The Black Law Students Association of Canada (BLSAC) held its 20th Annual National Conference in Toronto, on February 24-27.

The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) held it’s annual OBA Institute on Feb. 3-5, 2011 at the Royal York Hotel.

The keynote speaker was Steve Paikin of The Agenda.

Starting September 1, 2010, new amendments to the automobile insurance system were enacted affecting the medical and care benefits that litigants can receive in motor vehicle accidents.

The Law Society of Upper Canada and the Ontario Bar Association hosted a session, The New Auto Insurance Regime – Practical Strategies for Radical Change.

Speakers included John A. McLeish and Dale V. Orlando of McLeish Orlando LLP, and Roger G. Oatley and James L. Vigmond of Oatley, Vigmond LLP.

The topics discussed included the definition of minor and catastrophic injuries,and rehabilitation, housekeeping, caregiver and attendant care benefits.

The new Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS)  can be found in Ontario Regulation 34/10 to the Insurance Act.  A table of time periods is available through Taran Virtual Associates.

For more on this talk see the notes on Slaw. The Tournay v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company FSCO decision referred to in that post can be found here.

Justice Harvey Brownstone was awarded a plaque by the Canadian Bar Association honouring him as a Colleague in the Spotlight at a Judges’ Forum Reception for their CLC Conference.

Justice Harvey Brownstone Presented a Plaque by the CBA

The plaque was presented at a private reception for members of the judiciary and their guests.

Justice Harvey Brownstone with Omar Ha-Redeye

The Canadian Bar Association hosted its annual Canadian Legal Conference and Expo in Niagara Falls.

Canadian Lawyer has a video of the speech by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin:

Opening ceremonies included statements from both the Attorney Generals of Ontario and Canada.

Omar Ha-Redeye with Hon. Christopher Bentley, Attorney-General of Ontario

Omar Ha-Redeye was interviewed in both the London Free Press and the The Beacon Herald on a conference held at Huron College at the University of Western Ontario where he participated as a teacher,

Recent University of Western Ontario Law School graduate Omar Ha-redeye was attracted to scriptural reasoning when he recognized the similarities with his own profession.

“It’s a very rich and fruitful experience for my practice and study of law,” he said, noting the parallels between scriptural reasoning and the interpretive character of the common law tradition.

Ha-redeye has the advantage of having members of all three Abrahamic faiths in his immediate family, giving him special insight into differences and commonalities among the traditions.

His recent law research in Israel revealed that there are principles of Islamic and Jewish law at the roots of the British common law model. He said recognizing similar common ground in religion helps break down prejudice and “scaremongering” about the beliefs and practices of others.

Ochs, Danaher and Ha-Redeye will be at the conference along with 60 students and teachers from schools such as Yale, Duke and the University of Toronto.

The Health Law Section and the Privacy Law Section of the OBA hosted an event, Custodianship of Personal Health Information in the Shared Records/Shared System Environment.

Speakers included Prof. Giuseppina D’Agostino of Osgoode Hall Law School, and Debra Grant from the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario.

The Centre for Abrahamic Religions at Huron College is hosting a Scriptural Reasoning conference at the University of Western Ontario. The school is part of the Diocese of Huron.

Omar Ha-Redeye is slated as a teacher for the session.

The CCCA Greater Toronto Chapter of the Ontario Bar Association hosted the Annual General Meeting, “The view from 2,000 feet.”

The event consisted of a behind the scenes tour of the CN Tower, followed by dinner at Horizons Restaurant.  Richard Stock of Catalyst Consulting spoke on “Effective Workflow and Workload Management.”

The event was hosted by Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP.

The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) hosted The Six-Minute Employment Lawyer.

Chairs of the event were Malcolm J. MacKillop of Shields O’Donnell MacKillop LLP and Christine M. Thomlinson of Rubin Thomlinson LLP.

Speakers included:

The Honourable Madam Justice Susan G. Himel of the Superior Court of Justice

Sharan K. Basran, Legal Counsel, Manager of Legal Services, Human Rights Legal Support Centre

Scott D. Bergman, Cooper and Sandler LLP

Lauren M. Bernardi, Bernardi Human Resource Law

Matthew L.O. Certosimo, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Richard J. Charney, C.S., Ogilvy Renault LLP

Mary Beth Currie, Bennett Jones LLP

Michael P. Fitzgibbon, Watershed LLP

Jeffrey Goodman, Heenan Blaikie LLP

M. Norman Grosman, Grosman, Grosman & Gale LLP

Michael F. Horvat, Ogilvy Renault LLP

Malcolm J. MacKillop of Shields O’Donnell MacKillop LLP

Dan Michaluk, Hicks Morley

Natasha A. V. Miklaucic, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

N. Nicole Nussbaum

Jim Patterson, Bennett Jones LLP

Michael E. Royce, Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP

Janice Rubin, Rubin Thomlinson LLP

Stuart E. Rudner, Miller Thomson LLP

Jason Squire, Lerners LLP

Christine M. Thomlinson, Rubin Thomlinson LLP

Elizabeth Traynor, Siskinds LLP

Michael D. Wright, Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish LLP

John Yach, Shields / Hunt

Andrea York, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Loreta Zubas, LLM, C.S., Zubas + Associates