From the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Nexus
Illustrations by Joel Kimmel
Three alumni, in as many months, were appointed law school deans this year: Sujit Choudhry, LLB 1996, Gillian Lester, LLB 1990, and Paul Paton, LLB 1992
They join a notable group of alumni deans that currently includes William Flanagan (Queen’s University Faculty of Law,) Timothy Endicott (Oxford University Faculty of Law) and Carl Stychin (The City Law School, City University). Up for grabs: dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law—we’ll keep you posted on that one.
Here’s a look at University of California Berkeley, Columbia and University of Alberta law schools’ newest deans.
Dean of University of California, Berkeley, School of Law: Sujit Choudhry
Previously: Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law, New York University Law School
1. So you’re moving to California, from New York. What are you looking forward to most?
The beautiful weather.
2. What are your goals in the first 90 days?
In the first 90 days, my goal is to meet with faculty, students, staff and alumni and learn as much as I can about the school, and to engage in an active listening exercise on three themes – equality of opportunity, academic excellence and innovation, and globalization. Our agenda for my deanship will emerge from that process.
3. Will you be teaching a course?
I plan on teaching, but won’t this year. I will probably teach Constitutional Law or run a workshop series on Comparative Constitutional Law and Politics.
4. How will your U of T Law degree and JD experiences shape your role as dean?
Profoundly. Like UC Berkeley, the U of T is one of the world’s great public universities. Much of what I learned about the special mission of a public law school was at the University of Toronto.
5. What are the critical issues facing law students today?
Our students will increasingly pursue careers outside of the law, in business, government, and the non-profit worlds. Within the law and outside the law, they will experience frequent career changes. Our students will have to constantly reinvent themselves. The new normal is that there is no normal.
6. Most important case to watch in the near future?
At some point in the next year or two, the United States Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. There is a flood of District Court judgments that have struck down same-sex marriage bans. This is a sea-change in American constitutional law and constitutional culture that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The courts are following massive social change in public opinion on this issue.
7. Most important landmark legal case in the last decade?
Citizens United. Because it struck down restrictions on third party expenditures supporting or opposing individual candidates in an election campaign, it has fundamentally altered the legal terrain for campaign finance in American politics.
8. Favourite legal movie?
A Few Good Men
9. When you were a kid, what did you really want to be when you grew up?
A professor. Really.
Dean of Columbia Law School (effective Jan. 1, 2015): Gillian Lester
Previously: Acting Dean, Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law, Werner and Mimi Wolfen Research Professor, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
1. So you’re moving to New York. What are you looking forward to most?
Being in such a spectacular global hub of legal, cultural, and intellectual life. And I can’t wait to live close to my family and friends in Toronto!
2. How did you prepare for the interview process?
I read a lot and talked to as many people as I could about Columbia. I also thought deeply about my own values and how they might fit with Columbia’s future.
3. What ran through your mind the moment you received an offer?
I was euphoric and humbled.
4. What are your goals in the first 90 days? In your term?
First 90 days: a lot of listening to the faculty, alumni, students, and staff to discover what excites and what challenges them. Much of what follows in my term as dean will be inspired by what I learn.
5. Will you be teaching a course? If yes, which one?
Not right away, because my plate will be full! I love teaching Contracts and Employment Law, though, so it may be impossible to stay away for long.
6. How will your U of T Law degree and JD experiences shape your role as dean?
Indelibly. U of T Law School is a shining exemplar of how to combine uncompromising academic excellence, training the best lawyers in the country, a strong sense of community, and sustained commitment to public engagement, both domestic and global.
7. What are the critical issues facing law students today? Facing the legal profession?
The market for lawyers and legal services is in an intensely dynamic phase. Law students must see themselves as entrepreneurs whose legal training will make them versatile problem-solvers, ready to apply their skills in a range of sectors and jobs.
8. Most important landmark legal case in the last decade?
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), in which the United States Supreme Court interpreted freedom of speech to include corporate political campaign spending—and banned limits on such spending. Its constitutional and practical importance is enormous.
9. Favourite legal movie?
My Cousin Vinny
10. When you were a kid, what did you really want to be when you grew up?
My mother was a teacher and my father was a lawyer. I emulated both. Lucky thing for me I found the perfect job.
Dean of University of Alberta Faculty of Law: Paul Paton
Previously: Professor of Law and Director, Ethics Across the Professions Initiative, University of the Pacific
1. So you’re moving to Edmonton. What colour is your parka?
Green and gold, of course! (U of A's colours).
2. What ran through your mind the moment you received an offer?
It’s actually rather personal. My Ukrainian grandparents immigrated to farm country northeast of Edmonton in the late 1800s. It was difficult, to say the least. My mother didn’t have the chance to finish high school, first staying home to help on the farm, then heading to work in the war plants in Toronto. To return to Alberta a generation later as Dean of the preeminent law school in the province and in Western Canada is a tribute to their sacrifice and determination.
3. What are the critical issues facing law students today? Facing the legal profession?
My research and writing in legal ethics over the last decade has focused on regulation of the profession, multidisciplinary practice, the changing role of corporate counsel, and alternative business structures in comparative perspective, so I'm very directly attuned to the fundamental transformation in the way legal services are being delivered and the impact that has on lawyers, law students, consumers and the public. Big and small firms need to be ever more attuned to ensuring access to justice, and to providing consumers with a greater range of options for meeting their legal services needs affordably. For law students, two primary issues are debt loads and ensuring that legal education prepares them for new career paths and opportunities outside the traditional law firm model.
4. Most important landmark legal case in the last decade?
In Canada, the decision in Schachter, a case on which Lorne Sossin and I had the chance to work as summer students for the late Brian Morgan and Larry Ritchie at Oslers. The way in which the decision framed constitutional remedies under the Charter, and “reading in”, set out the contours of the “dialogue” between courts and Parliament and the stage for what even now is still unfolding, as recent events have amply demonstrated.
5. Favourite legal movie?
Legally Blonde (Can I admit that publicly?)
6. When you were a kid, what did you really want to be when you grew up?
I thought that being a teacher of some sort would be neat. Guess it kind of worked out!
