Seven McGill Law students and alums have been tapped to clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2018. Meet this diverse and talented group of individuals, who will join the over 140 alumni who have clerked at the SCC in the past quarter century.
Étienne Cossette-Lefebvre, BCL/LLB’14 (le juge Brown)
Après des études en sciences, lettres et arts au Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf qu’il termine avec très grande distinction, Étienne Cossette-Lefebvre obtient son BCL/LLB (Honours) de la Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill en mai 2014. Son passage à la Faculté lui vaut plusieurs prix (Bourse J.W. McConnell, Prix Wilson & Lafleur Prize, Prix de dissertation Wainwright, Prix Selma and Jak Almaleh) et son nom figure au Tableau d’honneur du doyen. Il a également reçu le prix du Concours de droit comparé de l’Association québécoise de droit comparé (2013-2014) dans la catégorie 1er cycle.
Au cours de ses études, Étienne a travaillé comme assistant d’enseignement et de recherche auprès de plusieurs professeurs. Après avoir complété son Barreau où il a obtenu la seconde meilleure note de l’ensemble de sa cohorte, il travaille ensuite comme chercheur associé au Centre Paul-André Crépeau de droit privé et comparé. Depuis juin 2015, il est recherchiste à la Cour d’appel du Québec.
Lex Gill (Justice Wagner)
Lex Gill has worked for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association since 2014 and will be joining the organization full-time in May. She is also a newly appointed Research Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, the 2016 Google Policy Fellow to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, and a former researcher at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.
In addition to being in her third year of the BCL/LLB program at McGill’s Faculty of Law, Lex is a two-time alumna of Concordia University. She has published and spoken internationally on issues at the intersection of law, technology and social change.
Aly Haji (Madam Justice Karakatsanis)
Aly is a student in the joint Law-MBA program. Prior to entering the program, Aly completed a degree in pharmacy at the University of Toronto and worked at the Aga Khan Hospital in Tanzania. Aly is interested in constitutional law, corporate law, and business strategy; his current research focuses on responsive innovation and disruption within professional service firms.
His recent study, the Illusion of Innovation at Canadian Law Firms has been accepted by the Academy of Management and covered by the Financial Post and Lawyers Weekly. He is currently co-authoring a book on intuition, business strategy and self-actualization.
Anne-Sophie Ouellet, BCL/LLB’17 (le juge Gascon)
Diplômée de l’Université Laval en philosophie et du Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique en violoncelle, j’ai continué mon parcours académique à la Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill. J’y ai approfondi mes intérêts en philosophie et en sociologie du droit et en droit de l’environnement.
Lors de mon séjour à la Faculté, j’ai été rédactrice en chef adjointe francophone à la Revue de droit de McGill et vice-présidente aux affaires académiques de l’Association des étudiants et étudiantes en droit durant deux années consécutives les étudiant-e-s. J’effectuerai une maîtrise en théorie du droit à l’Université de Toronto l’an prochain.
Ben Rogers (Justice Moldaver)
A Toronto native, I headed to Montreal to complete a ‘great books’ B.A. at Concordia University’s Liberal Arts College. At McGill, I acted as Student Advocate, competed in the Gale Moot, and played intramural soccer. I also worked for Davies for two summers.
I’m currently clerking for Justice Doherty at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, where I previously clerked for Justices Gillese and MacFarland. Before heading for the Supreme Court, I will practise criminal defence and regulatory law with Henein Hutchison LLP. I enjoy the outdoors: for eight summers, I fought forest fires out of Geraldton, Ontario, and I adore rock-climbing and canoeing with my wife.
Katie Spillane, BCL/LLB’14 (Madam Justice Karakatsanis)
Originally from Colorado, Katie Spillane is an aspiring jurist with particular interests in constitutional and administrative law. During her time at McGill, she demonstrated her commitment to social justice and, in particular, its role in legal education, by serving as Coordinator of McGill’s Legal Clinic Course and acting as founding member of McGill’s student mental health initiative Healthy Legal Minds.
Currently, she is working as a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Quebec and is pursuing an LL.M. at Université Laval, under the supervision of Professor Pierre Issalys.
Cee Strauss, BCL/LLB’16 (replacement for Chief Justice McLachlin)
I have been engaged in human rights work for most of my adult life. My Communication Studies Master’s degree focused on the cultural politics of prison policy, and I spent five years volunteering with the Prisoner Correspondence Project in Montréal, an LGBTQ+ penpal program.
During law school, I volunteered at Montréal’s Trans Legal Clinic, and I worked at a legal clinic for victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. My current articling position at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association miraculously allows me to work on these issues, and more. I am honoured to continue my study of the Canadian human rights landscape at the Supreme Court. Plus, I get to move back to my hometown!