Course Descriptions
LAWS 2250 Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot is a national mooting competition, focused on current issues in environmental law, sponsored by the law firm of Willms & Shier and Osgoode Hall Law School. The moot is held biennially in Toronto, in the winter term. Mooters prepare a written factum for one side of a case on appeal, and make oral arguments on both sides of the issues before panels of judges and specialist practitioners. The course is open to second and third-year students, with either two or four students (in two-student teams). A minimum of two students is required. Selection will be conducted through written applications, and may include a brief oral exercise. Criteria include academic ability, advocacy skills and interest in the subject area. Please note that students may participate in only one competitive moot during their degree program.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Evaluation: Research, Factum preparation and oral Advocacy. Students may count this course as their major paper requirement, if they wish to do so.
COREQUISITES: Environmental Law I
LAWS 2251 African Nova Scotians and the Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will examine how municipal, provincial, federal, and international laws have constructed and mediated the lives of African Nova Scotians from slavery and segregation through to contemporary endemic inequities in the areas of human rights, employment, criminal justice, health and education. The course will specifically explore the range of legal remedies that African Nova Scotians in collaboration with allies have used to address discriminatory laws, policies and practices; and will assist students in developing public interest lawyering skills.
Students will choose a case study early in the course, develop a corresponding legal advocacy plan, and execute components of the plan through in–class assignments.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Evaluation is based on a major paper, class participation, and short assignments.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
LAWS 2252 Fiduciary Law in the Business Context
CREDIT HOURS: 3
A common complaint existing within the contemporary study of corporations is the loss of faith in corporate governance. There have been numerous allegations of improper conduct engaged in by corporate directors and officers and a series of high-profile convictions in recent years. What is the reason for these occurrences? A common thread observable in many of these scenarios is the abuse of power by persons holding fiduciary obligations to corporations.This course will facilitate understanding the fiduciary obligations of various persons in the corporate/commercial/business sphere. This will be accomplished by examining historical and theoretical rationales for the fiduciary obligation as well as by examining a number of relationships that have been found to be fiduciary in the jurisprudence. We will discuss why certain individuals ought, or ought not, be regarded as fiduciary, and investigate what describing someone as a fiduciary entails. This will be accomplished by focusing on matters including: (a) the purpose of fiduciary relations in contemporary society; (b) some of the various theories that animate fiduciary relations; (c) the implications of describing relationships as fiduciary; (d) the statutory incorporation of fiduciary obligations in corporate law statutes, and; (e) the various means of relief available for breaches of fiduciary obligation.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major Paper (85%),Topic Presentation & Class Participation (15%)
RESTRICTIONS: Inclusive Degree Restrictions for JD, JDMBA, JDMHA, JDMPA, JDMLIS
LAWS 2253 Class Action Law and Procedure in Canada
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course is intended to provide an introduction to class actions in Canada. Over the past 20 years, class actions have played an increasingly significant role in the Canadian legal system. Class action practice combines both broad theoretical legal issues and more practical, technical considerations. This course is designed to reflect that combination.
The course will begin with an introduction to the general area of class proceedings. This course will take a critical look at the purposes behind class action legislation, namely efficiency, improved access to justice and behaviour modification. The course will consider whether, in practice, the class action regimes in Canada have obtained the desired benefits. As class actions are essentially a “procedural vehicle,” procedure will be a necessary component of the course.
Class actions raise unique ethical and financial considerations for counsel. Students will discuss these ethical issues and how the courts have dealt with them in the past. Students will also be introduced to the practical financial considerations of prosecuting and funding a class action as well as how to choose the right class actions.
NOTES: This course does not satisfy the major paper requirement.
Assessment Method:
• Class attendance and participation: 20%
• Certification motion moot:
o Affidavit and written submissions 20%
o Oral submissions 20%
• Take home exam 40%
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
LAWS 2254 Refugee and Forced Migration Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course critically engages with the legal framework involved in forced human migration. The causes for this displacement include fleeing from armed conflict, the effects of climate change, state-sanctioned persecution, conditions of entrenched poverty, and industrial interests such as large-scale mining operations. Students will develop an understanding of how existing international instruments and bodies respond to aspects of forced migration, their legal and practical limitations, and protection gaps, as well as the lawfulness of state strategies to contain or regulate mass flows, including responsibility-sharing agreements, detention centers, off-shore interception, and the thickening of borders. The course will include assessing Canadian practices, and their adherence or variation from emerging international norms and the regimes in other jurisdictions.
