Thursday, March 27, 2025 - 1:00pm to Friday, March 28, 2025 - 2:00pm
Location: 
In-person: J140 Professor A.V. Dicey Classroom; Register in the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Atrium

Register now

Download PDF copy of conference program

How have the law and legal education evolved over time? Why has the rigorous study of law prevailed for seventy-five years? Where do we go from here?

Celebrating 75 years of modern legal education, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law's conference on March 27 & 28 is looking forward by looking back.

Present-day faculty members will reflect on pivotal contributions to academic and legal development by U of T Law scholars over the last seven decades.

Presented papers will be published in a special volume of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Journal and in an edited volume published by U of T Press.

The order of the conference presentations reflects the first year of former faculty members' affiliation with U of T's Faculty of Law:

Thursday, March 27

Panel 1, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Welcome
DEAN CECIL "CAESAR" WRIGHT (1949-1965)
Profs. Dean Jutta Brunnée and Christopher Essert

PROFESSOR JOHN WILLIS (1949-1952 and 1959-1972)
Prof. Mariana Mota Prado

14TH CHIEF JUSTICE OF CANADA BORA LASKIN (1940-1945 and 1949-1965)
Prof. Brian Langille

Coffee break

Panel 2, 2:45 - 4:15 p.m.

PROFESSOR EMERITUS R.C.B. RISK (1962-1998)
Prof. Jim Phillips

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR (1965-1998) & DEAN EMERITUS (1972-1979) MARTIN L. FRIEDLAND
Prof. Kent Roach

PROFESSOR EMERITUS ALAN MEWETT (1968-2001)
Prof. Brenda Cossman

Coffee break

Panel 3, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR STEPHEN M. WADDAMS (1968-2023)
Prof. Peter Benson

PROFESSOR EMERITUS ERNEST J. WEINRIB (1972-2021)
Prof. Arthur Ripstein

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR EMERITUS MICHAEL J. TREBILCOCK (1972-2021)
Prof. Edward Iacobucci
 
Day 1 concludes at 6:00 p.m.

Friday, March 28

Panel 4, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

THE HON. JUSTICE ROBERT J. SHARPE, PROFESSOR (1976-1988) & DEAN EMERITUS (1990-1995)
Prof. Hamish Stewart

THE HON. JUSTICE KATHERINE E. SWINTON (1979-1995)
Prof. Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin

PROFESSOR EMERITA DENISE RÉAUME (1982-2021)
Prof. Angela Fernandez

Coffee break

Panel 5, 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

PROFESSOR EMERITA CAROL ROGERSON (1983-2021)
Prof. Martha Shaffer

PROFESSOR EMERITUS ALAN BRUDNER (1984-2012)
Prof. Vincent Chiao

PROFESSOR EMERITA REBECCA J. COOK (1987-2012)
Prof. Anna Su

PROFESSOR EMERITA LORRAINE E. WEINRIB (1988-2021)
Prof. Richard Stacey

LUNCH: We invite in-person guests to pick up lunch and return to J140.

Roundtable, 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.

Law in a Changing World: The Here and Now
We planned our conference to offer a "big picture" inquiry into Law in a Changing World, considering how U of T’s Faculty of Law scholarship has shifted debates and legal landscapes. We see legal orders under increasing pressure, within states and internationally. This closing roundtable considers the manifold challenges to the rule of law emerging all around us right now.

Moderator: Prof. Christopher Essert
Participants: Dean Jutta Brunnée, Prof. Arthur Ripstein and Prof. Emeritus Michael J. Trebilcock

Conference concludes at 2:00 p.m.

Law in a Changing World papers will be published in a special volume of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Journal and in a forthcoming edited volume published by University of Toronto Press.

In-person registration cost includes both dates, all coffee breaks and the conference lunch on Friday.

This event will also be livestreamed (free). The livestream program will end at approximately 2:00 p.m. on March 28.

Register now

If you require accommodation(s), please contact events.law@utoronto.ca so that we can work with you to make appropriate arrangements.