Legal Education Commons^™

Modular Legal Learning: Revitalizing The Law Classroom, David Sandomierski, Stephanie Ben-Ishai

Dalhousie Law Journal

The targeted and strategic use of asynchronous learning materials can free up important space for classroom teaching, and can unlock the spirit of experimentation, innovation, and engagement that animates in-person learning. This article sets out five principles that should guide future efforts to integrate asynchronous modules into legal education. Modules should be designed to supplement, not substitute, the live classroom; they should deliver content but also stimulate reflection, critique, and contextualization; they should be varied with respect to their subject matter, theoretical underpinnings, and pedagogical approach; professors should be able to easily customize their selections; and they should encourage collaboration …

Law Society Regulation And The Lawyer-Academic, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Dalhousie Law Journal

Can, and should, law societies regulate and discipline lawyers for their teaching and research? This article explores these largely overlooked but critically important questions in order to establish a foundation for further debate and discussion by lawyers, legislators, and law societies. It argues that professionalism precludes only low-value teaching and research—teaching and research with little pedagogical or epistemic value such that it is unlikely or unworthy to be protected by academic freedom—and that any chilling effect on lawyer-academics comes as much from uncertainty as from actual danger of regulatory consequences. The author concludes that law societies and other stakeholders should …

Masthead & Table Of Contents

Dalhousie Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead & Table Of Contents

Dalhousie Law Journal

No abstract provided.

But Why Him? A Review Of The Tenth Justice: Judicial Appointments, Marc Nadon, And The Supreme Court Act Reference, By Carissima Mathen And Michael Plaxton, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Dalhousie Law Journal

To the great benefit of the Canadian legal community and the Canadian public, the authors have created an extensive, concise, and highly readable account of the Nadon saga. Anyone unfamiliar with the purported appointment of Justice Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss 5 and 6 (also known as the Nadon Reference), and the aftermath will find this book invaluable. I expect this work will become the definitive and authoritative account of this saga and that it will be indispensable to future scholars.

I begin this review with a brief overview of the …

Masthead & Table Of Contents

Dalhousie Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Teaching Civil Obligations (Or What I Learned About Law, Legal Thinking And Teaching), Alan Hutchinson

Dalhousie Law Journal

In most of my decades-long teaching and professorial career, I primarily taught Torts, but never Contracts. However, last year, I agreed to teach jointly a postgraduate class of 35 students on “Civil Obligations.” It was a decision that conformed to one of the more unsettling tropes of my life— “act in haste, repent at leisure.” My role in this arrangement was, after a general opening about the nature of civil obligations and the interface of Contract and Tort, to assume responsibility for the Contracts component of the course. This presented itself as a considerable task, but I thought that it …

Public Service And Charter Pessimism: A Review Of Harry Arthurs, Connecting The Dots: The Life Of An Academic Lawyer, Charlotte Hobson

Dalhousie Law Journal

Charlotte Hobson: Public Service and Charter Pessimism: A Review of Harry Arthurs, Connecting the Dots: The Life of an Academic Lawyer (McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2019)

Critique-Inspired Pedagogies In Canadian Criminal Law Casebooks: Challenging "Doctrine First, Critique Second" Approaches To First-Year Law Teaching, Sarah-Jane Nussbaum

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article is a critical evaluation of Canadian criminal law casebooks. The author explores the aims, practices, and challenges of these teaching texts by examining their relationship to critique-inspired pedagogical methods. A number of English-language Canadian criminal law casebooks add a welcome feature to the Canadian common law teaching landscape: all but one of six recently published casebooks teach doctrine and critique together. The research builds on an emerging scholarship of Canadian legal education by demonstrating evidence of critical political commitments and critique-inspired teaching methods within Canadian criminal law education. Yet casebook editors and other professors who utilize critical methods …

Responsible Scholarship In A Crisis: A Plea For Fairness In Academic Discourse On Carbon Pricing References, Stepan Wood, Meinhard Doelle, Dayna N. Scott

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article offers a critical review of a paper Professor Dwight Newman recently published on the constitutionality of the federal government’s national carbon pricing legislation and the Saskatchewan and Ontario court decisions upholding the law. Rather than engage with the substance of Professor Newman’s article, the authors consider whether it respects the norms of rigorous and fair inquiry that enable constructive scholarly debate. The authors conclude that it does not, and that the consequences for the Supreme Court’s resolution of the carbon pricing reference cases could be significant.

