2010-2011 David Stolow

It was a privilege and a pleasure for me to serve as the Lord Reading Law Society’s President in 2010-2011.

My term began with an important change, the loss of our “home” for over 50 years, the Montefiore Club, and the Society moved, temporarily, to the Saint-James Club.

Our Programme Committee put together a tremendous series of lectures:

  • The Annual Alan B. Gold Advocacy Lecture: Judge Yves-Marie Morissette, Québec Court of Appeal, “Querulous and Abusive Litigants, past and present”.
  • The second lecture of the season: The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, “Enforcing Privacy in the Online World”.
  • The Annual Human Rights Lecture: Jayne Stoyles, Executive Director Canadian Centre for International Justice, “Bringing international war criminals to justice: the status of international and domestic Law”. In recognition of her exceptional contribution to the field of human rights, the LRLS presented to Ms. Stoyles one of our highest honours, the Lord Reading Law Society Human Rights Award.
  • The Annual Students’ Lecture: Mtre. Sylvain Lussier, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, “Solicitor-client Privilege: from evidentiary rule to constitutional right”.
  • The Henry Steinberg Memorial Lecture: Mr. Lawrence Kaye, Esq., Co-Chair of the Art Law Group (New York) at Herrick, Feinstein LLP, “Show me the Monet: litigation strategies when suing to recover art stolen during the Holocaust”.
  • The final lecture of the season: Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell, Supreme Court of Canada, “Sound Professional Judgment: The Lawyer’s Most Important Attribute”.

During my term as President, one of my goals was to increase the presence and participation of the next generation of the Society’s members and future leaders.  I am happy to report that we accomplished this goal and that the LRLS is in great hands.

Overall, we had a terrific year, which was wonderfully summarized in a poem presented to me by our amazing First Vice-President, Robin Schiller, as I passed on the baton to her as incoming President.

Ode to a President

Oh President, our President
What dare we officers say?
To honor all your efforts
And not scare future Presidents away.

When colleagues were relaxing
During summer days of yore,
The pavement you were pounding
To replace the Montefiore.

With fall quickly approaching
And options oh so few,
St. James would win the contract
But had they ever fed a Jew?

Oh President, our President
At first you were so wary,
You chose to walk the lonely path
Of Delegatus non potest delegare.

But as the falling leaves
Made way for winter’s snow,
Oh President, our President
You learned how to let go.

With the club issue behind you
The stage was finally set,
For Querulous pleaders and 54.1
The Honourable Yves Morissette.

The Social Networks beckon
They cast their nets so wide,
Commissioner Stoddard taught us
There is nothing you can hide.

We like to honour activists
We appreciate their toils,
We recognized humanity
In the efforts of Jayne Stoyles.

But benevole is not a song
That many of us sing,
Justice, justice we will chant
If clients it will bring.

Me Lussier came to teach us
To choose the winning side,
If you’re not sure what side that is
Pick up your conflicts guide.

This institution shares its past
With ancestors who perished,
Lawrence Kaye showed us oh so well
We could recover what they cherished.

What better way to end your Term
Than with Justice Cromwell’s talk,
Let honesty always be your guide
Make sure you walk the walk.

Oh President, our President
As your term comes to an end,
We may not call you President
But we’ll certainly call you friend.

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