R. Douglas Elliott receives the OBA SOGIC Robert Muir Award for Mentorship

siddiq22 — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 12:19:21 +0000

Community

siddiq22 Fri, 07/07/2023 - 08:19

Alumni

St. George

Alumni Association

Faculty of Law

Ontario Bar Association

landscape

R. Douglas Elliott (supplied image)

R. Douglas Elliott, a graduate of the ��Ƶ’s JD program, has been recognized by the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law Section (SOGIC) with the Robert Muir Award for Mentorship.

The award recognizes an OBA member for outstanding contributions to the practice of law, mentorship of its members, and contributions to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The award is named in honour of Associate Justice Robert Muir, the first openly gay associate justice ever appointed in Canada, and a founding member of SOGIC.

Elliott, who graduated from U of T’s Faculty of Law in 1982, is a partner in the law firm of Cambridge LLP in Elliot Lake, Ont. He is well known for his class-action work on ground-breaking constitutional cases concerning same-sex partners and LGBTQ2+ rights, and served as lead counsel in the LGBT Purge class action, resulting in a landmark global settlement for members of the armed forces, RCMP and federal employees.

Elliott has received multiple recognitions for his social justice work. The Law Society of Ontario certified him as a specialist in civil litigation in 2003, awarded him the Law Society medal in 2010 and presented him with a Law Society degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in 2021.

The ��Ƶ Alumni Association (UTAA) recently announced Elliott as the inaugural recipient of the Carl Mitchell Community Impact Award.

Read the Faculty of Law story

Law

Top Story (Hub page)

Off

Add new tags

Robert Muir Award for Mentorship

Alumna Roslyn M. Tsao receives Award for Excellence in Family Law

lanthierj — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 20:25:56 +0000

Alumna Roslyn M. Tsao receives Award for Excellence in Family Law

Community

lanthierj Mon, 07/18/2022 - 16:25

Alumni

St. George

Faculty of Law

Ontario Bar Association

landscape

(Photo courtesy of Epstein Cole LLP)

��Ƶ Faculty of Law alumna Roslyn M. Tsao has been recognized with the Ontario Bar Association Award for Excellence in Family Law.

The award honours contributions in teaching, scholarly work, oversight of precedent-setting cases or leadership.

Tsao, a managing partner at Epstein Cole LLP, worked closely with Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) to develop the Family Justice Centre (FJC), a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing together law students and pro bono lawyers to offer free legal services to low-income, self-represented family law litigants in Ontario. With Tsao’s support, Epstein Cole LLP became a founding partner, providing generous funding along with Legal Aid Ontario to enable the FJC’s launch in 2020 and Tsao continues to support the program in many ways.

“Our firm's culture has been to volunteer, to help with training, mentoring and advance and educate on family law. The culture of pro bono work or any initiative with a focus on access to justice is important to us,” said Tsao.

Founded in 1996 at U of T's Faculty of Law, PBSC is now the largest pro bono organization in the country and provides free legal support to people and communities facing barriers to justice.

“Roslyn has been instrumental in the development and success of PBSC's Family Justice Centre, and we are incredibly grateful for her and Epstein Cole LLP's continued support,” said Jason Goodman, acting national director of PBSC.

Faculty of Law

Top Story (Hub page)

Off