FORMAT: Seminar
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 2
COREQUISITES: None
PREREQUISITES: None
CROSS-LISTING: None
LAWS 2258 Family Law Dispute Resolution
CREDIT HOURS: 2
Over 90 per cent of family law cases settle before trial. This seminar provides an intensive introduction to the settlement of family cases. It requires knowledge of family law, and to a lesser extent, civil procedure and evidence (the relevant aspects will be briefly reviewed in class). The course is designed to prepare students to engage with clients on a practical level; to organize and work on all aspects of a file including disclosure, negotiations, and court pleadings, and to participate in a judge-led settlement conference.
This two-credit course is conducted as a small group seminar and significant participation is required for the class work as well as the model case for a case conference. Out of class work consists of readings, preparation for class participation, and preparation of various aspects of the model case.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Class participation and assignments (not all weighted evenly), and performance at a model case conference. This course does not satisfy the major paper requirement.
PREREQUISITES: Laws 2110, Family Law
LAWS 2262 Theory and Practice of Mediation and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland
CREDIT HOURS: 1
This one-credit intensive course, taught by a mediator from Northern Ireland, will provide theoretical, philosophical, practical and experiential learning in the field of conflict resolution, with a particular emphasis on the practice of mediation and conflict transformation. The focus of the course is on gaining an understanding of conflict, and ways of responding to it. There is an emphasis on both personal awareness and practical skills. This is not a history or political science course on Northern Ireland; while the instructor will refer to work that he has done in Northern Ireland, the intention is to use Northern Ireland as a backdrop against which to examine conflict more generally and to consider ways of responding to conflict that will be transferrable to other contexts. Topics may vary slightly from year to year, and could include: story-telling as a foundation for the practice of mediation; the personal, interpersonal and structural elements of conflict, the challenges and opportunities offered by mediation, particularly against the backdrop of long-standing conflict, methods used to build the trust necessary for mediation to proceed; the role of forgiveness in mediation.
NOTES: It does NOT fulfill the law school's major paper requirement.
Assessment Method: The course will be pass/fail, with the evaluation based on 20% class participation, 5% brief in-class presentation and 75% take-home assignment of 2500 words.
Maximum enrolment: 20 students
Notes:
- Attendance at every class is mandatory for this course.
- Students will be provided with readings and a detailed course outline prior to the beginning of the class.
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMPA, JDMHA, JDMLIS, and JDMJ
LAWS 2263 National Security Law Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course allows students to participate in a national moot court competition designed to promote excellence and advocacy in the burgeoning field of national security law, and to provide participants with the opportunity to interact with practitioners in the field, including personnel from the Department of Public Safety, CSIS, the CSE and Justice Canada.
NOTES: Student Selection: Participation is open to four 3rd-year students, selected by the Moot Court Committee in the Winter term of their second year.
This course fulfills the law school's major paper requirement.
Assessment Method: Research, written factum and performance and participation as a member of the moot team both during the preparation and during the moot itself.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 credit hours, in the Winter term. Some preliminary work will be required during the Fall.
PREREQUISITES: Administrative Law (
LAWS 2000.04)
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMPA, JDMHA and JDMLIS. Even within those programs, students can register only with permission and overrides from the law school.
LAWS 2264 Cross-Border Litigation in an Applied Context.
CREDIT HOURS: 1
In a globalized world, people and goods move between countries more than ever. This is particularly the case with Canada and the United States of America, which share a massive, porous border and have very integrated economies. This creates a host of legal issues that inevitably involve the legal systems and courts of both countries at a time, resulting in an explosion of interest in "cross-border law." A practice in cross-border law requires a grasp of how to run cases with features that transcend the traditional silos of conflicts of law/private-international law and the transnational aspects of public law.
