E: The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Challenges, Policy, and Law
- Arif Virani, Member of Parliament for Parkdale-High Park and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship
- Stephen Cornish, Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
- Kelsey Lange, Lifeline Syria
- Moderated by: Vince Wong, Staff Lawyer, Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
The Syrian civil war continues to be one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. Millions have been killed or forced to flee their homes. What are Canada’s moral and legal obligations to provide a safe haven for refugees fleeing this crisis? What are the legal and practical challenges of bringing refugees over to Canada and integrating them into the community? This panel will examine these questions both from a high level legal and policy perspective and based on the hard realities of what has been happening on the ground—both with the civil war in Syria and with the integration of refugees into Canada.
This panel may be counted for 1 hour and 15 minutes of Substantive Content
F: Law in the Digital Age
- Ravi Shukla, Partner, Fogler Rubinoff LLP
- Nader Hasan, Counsel, Stockwoods LLP
- Anne Feehely, Associate General Counsel, BMO Financial Group
- Moderated by: Gerald Chan, Counsel, Stockwoods LLP
In the digital age, we are allowing previously unimaginable amounts of information about ourselves to be stored and aggregated businesses and governments. What are the legal implications of this new reality for privacy, cybersecurity and intellectual property? Our panel will discuss these issues from their unique perspectives as a criminal defence lawyer asserting the privacy rights of his clients against the State; a corporate commercial lawyer advising businesses on how best to protect against data leakages and other cybersecurity risks; and an in-house lawyer at a major financial institution seeking to both utilize and protect customer data.
The objectives of this program is to discuss how the law is changing to adapt to the new reality in which nearly all of our personal information is stored and aggregated in the form of digital data. The program is expected to cover, among others, the following topics relating to professionalism and ethics:
- What should lawyers / law firms be doing to protect against hacks and other data leakages and safeguard their privileged and confidential client information?
- What should lawyers be doing to safeguard their privileged and confidential client information when they, their offices, or their electronic devices are the subject of search and seizure by law enforcement (e.g., if a customs official asks to search the contents of their smart phone when they are crossing the border)?
This panel contains 30 minutes of Professionalism Content and 45 minutes of Substantive Content
G: The Landscape of Law and Change: The View from the Law Society
- Paul Schabas, Treasurer, LSUC, and Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
- Sandra Nishikawa, Bencher, LSUC, and Counsel, Ministry of the Attorney General
- Julian Falconer, Bencher, LSUC, and Partner, Falconers LLP
- Raj Anand, Bencher, LSUC, and Partner, Weirfoulds LLP
- Moderated by: Paul Saguil, Senior Counsel, TD Bank
The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) faces today an unprecedented number of issues which raise questions as to its identity, its relationship with social change, and its future role in governing the legal sector. The future of the Articling Program and Law Practice Program. The denial of accreditation to the proposed law school at Trinity Western University – a decision which has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The release of the Challenges Faced by Racialized Licensees Working Group final report The re-evaluation of how advertising and alternate fee arrangements are regulated. Compliance-based entity regulation. These are just some of the matters before the LSUC today which affect the day-to-day affairs of all members of the bar. Fortunately, the most recent round of bencher elections resulted in the election of a historic number of racialized candidates as benchers, who will now lend their perspectives and their voices as the LSUC determines how to address the issues before it. Join some of them, together with the Treasurer of the Law Society, for an engaging discussion on issues that will affect the practice of law in Ontario for many years to come, and their implications on the practice of law and the management of law firms.
This panel contains 1 hour and 15 minutes of Professionalism Content
H: What is Big Law Doing for Diversity and Inclusion?
- Doug Rienzo, Senior Partner and Chair, Diversity Committee, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
- Neena Gupta, Partner and Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, Gowling WLG LLP
- Laleh Moshiri, National Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
- Moderated by: Cindy Kou, Associate, Gowling WLG LLP
Who is not talking about diversity and inclusion these days? The Prime Minister appointed a diverse cabinet. The Minister of Justice is taking steps to diversify judicial appointments. The Law Society is exploring issues of systemic racism in the legal profession through a dedicated working group. Study after study trumpet the virtues of diverse and inclusive work forces. Law firms are establishing diversity and inclusion initiatives in attempts to attract and retain the best talent.
Against the backdrop of these efforts, however, the statistics about the progress of visible minority lawyers in large firms are not (yet) encouraging: visible minority lawyers comprise a disproportionately small percent of the partnership and managing leadership of Bay Street firms and the “pipeline” of mid-level associates does not forecast much change.
This panel features top partners from three national and international firms, including heads of diversity committees, for a candid discussion of what “Big Law” is doing to foster diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. The panelists will discuss what the diversity and inclusion initiatives of their firms look like, how they assist minorities from a career building and career advancement perspective, and practice tips and tricks for students and junior lawyers of minority backgrounds to succeed in a big law environment.
This panel contains 1 hour and 15 minutes of Professionalism Content