Moot Times - March 2010

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MOOT TIMES The Law Student’s Newspaper VOL I APRIL 2009 No. 8 MARCH 2010 VOL II No. Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition Shannon Beckett (2L) Third year student David Foster, and second year student Shannon Beckett represented the University of Calgary at the 12th annual Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition which was held in Toronto on January 31st 2010. The com- petition took place at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and was sponsored by Mathews Dinsdale, a leading Labour Law firm in Toronto. The students, who had been preparing for the mooting competition since October, faced off against teams from Queens, and Dalhousie Universities, and represented both the Union and Management sides of a Labour Dis- pute concerning doughnuts and defamation. The competition was judged by arbitration panels composed of Union and Management lawyers as well as Ontario Arbitrators. The final competition, held on Sunday February 1st was adjudicated by The Honourable John I. Laskin of the Ontario Court of Appeal; Tim Armstrong, former Deputy Minister and former Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board; and Kevin Whitaker, current Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. When asked what she liked most about participating in the competition Beckett remarked, “I enjoyed the competi- tive nature of the competition and watching four months of hard work come to fruition. I would definitely recommend participating in this competition to any student who is at all interested in Labour and Employment Law.” Aboriginal Moot Brings Rich Experience Orlagh O’Kelly (3L) Kane Richards, Carol Crosson, Britannee Laverdure and Orlagh O’Kelly participated in the Kawaskimhon Moot at the University of Ottawa, March 5-7. Despite a memorable experience led by coach, Sheryl Manychief of Maurice Law, the students still do not know how to pronounce the moot’s name. Not be deterred by this inability, the students represented an Alberta Metis family, the Cunninghams, in a problem based on the Alberta Court of Appeal decision’s in Cunningham v. Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Develop- ment). With lofty goals of discussing- among other things- Metis self government, the repeal of the Indian Act, section 35 rights, the interpretation of the long neglected section 25 and a post Kapp look at section 15 (2), the table quickly turned into a simulation of real life negotiations. The Alberta government, represented by Queen’s, was proving tough to convince despite an alliance of Métis parties. But, at the eleventh hour, the eight teams were able to reach a consensus regarding amendments to the Métis Settle- ment Act’s arbitrary membership provisions, which excluded some Métis from their homes, who had also obtained statu- torily defined Indian Status in order to obtain health benefits. This consensus was led by the ideas flowing throughout the weekend about a “multi-juridical” Canada, which could possibly see the long awaited requirement of an indigenous member on the Supreme Court of Canada. Calgary represented the faculty well, with Richards exercising his French skills and Laverdure leading her team with knowledge about indigenous custom. All four students were most happy to learn from the Elders (including Maria Campbell, author of Half-Breed) and to participate in customary practices, such as the smudge ceremony each morning. Back in the swing of the semester, the mooters are anxious to see what parties will be allowed to intervene following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant leave to appeal on March, 11, 2010. For an excellent summary of the legal issues, readers can see Professor Koshan’s blog post, “Leave to appeal granted by the SCC in the Métis Status Case”, available at www.ablawg.ca. Moot, Moot, Moot...2010 Moot Season!

Transcript of Moot Times - March 2010

Page 1: Moot Times - March 2010

MOOT TIMESThe Law Student’s

Newspaper

VOL I APRIL 2009 No. 8MARCH 2010 VOL IINo.

Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition Shannon Beckett (2L)

Third year student David Foster, and second year student Shannon Beckett represented the University of Calgary at the 12th annual Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition which was held in Toronto on January 31st 2010. The com-petition took place at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and was sponsored by Mathews Dinsdale, a leading Labour Law firm in Toronto. The students, who had been preparing for the mooting competition since October, faced off against teams from Queens, and Dalhousie Universities, and represented both the Union and Management sides of a Labour Dis-pute concerning doughnuts and defamation.

The competition was judged by arbitration panels composed of Union and Management lawyers as well as Ontario Arbitrators. The final competition, held on Sunday February 1st was adjudicated by The Honourable John I. Laskin of the Ontario Court of Appeal; Tim Armstrong, former Deputy Minister and former Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board; and Kevin Whitaker, current Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

When asked what she liked most about participating in the competition Beckett remarked, “I enjoyed the competi-tive nature of the competition and watching four months of hard work come to fruition. I would definitely recommend participating in this competition to any student who is at all interested in Labour and Employment Law.”