Understanding of, and fluency with, the kinds of legal dynamics that arise in cases with cross-border aspects is becoming increasingly necessary to many areas of legal practice - e.g. criminal and regulatory, tort, taxation, and corporate law. Drawing upon the specialized expertise of the instructors, this intensive course focuses specifically on how such cases are litigated in the practical sense. It concentrates predominantly on how the procedural regimes in Canada and the U.S. are navigated in cross-border matters, through the lens of real-world completed or ongoing cases. Attention is paid, in particular, to conflicts of law, jurisdictional issues and litigation strategies. The course provides a unique and timely introduction to, and overview of, the unique features of cross-border litigation.
NOTES: Assessment Method: 2500-word take-home assignment, to be assigned at the end of the course. Ultimate grade is on Pass/Fail basis.
Assessment Method: 2500-word take-home assignment, to be assigned at the end of the course. Ultimate grade is on Pass/Fail basis.
FORMAT:
FORMAT COMMENTS: This is an "intensive" course, to be taught by lecture and discussion in 2-hour sessions over the course of 7 classes (14 hours total). Each session will focus on analyzing complaints, indictments, regulatory claims or administrative orders filed/issued by either the Canadian or U.S. government, with analysis of substantive and procedural cross-border issues that arise in each case.
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2061X/Y, Civil Procedure. Open to third-year students only.
RESTRICTIONS: restricted to students in the JD or JD-combined programs (JD/MBA, JD/MPA, JD/MHA, JD/MLIS).
LAWS 2265 International Criminal Court Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course allows students to participate in an international moot court competition designed to promote excellence and advocacy in the burgeoning field of international criminal law, and to provide participants with the opportunity to interact with practitioners and judges in the field. Students would participate in a Canadian round of the competition, with the chance to qualify to go on to the world round, held in The Hague, Netherlands.
NOTES: STUDENT SELECTION: Participation is open to four 3rd-year students, by way of an application process in the Winter term of their second year.
Assessment Method: Research, written factum and performance and participation as a member of the moot team both during the preparation and during the moot itself.
PREREQUISITES: Required:
LAWS 2012, International Law. Recommended, but not required:
LAWS 2197, International Criminal Law
LAWS 2267 Tax Policy
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The course is an introductory course in tax policy. The focus of the course is on the basic principles, theories, and tools of public policy analysis within the context of tax expenditures (spending programs delivered through the tax system). The materials read throughout the course draw on multiple disciplinary lenses, including sociology, economics, and political science. Students should therefore find that this course assists in bridging their undergraduate and law school knowledge. Additionally, as a major paper course, Tax Policy should refine students' legal research and writing skills.
NOTES: Assessment Method: This course is evaluated by major paper (and any other assignments or participation components as outlined in the course syllabus).
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 2
COREQUISITES:
LAWS 2029, Taxation I
RESTRICTIONS: Open only to students in JD or combined programs: JD, JD/MHA, JD/MBA, JD/MPA, JD/MLIS and JD/MJ
LAWS 2269 Taxation II: International Tax
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course provides a detailed study of Canada's bilateral tax treaties. These treaties serve as a key part of Canada's international tax system. Their study should be of interest to students who are curious about taxation law and policy, to students with an interest in the international allocation of tax revenues between high and low income states, and to students who enjoy international law and politics. To provide a foundation for the study of specific treaty articles, we will review the underlying principles of international taxation and discuss approaches to tax treaty interpretation. The core of the course will involve a detailed review and evaluation of the design of the specific treaty articles, including the articles that govern business and professional income, employment income, the income earned by athletes and entertainers, real property income, and income from dividends, interest, royalties, and capital gains. The course also includes a discussion of the use of tax treaties in tax planning, the ways by which tax treaties are used as tools for tax avoidance, the mechanisms available in treaties to facilitate compliance, enforcement, and information collection, and the consequences of tax treaties for low-income countries.
NOTES: Assessment Method: This course is evaluated by major paper (and any other assignments or participation components as outlined in the course syllabus).
