Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Gold Key Awards

The Board of Directors of Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Association created the Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Gold Key Award to honour outstanding alumni who have made contributions to the Law School and to the legal community. The 2010 Awards will be pesented on

May 12, 2009 at the Dean's Alumni Reception. The names of the award recipients will be engraved on a plaque to be permanently displayed at the Law School.

We seek your help in identifying alumni who qualify for the awards. This is your opportunity to nominate an Osgoode alumna or alumnus for a prestigious Gold Key Award.

2009 Recipients

Achievement - Gordon Kirke ' 69 & Alison Youngman '84 (posthumously)

Recent Graduate - Lorraine Land '02

Public Sector - Doug Ewart '72 & Doug Lewis '67

Service - Charles Gastle LLM ’94, DJur’98

Achievement - Gordon Kirke '69

Gord graduated as the gold medalist in 1969 and received more prizes and awards than any previous Osgoode student. His practice focuses on the sports and entertainment industries and he is an adjunct Professor of Sports and Entertainment Law at both Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.

Gord’s practice involves the representation of many components of the sports business. He has been described as Canada's top sports lawyer and as one of the pre-eminent sports and entertainment lawyers in the world.
Gord is the first Canadian director of the Sports Lawyers Association and is a director of the Children’s Aid Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports, Canada’s anti-doping agency. In 1997, he authored the “Players First Report” in an effort to reduce the likelihood of abuse of young athletes.

He was named by the Globe & Mail as one of the twenty-five most important people in sports three years running. Toronto Life Magazine included him in an article on the few lawyers in Toronto on whom other lawyers rely. Toronto Sun had features on him titled “Sports Law is a Game Kirke Dominates” and “Kirke Back at Number One” respectively. Toronto Post featured him in articles titled “Straight Shooter” and “The Movers and Shakers of Sports”.

Gord represents various components of the sports and entertainment industries, including athletes, teams, leagues, unions, associations, artists, performers, sponsors and producers. He makes frequent appearances on radio and television to discuss matters of interest in the sports and entertainment industries.

Achievement - Alison Youngman ’84 (posthumously)

Alison was born in England, and left home as a teen with $200 and plans to see the world. Aged 19, she arrived in Montreal and landed a job as a paralegal for Stikeman Elliott in 1972.

After announcing plans to move on from that job, her mentor, Fraser Elliott, offered to sponsor her studies at Osgoode Hall Law School. She accepted Elliott’s challenge and, after graduating and having her first child in 1984, she returned to the firm. In 1986, she was called to the Ontario bar, and had her second child.

Alison demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit in launching Stikeman’s first marketing group and pushing the firm to adopt new technologies, even when many in the legal industry frowned upon it. She later created the firm’s technology and outsourcing group. Her commitment to the profession was embodied by time served as co-chairwoman of the American Bar Association negotiated acquisitions committee task force on joint ventures, as a mentor to younger lawyers, and through published articles.

Alison also took an active role in public life, focusing her efforts on the advancement of women’s interests. The YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto in 2004 named her a Woman of Distinction, and she was president of the International Women’s Forum of Canada. She also served as chairwoman of the national board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and led her firm’s participation in the CBCF-CIBC Run for the Cure.

Recent Graduate - Lorraine Land '02

A dedicated social justice and aboriginal rights activist, Lorraine Land was admitted to Osgoode as a mature student and graduated in 2002. Since graduating, she has held such positions as Aboriginal Affairs Coordinator for the Citizens for Public Justice and has worked with Olthuis Kleer Townshend, a nationally prestigious boutique aboriginal law firm.

Prior to enrolling at Osgoode she co-edited two editions of "Nation to Nation: Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Future of Canada" a significant work on aboriginal sovereignty in Canada, which is widely used in college and university aboriginal studies courses. She was the past National Chair of a national coalition of groups working in partnership on Aboriginal rights issues and played an active role in the precedent setting Daishowa vs. Friends of the Lubicon.

Lorraine, who has written numerous articles on native affairs, remains committed to supporting aboriginal justice and non-government activism. She currently serves as Legal Counsel for the Nunavut Department of Justice and represents the Nunavut government in major land claims litigation.

Public Sector – Douglas Ewart '72

Doug currently is a senior member of the Ministry of the Attorney General providing advice and opinions to the Cabinet Office and ministries of the Ontario government. Doug graduated from Osgoode in 1972 and then went on to do his LLM at the London School of Economics. During his time at Osgoode Doug was one of the founding students of Parkdale Legal Aid Clinic.

Roy McMurtry worked closely with him between 1975 and 1985 where he was a most important policy advisor during a period of unparalled legal reform. He was directly involved in the a redesign of the Ontario Human Rights Code, race relations and the establishment of the foundation for Ontario’s network of legal aid clinics.