Aboriginal Moot Brings Rich Experience Orlagh O’Kelly (3L)

Kane Richards, Carol Crosson, Britannee Laverdure and Orlagh O’Kelly participated in the Kawaskimhon Moot at the University of Ottawa, March 5-7. Despite a memorable experience led by coach, Sheryl Manychief of Maurice Law, the students still do not know how to pronounce the moot’s name.

Not be deterred by this inability, the students represented an Alberta Metis family, the Cunninghams, in a problem based on the Alberta Court of Appeal decision’s in Cunningham v. Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Develop-ment).

With lofty goals of discussing- among other things- Metis self government, the repeal of the Indian Act, section 35 rights, the interpretation of the long neglected section 25 and a post Kapp look at section 15 (2), the table quickly turned into a simulation of real life negotiations. The Alberta government, represented by Queen’s, was proving tough to convince despite an alliance of Métis parties.

But, at the eleventh hour, the eight teams were able to reach a consensus regarding amendments to the Métis Settle-ment Act’s arbitrary membership provisions, which excluded some Métis from their homes, who had also obtained statu-torily defined Indian Status in order to obtain health benefits. This consensus was led by the ideas flowing throughout the weekend about a “multi-juridical” Canada, which could possibly see the long awaited requirement of an indigenous member on the Supreme Court of Canada.

Calgary represented the faculty well, with Richards exercising his French skills and Laverdure leading her team with knowledge about indigenous custom. All four students were most happy to learn from the Elders (including Maria Campbell, author of Half-Breed) and to participate in customary practices, such as the smudge ceremony each morning.

Back in the swing of the semester, the mooters are anxious to see what parties will be allowed to intervene following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant leave to appeal on March, 11, 2010. For an excellent summary of the legal issues, readers can see Professor Koshan’s blog post, “Leave to appeal granted by the SCC in the Métis Status Case”, available at www.ablawg.ca.

Moot, Moot, Moot...2010 Moot Season!

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2010 Western Canada (MacIntyre Cup) Trial CompetitionAndrea Urquhart (3L)

This year the University of Calgary was host to UVic, UBC, UofA, UofS and UofM for the Western Canada Trial Competition. Unlike many of the moots the University of Calgary participates in (which fo-cus on appellant based advocacy skills) the Western Trial Comp trains you with respect to the “nitty gritty” of trial advocacy. Each team is assigned to the role of Crown or Defence in a 2nd degree murder trial that is being tried in front of a jury. Dan Wilson and I were the Crown and were coached by Crown Prosecutor Janice Rea and Crimi-nal Defence lawyer Eleanor Funk. Our competition was held at the University and was judged by The Hon. Allan Fradsham, Bina Border (Assistance Chief Crown Prosecutor) and Douglas McGillivray Q.C (Partner BDP).

Despite the profound impact that Law & Order has had on my knowledge of how to be effective and dramatic while running a jury trial, basic trial skills such as: how to conduct a direct & cross exam, how to use exhibits and knowing how and what to object to are (in my opinion) really hard skills to learn. For me the opportunity to spend two months focus-ing exclusively on these skills was an experience I feel fortunate to have had. On competition day we squared off against UofVic and did well. While we did not advance to Ottawa for the Sopinka cup (only the top two teams advance) Dan and I were slightly relieved- as 2nd degree murder trials are time consuming and we both have high hopes of making that convocation list in May.

Corporate/Securities Team Meghan Waters (2L)

After two months holed up in the library researching directors’ duties and confiden-tiality contracts, the Corporate/Securities team has finally re-emerged into the real world after their moot competition in Toronto on March 5 and 6.

The team was made up of mooters Sarah Makson, 2L, Meghan Lindsay, 2L, Clark Kas-sian, 2L, and Matthew MacPherson, 3L, and researcher Meghan Waters, 2L. The team was coached by about a dozen of Bennett Jones’ finest, as well as lawyers from Felesky Flynn

and Nexen.Prior to the moot, there were several weeks of practices in front of leading corporate law-

yers and litigators at many of the major Calgary firms. A definite highlight for the team was their appearance before Justices O’Brien and Rowbotham at the Court of Appeal.

Apart from the opportunity to meet leading lawyers and judges across Calgary, the moot weekend in Toronto was loaded with extra perks. With Bennett Jones sponsoring the weekend, team members were spoiled with amazing dinners (bacon-wrapped venison, anyone?), a private box at the Rap-tors’ game, and a fun night out on the town to celebrate the end of the moot.

