Omar Ha-Redeye was quoted in the November/December 2009 issue of Lexpert Magazine in The Virtual Legal Marketplace by Marzena Czarnecka of Falstaff Productions,

That’s the thinking behind Torys‘ new YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/torysmedia). “We had the podcasts and videos on our website anyway,” says [Stuart] Wood. Cost and effort of putting them on YouTube? Minimal. The pay-off? Still under evaluation at Torys. The online legal community has given the venture a thumbs-up. Law is Cool (www.lawiscool.com). the law school blog and podcast from Canada, loves it. Writes founder Omar Ha-Redeye, “This is what I’ve been waiting for…. This project shows that the firm understands that students want a human face to firms that often appear intimidating.~ (He adds that the venture proves that “social media and viral videos are no longer for small firms or solo practices~ – if Torys is doing it, they’ve gone mainstream.)

A copy of the article can be found on the Davis LLP website.

The Canadian Bar Association‘s magazine, National, has an article in the December 2009 issue by Luigi Benetton on Canada’s Best Law Firm Websites.  A copy of the article can be found on Luigi’s website.

Law student and blogger Omar Ha-Redeye believes good bios are the exception today. He sees bios that vaunt lawyers instead of providing useful information to clients. “When looking for a lawyer, most clients could care less about the
things that lawyers care about, [like being a] Gold Medalist, or having clerked with so-and-so,” he says. “I would love to see social media linked from profiles (e.g., a lawyer’s blog), but this rarely if ever happens,” he adds.

The best sites listed in various categories were:

Ogilvy Renault LLP, Hyndman Law, Neff Law Office, Bull, Houser & Tupper LLP, Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP, Torys LLP, McInnes Cooper, Legault Joly Thiffault, Davis LLP,  Clark Wilson LLP, Hull & Hull LLP

Runners-up:

Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Clark Wilson LLP, Hicks Morley Hamilton Steward Storie LLP, McMillan LLP, Cox & Palmer, Bélanger Sauvé, Lavery, Torys LLP

Omar Ha-Redeye was also quoted for the multimedia award given to Hull & Hull LLP,

They’ve probably been doing it as long as anyone, and have fully integrated videos and podcasts into their practice. Experience with these formats has not only resulted in a highly polished product, but also content that is actually relevant to what they do.

See more on Slaw.

Over 80 students competed at UWO Law in the 2009 Torys LLP Negotiation Competition.

The winners this year were Shane Attersley and Kevin Wall. Jennifer Organ and Keri Wallace were runner-ups.

Omar Ha-Redeye finished as a finalist with his partner, Adam Somogyi.

Professor Michael Coyle organized the competition, and lawyers from Torys that helped participate and judge inclued: Danial Lam , Sandeep Joshi, Gillian Dingle, Jennifer Lennon, Alison Harnick, Raegan Kennedy, Catherine De Giusti, Adrienne DiPaolo, Tim Robbins, Gabi Cohen, Blair Roedding, and Stephanie Rogoza.

Torys LLP picked up on a post about pension law reform from Slaw and posted it on their site:

The London North Centre Federal Liberal Riding Association sponsored a panel on pension reform.

Speakers included:

Prof. Robert Brown, Pension Reform Specialist at The University of Waterloo
Mitch Frazer, Pension Specialist at Torys LLP
retiree Robert Sexsmith
teacher Janis Mark
Michael Lynk, Professor of Labour Law at The University of Western Ontario

See the notes on Slaw and LawIsCool.

At least that’s what David Lat of Above the Law thinks, after seeing this video by Torys LLP on Law is Cool featuring Adam Banack and Adrienne DiPaolo:

Despite producing a social media release for these videos, the Law is Cool entry ranks much higher, and is  even above the fold on Google.

Omar Ha-Redeye qualified as a finalist in the Torys LLP Negotiation Competition.

The University of Western Ontario describes the event,

In mid-September, interested students sign up (in teams of two) to participate in the competition. Teams are provided with a negotiation problem and a detailed outline of their fictitious clients’ interests, which they are able to study for a limited period prior to Preliminary Rounds. At the Preliminary Rounds, students negotiate with opposing teams while being observed by lawyers from Torys LLP, who assess the students’ negotiation strategies. The goal of these negotiation is to advance client interests while achieving outcomes that are acceptable to opposing counsel. The negotiations are largely “free form”, with very few rules governing student conduct.

Winners of the competition proceed to represent UWO at the ABA Negotiations Competition.

Omar Ha-Redeye competed this year with Amelia Phillips-Lewis.  He partnered with Amelia last year to win the Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Client Counselling Competition, and represented the school at the ABA Client Counseling Competition.

On Feb. 3-6, 2008, students from UWO Law travelled to New York city.  Here is a write-up that Omar did:

“A national law school with an international outlook.”

That’s how Western describes itself, and this February nearly a dozen Western law students made it true.

We were a rather international group ourselves, many of us working or traveling overseas prior to law school.  Most of the students were first-years, but we also had several international exchange students from Europe and New Zealand.

Our first stop was the center of international law – the United Nations.  We toured the chambers and had the opportunity to speak to two people in the U.N.’s Office of Legal Affairs.  Both were Canadians.  They shared with us the immensely important role that Canadians play within the U.N., and information on diplomatic legal careers.

We also met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy.  She shared a touching yet heart-wrenching video of children rehabilitated after serving in child armies in West Africa.

The next day we took on an educational focus and visited the Columbia School of Law.  Our own Prof. Ooosterveld, who accompanied us on our trip, did her Masters in Law at Columbia.  Prof. Oosterveld has published her own book on international law, and considered the school one of the foremost in the field.  This was followed by a stop at the Canadian Mission, where some controversial and topical areas of international law were discussed.

We concluded our trip with some exposure to very different areas of international law.  We first saw the Open Society Justice Initiative.  They set up live website (charlestaylortrial.org) in a war crimes court trying former Liberian President, Charles Taylor.  Allegations against Taylor include arming rebels in Sierra Leone, who in turn used child soldiers.

After seeing children in conflicts in the video at the U.N. earlier in the week, this initiative truly illustrated the role that law plays in holding such individuals accountable for their actions.

Our final stop on the last day was at the New York office of Torys LLP.  They are unique among the Seven Sisters in that they are the fist and only one to have a branch there.  The move was precipitated in trying to meet the needs of their clients, who were doing more business in the U.S.

We were hosted by Mr. Brian Flood, a corporate and commercial lawyer, former chair of the firm’s executive committee, and graduate of Western Law (1968).  Another Canadian lawyer, Gavin Sinclair (UVic, 2000) led us through a case study of how an international merger and acquisition was conducted.

The most fascinating thing about the transaction was the number and types of lawyers in different countries interacted with, spanning several continents.  They also talked about how Canadian law students can pursue legal careers in the U.S.

When we eventually left New York for London, ON, we truly felt we visited the world.  The issues were discussed were dwarfed only by the number of flags at the U.N.  The scope of legal practices we observed truly broadened our international outlooks, globally.