Le présent article propose une analyse critique d’un texte publié récemment par …

The Bad, The Ugly, And The Horrible: What I Learned About Humanity By Doing Prison Research, Adelina Iftene

Dalhousie Law Journal

Every Canadian academic conducting research with humans must submit an ethics application with their university’s Research Ethics Board. One of the key questions in that application inquired into the level of vulnerability of the interviewees. Filling in that question, I had to check nearly every box: the interviewees were incarcerated, old, under-educated, poor, Indigenous or other racial minorities, and likely had mental and physical disabilities. However, it was not until I met John that I understood what all those boxes actually meant. They were signalling that I was entering a universe of extreme marginalization—the universe of the forgotten. I learned …

From Law To Legal Studies And Beyond: 50 Years Of Law And Legal Studies At Carleton University, Vincent Kazmierski, Darren Pacione

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper considers the evolution of Carleton University's Department of Law and Legal Studies and its approach to the study of law and the legal within the context of the continuing growth of legal studies programs across the country. It starts by outlining the historical development of the Department and the evolution of its perspective of its role and purpose. Part II examines a number of aspects of the architecture of fourteen undergraduate legal studies programs across the country and the ways in which the roles of these programs are described. Part III provides a brief outline of the current …

Not Ideas Of The Thing But The Thing Itself: Imagining A Support Group For Separated And Divorced Fathers As A Site Of Legal Education, Thomas Mcmorrow

Dalhousie Law Journal

Legal education is not just about attaining an abstract knowledge of formal institutions, norms, and processes; it is also about developing insight into oneself and ones relationships. Therefore, understanding and developing the personal and social conditions that make governance through law possible are crucial elements of legal education. This article highlights legal education's potential role in fostering every person's sense of implication in-and responsibility forbuilding a just society In order to illustrate this concept, this article looks at the ways in which DADs, a support group for separated and divorced fathers, constitutes a site of legal education.

Doctoral Studies In Law: From The Inside Out, Dia Dabby, Bethany Hastie, Jocelyn Stacey

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article explores the purpose, structure and experience of doctoral studies in Canadian law schools. Relying on an auto-ethnographic methodology where we draw on our personal experience as doctoral students, we identify three tensions in doctoral studies in law. We explore how these tensions-between practice/theory structure/space, and supervisory/other relationships-emerge from the structure of doctoral studies in law and how they manifest themselves in the lived experience of doctoral students. We detail how these tensions are a product of the ambiguous and underexplored nature ofdoctoral studies in law. By making these tensions explicit, we encourage doctoral students, law professors and administrators …

Queering Indigenous Legal Studies, Emily Snyder

Dalhousie Law Journal

A handful of scholars have examined sex, gender, and sexuality in relation to Indigenous laws; yet their work is infrequently taken up in the field, and there is a broader need for conversations about what it means to "queer" Indigenous legal studies. In this paper, I centre and examine work that contributes to this queering so as to promote inclusive critical legal education and engagement. I also discuss the implications of not attending to sexuality and develop preliminary propositions for queering Indigenous legal studies.

