Interesting Article/Book detailing the differences in US & Canadian criminal justice systems.

Law Times - ONLINE: EXCLUSIVE: U.S. prosecutors hold all the power

Interesting and worth a read.

RW

Windsor 2nd year PC Candidate

Montrose candidate replaced by PCs

Interesting news, a current Windsor Law 2nd year student is the PC Alberta candidate for the Alberta Provincial riding of Calgary-Montrose.

He might have to ask Premier Stelmach for time off to write exams?

RW

Employment stats for the Class of 2009

Here are the current employment stats for the class of 2009 as of Feb 1, 2008.

Eight students in the JD/LLB class of 2009 have summer (2L) jobs at the following firms:

• McCarthy Tetrault - Toronto (2)
• Torys - Toronto (1)
  
• Boutique IP Litigation Firm - Ottawa (1)
• Thatcher Proffit & Wood - NYC (1)
• Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker - NYC (2)
• Shearman & Sterling - NYC (1)

Many more members of the class have had good results in interviews and are pursuing London, Ottawa, and other Toronto opportunities.

Windsor Law #6 out of 14!

Click here to see the Canadian Lawyer magazine ranking of the 14 Common Law Schools in Canada.

Not so bad, and a big jump from the #13 spot in the Maclean's article.

RW

Law School Musical

A response to the Maclean's Law School rankings.

Law Times - New law school rankings ‘incomplete’

So you know by now that Windsor placed 14th out of 16 in the Canadian Common Law School rankings Maclean's just published.

Here is an interesting response to the article, challenging it to be more broad in its scope of evaluation.

Check out the article above.

There's an election going on!

If you've been able to lift your eyes from your books, you may already know there is an election happening in Ontario. If you didn't notice, don't worry, I think most of Ontario hasn't noticed either.

As conscientious law students, I would suggest that it is our duty to make sure we exercise our democratic right to vote. Therefore I admonish all of you (who are eligible) to vote in the October 10th election!

For information on how you can get on the electoral list (if you want to vote locally), or how you can vote through an absentee ballot take a look at the Elections Ontario website: Elections Ontario Home Page

Also, you will note that there is a referendum question on the ballot this year. We get to vote on whether we would like to see a change to the way we elect the Provincial Legislature here in Ontario.

So get informed and take a few minutes to get on the electoral list, or request an absentee ballot from your home-riding, it won't take much time to do so.

Another Law Student Blog...

There are a few other law students out there blogging about their experiences taming the monster that is the law. Here is one I enjoy reading every so often.

Lisa Hutch - The TRIALS

Lisa is going into her second year at the U of Saskatchewan Faculty of Law. She's a good writer and frequently updates her blog.

Take a gander.

What next for this blog?

Well, I am not sure I ended up posting one tip every day... but there were a number of tips. I hope they helped.

I have never, by any means made any suggestions that I had all the answers or that all of my postings were my original thoughts/tips/ideas. So, because ideas matter and because the only way to find the truth is to hear all sides of the story, I have invited a few additional upper year students in the JD/LLB program to contribute to the blog.

I hope that over the course of this year, we'll be able to cover a number of different topics and get multiple points of view on these topics.

Possible blog-postings in the next few months:

• Hear from 3rd year students about their summer experiences working in law firms across the US and Canada this summer.
  
• Dispatches from the frontlines of the Toronto OCI process.
  
• Learn about the infamous East meets West....
  
• Find out where JD/LLB's will be articling or beginning as new associates next year.
  
• Hear about the search for articles.
  
• Inside information on the interview process.
  
• Law Review, just what does it mean to be "on Law Review"?
  
• Volunteering for CLA.
  
• What do we do for fun?
  
• Is Moot Court really moot?
  
• Working in the center of the universe.
• Life as a OneL.
  
• AND MORE!
  

If there is a topic you'd like to see covered, please let us know what it is by leaving a comment. We aim to please our readers.

More Border News: Lineups grow at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

globeandmail.com: Lineups grow at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

Still, it doesn't seem to mean regular, significant delays for the tunnel, but it certainly stinks when you are cutting it too close.

TIP A DAY #14:

• Leave at least an hour to cross the border to get to class. You just don't want to risk it. If you get to UDM/UW early then you now have some extra time to read, review your notes, print some documents or get a coffee. But at least you're not late.

