We were happy to welcome so many of our grads back at the Faculty for Homecoming Weekend, October 17 to 19, 2013.

To kick off this year’s festivities, Dean Daniel Jutras hosted a Thursday night coffeehouse reception in the Atrium, at which a great many alumni mingled and caught up. Jutras invited everyone back again on Friday morning for the annual Dean’s Breakfast, after which the Faculty hosted a special, full-day conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (see story).

The same day, the class of 1963 filled up two tables at the Leacock Luncheon, as part of their 50th reunion celebrations—this is an annual event held by McGill University to honour the legendary wit of professor Stephen Leacock. Many more class reunions took place that night, with still others sprinkled in the week before and the week after Homecoming Weekend. See below for a synopsis of the festivities.

Leacock Luncheon

Principal Suzanne Fortier with Donald Seal, the Hon. Barbara Seal, and Mark Weinstein. PHOTO 2: Principal Fortier in conversation with Tina Hobday.
2013 Leacock Luncheon. Photo 1: Principal Suzanne Fortier with Donald Seal QC (BCL’54) , the Hon. Barbara Seal, and Marc Weinstein(BCL’91, LLB’91). PHOTO 2: Principal Fortier in conversation with Tina Hobday (BCL’93, LLB’93) and Robert D. Campbell (BCL’89, LLB’89).
Leacock Lunch Hightlights. PHOTO 1: The guests are preceded by a piper in full regalia. PHOTO 2: this year, the invited comedian was xxxx.
2013 Leacock Luncheon. PHOTO 1: The guests were preceded by a piper in full regalia. PHOTO 2: this year, the invited speaker was Dan Needles. See more photos.

 

Osler Run

The whole thing wrapped up on Sunday, with a brisk morning run up (and down) Mount Royal. This year’s Osler Homecoming Run was organized by Matthew Quadrini, the Law Students Association’s VP Public Relations. There were about 15 students, including Sophie Amyot, a junior associate from Osler’s corporate law department, and alumnus Julien Morissette (BCL/LLB’08), from Osler’s litigation department.

Runners
PHOTO 1: A few students getting ready for the 5K, snapped by Julie Beauchamp on Homecoming Weekend. PHOTO 2: The Osler Homecoming Runners paused briefly at the top of the Mountain. Front row, L to R: Julie Beauchamp, Marie Rondeau, Austin del Rio, Aaron Fergie, Matthew Quadrini, Marc Roy, Beth Mountford, Stacey Smydo, Jennifer Harding. Back row: Julie Cameron, Me Sophie Amyot, Me Julien Morissette, Jonathan McGillivray, Guillaume Blais, Julien Hynes-Gagné, Greg Elder.

“We ran about 5k on the Mont-Royal trails,” says second-year student Julie Beauchamp. “We stopped for a few minutes at the top of the mountain to enjoy the view at the Belvédère. Then, we headed to Presse Café where everyone talked for a little while over lattes. It was a great way to interact with lawyers from a big firm in a more informal and relaxed setting. We had a great time.” All alumni are invited to lace up their running shoes and join us next year for the Faculty of Law’s Homecoming Run 2014.

Coffeehouse

Pic 1: as always, it was an animated affair! Pic 2: William Whiteacre, BA’49, poses with his granddaughter Margherita Cina, first year Law, during Homecoming in the Faculty of Law’s Alumni Coffeehouse. Whiteacre didn’t tell his granddaughter he was coming and asked some students to help him contact Cina. The word quickly spread and, one text message later, grandfather and granddaughter were reunited.
PHOTO 1: as always, Coffeehouse was an animated affair! PHOTO 2: William Whiteacre (BA’49), surprised his granddaughter Margherita Cinà (1L ) during Homecoming. Whiteacre didn’t tell her he was coming and asked some students to help him contact her. The word quickly spread and, one text message later, grandfather and granddaughter were reunited.
PHOTO 1: Other surprise Coffeehouse visits included Emeritus Professor John Durnford, with Mrs Durnford.
PHOTO 1: Other surprise Coffeehouse visits included Emeritus Professor John Durnford (BCL’52), with Mrs Durnford. PHOTO 2: Assistant Dean Aisha Topsakal (BCL’02, LLB’02), Allen Mendelsohn (BCL’01, LLB’01, LLM’11) and CDO Director Maryse Chouinard (BCL’00, LLB’00) enjoyed the event.

