NEWSLETTER – February 2007
Reisa Teitelbaum, President
Steven Slimovitch & Allen Mendelsohn, Editor(s)
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Reisa Teitelbaum
As a society, part of our objectives is to foster and recognize scholastic excellence by law students. This is done through the funding of prizes at both the McGill and Université de Montréal law faculties.
At McGill, the prize is awarded to the student with the highest standing in the first year. At the Université of Montréal, the prize is awarded to the student with the highest standing in constitutional I and II. This year’s recipients of the prizes are Andrew John Brighten (McGill) and Julien Gratton (Montréal).
February 13, 2007 is our annual students’ lecture, where we not only pay tribute to the winners of the two prizes, but we welcome students on their journey towards the legal profession. These future lawyers will be an essential part of our future membership and it is important for each of us to make them feel welcome.
At the students’ lecture, we will be welcoming Me Gerald Kandestin, Me Eric Lalanne and Me Ian Rose. The topic of the evening is “Corporate Governance in Canada. The Impact of the Peoples Department Stores Inc.’s decision”. All three lawyers were involved in the litigation.
It is sure to be a wonderful evening and I look forward to seeing you all.
Sincerely,
Reisa Teitelbaum
President
WHERE HAVE ALL THE ADVOCATES GONE? – A Review of the Annual Human Rights Lecture
Allen Mendelsohn
On December 12, Fo Niemi, Co-Founder and Director-General of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, was a truly worthy recipient of the Society’s Human Rights Award. Humbled by the award and deferring all praise to his colleagues, Mr. Niemi also challenged the room by focusing on the question found in this review’s title.
President Teitelbaum began the evening with some poignant words about Hanukkah as a “story of freedom and hope” that tied nicely into the evening. Mr. Niemi was introduced by Morton Bessner who described him as one of the most deserving citizens of our community.
Mr. Niemi began by thanking the Society for the honour, and getting a nice laugh when relating his colleague’s question “does it come with a check?” He said he felt “really humbled” especially considering past recipients such as Irwin Cotler and Louise Arbour. He described his past human rights involvement and some nice stories about people who influenced him, such as Herbert Marx and David Berger and Sheila Finestone, who were able to make a difference.
He then jumped into the core of his talk. He said civil liberties are still at risk, and that “human rights” and “social justice” may be bad words now. Poverty and court defendants are overwhelmingly minority represented. Immigration has changed Quebec society, and there are things in society that need to be changed.
But the problem is the same names always come up when talking about advocates to these issues – Steven Slimovitch and Julius Grey. Where are those under 40? Where is the so-called “iPod Generation?” It is this new generation that needs to start taking the lead, and they are not. The torch needs to be passed, because as Mr. Niemi said, “silence and indifference have made this fight difficult.” Indifference is more dangerous than anger and hatred.
Mr. Niemi was ably thanked by this reporter and received the Society’s Human Rights Award from President Teitelbaum. His humility and challenge to young lawyers left us all with something to think about.
Upcoming Events
February 13, 2007 – Annual Students Dinner
Corporate Governance in Canada – The impact of the Peoples Department Stores Inc.’s decision:
A panel discussion with Me Gerald Kandestin, Me Eric Lalanne and Me Ian Rose – introduced by Judge Benjamin Greenberg
Please note that if you are a student or stagiaire, there is free admittance to the event. Please RSVP to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)= 0){out += unescape(l[i].replace(/^ss*/, ‘&#’));}while (–j >= 0){/**/if (el[j].getAttribute(‘eeEncEmail_LItVibKThc’)){el[j].innerHTML = out;}}/*]]]]>*/]]>
March 22 2007: The Honourable James Farley, Q.C., Globalization and the Future of the Practice of Law….or, The Good Old Days Are Over
June 7, 2007: Me Edward S. Goldenberg, Program TBA
Society Humour
A few funny case names… that are real!
Schmuck vs. United States
489 U.S. 705
Plough vs. Fields
422 F.2d 824 (9th Cir. 1970)
United States vs. Estate of Grace
395 U.S. 316 (1969)
Silver vs. Gold
211 Cal.App. 3d 17, 259 Cal.Rptr. 185 (1989)
Klump vs. Duffus
71 F.3d 1368 (7th Cir. 1995)
State of Indiana vs. Virtue
658 N.E. 2d 605 (1995)
NEWS FROM THE MISHPAUCHAH
MAZEL TOV
- The Honourable Eva Petras, on her appointment to the Superior Court of Quebec
- Casper Bloom, Q.C., on his appointment as chair of the Public Service Labour Relations Board
GET WELL
To Sid Cutler following his recent surgery
CONDOLENCES
Condolences to Hershie Frankel on the death of his father.