Ontario's cross-border business at risk: study

CTV.ca | Ontario's cross-border business at risk: study

Interesting article. Some of this is what we in the JD/LLB program see every day. The comments on the article seem a little out there, but the article is interesting.

You can also take a look at the study itself here.

What to do this weekend!

Hey all,

When you're new in town sometimes you don't hear about all the things that are happening around town.

This weekend there is an Indy Car Race, the Belle Island Grand Prix and if I was to be in town, that's where I would be all weekend, sitting in the sun with a nice cold beer, watching the cars go fast.

If you want info on the race check out the website here. I believe you can order tickets there too, or just get info. I think the best deal is the general admission. Pack a cooler, your shades and the sunscreen and you're "off to the races!"

Have a great Labour Day and get ready to meet all the incoming LLBs! The rest of your first year class!

What to do on the weekends.

TIP A DAY #13:

• This weekend, for some of you will be the first weekend in Windsor. For some of you it will be your 2nd, 3rd or 4th weekend in Windsor, for another group of you it will be your first weekend in the "401 Club" driving back to Toronto (its OK too). Go to the zoo, if you are zoo people, go if you're not... it will be fun. But, that only takes care of an afternoon.
• Here are my suggestions for weekend activities in Windsor:
  
• Take in a tasting/tour at one of the many local wineries. This is a wonderful way to learn a little, taste some decent wine and see a little bit of the countryside outside Windsor. Information can be found on the South Western Ontario Vintners Association website. Most of the tours are only $5 or so, and you get 6 small tastings, along with a souvenir glass. Also, most wineries offer tastings apart from the tours, so you don't have to tour every winery.
  
• See if there is a festival in town, often Windsor has various festivals along the waterfront.
  
• Check out Greektown in Detroit. Lots of greek restaurants, some nice bars, a casino and a nice little "main street" area of sorts, usually pretty busy on a weekend night.
  
• Go to a Tigers baseball game, a Lions football game, or a Redwings hockey game. Great entertainment and despite the size of the city tickets are usually available.
  
• Go to a college football game, Michigan State or Michigan games are an amazing experience, but both are hard tickets to get.
  
• Take a tour of the Walkerville Brewing Company or the Canadian Club Distillery. Probably free samples.
  
• Go to Point Pelee National Park. Awesome for bird watching and the annual Monarch Butterfly migration, strange I know, but it is something to see, and close by too.
  
• Go to Pelee Island on the ferry boat. Canada's southernmost island (I think)
• Go to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. THE BEST amusement park for roller coasters in North America. The best.
  
• Hang out at home and do your readings?!?!? Sometimes it has to be done.
  

Anyhow, those are my suggestions, there are many fun things to do around here, ask any and all upper years or classmates who are locals.

Enjoy!

Should I buy the "recommended" texts?

TIP A DAY #12

Good question!

• All recommended texts are not created equal! By that I mean that I found some to be immensely helpful, while with at least one book I never touched it. So the general tip I hear from many is to maybe "test drive" the recommended textbooks. Most, if not all are available on reserve or in general circulation in both the UDM and UW Law libraries. So you have the option of being able to take the books for a test run and see whether it is helpful to you. If it is, maybe it's worth the investment. If not, then don't worry about it. Or maybe you could share a copy with your carpool?

Tips on the first day of Orientation

Congratualtions, you've made it to the first day of orientation, a step that many people only dream of. It's OK, you can be proud of your accomplishments. Today is a special day for you.

TIP A DAY #11:

• Getting advice from upper year students.... If you are like me, you're probably pretty nervous, excited and full of questions about this beast called law school. So you're probably eager to ask a bunch of questions. It is advisable to ask upper year students for advice and information, and by and large their advice will be helpful and thoughtful, but I will add one caveat. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. That is to say that everyone approaches the study of law in different ways. No two students have the same approach, learning styles or study habits. So, what works for one may be the worst possible advice for another.
  
  
• Top Pieces of Bad Advice I have heard:
  
• "You don't need to go to this or that orientation session, its boring."
  
• BUNK! Go to everything you can, you never know when an important tidbit of information will be handed to you.
  
• "You don't need to read for Prof AB or C's class."
• Beware of such advice, people who did well, worked hard and that meant reading before and after class.
  
