Justice & Legal Studies Success Stories

The Law School is ranked 17th out of 101 Law Schools in the United Kingdom. Devin was our first student to do his field placement with the Tax Law Services Section of the Department of Justice Canada in Ottawa. 

The Aboriginal Moot was the capstone assignment for students in the Indigenous Legal Perspectives course. To open the Second Annual Aboriginal Moot, students toured the Indigenous Cultural Markers recently installed at the Lakeshore campus.

The Faculty of Business is meeting Humber’s aspirations pursuant to the Indigenous Education Protocol, and has responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, by modifying the Paralegal Degree Program curriculum. The new course compares Aboriginal Law with Indigenous Legal Traditions. Professor Shirley Wales, a lawyer and former Adjudicator for the survivors of the Indian Residential Schools, designed and taught the new course. She incorporated research from her PhD studies, including the Indigenous Legal Traditions course taught by an Elder.

The Aboriginal Moot follows the format of the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Moot. Most Canadian Law Schools participate in the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Moot. The Moot is also known as “The Talking Circle”. Students engage in roundtable negotiations with the aim of reaching a consensus-based settlement. They rely on Indigenous Legal Traditions, as well as provincial, federal, and international law. The students were honoured to be joined at the Second Annual Aboriginal Moot by Associate Dean James Cullin, and by Paralegal Degree faculty members Dr. Karen Schucher and Dr. John Allen.

Breanne and Daniel placed 2nd overall in the preliminary rounds, and, on day two, advanced to the Finals. Breanne, Daniel, and Mushfiq all received distinguished advocate awards. This was especially spectacular as Mushfiq competed alone. Only eight of these awards were distributed, one of which is the top advocate award. All three students worked very hard and did an outstanding job of representing Humber and the Paralegal Studies Degree program.

Students from the 4th and 6th semesters had the opportunity to speak with Humber partners and employers regarding their upcoming summer placement.

The Placement Centre welcomed Humber alumnae Chantall Samuels and Jillian Hardy, as well as other industry professionals Samantha Glass, Drew Samuels, Dror Ziskind, and Doron Gold. All panelists work for various legal offices and departments and spent their afternoon offering advice and valuable skills to paralegal students.

Thanks to the students for asking relevant questions and generating meaningful discussions.

The event began with a presentation on Osler’s corporate culture and practice areas. This was followed by a tour of the facilities and the office areas where students and new graduates would work. Osler staff discussed current job opportunities and encouraged the students to apply. Students found the tour to be insightful and the staff extremely welcoming and informative.

Over 130 students registered for this successful event, which was geared towards students in their third and fourth semesters. With employers from companies such as Attorney General, Aird & Berlis LLP, Canada Border Services Agency and many more that offered our students advice, information on best application practices, hiring processes, current and future job opportunities and Q & A opportunities where students were able to ask questions pertaining to their interests.

Jordan was hired at the reputable Ontario Labour Law firm, Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP.

Congratulations, Jordan!

There were 94 two-member mooting teams participating in the Mooting Competition from across Canada. There were teams from as far away as the University of Calgary and Memorial University of Newfoundland, as well as teams from McGill University, Queen’s University, Western University, Wilfred Laurier University, Carleton University, University of Guelph, and ten teams from the University of Toronto. Humber also had ten mooting teams.

Two Humber teams reached round 16 and ranked fourth and sixth out of the 94 teams. One of those teams reached the semi-finals, which is the furthest a Humber team has advanced in this Undergraduate Competition. Of the team members, Danny Pallag, was one of nine mooters to receive a Distinguished Advocate Award. But, what was truly outstanding, was that the other team member, Tudor Gagea, received the Top Advocate Award, ranking first out of 188 individual participants. This was a spectacular accomplishment for Tudor and Humber. Humber has proven to be a power to be reckoned with at national competitions.

The Humber mooting teams were coached by Paige Diebel, a graduate of the Paralegal Studies degree program, who also received a Distinguished Advocates Award at the 2015 Osgoode Cup. She is a licensed paralegal with a Bay Street law firm specializing in employment law and insurance.

Jatinder Virdi, who is attending Law School at the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland has been accepted for admission to the Masters of Laws program at the University of Toronto Law School, ranked as the top Law School in Canada. Jonathan Joli, who is attending Law School at the University of Leicester in England has just been accepted for admission to the Master of Laws program at the University of British Columbia Law School, ranked third of Canadian Law Schools.

