Jeff's blog

A friend of mine who is spending this summer working at a firm in Calgary has a cool photo blog on sailing. Talented guy.

Education Discount

Don't forget: if you are looking at buying an iPod, take advantage of Apple's discount. For example, a 4GB iPod Mini's price is reduced from $249 to $225 and a 20GB iPod goes for $345 instead of $379. (All prices in Canadian dollars.)

SCC quashes levy on iPods

I just learned that the Copyright Board has been collecting money - $2 to $25 - for each sale of an MP3 player. Over the last year they've amassed about $4,000,000 bucks. The amount of the levy is based on the size of the storage space so all the iPods have been taxed $25 each while the iPod Minis have been taxed at a lower level.

My question is: now that the levy is quashed, will prices come down?

Tour of Osgoode Hall

Yesterday I went to Osgoode Hall (the building not the school) to do some research in the Great Library. While I was there I took a tour of the building. It's amazing! The building is one of the oldest in Toronto, dating back to the 1830s. Our guide informed us that it was the first law school in Ontario (although I remember reading somewhere that it's actually the site of the first law school in all of Canada). (Thanks for the feedback!) It now houses the largest private law library in the Commonwealth, the Appeals Court of Ontario and the Law Society of Upper Canada. If you're in Toronto and interested in law, I'd highly recommend it.

In case you're wondering, Osgoode Hall (the law school) is named after the building. Geographically, however, they are far apart. The building is located in downtown Toronto while the school is in the northern part of the city. From the students I met at the castle, most Osgoode students drive to class and there's not much student life on campus. Totally different from Queen's. Almost all my classmates walk to school and there are things constantly going on at Queen's.

Howard Dean is in Toronto

I just noticed on ATLA's schedule that former Democrat Party candidate (and now DNC Chair) Howard Dean is giving a speech here in Toronto. I wonder what his thoughts are on the state of Canada these days (sorry, bad pun). From his campaign, it seemed like he must look at this country with envy. We have universal health care, an educated middle class, a strong social support system, a society that values education and it's safe. At least, that's how he might see things.

However, if Dr. Dean actually asked a local Torontonian about the state of this country they would probably say that our health care system is in shambles, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer, our support systems is constantly being abused and we're safe right now but we're still a target for terrorism. And Dean might rebut these claims and say that while they all may be true, the situation is worse in the United States.

I hope Dean gets the chance to talk to Canadians. We can learn a lot from the dialogue and from the different perspectives.

ATLA Conference in Toronto

Last night I ran into a trial lawyer at Indigo Books on Bay Street (how appropriate, eh?). We met in the scant-but-what-do-you-expect law section of the bookstore. I was looking at at 1001 Legal Words You Need To Know (which at a glance seemed like a waste of money) while he was searching for The Trial Lawyers, a book that had been recommended by a fellow lawyer in the American Trial Lawyer's Association (ATLA). Indigo didn't have his book.

It turns out ATLA is having a conference here in Toronto this week. The trial lawyer strongly urged me to join. Saturday was free for law students, but the rest of the conference costs us $70 ($100 with materials). This is quite a deal from what non-students are paying. It goes all the way up to $800 a head. For those interested, check out the conference website. It's going on until Wednesday.

Weddings

Congratulations!! At least 2 law men will return to school as new husbands. One wedding was in Chatham, ON while the other is scheduled for Calgary. I hope both events live/lived up to expectations.

And along the same lines, it was one year ago that my fiancee accepted my proposal. Happy Anniversary love. ;)

"The Libranos" - Political Spoof Poster (funny)

The Ethicist on NPR

(When I'm not listening to the CBC, I'm probably tuned in to NPR.)

Just about a year ago, I shared my interest in Randy Cohen's column published in the New York Times Magazine. Each week Cohen tackles ethical dilemmas with reason, humour and a healthy dose of commen sense. Anyhow, for those more inclined to auditory input, the Ethicist is also on NPR's All Things Considered. This week's dilemma dealt with situations that warrant euthanizing a dog.

