Theory and Practice of Mediation offers students an interactive opportunity to develop an understanding of the utility and impact of mediation within the context of the dispute resolution spectrum. Students will gain knowledge through lecture, group discussions and exercises, and simulated mediations. As well, the seminar provides an opportunity for students to undertake a paper assignment to examine both theoretical and practical issues discussed during the term. Students will be engaged in a hands-on learning opportunity to explore negotiation, mediation styles and tactics, while being mindful of ethics and professional obligations.
Course or Seminar Category: Dispute Resolution - Civil Legal Process and Professionalism
Mental Health, Wellness and the Legal Profession
It is no longer tenable to separate the study and practice of law from issues of mental health and wellness. Drawing from scholarship, clinical insight, and reflective experience, this course is premised on the conviction that mental wellness, professional fulfillment, and academic insight can align, with productive and even transformative effects. The skills and capacities essential to thrive in law school and the legal profession—including personal reflection, healthy relationships, values clarification, and boundary setting—are the very capacities that are strengthened by focusing on emotional and personal wellness. Using a model that marries the study of psychotherapeutic theory with experiential learning, the course equips students with skills and tools for life in the legal profession while cultivating critical and personal insight to help students understand, navigate, and even constructively intervene to disrupt the mental health challenges endemic in legal education and the legal profession.
Combining practical skills-development and psychoeducation, the course will help students conceptualize their mental wellness from differing theoretical perspectives while deepening their awareness of self and others and fostering healthy relationships. The course will introduce students to topics such as: theories of psychological change; fostering awareness of self; the mind-body connection and the importance of good nutrition, physical exercise, and sleep; deepening relationships to self, others, and at work; values clarification; effective communication of needs; coping mechanisms for stress & burnout; anxiety management skills; treatment options for depressive symptoms; resilience and meaning-making through adversity and trauma. With the support of assigned readings and other forms of class preparation, lectures, experiential exercises/practice, and small group discussions, the course will aim to create an environment of trust and curiosity, and to foster a willingness amongst the students to bring their ideas, experiences, and emotions to the exploration of these issues, of the study and practice of law, and of themselves.
Managing Family Law Cases
This seminar will focus on simulated family law cases. As “counsel” for these cases, students will examine and apply legal principles, tactical, ethical and policy considerations, and rules of practice and professional responsibility to complete tasks and resolve problems that arise in the day-to-day work of family law practice. Throughout the seminar, students will be exposed to the interdisciplinary nature of family law. Working with complex fact patterns will assist students to develop advanced analytical skills and to understand how to work effectively with professionals such as mental health experts and business valuators to achieve optimal outcomes for clients.
Legal Practice Dynamics
This course is an introduction to the skills and behaviours necessary to become a successful legal practitioner. It analyzes how lawyers think and work and equips students with foundational skills in managing their careers and succeeding in any legal environment whether in-house, government or private practice.
Being well-versed in substantive law is only half the battle in becoming a successful legal practitioner. This course will prepare students to excel in the practical skills they need to optimize their professional development – communication, collaboration, human capital management, productivity and practice management.
This course is experiential in nature with learning revolving around a fictional law firm. Topics include the following: communication skills (difficult conversations, feedback, meetings); practice management (delegation, productivity, docketing, file management); human capital management principles (being managed, managing up, managing your own career; teamwork); lawyer competencies; mentoring and performance management
Labour Arbitration
This seminar is intended to provide an overview of the labour arbitration process applicable to unionized workplaces. The seminar primarily addresses grievance arbitration and med-arb as alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. It may also introduce interest arbitration. The seminar will examine both procedural and substantive issues, including the regulatory framework, arbitral jurisdiction, pre-arbitration and arbitration processes.
Intensive Legal Research & Writing
This intensive seminar provides students with the opportunity to refresh and update their research and writing skills. Skills reviewed will include the identification, analysis, citation and presentation of authorities; and standard research techniques, tools, and concepts, such as noting-up, controlled subject vocabularies, digests, and boolean searching. We will review the formats and media used to publish legal information, including commercial databases, open access web sites, and print. Additional topics covered will include the publishing and record-keeping practices of the major decision-makers, rule-makers, lobbyists, interest groups, etc.; the publishing and business activities of the significant commercial and non-profit disseminators of information and libraries; and the institutionalization of research activity in law firms, government and academia.