Two of our graduates, Adriana Rizzuto and Aram Simovonian, were previously accepted for admission to the Master of Laws program at Osgoode Hall Law School, ranked fourth of Canadian Law Schools, and have graduated, and have been called to the Bar in Ontario.

Held jointly by Facebook Canada and Public Safety Canada, the aim of the event was to bring together young people who can come up with proactive legal, social and political solutions to address this growing and dangerous phenomenon. 

The focus of Jasteena's contribution was to articulate and address legal issues that have emerged and are challenging the development sector.

Among the many issues raised, this panel debated how the sector should adapt to emerging trends. For instance, how to deal with internal problems of the sector, address multi-dimensional conflicts, rising populism, donor fatigue and suggest how the sector can best support fragile states, post-conflict states and more stable countries.

Thomson Reuters had a book display and allowed the Humber Journal to be included on the display. The sales representative stated that most of the delegate traffic was directed at the Humber publication. There is no similar journal published in the United States by paralegal programs. The regulation of paralegals in the Province of Ontario is far ahead of any similar program in the U.S. Only Washington State and Utah has limited license legal technicians (LLLTs). A copy of the journal was provided to Debra Geiger, President-Elect of AAfPE, and to Ruth Stevens, of Grande Valley State University in Michigan.

The 2018 Lions Cup is the first National Undergraduate Mooting Competition held during the summer months, and the first mooting competition held at York University. The competition was co-founded by Humber alumna, Fallon Burns, a Paralegal Studies degree graduate, who is pursuing post-graduate studies at York University.

There were a total of 15 mooting teams from various Canadian universities, including Carleton University, McGill University, and the University of Toronto. Humber College’s team of second-year student, Breanne Peacock, and third-year student, Daniel Pallag placed fourth overall after the first day of competition and advanced to the quarter-finals. On the second day of competition, Humber’s mooting team advanced to the semi-finals, where they were defeated in a narrow decision of a split judging panel. They were awarded trophies for reaching the semi-final round. Breanne and Daniel are to be congratulated on showing great initiative in representing Humber following completion of the academic year.

The new students heard about the challenges and joys of running a paralegal business with lots of questions about financial success! Ron graduated from Humber in the diploma program in 2017.

She was previously featured in the Dean’s Newsletter in February 2018 for landing an externship position with the Federal District Court in Detroit and is now featured in the 2018/2019 Humber Viewbook. She recently received her grades after completing year one of the Dual J.D. program at Windsor and ranked a remarkable second out of 85 students in that program. Based on her superlative ranking, she was accepted as a transfer student into year two at Osgoode Hall Law School.

At the convention, they promoted opportunities associated with Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI). MBBI Canada connects social justice advocates across the country, with membership spanning six provinces. Its membership is composed of: authors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, educators, coaches, government employees, mediators, and Rotarians—seeking to include a diversity of professionals who believe in the power of mediation in building peace.

This is an unprecedented amount of hiring graduates by the Department of Justice in one year. In addition, the Department of Justice Canada has hired eight Paralegal Studies degree students from Year Three for their four-month work term placement this summer.

Henry Lowi, a Humber Law professor, noted that Neel always took his studies seriously, participated actively in lectures, and submitted thoughtfully-drafted assignments. Congratulations on your new position, Neel!

There were 109 teams from Canadian universities including McGill University, Queen's University and the University of Toronto. In total, six mooting teams of paralegal students represented Humber at the competition. And, of those six, three Humber teams advanced to the last 16 teams, a truly outstanding achievement.

On Sunday, the team of Tudor Gagea and Danny Pallag advanced to the quarter-finals and were edged out of advancing by a split decision. Tudor and a second-year student, Elizabeth Hamilton, each won a Top Ten Oralist award out of 218 mooters. This has placed Humber at the forefront of national undergraduate mooting.

The Humber mooting teams were coached by Aram Simovonian, a graduate of the Paralegal Studies degree program, who obtained his LL.B. degree at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and his LL.M. degree at Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Ontario bar in January 2018 and now teaches a course in our degree program.

Congratulations to all the students and faculty who competed in this year’s Mooting Competition.