For diehard fans, Cohen has published a book entitled The Good, The Bad and The Difference: How to Tell the Right From Wrong in Everyday Situations. He clarifies right at the beginning that,

... I should say, not for the last time, that I am not a lawyer and do not
purport to give legal advice ...

I've added it to my Wishlist, just in case you're feeling generous. ;)

CBC Interview: Ms. Peter

I was just listening to Sounds Like Canada (yes, I'm a 20-something who listens to the CBC - I rare breed, I admit) and Kelly Ryan was interviewing a woman from Nunavut who just graduated from the one-shot Akitsiraq Law School. Profs from UVic Law actually flew to Iqaluit to teach courses to the 11 graduates. The CBC had an interview with one graduate, Ms. Peter, who can now add law to her skills as translator, clothing designer, and singer.

Q: What have you gained from law school?
You learn how everything functions. You can question everything like policy decisions of the government.

Q: Would you recommend it to others?
It's a must for anyone who would like to get into the area of education.

Q: How have you changed?
You learn about yourself.

And my favourite comment:

I'm a better bitch than I was before.

Congrats on your law degree! Look out Ottawa.

New Blawgger

I stumbled across Daniel's new "Advocatus Diaboli" blawg today. A few weeks ago he started posting because:

... there was a general lack of self-righteous, 20-something,
know-it-all-law-students-to-be in the "blogosphere."

Well, I don't consider myself either "self-righteous" or a "know-it-all-law student", so I guess I satisfy his observation. And, although I am still a "20-something", the clock is ticking on that one.

Daniel will be starting at UBC Law this fall. I have no doubt that his future classmates will quickly be aware of the fact that his rants & opinions are being published for all to read. It should make for nice fodder around the water cooler. If there's one thing that is never in short supply around a law school, it's gossip. UVic's nickname is "Priestly High" for the amount of gossip that is regularly generated. Sometimes the law library at Queen's seems to serve more as an exchange for gossip than as a temple for higher learning. Oops - I'm starting into a rant here. Doh! I'll leave that to folks like Daniel. Another blawg can be found here.

Transferring Schools

I heard today that one of my section-mates is transferring to UofT Law. Including her, that makes 5 students, that I know of, who will join the gang at UofT. Other students are still waiting to hear from McGill, UBC, UVic and Western. Of the 9 students who are requesting a transfer, all, except one, are going to be close to their partner/ wife/ husband.
We'll miss them, but it's easy to understand their motivation to transfer.

7/7

London was bombed this morning by a "secret" arm of al-Qaeda. Will this be known as 7/7? What a world we live in. I was in London just a few weeks ago. Some Queen's Law students (at least 4) are there now. I'll be glued to the news all day.

Peace.

The Summer between First and Second Year

With the castle term over, the rest of the Class of '07 has had think about how we're going to spend the rest of our summer. Of course, many students decided to stay in Europe and continue their adventure a la backpacking. The rest of us have returned to this side of the Altantic to test the waters of the job market. Here are some results:
- One student is in Cambodia on a research project helping children.
- One student secured an internship with the Environmental Protection Agency in New York.
- One student is going to South Africa to look after game animals.
- One student is volunteering with a high-profile defence lawyer here in Toronto with the hopes that he will get start getting paid (and they will learn his name).
- One student went back to his securities firm.
- One student is cataloging homes in the real estate market in her hometown.
- One student is picking strawberries on a farm.
- One student is taking care of teenagers at a summer camp.
- One student is working for the Canadian Cadets.
- Two students are in Kingston working as research assistants for a law prof.
- One student is working at an architectural firm.
- One student is waitressing.
- One student is working at a firm in Calgary.
- One student is planning his wedding/ getting married.
- One student is working at a small law office in her hometown (that is interested in having her work there indefinately post-law school).
- One student is here working for the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.

And I'm sure there are many out there just having fun.