Good News in 2020!

While this year has certainly brought challenges, plenty of positive events and initiatives came out of the pandemic’s limitations. Read on to (re)discover some of the good news from the Faculty over a year we are sure not to forget!
4 December 2020

Good news 2020 banner

While 2020 has certainly brought challenges, plenty of positive events and initiatives came out of the pandemic’s limitations. Read on to (re)discover some of the good news from the Faculty that happened during a year we are sure not to forget.

A world-class ranking

  • The Faculty of Law once again ranked among the world’s top universities for law by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. The 2021 ranking by subject rated McGill the 16th-best school worldwide in law, up from 20th place last year. This marks the fourth consecutive year in the global Top 20 for McGill Law.

Les admissions et le développement professionel n’ont pas chômé!

  • Malgré la pandémie, la Faculté de droit a accueilli cet automne une cohorte de première année exceptionnellement diversifiée dans le programme BCL/JD, composée d’étudiant.e.s de 17 à 41 ans, provenant de 26 pays, parlant 18 langues maternelles et dont six sont autochtones.
  • The admission yield (proportion of offers issued that are accepted) increased to 78 per cent for this year’s entering class, compared to 69 per cent in the previous year.
  • Of the 182 entering students, 72 (or 40 per cent) received scholarships totaling almost $240,000.
  • Jusqu’à présent, la Faculté a constaté une augmentation de 18 pourcent des demandes d’admission relativement au cycle précédent, avec d’autres demandes à venir.
  • Using remote platforms, the Faculty participated in 22 recruitment events this fall, compared to 12 in 2019.
  • Le Centre de développement professionnel (CDP) de la Faculté s’est mobilisé, avec l’aide de la communauté diplomée, afin d’aider les étudiant.e.s à se préparer pour le travail et le recrutement à distance.
    • De Toronto, Ewa Krajewska (BCL/LLB’08), Vladi Ivanov (BCL/LLB’14), Max Libman (BCL/LLB’17) et Matthew Chung (BCL/LLB’17) ont discuté des meilleures pratiques à adopter pour travailler en ligne.
    • De New York, Lee Rovinescu (BCL/LLB’10), Hinda Rabkin (BCL/LLB’09), Viva Dadwal (BCL/LLB’18) et Farnell Morisset (BCL/LLB’17) ont partagé des astuces avec les étudiant.e.s afin de tisser des liens avec leurs nouveaux collègues et se démarquer dans un programme d’été raccourci aux États-Unis.
  • Une webdiffusion a été organisée de concert par le CPD et l’équipe de l’avancement universitaire intitulée « Graduating during turbulent times: Lessons from McGill Law alumni » réunissant l’hon. Clément Gascon (BCL/LLB’81), Patricia Kosseim (BCL/LLB ’92) et Kiran Singh (BCL/LLB’09), ayant tous les trois obtenu leurs diplômes en période de récession.
  • La Faculté a recruté Brittany Williams (BCL/LLB’19) à titre de Doyenne adjointe (Admission et recrutement) par intérim pour un mandat d’un an.

Spearheading sustainability

Prioritizing wellness

  • This Fall, the Faculty formed a Student Wellness Liaison Group composed of student representatives from the Law Students’ Association, the Graduate Law Students’ Association, the Faculty’s Local Wellness Advisors, the Chair of the Equity Committee, the Dean and members of the senior administration. The group aims to identify areas where the Faculty can provide support to its students.
  • The new podcast project from the Student Affairs Office featured an episode on remote pedagogy and wellness for first-year students with appearances from Associate Dean (Academic) Rosalie Jukier and Professor Alana Klein.
  • In October, the Student Affairs Office piloted the Law Peer Tutor Program, which provides academic support and mentorship to first-year students who are experiencing academic difficulties, or who wish to improve their academic performance.