The team had a running joke that we would recommend the Corporate/Securities moot to people who don’t really like their friends and family, because you don’t see much of them for two months. Despite the many sleepless nights, and the creepy feeling you get when you’re all alone in the library after midnight, the Corporate/Securities team actually had a great time competing against some of the country’s brightest business law students while honing their written and oral advocacy skills.

Hockey Pool updates presented by BD&P

Phone: 403-260-0100 Fax: 403-260-0332

www.bdplaw.com

Common SenSe, UnCommon InnovatIon.

Hockey Pool updates presented by BD&P

Phone: 403-260-0100 Fax: 403-260-0332

www.bdplaw.com

Common SenSe, UnCommon InnovatIon.

Hockey Pool updates will be included in the next edition of Moot Times! Stay Tuned and Good Luck!

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Mooting spotlight on Sarah Thompson, 2L

What moot did you participate in: I participated in the Alberta Court of Appeal Civil Moot. My partner, Shawn Kraft, and I represented the Appellant.

How did you do at the moot: Although we lost the appeal because the facts of the case were not in our favour, but the panel of judges found that we were the better mooting team, so we won our moot!

What interested you in mooting and why did you choose this moot: Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy debat-ing different points of view, and I get a bit of a rush out of “making my case”. I actually enjoyed doing the 1L moot for contracts last year, and I am interested in pursuing a legal career as a litigator, so I thought it would be a good experience to do another moot this year.

I chose the Alberta Court of Appeal moot because it was only opened to 2Ls and because it offered an opportunity to moot a civil law case. I also chose this moot because it didn’t seem as intense as some of the other moots.

What was the toughest part of the competition: The toughest part of the moot was getting grilled like a steak when answering questions from Justice Slatter of the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Just kidding! The toughest part of the moot was writing the factum, but practicing my oral arguments and getting comfortable having a “conversation with the court” was a close second.

What was the most useful skill you learned: The most useful skill I learned was how to answer questions in a way that advanced my argument. It was difficult to answer a judge’s question without getting derailed from my argument.

What advice would you pass on to fu-ture mooters: If someone is really interested in doing a moot next year, my advice would be to take constructive criticism with a grain of salt. When you practice,

every judge will have a comment on how you should have presented your argu-ments, on whether or not you should be gripping onto the podium for dear life, and everyone will tell you something different. The important thing is to find your advo-cacy style and embrace it. Your job as a mooter is to be persuasive, and you can only persuade a court if you feel comfortable with what you’re doing.

The JESSUPThere are two parts to the competition, which started in late September: detailed written submissions (known as memorials), followed by oral advocacy. By the time the team competes in Toronto, the team will have practiced more than twenty times, more than half of which in front of panels of practitioner judges, the majority of which are former Jessup competitors. The team is grateful for the support of these volunteer judges, as well as coach Owen Saunders, library staff, and others, including patient friends and family. Wish us luck! Chad Conrad

Chad Conrad, Kristy Williams, Christine Viney (back), Joanne Luu (front), Claire Marchant, Owen Saunders (coach)

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“I chose Bennett Jones because it provides challenging and dynamic work to its students... Working here has pushed me in a positive way.”

Chelsea Hermanson University of OttawaMy Interests Litigation, Corporate / Commercial Law, Dispute Resolution

Your Future. Your Choice. Your Firm.

bennettjones.com/yourfuture

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Sarah Palin on the rise? You Betcha! By: Kathryn Marshall

Many people, especially the media, had hoped they’d seen the last of Sarah Palin on November 4, 2008 when the Republican ticket was defeated in the presidential election. It had been a rocky campaign for the Republicans during one of the worst economic meltdowns in the United State’s history. Initially John McCain’s unconventional choice of Palin as his running mate was positively received. People were intrigued by his selection of a relatively unknown young Governor from the small state of Alaska. This honeymoon period was short-lived. Palin’s novice to the national political scene proved to be detrimental in a series of disastrous one-on-one interviews. Palin’s media skills improved by the end of the campaign, but the damage had already been done.

Palin quickly became fodder for talking heads and late night comedy programs everywhere. Seven months later when Palin resigned from her position as Governor of Alaska, her critics rejoiced. While she assured her support-ers that she would continue to be a voice for change, many people accepted her resignation as defeat and her critics hoped she would retreat from the political spotlight for good.