He then became Director of the Policy Development Division of the Ministry; he managed a team of up to 30 lawyers responsible for ongoing review and reform of all aspects of civil justice in Ontario.  Following that he held a series of positions within the federal government as Senior General Counsel and Senior Advisor to, the Deputy Ministers at the Dept. of Justice, the Privy Council Office and Indian Residential Schools Resolutions Canada.

More recently, Doug was the chief policy advisor for the review of roots of youth violence in Ontario, chaired by Dr. Alvin Curling and the Hon. Roy McMurtry. Prior to that he was the executive coordinator, reform design and implementation, Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Public Sector - Doug Lewis '67

The Honourable Doug Lewis, a graduate of the Class of 1967, practices Elder Law, Immigration Law, and Corporate and Commercial Law at Lewis Downey Tornosky Lassaline & Timpano Professional Corporation, a full service law firm where he is the managing partner.
Doug has served on the board of many public companies and is presently a director of the State Bank of India (Canada). He has also served as a member of the Ontario Consent and Capacity Board. From 2001 to 2006 Doug was a member of the Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Foundation board and chaired the successful campaign to raise $12 million for the addition and renovation to the hospital. He is presently on the Board of the Orillia Canada Day Committee.

A lawyer and a chartered accountant, Doug served as the Member of Parliament for Simcoe North from 1979 to 1993. During that time, he also served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice, Government House Leader, Minister of Transport and Solicitor General.
In 2007, Doug was appointed by the Hon. Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport Municipalities and Infrastructure as the Chair of a Federal Panel to study railway safety in Canada and report with recommendations.
Doug is currently a Bencher and Co-Chair of the Government Relations Committee. He was named the Orillia Citizen of the Year in 1973 and 2003.

Service –

Charles M. Gastle LLM'94, Djur'98

Chuck helped found Bennett Gastle Professional Corporation, where he practises commercial litigation, international trade litigation, and international arbitration. While practising full-time, Chuck received his LLM (1994) and his DJur (1998) in International Trade and Competition Law from Osgoode. Since 2002, he has been an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode, and in November 2005, was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at York University. On June 15th, 2006, Chuck received the Osgoode Hall Law School Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award.

I know Chuck has asked that no time tonight be spent honouring him and instead we highlight his real passion, the Cambodian Law Student Project.

Professor Marnie Ryan of the Royal University for Law and Economics (RULE) in Phnom Penh arranges scholarships and living arrangements for nineteen female students at a cost of $1,000.00 USD each. They are gifted students from poor families along the Vietnam and Laos border identified by USAID and Peace Corp workers. These students would have little, if any, opportunity to obtain a university education and few options in life except through this program.

The program operates with no overhead and all funds donated go directly to supporting the students. She receives no support from government or from any NGO. Bennett Gastle provides a number of scholarships as do some of the friends of our firm.

Nominate Someone for the Gold Key Awards

1. Achievement

This award recognizes exceptional professional achievement. The Awards
Committee shall consider the following criteria in making the selection:

• a record of professional accomplishment;

• proven leadership and commitment in a chosen field of endeavour;

• recognizable contribution to the Law School and/or the community at large;

2. Recent Graduate

This award recognizes exceptional professional achievement of recent
graduates. The Awards Committee shall consider the following criteria in
making the selection:

• graduated in the last ten years (preference will be given to more recent alumni);

• high levels of achievement early in one’s chosen career or profession;

• demonstrated leadership capability;

• recognizable contribution to the Law School and/or the community at large;

3. Public Sector

This award recognizes the achievements of public sector or government
lawyers. The Awards Committee shall consider the following criteria in
making the selection:

• sustained outstanding service or a specific extraordinary accomplishment;

• significant contributions to social justice or public service;

• recognizable contribution to the Law School and/or the community at large;

4. Service

This award acknowledges significant contributions of time and energy to
Osgoode Hall Law School and/or the Alumni Association. The Awards
Committee shall consider the following criteria in making the selection:

• demonstrate leadership, commitment and support for the Law School;

• support the Law School’s alumni efforts;

• advancement of the Law School’s objectives or goals.

Nomination submissions must include:

• a letter from the nominator outlining how the nominee meets the criteria of the award

Nominations should be sent to:

Advancement Office, Room 415
Osgoode Hall Law School
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Phone: 416-736-5638
Email: alumni@osgoode.yorku.ca

To be eligible for selection, the individual must:

• have received an LLB, LLM or DJur degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University;

• between 1960 and 1970, have received a degree from Osgoode;

• or before 1961, have received his or her call to the bar following study at Osgoode.