At-Home Homecoming

  • The University’s At-Home Homecoming in September was unlike anything done before, with activities for the McGill community moving from on-campus to online. The Faculty of Law held several virtual events, which were recorded for anyone who missed the festivities.
  • Virtual cocktails held by reunion classes brought together classmates from Vancouver to Bulgaria and everywhere in between.
  • The McGill Black Alumni Association organized a round-table, in collaboration with the Faculty, entitled “Has the Grass Ever Been Greener? (Anti)Blackness in Canada in the Era of COVID 19”. The discussion was moderated by Brittany Williams, BCL/LLB’ 19, and featured panelists Annamaria Enenajor (BCL/LLB’12), Anthony Morgan (BCL/LLB’ 12), Émilie Nicolas and Desmond Cole (The Skin We’re In), who debunked the myth of the “Canadian exception”, according to which racism is ‘not as bad’ north of the border. They notably brought up the numerous ways in which the pandemic had a disproportionate health and legal impact on Black communities. Law student Chukwubuikem Nnebe concluded the session with a thought-provoking Q&A with questions submitted by the listeners.
  • Dean Robert Leckey moderated a Masterclass on a “Pandemic in a Pandemic – COVID-19 and Law” featuring Professor Adelle Blackett and Professor Lara Khoury, Ad. E.

Succès aux cycles supérieurs

  • Les doctorants Maria Ceballos-Bedoya et Ermanno Napolitano ont été nommés boursiers Vanier 2020 par le Gouvernement du Canada. Lancée en 2008, la Bourse d’études supérieures du Canada Vanier est l’un des prix les plus prestigieux au Canada pour les doctorant.e.s et les chercheur.e.s postdoctoraux.
  • Au cours de l’été, avec le soutien du Bureau des études supérieures et postdoctorales, dix étudiant.e.s de cycles supérieurs ont obtenu une bourse Mitacs Accelerate Fellowships, offrant une option de financement et de stage à long terme.
  • Fall 2020 orientation sessions featured presentations from the Nahum Gelber Law Library, the Career Development Office, the Wellness Hub, and the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education.
  • The Graduate Law Student Association (GLSA) and other DCL and LLM students have organized many activities remotely, including the GLSA Conference, DCL Coffee Hour, DCL Retreat, DCL Research Series, and the “Shut Up and Write” series.
  • The Graduate Programs Office participated in the LSAC Digital Forums and first Global Law Fair.

Réussites facultaires

  • L’année 2020 a été  fructueuse pour le renouvellement académique. Trois nouveaux membres du corps professoral entameront leurs mandats au cours de la nouvelle année après avoir été nommés à la Faculté en 2020 : Peer Zumbansen rejoindra la Faculté à titre de professeur titulaire et de titulaire inaugural de la Chaire professorale en droit des affaires à compter du 1er janvier 2021. Alicia Hinarejos et Darren Rosenblum se joindront en tant que professeurs titulaires à compter du 1er janvier 2021 et du 1er août 2021 respectivement.
  • Priya Gupta began a one-year term as a Senior Wainwright Fellow on 1 August 2020; she will teach Critical Race Theory this winter semester.
  • Robert Leckey, Samuel Gale Professor, was reappointed as Dean of the Faculty of Law. Dean Leckey’s second mandate starts on 1 July 2021 for a term of five years.
  • Professor Emeritus the Hon. Irwin Cotler, O.C., O.Q., P.C., BA’61, BCL’64, LLD’19, was named Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism by the Prime Minister of Canada.
  • Professor Adelle Blackett, R.S.C., Ad. E., Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law and Development, was awarded the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the 2020 Fall Convocation Ceremony.
  • Professors Stephen Smith and Adelle Blackett were elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada’s Academy of Social Sciences. Dean Robert Leckey was elected a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
  • Three research centres at the Faculty welcomed new leaders: Professor Richard Gold was named the director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy (CIPP), Professor Mark Antaki was named director of the Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law, and Professor Nandini Ramanujam was appointed acting director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.
  • Professors Yaël Emerich and Helge Dedek were promoted to the rank of full professor and Professor Nandini Ramanujam was promoted to the rank of full professor (professional).
  • Professor Evan Fox-Decent was named the Canada Research Chair in Cosmopolitan Law and Justice and Professor Sébastien Jodoin was named the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and the Environment.
  • Professor Daniel Weinstock was named the Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy.
  • Professor François Crépeau, O.C., F.R.S.C., Ad.E., was appointed as a co-lead of one of three Canadian research teams funded by the2018-19 Horizon 2020 initiative, a joint undertaking between SSHRC, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and the European Union.
  • Dean Robert Leckey was the inaugural recipient of the Principal’s Change-Maker Prize for public engagement through media.
  • Professor Geneviève Saumier, Peter M. Laing, Q.C., Professor of Law, and Professor Ignacio Cofone were appointed Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Scholars in International Arbitration and International Commercial Law.