Then Palin surprised us all.Somehow, she managed to rebound from the upsets of

the 2008 presidential and has become a leader and driving force behind the new grassroots conservative movement in the US, otherwise known as the Tea Party movement. She has been all across America speaking at packed Tea Party rallies. Her autobiography aptly titled “Going Rogue” is a bestseller. She is in high demand for appearances on the same late night talk shows that prod her. Only a few weeks ago she spoke at a sold out venue here in Calgary. She even has 1.5 million fans on Facebook, pretty impressive given the left wing dominance of social media. Contrast this success to John McCain, who has all but disappeared from the political spotlight and been banished by the Tea Party movement.

So what is it about Sarah Palin that seems to resonate with people? While part of the infatuation can be attributed to people who just “love to hate her”, there is something much more substantive that genuinely draws people to her.

Palin is an outsider, and right now people are looking for an outsider to lead them.

There is a huge disconnect between government and the people in American right now. Years of big Republican spending have disappointed people, especially grassroots conservatives. Middle class and small town Americans feel ignored by the Washington establishment and the media elite, who seem to care only about representing the inter-ests of other elites and trumpeting the fringe causes of spe-cial interest groups at the expense of taxpayers. Obama’s multibillion dollar bailouts for the private sector and wall street CEO’s have people feeling let down by promises of change. Less than two years into his term Obama has con-

President’s MessageHi fellow students,

Mark your calendars for the following events occurring in March, brought to you by your friendly Society of Law Students Executive.

Wednesday, March 3 - Judge Heather Lamoureux will be hosting another Coffee Shop entitled ‘Developing a Successful Law practice -- Rules of engagement in Cli-ent Development’ from 12 to 1 pm in the Student Lounge. Sweet treats will be provided.

Friday, March 19- Law Show. Come see the various unique and hidden talents your classmates (and profes-sors!!) have. The event will be taking place at Quincys.

Elections for the Society of Law Students will be tak-ing place on March 22, 2010. I encourage you all to run for positions on the Executive as it has been a great experience representing you all for the 2009-2010 Academic Year. Stay tuned for posters!

Sincerely,

Wilma

formed under pressure and become the ultimate Washing-ton establishment figure.

Average working Americans feel left behind and are looking for leadership outside of government.

Palin represents how many Americans feel. She is an outsider to the media elite, who look down on her with disdain and continually make crude attacks on her intellect and personal life while respecting these boundaries with other public figures.

She is an outsider to the Washington political establish-ment; an ordinary person from a small town lacking an Ivey league education and resume of worldly experience.

She is an outsider who has resisted conforming under relentless pressure to become more acceptable to her many critics in the media and Washington. She is quirky and unpolished. She speaks ineloquently in an informal “chit-chat” tone, saying things like “you betcha” and scribbling talking points on her hand. She is unapologetic about who she is, what she believes in and talks about returning to common sense principles like fiscal responsibility.

Some have speculated that Palin’s actions are really directed towards building support for a possible run at the Presidency in 2012. Whether or not this is true, Palin seems to have a unique connection with people and a message that resonates.

Politically, she is underestimated and could easily prove to be a credible challenge for the Republican nomina-tion if she does decide to chase 2012.

While people aren’t sure what is in store for Palin, one this is for certain: love her or hate her, she is here to stay.

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OLYMPICSOOOO

1, 2, 4: The indoor public skating rink

3, 5: The club strip on Granville Street at

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6: BC Place, one of the official Olympic venues 7: Watching fireworks from an apartment near City Hall 10: A parade on Granville Island

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8, 9: The Yahoo! Sports Centre in Yaletown

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11, 12, 13, 14: Cultural displays in downtown Vancouver

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15: The Olympic torch! 16: The Olympic Village 17: Showing spirit from an apartment complex next to the Cambie Street Bridge 18, 21: British & Italian spirit! 19: Live City Vancouver 20: Olympic food stalls

22: The tag inside lululemon’s infamous Cheer Gear 23: Hockey party for the first Canada-USA game at lululemon lab

33

34

35

36

37

33, 34, 35, 36, 37: Paul Boshyk,

Robyn Kular, Sangeeta Patel,

Ravina Mann, Sylvie Welsh, Esther Kim &

Karen Tiwana take in the Olympics

(Photos by Paul Boshyk & Ravina Mann)

Photos, Text & Layout by Anjli

Patel unless otherwise noted

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16 17

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24: Ikons, a collaborative effort by Eric Metcalfe and

George Lewis for the

Cultural Olympiad

25: Untitled Circuit (Name, Medium, Size, Year) by Etienne Zack for the Cultural Olympiad

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26, 29: An eccentric local getting some attention 27, 28: An impromptu hockey game

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30: Michael Lin’s A Modest Veil covers the Vancouver Art Gallery

31: I think they were advertising for a vegan restaurant...?