FORMAT: Lecture
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2029, Taxation I
RESTRICTIONS: Inclusive program restrictions: JD, JD/MBA, JD/MHA, JD/MPA, JD/MLIS, JD/MJ
LAWS 2270 Indigenous Governance
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar course is intended for students who want to obtain a deeper appreciation of governance systems and structures that currently apply to First Nation communities pursuant to the Indian Act and other federal legislation and policy, spanning areas such as elections, the exercise of Band Council authority through resolutions and by-laws, membership, essential services program devolution, land issues and economic development, employment and human rights issues on reserve, and dispute resolution mechanisms. This course will also examine systems beyond the Indian Act, including systems that First Nations communities are currently engaging in and aspiring towards, such as self-government and greater implementation of customary and Indigenous law. This course will be useful for students who intend to work closely with First Nations communities or organizations and government departments servicing those communities. As opposed to being a general survey of the legal and policy issues affecting Indigenous Peoples in Canada, like the Aboriginal Peoples and the Law course, this course will make governance issues affecting First Nations communities its focal point.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper and class participation.
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
LAWS 2271 Julius Alexander Isaac Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Isaac Moot is a competitive moot named after the late Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal, Julius Alexander Isaac. Judge Isaac was the first Black judge to sit on the Federal Court of Canada. The Isaac Moot, formerly known as the Annual Koskie Minsky Diversity Moot, was established by the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSA Canada) in 2008. It focuses on areas of law in which equity, diversity, and racism issues arise and often incorporates elements of critical race theory into the problem. The stated aims of this moot are to “allow law students to develop and apply a critical race or anti-discrimination analysis in a litigation context” and to “build a cadre of litigators who are able to advance critical race approaches in their legal practice and better serve the diverse Canadian public.”
NOTES: The moot is open for 2nd or 3rd year with a preference for third year students. It is recommended that students take one or more of the following courses if offered, Critical Race Legal Theory, African Nova Scotians and the Law, Critical Perspectives.
LAWS 2272 Canadian National Negotiation Competition Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Canadian national negotiation competition was founded in 2017 to promote dispute resolution skills education in law schools, build networks across Canadian law schools, and serve as a qualifier for the International Negotiation Competition.
Effective negotiation skills are foundational to good lawyering. This moot is designed to promote negotiation education among law students. In any year in which this moot is offered by the Schulich School of Law, we will send one team of two students to the competition. Students will showcase their negotiation skills in a variety of simulated settings. The simulations typically involve both transactional and dispute negotiation situations. Teams are assessed not only on the outcomes they attain for their clients, but also on a series of criteria designed to reflect good, ethical representation in a negotiation context.
The Canadian competition is hosted by a Canadian law school on a Friday and Saturday in February or March of each year. If the Schulich team qualifies, and funding permits, the students will represent Canada in the international competition, held in June of each year at varied international locations.
Note: Students may only take one competitive moot during their degree
NOTES: Note: Students may only take one competitive moot during their degree.
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2113: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR course) is an asset, but not required.
LAWS 2273 Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Students selected for this course participate in a national moot court competition designed to promote excellence and advocacy in the burgeoning field of intellectual property law. Moot participants have the opportunity to interact with practitioners and judges in this area of law, including leading Canadian and international practitioners and jurists.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Research, written factum, and moot performance, together with participation as a moot team member both during preparation prior to the moot and while participating in the moot itself.
FORMAT: Lecture
PREREQUISITES: Intellectual Property Law
LAWS 2274 Restorative Justice Courts - Procedure and Practice
CREDIT HOURS: 1
The restorative justice approaches of specialized problem solving and therapeutic courts are a stepping stone to better solutions to the criminal courts for solving the social problems that lead to crime. The procedures, practices, successes and failures of the approaches used in restorative justice courts will be critically examined and analyzed. Students will have the opportunity to develop and practice the specialized skills including simulations of the first meeting with a client, case preparation, negotiations for diversion, applications for specialized rehabilitation programs, presenting mock submissions in court, and participating in replicated sentencing circles. Given time constraints, students can only be expected to gain an introduction to these practical skills.