• Similar to the above, "I never read for any classes."
• Again, my caution here is that you never know if this upper year student has the same career goals that you have, or if they learn the same way you do, etc. This is bad advice.
  
• "I just got a bunch of upper year outlines and notes, and I did fine"
• Really? Did they? What is 'fine'? They certainly might have, but it is always a safer bet to do your own work in preparation for classes and exams. Each year a prof does things a little differently, emphasizes a different area of the law, adds a case or two, and in some situations changes the casebook year to year. So, what an upper year student may be peddling as the gospel, might do you more harm than good.
  
  
• I think the best piece of advice that can be given is to figure out how you learn, experiment and take a little time to decide how you work best and don't be afraid to change things up if you need to. This is your career, you are in control and the investments you make now in your learning will pay off in the short and long term. For this reason, one should be take advice (other than a prof's) with a grain of salt. You are smart enough to succeed in this endeavour, but it will be a long, hard journey. People are here to help along the way, and most upper year's are helpful and want nothing more than to see you succeed. Just be careful how much weight you give to their tidbits.
  

Enjoy orientation and make sure you take some time to mix and mingle with your new classmates, now is the time before it gets crazy with readings and assignments.

More tips and question answered!

Hey all,

Not really sure how many people are reading this blog, but we passed 225 page views today! Not too bad.

TIP A DAY #10:

• If you don't already have one, get a passport. It really is the preferred document when it comes to crossing the border. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative it is mandatory when you fly to the U.S. so if you plan to apply to U.S. job postings, it might be a good idea to already have your passport when the firm flies you to NYC for an interview. Also, it will be mandatory at land crossings by June 2009, which, if you are not a 2nd or 3rd year JD/LLB, means you will need one in order to get to classes before you graduate. GET A PASSPORT!
  

Answer to Anonymous' question of August 9th: "Is it a pain in the butt to cross the boarder [sic]?

• While it might be a little nerve-racking and unfamiliar at first, it really does become routine when you do it as often as this program requires. You start to recognize the border guards and they start to recognize you.
  
  
• That said, there are a few resources that will make things a lot easier for you:
  
  
• Get a NEXUS card, all the information for this very convenient service can be found online here. It's a small price to pay for a much smoother process at the border with US and Canadian Customs/Immigration.
  
  
• The Windsor-Essex County Tourism Board has launched a site dedicated to making it easy to understand the border crossing. It is called Crossing Made Easy. Yes, it's a tourism site, but it has a lot of information that is helpful to students like us. As always, check anything important or legal with the immigration lawyers employed by the school and do not rely exclusively on this tourism site.
  

Take care all and happy packing/moving in. Class of 2010 starts orientation in 2 days! Good luck!

TIP A DAY for a few days!

Sorry everyone, I was out of the country.

TIP A DAY #8

• If you're like me and the majority of the student body at UW Law and in the JD/LLB program you are from somewhere outside the Windsor/Detroit area. This means you probably only know Windsor as the road between the 401 and the Ambassador Bridge, or less, you've never been here before now. So, here are my recommendations for places to buy groceries:
  
• A&P on Huron Church Road and Tecumseh: a fairly nice sized grocery store, I believe it is open 24 hours and conveniently it is located along that drive from Toronto so you can stop for groceries on the way back in.
  
• Price Chopper just off Wyandotte Road, near Classic Bingo IV, a cheap, no frills grocery store that still carries name brands. The address is: 799 Crawford Street.
  
• Food Basics: A similar type of store to Price Chopper and it is more centrally located downtown. Located at: 880 Goyeau. This makes it really convenient on the way back from Detroit, but in first year you likely only have time to get a quick bite to eat and cross the border before your next class.
  
• My favourite is the Real Canadian Superstore: It's a little far, but I think it's worth the trip. Carries all your favourite PC brands. 4371 Walker Road (it's also right near Costco, Canadian Tire, Best Buy, and a bunch of other big box stores.
  
• There are also a number of Zehr's and Sobey's scattered around town.
  
• My apologies, but I cannot comment on Detroit grocery stores.
  

TIP A DAY #9:

• Find an outlet away from Law School, whether it is playing intramural hockey, running on the riverfront or playing World of Warcraft. Do something!! Even better if you can do it without too many people from Law School. It's just a good idea to get away from it at some point on a regular basis.
  
