TORONTO, June 22, 2007 -- Former Legal Aid Ontario Chair Janet Leiper has been appointed Visiting Professor of Public Interest Law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Osgoode Dean Patrick Monahan announced today.
Leiper, who will serve as Visiting Professor for two years starting July 9, 2007, will help to advance public interest programs at Osgoode including implementation of the Law School’s new public interest service requirement for Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students.
Osgoode is the first Canadian law school to adopt such a requirement, which stresses the importance of an ethic of public service by obliging LLB students to complete a public interest service requirement as a condition of their graduation.
“The appointment of Janet Leiper is fantastic for Osgoode and also for the cause of advancing the public interest in legal education in Ontario,” Monahan said. “Janet has exceptional experience in serving the public interest and will bring tremendous knowledge and understanding of this area to her new role at Osgoode. We are absolutely delighted that she will be joining us.”
Leiper completes a three-year term as Chair of Legal Aid Ontario on July 4, 2007. Legal Aid Ontario has an annual budget of more than $300 million and operates certificate, duty counsel and clinic programs that provide services to more than one million low-income Ontarians each year.
"Janet Leiper is a passionate and compelling advocate for the public interest and access to justice," Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant said. "She will bring enormous leadership to this important new office at Osgoode Hall."
In addition to her role as Chair of the 10-member Board of Directors of Legal Aid Ontario, Leiper – who was called to the Bar in 1987 and has more than 17 years of experience practising criminal law – has also served as an Alternate Chair of the Ontario Review Board from 1995 to 2001 and Counsel to the Ontario Review Board from January 2003 to July 2004. She has been a member of the Nunavut Review Board since 2002 and served as Counsel to the Nunavut Review Board in 2003-2004.
Monahan said he and Leiper will work closely together on the implementation of the Law School’s new public interest service requirement, which is one of the priorities set out in Osgoode’s strategic plan, Making a Difference: The Plan for the Law School 2006-2010. The public interest service requirement is designed to complement a new Osgoode course called Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community.
In addition, Monahan said the Law School will draw on Leiper’s considerable expertise to develop several new public interest initiatives, and will also seek to strengthen current public interest initiatives such as Pro Bono Students Canada, which provides law students with unpaid placements with local agencies, organizations and community groups, and Teen Osgoode Program for Secondary Schools (TOPSS), a mentoring program that connects law students to high school students.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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For further information, please contact:
Patrick J. Monahan, Dean
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5199
Virginia Corner, Communications Manager
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
