Canada and we are delighted to have these exceptional lawyers join us,” Sossin said. “Osgoode’s commitment to experiential education, to putting law into action, means that as part of every Juris Doctor (JD) student’s legal education, we strive to integrate legal theory and legal practice in diverse and dynamic settings. The McMurtry Fellows will play a vital role in helping to connect our students, faculty and staff with broader practice networks, insights and expertise. They will help build bridges between the law school and the community to advance experiential education.”
The McMurtry Visiting Clinical Fellowship holders, who were chosen by a selection committee composed of Osgoode faculty, student and staff representatives, will receive an office, administrative support and a stipend while in residence at Osgoode.
The McMurtry Fellows may also teach and get involved with Osgoode’s mooting and lawyering programs, participate in research projects, deliver public and faculty lectures, and assist with institutional projects in their areas of expertise and interest.
Arvay, who spent the month of September at Osgoode, delivered the James Lewtas Lecture on Sept. 19 to an overflow crowd and has been advising faculty and staff on the development and implementation of clinical programs. Anand will be teaching an upper-year seminar on Legal Ethics during the Winter term. Faraday is teaching a first-year class on Ethical Lawyering in the Global Community as well as an upper-year seminar in the Fall term on Discrimination and the Law.
The McMurtry Fellowship honours Osgoode alumnus R. Roy McMurtry (LLB ‘58, LLD ’91), former Attorney General and Chief Justice of Ontario, current Chancellor of York University, and Honorary Chair of the Osgoode History & Archives Project, which showcases the law school’s illustrious past in dynamic displays throughout Osgoode’s new building.
The McMurtry Fellowship, together with Osgoode Hall Law School’s recent introduction of an experiential education requirement – a “praxicum” – into its JD curriculum and the opening of an Office of Experiential Education to develop and support experiential learning initiatives, are key components of a larger, five-year strategic plan (“Experience Osgoode”) to advance experiential education, and build partnerships and collaboration to achieve that goal.