• It's also not a bad idea to try to maintain relationships with people outside of law school, whether that means people from back home or people you've met at UW or UDM. Just a good idea to get out and away from your schoolmates.

Take care, back to the beach!

A clarification and more tips!

Just to clarify, I know I said I would be publishing at least one tip a day from last week until Labour Day, what I meant to say was every weekday. So just so you don't think I have abandoned this blog, I will only be publishing on weekdays for the most part.

TIP A DAY #7

Books to read before starting, or in the first few weeks:

• Acing Your First Year of Law School, by Shana & Henry Noyes: This is a short book, a very easy read. It is written by two American attorneys, and it is directed at the U.S. Law School experience, but it is still very applicable to the Canadian experience, and definitely applicable to the experience students will have in the JD/LLB program. Provides many helpful tips and reminders, many of them common sense, but sometimes hearing it again and again does help to instill good habits.
  
  
• OneL, by Scott Turow: Another quick read, again written from the perspective of a 1L at a U.S. Law School this time in 1975. Surprisingly though, I found it to be an insightful peak behind the doors before I started. The book is a collection of the author's journal notes from his first year at Harvard Law School, and it is amazing the similarities in what the author endures in his first year and our own experience.
  
  
• When I searched Amazon.com for these titles, there were a number of other books that turned up as "Customers also bought", but I have no experience with these other titles. I am sure they are good and helpful but I can't personally make any recommendations.
  
  
• It might be worth picking up a "Canadian" Tips for Law School book, I did not, but I have heard a few were helpful to some of my classmates.
  

Well that's all for today, enjoy preparing. I am going to the beach.

More Tips!

Thanks to the one brave soul who left me a question on the comments, I will definitely tackle that question in a day or two. Keep them coming, please!

TIP A DAY # 5

• Don't neglect the waterfront! If you need to exercise or just want to take a nice evening stroll, Windsor's waterfront is a great place to do that. There is a bike/walking path that starts at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge and runs all the way to the Hiram Walker Distillery which is a distance of approximately 3 miles or just under 5 kilometers each way. This is a great place to rollerblade, jog, ride your bike or just walk. Excellent people watching too! There is now also a cafe in the park near downtown, so you can even stop for some food or drink. If you're lucky in the summer months there's even an icecream vendor or two riding up and down the paths.
  
  
• The waterfront area is also the site of many festivals and events in both Windsor and Detroit, and as I understand it, the Detroit waterfront is also a great place to be.
  

TIP A DAY #6

• Carpool! Carpool to Detroit! It is a great way to not only save money on gas, tolls and parking passes but it is a great way to meet your new classmates. There is significant savings in tolls, because of course an empty car and a full car cost the same, but the most significant savings comes in the purchase parking passes. UDM reserves a large number of Larned parking lot (right across from the school) passes for the JD/LLB students and allowed us to purchase them last year during orientation, but they're not cheap (~$300) So if you end up purchasing one per carpool you can really save. Then it's just a matter of splitting the tolls and gas. In first year you only cross 2x a week for the ALTA class, but then in the summer after 1st year and into 2nd year you will be crossing daily.
  

Again, I hope those help. Please, please do leave questions using the comments feature.

Take care.

What do you want to know?

This post is directed to all incoming JD-LLB students. Tell me what you want or need to know as you get ready to start this program. Use the comments feature to leave your question and I will do my best to answer. In the event I don't know the answer, I will connect with my classmates and those in the 3rd year and find the answer for you.

Also, if you are reading this blog because you are considering an application to the JD-LLB program, feel free to leave your questions as well.

Help me help you!

Tip(s) a Day Installment #2!

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's Tip a Day, here's round 2!

Tip A Day #3:

• Decide which U Windsor parking pass you will need. There are two options:
  
  
• U Windsor Student Pass which will cost $200 CDN for 8 months. The student lots are a little bit of a walk from the Law School, but the bonus is that you can park for free at the St. Denis Centre Gym parking lots. If you're like me, and like to work out this is a good option, you get to work out and get a little walk from your car and back!
• If you decide on this option you should act fast. last year when we arrived on August 20th there were no student passes left! Check the website for details.
  