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32: The Olympic flag waves at the Olympic Club in downtown Vancouver

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3,2,1...Profiles!

Name: Cameron Greaves

Hometown: Stony Plain, Alberta

Undergrad Studies: Business

Pre-law school employment/volunteer experience: I worked in an oil services company four 4 years and really enjoyed it. Oil is the answer!

Exam Rituals? Play Fooseball, drink to much coffee, lots of stress and pray for a B!

What do you do to keep sane? Play basketball, ski, spend time with friends outside of law school, get to the moun-tains as often as possible and burn some food for my girlfriend.

If you could be any place right now, where would you be? I am just happy being back home right now.

What’s the scariest thing you have ever done? Well it wasn’t me, but a fellow I knew from Seattle was working in downtown Baghdad close to a military base when he was woken up by a rocket that was shot into his living quarters or “hooch” (really just a modified sea can). Any-way it didn’t explode and he was fine but he quit shortly after… Now that is scary…. and everyone started arming themselves after that….

Person you look up to and why? Winston Churchhill or maybe Dwight Eisenhower. Both were very important leaders in their time and held interesting positions in gov-ernment and the military.

One thing people in law school don’t know about you: I have lived in Dublin, Bor-deaux and Dubai, each for a year.

Name: Adam Oppenheim

Hometown: South West Calgary, AB

Undergrad Studies: Bachelors in Keepin’ it Real

Pre-law school employment/vol-unteer experience: Bread packer at Daniel’s Bagels and Baguettes

Exam Rituals? Rubix cube

What do you do to keep sane? Group therapy sessions

If you could be any place right now, where would you be? Knots Berry Farm

What’s the scariest thing you have ever done? Drink expired milk

Person you look up to and why? Adam Armeland, he is very tall

One thing people in law school don’t know about you: I’m a cage fighter

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Name: Gavin Carscallen

Hometown: Calgary, born and raised

Undergrad Studies: Penn State University

Pre-law school employment/volunteer experience:

Was running a marketing company in Beijing.

Exam Rituals? The Wire – Seasons 1 through 4.

What do you do to keep sane? Listen to my neighbours through the walls.

If you could be any place right now, where would you be? Paia, Maui.

What’s the scariest thing you have ever done?Hernia surgery in New Westminster.

Person you look up to and why?These days, not so much “up” as “side-to-side”; someone needs to keep an eye on these shyster second years. If I were to look up, I would be looking at my mom, because mothers are meant to be worshipped.

One thing people in law school don’t know about you: Am of Russian descent.

Moot Notebook By Orlagh O’Kelly

Anjli Patel’s marvelous Olympic spread is ample evi-dence that many students took advantage of the opportuni-ty to love sport and Canada in Vancouver last month. But,

as the sun comes out in Calgary, students are gradu-ally starting to log off facebook, veer away from springtime patios and hibernate for the study period. The one last kick at the can takes place on March 20, the student’s annual law show at Quincy’s put on by Aghi Balachandran and a committee of first year students.

With the exception of the Mooting season, there is little activity to report at Murray Fraser Hall. Mooters returned with great accolades but, unlike last year, with few “wins.” Kudos go out to Sarah Thompson and Shawn Craft who impressed their judges at the Alberta Court of Appeal Civil Moot. The Calgary team also received buckets of positive peer review and Christine Viney won an oralist award at the prestigious Jessup Moot.

Third year students are looking forward to the gradu-ation reception at Banff Springs thanks to Caitlin Hanly’s and Ara McKee’s hard work, who are right now organizing who will take the coveted honours of speech maker and master of ceremonies.

Other first and second year students are looking

forward to summer positions with SLA, including incom-ing student director, James Thomas, Kathleen Ganley, Aghi Balachandran, Tim Stock-Bateman, Emma Neary, Emily Mc-Cartney, Mike Boyd, Vincenzo Pingitore, Kiel Swaby, Tom Spark, and Jillian Williamson.