The course will also cover how artificial intelligence has been used in enhancing legal research efficiency and provides general guidance on how to select the right AI tools.
Financial Literacy for Lawyers
Lawyers frequently work with financial statements and other accounting information yet many find accounting difficult and even intimidating. The purpose of this course is to demystify accounting and provide students with the knowledge and understanding they need to work confidently with accounting information and to engage effectively with accountants, lawyers, business managers, and business owners.
The course is not technical—it is not intended to teach how to do accounting. Rather, it is designed to explain how accounting and financial reporting work, how financial information is generated, and the economic consequences that can arise from accounting choices and judgments.
A central theme of the course is understanding both the usefulness and the limitations of traditional financial reporting, including common misconceptions about what financial statements do—and do not—reveal.
By the end of the course, students will understand what the numbers in financial statements represent, where those numbers come from, and how accounting decisions can affect the interpretation of financial performance and financial position. Examples drawn from actual financial statements are used extensively throughout the course to illustrate the issues discussed.
Dispute Settlement: Alternatives to Resolving Disputes
Students are introduced to an analysis of the dispute resolution continuum and will be required to identify where and how, through the different processes, dispute resolution is achieved. Students will gain an appreciation of the historical development and current application of various dispute resolution processes, including litigation, arbitration, negotiation, and mediation. The process of litigation as applicable to the adversarial system of justice will be examined. The seminar focuses on an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to dispute resolution as well as the appropriateness of when to use them. Students will also gain a practical understanding of the theoretical aspects of certain processes available for resolving disputes within the legal system as a applicable to the Province of Ontario, including litigation and methods of alternative dispute resolution including negotiation, lobbying and mediation. The seminar will provide an opportunity to develop and practice some of the techniques of dispute resolution under the supervision of members of academic staff. Teaching methods include: lectures/seminars (Socratic and otherwise), facilitated class discussions, interactive small seminar and larger group exercises.
Constitutional Litigation
This is a fun course with equal emphasis on both oral and written advocacy. Debate, questions, brainstorming and discourse are encouraged.
Students will experience the steps of a constitutional case, from the initial claim, to arguing a preliminary motion and culminating in a final factum and moot before a panel of judges with students receiving both oral and written feedback throughout.
We will focus on a substantive area of constitutional law (such as, for example, freedom of expression, equality rights or division of powers) as well as questions of procedure and evidence. A key focus is on the importance of remedies as an initial consideration, not as an afterthought.
The seminar also involves working through problems in small groups and presenting positions in class.
Seminar topics are designed to be in service of the final moot and factum. Topics typically include: the role of the courts in constitutional litigation; commencing a constitutional case; drafting pleadings; what is government action under s. 32 of the Charter; standing; selecting the appropriate court and procedure; mootness, interventions; injunctions, the role of the Attorney General; evidence in constitutional cases; proving constitutional facts; the role of experts and drafting effective affidavits; presentation and assessment of social science data in the adversarial system; drafting constitutional arguments and presenting them effectively; oral advocacy; the importance of remedies for constitutional infringements; litigation strategies for public interest groups and case studies.
Class Actions
Class actions have become a key element of the Canadian civil justice system. Building on the tradition of public interest litigation, they seek to promote access to justice, judicial economy, and behaviour modification, while supporting traditional procedural values. The interface between these aspirations has generated considerable interest and debate among practitioners and academics alike. In this seminar, we welcome a series of leading counsel and judges to discuss with us topics such as the roles of class counsel and defence counsel, and related ethical issues; costs (who should pay and when and how much) and principles of funding and financing; the role of court-approved settlements in maximizing value for the class; the role of the representative plaintiff and the ways in which the interests of the class can best be served; and parallel and overlapping cross-border class actions. This is an excellent seminar for those considering a career in civil litigation and for those interested in the way class actions are transforming the role of civil justice in society.