Blog
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re excited to amplify the voices and experiences of women who have made significant strides in their careers. At Osgoode Professional Development, we had the privilege of interviewing four remarkable female program directors, each with a unique journey and valuable insights to share. What is… Click to Continue Reading.
When Ronda Bessner got her first taste of a public inquiry, she knew it would not be her last. “I was hooked, right from the start,” says Bessner, who took up her original role as senior legal analyst at the Royal Commission on the Blood System in Canada in… Click to Continue Reading.
Instructor ProfileHow Administrative Law LLM Instructor Ronda Bessner Got Hooked on Public Inquiries
OsgoodePD hosted one of the first events of 2024 dedicated to helping Internationally Trained Lawyers in Toronto. On January 11th 2024, OsgoodePD hosted an insightful panel about how internationally trained lawyers can stand out in the recruitment process for Ministry of the Attorney General jobs. The event was well attended by OsgoodePD’s… Click to Continue Reading.
When Ron Friesen first enrolled for the Master’s in Taxation Law, he had no idea that it would take almost two decades to get to his graduation from the program. From his early days as a chartered professional accountant in the 1980s, Friesen had always nurtured an interest in a… Click to Continue Reading.
As part of an academic institution, we’re lucky to have two “new years”: the August/September period when a fresh academic year begins, as well as the new calendar year with its sense of renewal and focus on resolutions. 2023 brought a couple of very special celebrations: the 30th anniversary of… Click to Continue Reading.
After more than 25 years in Aboriginal Law, Sandra Gogal says the practice area has changed dramatically from the one she got her start in. Gogal, a partner in the Aboriginal Law Group at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto, embarked on her aboriginal practice with a secondment to… Click to Continue Reading.
As a child, Danielle Douek found herself fascinated with encyclopedias of ailments and disease. But she never seriously considered a career in medicine. “I was terrible at science and math, so being a doctor was never in the cards,” she explains, laughing. Still, several years out from her 2010 call… Click to Continue Reading.
It was in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that Marty Venalainen decided to enroll in OsgoodePD’s Professional LLM in Energy and Infrastructure Law. “My son told me that overcoming COVID-19 was my generation’s responsibility and that overcoming climate change would be his generation’s responsibility,” he says. “I find… Click to Continue Reading.
Whether she’s talking about a 20-storey building or a legal career, Business Law LLM alumna Kate Salter knows the value of solid foundations. The seasoned infrastructure and development lawyer recently joined provincial transportation agency Metrolinx as its Director of Legal Services, the latest move in a public-service career made possible… Click to Continue Reading.
Alumni SpotlightKate Salter took her public service career to the next level with an LLM in Business Law
Nassira El Hadri’s legal training started long before she had even heard of law school. Born in Morocco, Nassira El Hadri moved to Spain at the age of six and quickly became the household emissary: keeping an eye out for her younger brother, acting as a translator between her parents… Click to Continue Reading.
Back in 2010, with almost a decade under her belt as litigation counsel at Justice Canada, Melanie Toolsie’s representation of multiple federal departments and officials had given her wide ranging hands-on experience in proceedings before the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, the provincial Superior and Appellate courts, as… Click to Continue Reading.