Jordan Furlong and Warren Smith named Omar Ha-Redeye as one of the top 12 social media influencers practicing law in Canada in the September 23, 2011 issue of The Lawyers Weekly.

The other influential lawyers included:

John Boscariol, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Toronto. Twitter: @tradelawyer

David Canton, Harrison Pensa LLP, London Ont. Twitter: @davidcanton

Caroline Clapham, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver. Twitter: @carolineclapham

Michael Fitzgibbon, Watershed LLP, Oakville, Ont. Twitter: @managementlaw

David Fraser, McInnes Cooper LLP, Halifax. Twitter: @privacylawyer

Nicole Garton-Jones, Heritage Law Group, Vancouver. Twitter: @ngartonjones

Rob Hyndman, Hyndman Law, Toronto. Twitter: @rhh

Erik Magraken, MacIssac & Co., Victoria. Twitter: @erikmagraken

Stuart Rudner, Miller Thomson, Toronto. Twitter: @CanadianHRLaw

Barry Sookman, McCarthy Tétrault, Toronto. Twitter: @bsookman

Garry Wise, Wise Law Group, Toronto. Twitter: @wiselaw

Furlong and Smith also provided a list of a dozen non-practicing legal professionals who led the pack in social media influence:

David Bilinksy, Law Society of B.C., Vancouver. Twitter: @David_Bilinsky

Colin Cameron, Profits for Partners Management Consulting, Vancouver. Twitter: @colincameron

Samantha Collier, MBM Intellectual Property Law, Vancouver. Twitter: @samtaracollier

Connie Crosby, Crosby Group Consulting, Oakville, Ont. Twitter: @crosbygroup

David Eby, B.C. Civil Liberties Association, Vancouver. Twitter: @Dave_Eby

Simon Fodden, Slaw.ca, Toronto. Twitter: @fodden

Michael Geist, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa. Twitter: @mgeist

Dominic Jaar, KPMG, Montreal. Twitter: @dominicjaar

Steve Matthews, Stem Legal Web Enterprises, Vancouver. Twitter: @stevematthews

Shaunna Mireau, Field LLP, Edmonton. Twitter: @smireau

Dan Pinnington, LawPRO, Toronto. Twitter: @danpinnington

David Whelan, Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto.Twitter: @davidpwhelan

Canada’s Top Social Media Influencers

The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) Health Law section hosted an event, Legal Issues in end-of-life decision making and critical care access ethical guidelines.

Speakers for the invent included:

• Joan Gilmour, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
• Harry Underwood, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
• Dr. Laura Hawryluck, Physician Lead, Ethical Issues of Access, Critical Care Strategy,  MOHLTC

Omar Ha-Redeye arranged for interested law students to attend the event.

Omar is the newly acclaimed President of the Health Law Club at UWO.

Omar Ha-Redeye attended the Canadian Constitution Federation Conference’s 2nd Annual Law Conference Days Inn Downtown Toronto, from October 17 – 19, 2008.

The theme of the conference was Individual Freedom and the Common Good – Defining Human Rights in a Free Society.

Speakers included:

• Alan Borovoy, Canadian Civil Liberties Association
• Albert Koehl, Ecojustice
• David Frum, American Enterprise Institute
• Elizabeth Brubaker, Executive Director, Energy Probe Research Foundation
• Eugene Meehan, Q.C., Lang Michener LLP, Ottawa
• Eugene Meyer, President, Federalist Society
• Kent Roach, University of Toronto Law School
• Philippe Dufresne, Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Randy Barnett, Georgetown University
• Ran Hirschl, author of Towards Juristocracy
• Ramani Nadarajah, Canadian Environmental Law Association
• Tom Isaac, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver

Although some valid concerns were noted in advance, overall the conference provided a reasonable debate over the issues.  Topics covered by the panels included:

Aboriginal Rights in the 21st Century: can equality and aboriginality be reconciled?
Protecting the environment through private property rights: is legislation the best solution?
Freedom of expression under attack: do human rights need to be redefined?
Judicial Activism in Canada: Myth or Reality?

The Canadian Constitution Federation Conference has previously come under criticism for advancing a far-right agenda in the realm of health care services.  Their current characterization of administrative tribunals as “Kangaroo Courts” is questionable under the Code of Ethics of many Canadian jurisdictions, and is not likely to create an open climate for serious review of concerns that may be raised.

A number of law students were also in attendance, including Daniel Simard of Law is Cool, Shane D’Souza, Ori Reuben, Jamil Sawani, Mohamed Al-Ghamdi, and many others.

On Sept. 24, 2008, Omar Ha-Redeye participated in the Lerners LLP Cup.  The competition mimics an appellate court, where the issues of law are under dispute, rather than the facts of the case.

The competition discussed a theoretical review of the recent Supreme Court Case R. v. A.M., (2008) SCC 19, over the constitutionality of sniffer dogs in schools.  Omar had coincidentally met with Justice Binnie, who ruled with the majority in this case, and briefly spoke to him about the decision the previous week.

The University of Western Ontario describes the competition,

The Faculty runs an internal appellate advocacy competition called the Lerners LLP Cup. This voluntary competition gives upper-year students the opportunity to argue a hypothetical case before an appellate court. Judges, practicing lawyers and third-year students generously volunteer their time to act as judges for the competition. The top students advance to the final rounds to compete for the Lerners LLP Cup. Doing well in this competition is the gateway to qualifying to represent Western Law in one of several external advocacy competitions.

Omar was selected as one of 8 finalists from 66 competitors from among all upper year students at the school.  His partner in the competition, Lawrence Gridin of Law is Cool, was also selected as a finalist.

He will proceed to the final competitions next week,  which is actually judged by members of the bench from the Court of Appeal.  Although junior lawyers rarely speak at the Court of Appeal, these competitions (called moots) are a good indicator of comfort for the purpose of speaking to motions, a common task for many barristers.

Omar will also be eligible to represent UWO at one of the external moots during the January Term, 2009, which include:

Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, sponsored by McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Laskin Memorial Moot Court Competition (Administrative and Constitutional Law)
Wilson Moot (Constitutional Law on minority Issues)
Niagara International Moot Court Competition, sponsored by Lerners LLP
Gale Cup Appellate Moot Competition (Criminal Law and Charter issues)
Canadian Corporate/Securities Law Moot Court Competition

On Tuesday, June 17, 2008, Omar Ha-Redeye attended the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) Health Law Section‘s year-end dinner.

The event featured a debate over the Ontario Hospital Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s report released in April, 2008, Guidebook for Managing Disruptive Physician Behaviour.

The report states,

Disruptive behaviour is demonstrated when inappropriate conduct, whether in words or action, interferes with, or has the potential to interfere with, quality health care delivery. Disruptive behaviour may, in rare circumstances, be demonstrated in a single egregious act (for example, a physical assault of a co-worker)1 but is more often composed of a pattern of behaviour. The gravity of disruptive behaviour depends on the nature of the behaviour, the context in which it arises, and the consequences flowing from it.

Four representatives from both sides of the issue, the physicians versus hospital administrators and medical directors, engaged in a debate on disputes that arise in healthcare settings.

The event was moderated by Dr. David Cameron a lawyer-physician of Cameron Health Law Consulting.

Participants included:

• John Morris, Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP
• Dr. Ken Melvin, UHN
• Tracey Tremayne-Lloyd, Gardiner Roberts LLP
• Lisa Constantine, McCarthy Tetrault LLP

Dr. Cameron provided a summary of the event on the OBA Health Matters newsletter.