Guilty Displeasures: White Resistance In The Social Justice Classroom, Rakhi Ruparelia

Dalhousie Law Journal

In this article, the author reflects on the challenges of teaching white law students about racism and whiteprivilege asa racializedprofessor To situateher experiences and to better understand the obstacles that professors who teach critically about race and racism confront, she draws from theories of racial identity development and research on student evaluations to contextualize student responses to antiracist pedagogy Grappling with racism in a meaningful way leaves many white students feeling distraught, angry and guilty, among other unpleasant emotions. Professors who initiate these discussions become the natural targets of criticism and blame as students struggle with their discomfort. The hostility …

Troubling Feelings: Moral Anger And Clinical Legal Education, Sarah Buhler

Dalhousie Law Journal

Many law students experience strong and sometimes difficult emotions during their time in clinical lawprograms: sadness at clients'stories of trauma, excitement about a victory in court, or anger at the injustices faced by clients. In this article, I focus on the emotion of "moral anger,"or "moral outrage" experienced by lawyers and students in clinicalcontexts, and consider how educators and students might address manifestations of moral anger in clinical law contexts in ways that ignite a critical and social-justice oriented approach to legal practice. By drawing on theoretical insights from the emerging field of critical emotion studies, I argue that a …

Hugh M. Kindred: A Tribute, Robert J. Currie, Phillip Saunders

Dalhousie Law Journal

We are pleased to introduce this special issue of the Dalhousie Law Journal, which is essentially a mini-festschriftin honour of Professor Hugh Kindred. Hugh began teaching at what was then Dalhousie Law School in 1971 and retired from full-time teaching in 2008, with a well-deserved Professor Emeritus status bestowed on him in 2010. In between Hugh provided wisdom, quiet counsel and gracious generosity to generations of students and faculty at what is now called the Schulich School of Law, and became a pillar of the Canadian legal academic community. His legacy is enormous and ongoing, as Hugh has continued to …

Hugh Kindred And The Teaching Of International Law In Canada, Don Mcrae

Dalhousie Law Journal

The casebook, International Law, Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied in Canada under the general editorship of Hugh Kindred, which first appeared in 1987, was a milestone in the teaching of international law in Canada. It was an important teaching tool that made international law accessible to students. Seeing international law through the eyes of Canadian practice, Canadian materials and Canadian experience, the book was an introduction to the fundamentals of the field and to the developments and debates of contemporary international law Engaging on the editorial board Canadian academics from different law schools, Hugh Kindred has been able to provide …

No Longer "Naked And Shivering Outside Her Gates": Establishing Law As A Full-Time On-Campus Academic Discipline At Mcgill University Inthe Nineteenth Century, A J. Hobbins

Dalhousie Law Journal

Although Canada was a single province (1763-1791), subsequently divided into Upper and Lower Canada, legal education developed very differently in the two components. The Law Society of Upper Canada controlled legal education in Ontario until the second half of the twentieth century, while in Quebec, where the legal system was based on both civil and common law, university-based legal education began in the first half of the nineteenth century. This study examines how legal education developed at McGill University, moving from part-time teaching by professionals off-campus to an on-campus faculty taught by full-time academics by the end of the century …

Journeys To 20th Street: The Inner City As Critical Pedagogical Space For Legal Education, Sarah Buhler

Dalhousie Law Journal

This essay draws on critical geographical theories to propose that the location of clinical legal education programs in inner city space can affect the production of professional identities and ideologies oflaw students. It anchors its analysis in an examination of the clinical law program at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, where students work at a poverty law clinic in Saskatoon's inner city. The paper first turns to a critical examination of law school space, which can function to promote dominant notions about law and legal practice. The author cautions that ifnot navigated attentively, thejourney to inner city space …

Building On Strong Foundations: Rethinking Legal Education With A View To Improving Curricular Quality, Veronica Henderson

Dalhousie Law Journal

Recent increases in law school tuition provide an occasion for criticalreflection on precisely what law students are being offered in their formal education. The aim of this article is to help catalyze discussion of what quality legal education entails. It begins by outlining the current underpinnings of Canadian legal education, especially the foundation of issue identification. Newer developments in legal education are also canvassed.A foundational critique is then applied to elucidate the main weakness of thepresent curricular structure: students are graduating with a flat understanding of the law Employing Dr Oliver Sacks's critique of medical education as a starting point, …

Designating The Dean Of Law: Legal Education At Mcgill University And The Montreal Corporate And Professional Elite, 1946-1950., A J. Hobbins