NOTES: Assessment Method: The course will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. In order to receive a pass, students must prepare for, attend, and participate collaboratively in class sessions. Students must also complete a final take home assignment handed out of the final day of class, due in 30 days. The professor is looking for practical understanding, coupled with original, thoughtful, and critical commentary, and not description, summaries, or external research.
FORMAT: Lecture
LAWS 2275 Deep Listening for Lawyers - A Practical Guide
CREDIT HOURS: 1
This one-credit intensive course, taught by a mediator/ community facilitator/ change management consultant from Northern Ireland, will provide theoretical, philosophical, practical and experiential learning relating to listening, using insights from the theory/practice of therapy, mediation and change management (including the work of Otto Scharmer, Marhsall Rosenberg and Jon Kabat-Zinn) The course will look at how lawyers can improve their own professional practice through the intentional development of practical listening skills. Topics may vary slightly from year to year, although always with a focus on developing listening skills. Topics may include: Principles/values of good listening; Listening as part of communication skills; Listening to the self: (body, mind, emotions, inner narratives, bias, blind spots); Listening to the other (client, colleague); Challenges to listening (internal and external); Listening and Conflict; Mindfulness and listening skills; Role-plays and practical skills.
NOTES: This course does NOT fulfill the law school's major paper requirement.
Attendance at every class is mandatory for this course.
Assessment Method: The course will be pass/fail, based on class participation (including a brief class presentation) and a take-home Practice Journal of 3000 words. Students will be provided with a detailed course outline which will include readings, information on the Practice Journal assignment, and the due date of the assignment.
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMPA, JDMHA, and JDMLIS.
LAWS 2276 Imprisonment and Penal Policy
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course is a 3-credit major paper seminar that focuses on the impact of imprisonment on law, communities and individuals, by using a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral approach. There will be three major sections to the seminar, designed to help students develop skills to represent and assist incarcerated clients in a variety of legal situations by developing a critical understanding of how incarceration can change the legal system’s rules of engagement for such individuals. The first section is normative. We will look at the penological and legislative purpose of imprisonment, the different types of custodial institutions within Canada, the laws that regulate incarceration in Canada and in the provinces, the rights that apply to prisoners, the problems that may arise in the prison context, and the specific remedial mechanisms created to protect prisoners in the institutional setting. The second section is analytical and interdisciplinary. We will look at the specific issues that incarceration raises as it interacts with other aspects of law and society, including family, aboriginality, labour, property, end of life planning etc. We will also look at the legal tools available to prisoners or former prisoners seeking to engage with these socio-legal issues, and ask how effective they are. The third section is practical. It will consist of a site visit to a prison, in order to familiarize students with the environment and to allow them to engage with prisoners and to receive first-hand accounts of the issues we will have discussed in class. Each student will deliver a written material and a presentation to prisoners summarizing the law in a field relevant for prisoners (custody issues, divorce, immigration, human rights issues etc). Please note that the field trip to prison is mandatory for the completion of the course, and will take place likely on a Saturday, in addition to the regular class time.
By including normative, analytical, policy, and field components, this course caters to students who are passionate about criminal and social justice as well as those who simply wish to build skills and experience in representing or advocating on behalf of the diverse group of clients they may encounter in their careers.
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMPA, JDMHA, and JDMLIS
LAWS 2277 Wilson Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Wilson Moot was founded in 1992. It honours the outstanding contribution to Canadian law made by the late Honourable Bertha Wilson (a graduate of Dalhousie Law) and, in the spirit of this contribution, to promote justice cor those dis-empowered within the legal system. Th goal of The Wilson Moot is to explore legal issues concerning women and minorities, and thereby promote the education of students and the legal profession in these areas of pressing concern.
NOTES: The Wilson Moot takes place each year on a Friday and Saturday in late February at the Federal Court facility in Toronto.
Selection is based on a student's stated interest in participation, prior experience, oral advocacy skills and academic record.
Assessment Method: Grade is based on research, factum and oral advocacy. This course satisfies the major paper writing requirement, if the student wishes to count the moot as a major paper.
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 1003.05: Public Law and
LAWS 2062.05: Constitutional Law.
LAWS 2000.04: Administrative Law is an asset.