Class Reunions

The Class of 1958 held its reunion at the Faculty. Photo by John Olivieri.

 

For their 55th Anniversary Reunion, the Class of 1958 had a special dinner in the Common Room on Wednesday, September 25, organized by Justice Joseph R. Nuss. Chef Armando Arruda of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel prepared an excellent menu, with wines chosen by the class of ‘58’s own sommelier par excellence, the Hon. Jean-Louis Baudouin.

The Class of 1963 was in fine form during its reunion.
The Class of 1963 was in fine form during its reunion. Photo by Maria Marcheschi.

 

The Class of 1963 celebrated their 50th Anniversary Reunion in style. They began with a get-together on Thursday, October 17, organized by Michael L. Richards, which had them meet for drinks in the Common Room, and move to Thomson House for dinner. The next day, they filled two tables at McGill University’s annual Leacock Luncheon, where they were joined by the Dean, members of the Development team, and many other distinguished alumni.

The Class of 1983 had a 30th Anniversary Reunion dinner at Apollo Restaurant on Saturday, October 26, successfully organized from afar by Antoinette Bozac.

For their 25th reunion, the class of 1988 took a three-pronged approach. On Friday, October 18, “Dean Proctor had us up to his fishing camp on Lac Lanthier, in l’Assomption,” reports co-organizer H. John Godber (BLG). Only three were available on the Friday, but “we had 34 people for dinner on Saturday night, at a Portuguese restaurant in Old Montreal, called Brassero Hardi,” reports co-organizer Nathalie Beauregard (Osler). And the next day, Keith Wilson and Antonina “Toska” Cagara put on a brunch at their home in Westmount. According to Godber and Beauregard, some members of the class of ‘88 travelled great distances to be there for their 25th; Jason Mogg flew in from Prague, Michael McGuinty from Houston, Texas, and Michael Doyle from New York. “It was a good turnout and we had a lot of fun,” said Godber. “It was a great success, and we all said the same thing: we’ll do it again in five years!”

The Class of 88 was all smiles.
Class of 1988’s 25th Reunion. Front row, L to R: Michael Doyle, Dean Proctor, Doug Mitchell, John Godber, Jocelyne L’Anglais. Second Row: Cheryl Buckley, Gerry Apostolatos, Michael Bantey, Marie Hudson, Martha Kawenna Montour, Teresa Maioni, Lonnie Brodkin-Schneider, Diane Brais. Third row: Brigitte Catellier, Alix D’Anglejan-Chatillon, Nis Moller, Suzanne Legault, Glenn Berman, Richard Silver, Nathalie Vézina, François Longpré, Vincent Gallo, Nathalie Beauregard, Stéphane Brière. Fourth Row: Sophie Marquis, Francisco Couto, Dean Daniel Jutras, Dany Meloul, Michael McGuinty, Jason Mogg. Photo by John Olivieri.

 

The Class of 2003 had several events for their 10th Anniversary Reunion. They started off at the Kickoff Coffee House on Thursday, October 17th, followed by pints and pub food at the Burgundy Lion in St-Henri. “We had a great time!” says co-organizer Charmaine Lyn, who now works at McGill’s Faculty of Medicine as the Director of Admissions, Equity & Diversity.

“In attendance were Peter Wright, Catherine Bleau, Gary Carot, Morgan Kendall, Suzanne Owen and Jérôme Lussier, plus all the way from the West Coast, Jeffrey Meyers.” Aisha Topsakal (Assistant Dean, Student Life and Learning) was also there, along with co-organizer Marc Edmunds, who works as counsel with the Department of Justice in Ottawa. “Peter Wright, Laura McLaren, Jane Danek and I also had dinner on Saturday night at Quattro in the Old Port,” reports Edmunds. “We were served by a very keen owner and enjoyed many drinks and lots of reminiscing. It was great to catch up.”

 

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