Pro Bono Students Canada is also set to hand over the torch. Tiffany Butler will take over for Nabeel Peermohamed as Program Coordinator, and Erik Arnold will take over from Allison Cintosun as Family Law Project Coordinator.

On the eve of publication, Brynne Harding (2L) was awarded the most prestigious honour out of a Canadian law schoo- a Supreme Court Clerkship. Harding will work under Justice Rothstein, who is perhaps happy with another U of C grad currently clerking at the SCC, Jocelyn Stacey (‘09).

Meanwhile, faculty members are busy. Jennifer Koshan recently returning from Kenya were legal issues around marital rape in Africa and Canada were discussed. Stay tuned for a follow up discussion with Calgary Peace Award winner and journalist, Sally Armstrong. Arlene Kwasniak and Alan Ingelson recently contributed to academia in their respective areas of study: Instream Flows and NAFTA. Ap-pointments were made with Kim Clarke as the University’s Associate Vice Provost of Research Services for Libraries and Cultural Resources and Chris Axworthy as the Founding Dean of Law at the innovative Thompson Rivers University (TRU). Another innovation, the Ablawg is celebrating its second birthday with great success.

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Page 15: Moot Times - March 2010

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Dave Foster’s Life Out of Law School What is your life outside law school like? (describe your job, hobby, family responsi-bilities, etc.)

I work part-time for the Research Services Office at the U of C, in the Strategic Projects Unit. My role is Industry Liaison, and in that capacity, I help researchers and faculties develop industry partnerships as part of large research programs. It’s been a great ex-perience, giving me the opportunity to learn about some of the great research going on at the U of C, as well as getting to know industry representatives in everything from oil and gas, to computing systems, to health care and pharmaceuticals.

Between school and work, I also serve on a federal electoral district association. My MP, the Hon. Diane Ablonczy, is the Minister of State for Seniors. As part of her board, I help promote her in the community, raise funds for upcoming elections, and just gener-ally support her and the party. Specifically, I serve on the Executive of her board, as VP of Election Readiness. In the minority government situation we’ve had for the past few years, an election is always being threatened, so it means we have to be ready to go to the polls at any time. Everything from signs, to finding a campaign headquarters, to lin-ing up volunteers must be ready to go at all times.

My wife and I also take every chance we can to get out to the mountains. Between school and work and other volunteer commitments (both mine and hers), we like to make the most of the time we have together. Nothing recharges the batteries like a day hiking or snowshoeing in Kananaskis Country!

How much time do you devote to this every week?

Work is the biggest commitment for me, taking about 25 hours a week; volunteering takes up a bit of time, but closer to some-where in the range of 2-5 hours a week. After setting aside the obligatory study time, my wife and I try to use the remaining time to do stuff together. It may seem busy, but I’d rather be busy than bored, and it sure has made the 3 years fly by!

What are the benefits of having responsibilities/interests outside of law school?

We all run the risk of being stuck inside “the bubble.” It’s easy to get swept away in law school and law school alone. In addition to the financial benefits of working part time, both work and volunteering have been an amazing opportunity to develop a social network in Calgary. I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside a lot of prominent citizens and businesspeople in the city. Not only does that provide a needed distraction from hours of case briefs, but it’s helped put me in a position that I think will benefit my career.

What are the drawbacks, if any?

Well, time, obviously. It can be stressful when you have multiple commitments all coming due at the same time. Exams get even more stressful when you’re trying to fit in 3 days a week at the office. However, it is do-able, and if anything, it focuses me to be more efficient with my time.

How do you make time in your schedule?

We all waste a lot of time – and I’m definitely one of the best examples there! But when push comes to shove, time management skills can make all the difference in the world. There are a lot of hours in the day, and there’s definitely time to do it all and still have time for family. Forcing myself to have a full plate now is definitely going to be an asset when I get out into the working world and have the same challenges put on me by my firm.

What advice do you have for students who want a life outside law school?

Do it! The advantages, in my mind, are threefold. Number one – you’ll get a needed distraction from the sometimes dry law texts. Number two – you’ll build your own networks outside of school and brush up on your communication skills. Number three – you’ll start learning the time management skills that will get you through your articles and junior associate years. There’s defi-nitely time in the day – all we have to do is look for it.

Page 16: Moot Times - March 2010

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