  
• Canterbury College parking pass which, last year cost $30 a month, the advantage to this pass is that the closest lot to the Law School, which comes in handy on rainy or snowy days, or those days when you're running late!
  
• This option I believe is only available in person, and there were a number left when I got mine last year, but maybe get on it before the LLB's arrive.
  

Tip A Day #4:

• Buy a roll of tokens for crossing at the tunnel, as of the time of this post you get 20 tokens for $60 USD or $70 CDN. There is also a frequent toll-card for the Bridge, if you prefer to take the Ambassador Bridge. I don't know how that works myself as I am a tunnel guy.
  
• Whichever option you decide on, as long as the Canadian $ is above 90 cents US you save a bit of money buying the tokens/card with US dollars.

I hope those tips help, I will try to keep them coming!

Introducing: A tip a day!

After a long break, it is time to dust off this old blog....

In order to be of assistance to the incoming JD-LLB class, I thought it might be helpful to post some of the "I wish I would have known that last year..." tips.

So, check back here, as every day from now until Labor Day, I will do my best to post a tip or two each day as you get ready to embark on (and actually begin) this 3 year journey toward two law degrees.

TIP A DAY TIP #1:

• If you are in the market for a new cell phone or cell plan, consider getting a plan that includes metro Detroit AND Windsor in your local calling area, it will save you a lot of money and increase your ability to talk to your classmates who reside on the other side of the Detroit River. I know for sure that Telus has this feature.

TIP A DAY TIP #2:

• Participate in all the social orientation events you can, it is a great way to get to know your classmates, and the other 1st years at both schools! You never know who may be a fellow associate or partner with you some day, or better yet the presiding Judge!

Check back tomorrow! And enjoy the preparation and the last few weeks of summer!

The Gist of the Chief Justice's comments

OK, I know I promised long ago that I was going to post the main points of Chief Justice McLachlin's talk at U Windsor.

Here it is:

• The law is essential to society.
  
• An independent bar and judiciary is essential to our democratic way of life.
  
• "If citizens are to have justice, they must have lawyers."
• Lawyers must attempt to cultivate a sense of honour and a complete devotion to justice.
  
• Lawyers must have a complete devotion to the ideals of justice.
  
• Lawyers need to show courage.

OK so really that is the essence of what she said, 1.5 months ago.

1st Marks from Fall Exams... my question to the CJC

So since last week....

Our class received the first exam grades, from our Contracts professor, whom I have to say did not surprise me by being the first out of the gate with marks... she's really on the ball.

I am pleased, there is some room for improvement, but overall I am pleased. I worked hard for that exam (worked hard for all of them) and also during class all semester and it seems to have paid off.

I posted 2 weeks ago that the Chief Justice of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Beverly McLachlin came to U Windsor Law to speak. I also said I would try to ask a question if there was a Q & A session.

There was, and I did. I asked the question I wrote about, in a decidedly better format, and I also prefaced it with something along the lines of "I suspect this question may be too political for you to fully answer, but...." Sadly, and not unexpectedly, Madam Chief Justice was unable to comment fully on the subject matter.

The gist of her talk was very positive and motivational.

I will post about that tomorrow.

Back to preparation of a trial brief in support of a motion for summary judgment (US Moot Problem).

Back in the saddle

2nd day of classes today....

So now there are officially no excuses for not being ready, reading slowly, etc.

It sounds like we won't see any marks from our first semester exams until the end of next week at the latest, our Property and Contracts profs have both said they are not finished grading the exams, so we WAIT.

A reprieve came this morning as our Contracts prof came in to class, handed out the syllabus, said a few short words, said her grading of the exams was not finished yet, and then left. Short and sweet, but because we don't have class until 5pm, it makes for a long break. More time to read....

I have set my TiVO to record the new CBC show Little Mosque on the Prairie tonight which looks promising as a new sit-com written by a Canadian muslim about the North American muslim experience. It's apparently getting a lot of press, so my interest is piqued.

Tomorrow, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada will be speaking at the law school. I am definitely planning to attend. I don't know if there will be a Q&A session, but if there is I want to ask her to explain her resistence to having a police officer join the judicial appointments panel, as proposed by the former Martin government and picked up by the Harper government.

Anyhow, that's all for now... back to easements and covenants.