Dalhousie Law Journal

The nature of legal education has been the subject of an ongoing debate in all Canadian jurisdictions. A central theme of this debate for much of the twentieth century was whether legal education should be restricted to training for the local Bar as opposed to studying law as an academic discipline in addition to such professional training A decanal vacancy at McGill University brought this question to the fore in 1946 when the anglophone members of the Montreal Bar exerted a great deal of influence on the selection process. The matter was complicated by the opposition of the corporate elite …

Canadian Graduate Legal Education: Past, Present And Future, Sanjeev S. Anand

Dalhousie Law Journal

Canadian graduate legal education has seldom been the subject of scholarly inquiry This article seeks to fill the vacuum by describing and evaluating various features associated with master s and doctoral programs offered by the nation s /ao schools. A number of criteria are used in this analysis, some of which have been garnered from the broader literature on higher education The article concludes with a series of specific programmatic and policy reform proposals aimed at strengthening the state of graduate legal education in this country

Competition, Cooperation Or Cartel: A National Law School Accreditation Process For Canada?, Alvin Esau

Dalhousie Law Journal

Law schools in Canada are engaged in increased competition with one another and significant disparities in resources and reputations have developed. The author argues that this competitive context may be a threat to the maintenance in some schools of the broader mission of the law school to teach and produce contextual and critical perspectives on law. It is suggested that Canadian law schools should cooperate with each other and that various initiatives could be taken which would help all schools. Beyond cooperation on specific projects, the authorraises the question of whetherlawschools should set up theirown national accreditation scheme. He suggests …

An Analysis Of Gender In Admission To The Canadian Common Law Schools From 1985-86 To 1994-95, Brian M. Mazer

Dalhousie Law Journal

Using statistical data covering a ten year period, this study examines the issue of gender representation in admissions to first year law study at common law schools in Canada. After addressing three identifiable steps in the admission process-applications, offers and registration-the author concludes that while there has been progress and the gap has narrowed, the problem of gender inequality persists.

A Case For Compulsory Legal Ethics Education In Canadian Law Schools, Jocelyn Downie

Dalhousie Law Journal

The author presents principled arguments, consequentialist arguments, arguments by analogy and arguments by authority in support of her conclusion that Canadian law schools should have compulsory legal ethics education. Among other things, she argues that legal ethics education is an imperfect but essential way to meet the obligations that arise from the public trust placed in the legal profession. She also explores a number of benefits that can accrue to students, law schools, the legal profession and society in general when ethics is a compulsory component of legal education.

Teacher Power In The Law School Classroom, Julie Macfarlane

Dalhousie Law Journal

Law teachers make choices over syllabus material, teaching methods and assessment formats, and thus inevitably exercise some control over what and how students learn. The actualpowerof each individual law professor will depend on the context of her particular classroom and her perceived credibility, generally defined by the university as the demonstration of a particular (rationalist) model of subject expertise. The intrinsic hierarchies and highly competitive culture of law school sustain this traditional model of knowledge along with its congruent image of the professor as autonomous, powerful and the focus of the classroom. Feminist law teachers and others who wish to …

Playing The Game, Allan C. Hutchinson

Dalhousie Law Journal

Soccer is my game. It has been part of my life and, therefore, a part of me since before I can remember. Much of my early years was spent kicking a ball around in one setting or another. Sleeping or waking, I was never far from a soccer ball. On my own against a wall or with a couple of likeminded friends, I took the part of legendary favourites and played out some of soccer's great games. The stuff of boyhood fantasizing, some of my best memories can still be traced back to my grandfather's back yard or the local …

Madame Justice Wilson: Trailblazer For Justice, Brian Dickson

Dalhousie Law Journal

Mr. Dean, Mme Justice Wilson, Mrs. Read, other distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: May I say first of all that I am deeply honoured to have been invited to give the Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture for 1991, inaugurated in memory of the distinguished Dean of Dalhousie Law School who served in that capacity from 1950 to 1964. Dean Read's contribution to legal education and to legal scholarship in general was a massive one, encompassing as it did law reform, legislation and the legislative process, conflict of laws, labour law and legal education. Horace Read acquired an enviable international reputation …