Friends Who Argue

In this episode, Kathleen Lickers, IPC, LSM interviews David Nahwegahbow, IPC, LSM,  the 2021 recipient of The Advocates' Society's Award of Justice. In their fascinating and highly informative conversation, Kathleen and David discuss litigating Aboriginal rights issues from the inception of the Charter up to recent and ongoing litigation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. David C. Nahwegahbo...

Excellence in Advocacy – An Interview with Sarit Batner Sarit Batner (McCarthy Tetrault LLP) is the 2020 recipient of the Douglas K. Laidlaw Medal for Excellence in Advocacy. In this episode of Friends Who Argue, Chloe Snider (Dentons Canada LLP) interviews Sarit Batner about what makes for excellent oral advocacy, whether oral advocacy is still important, and how Zoom may be changing advocacy. Sa...

On this episode of Friends Who Argue, we’re sharing Part 2 of our behind-the-scenes look at the work of The Advocates’ Society’s Modern Advocacy Task Force and its final report, the Right to be Heard: The Future of Advocacy in Canada . Task Force member Alex Shelley interviews Advocates' Society president Deborah Palter and Advocates' Society Director Peter Osborne (who chaired the Task...

On this episode of Friend Who Argue, we’re sharing Part 1 of our behind-the-scenes look at the work of The Advocates’ Society’s (TAS) Modern Advocacy Task Force (MATF) and its final report, the Right to be Heard: The Future of Advocacy in Canada . Task Force member Alex Shelley interviews TAS president Deborah E. Palter and TAS Director and MATF Chair Peter Osborne about how the report was conceiv...

Andrea Bolieiro (Constitutional Law Branch, MAG Ontario) sits down with Daniel Baum of Langlois in Montréal and Ravi Amarnath of the Constitutional Law Branch, MAG Ontario, who have each worked in both public practice and private practice. Daniel started his career at the Department of Justice before moving to private practice, while Ravi started his career at Blakes in Toronto before moving to MA...

In this episode of Friends Who Argue, moderator Dominique Hussey reunites panelists Atrisha Lewis, Breanna Needham and Erin Durant who originally spoke at The Advocates’ Society 2019 Fall Convention panel on “Connecting to Achieve Change”.  The panel discusses:  how connecting with their communities has impacted their lives – professionally and personally – since the 2019 panel;  the practices the...

In this episode of Friends Who Argue, Gowling WLG partner Erin Farrell interviews Sylvie Rodrigue and Sarah Whitmore of Torys LLP. Sylvie and Sarah recently represented decorated Canadian boxer, Mandy Bujold, in her fight to attend the Tokyo Olympic Summer Games (scheduled for 2020 and subsequently held in 2021) after a pandemic-driven rule change resulted in her potential disqualification as a re...

In this episode of Friends Who Argue, construction lawyer Web Haile speaks with the winner of the 2020 Eric Hoaken Excellence in Mentoring Award , Ranjan Agarwal. Ranjan is a partner and co-head of Bennett Jones' class actions practice who has achieved numerous accomplishments and accolades over the course of his career. Through the lens of his experiences, Ranjan shares lessons learned from...

As we begin another school year, Laura Gurr speaks to litigators Tamara Ramsey, Mark Flisfeder and Matt Huys about the challenges of maintaining a litigation practice as a parent - particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic - as well as tips and tricks for being productive while staying sane. We hope you find this candid conversation useful whether you are a litigator who is parenting or not.   Lau...

Welcome to Season 2 of Friends Who Argue! In our first episode of Season 2, litigators Cynthia Spry, Elisha Jamieson and Winston Gee discuss the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions in the "good faith" trilogy of recent decisions: David Matthews v. Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited (NS) , 2020 SCC 26 ("Matthews"), C.M. Callow Inc. v. Zollinger , 2020 SCC 45 ("Callow"...

In this episode of Friends Who Argue , Daniel Baum, Partner in the litigation group at the Montréal office of Langlois chats with Lillian Pan, Q.C., a Partner practicing commercial litigation in the Calgary office of Dentons, about practical tips and tricks for optimizing remote examinations.  Daniel Baum is a litigator who acts on a variety of commercial and public law disputes, has experience be...

Interview with Linda Rothstein, Trailblazer and Recipient of the 2021 Advocates’ Society Medal This episode of Friends Who Argue features Michelle Alton, Tribunal General Counsel at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal in conversation with Linda Rothstein,  founding partner at litigation boutique Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP,  and Past President of The Advocates’ Society (...

Join Jean-Simon Schoenholz of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP as he speaks to Cate Martell (@catemartell) and Janani Shanmuganathan (@_JananiS) about R. v. Chouhan , a recent appeal regarding the constitutionality of abolishing peremptory challenges in jury selection heard by the Supreme Court Canada. Cate Martell ( www.martelldefence.com ) acted as co-counsel with Jill Presser to intervene on be...

In this episode of Friends Who Argue, hear about how business development has changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ian Breneman of Blakes chats with Gillian Hnatiw of Gillian Hnatiw & Co and Luisa Ritacca of Stockwoods LLP about how they have adapted their business development practices, and Reena Lalji, in-house counsel with BMO Financial, who shares her viewpoint from a client’s per...

In Part 1 of this two-part interview, released in honour of Black History Month,  please join Natalia Rodriguez for an engaging and meaningful conversation with Joshua Sealy-Harrington, author, academic and advocate, about Critical Race Theory and systemic racism viewed through the lens of historical jurisprudence. They also discuss racism in policing, the criminal justice system, and the free mar...

In Part 2 of this interview, released in honour of Black History Month, Natalia Rodriguez and Joshua Sealy-Harrington continue their important discussion on systemic racism looking at examples in recent jurisprudence, including; R. v. Kokopenace , 2015 SCC 28, in which the Court declined to consider the disproportionate effects of the jury roll system on racialized and marginalized Canadians Frase...

In this episode, we talk to TAS award recipient Omar Ha-Redeye about civility in the legal profession, his ever-evolving career in law, teaching at Ryerson during the pandemic, his advice to junior lawyers, and that time he ruptured an eardrum… 

Welcome to Friends Who Argue! In our first episode, Laura Gurr of Cohen Highly LLP in London sits down with  Erin Durant of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Ottawa about the early days of her career, her mentors and what impact she sees COVID-19 has had on access to justice. 

Join Cynthia Spry of Babin Bessner Spry LLP, as she interviews Kate Robertson of Markson Law, and Michael Bookman, also of Babin Bessner Spry LLP, regarding the recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Reference re: the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act , 2020 SCC 17. In the Reference , the Court split two ways in three sets of reasons on the question of whether Parliament had validly ex...