The 9th Annual Asian-Canadian Law Students Conference took place on Saturday February 23, 2013 in downtown Toronto at the One King West Hotel. The theme of the conference was ‘Perseverance in the Face of Adversity.’ Its goal was to bring together members of our community who demonstrate the breadth and strength of the Asian-Canadian bar so that students can get connected and inspired by peers and practitioners and find ways to utilize our culture, heritage, and identity in the face of adversity. The conference was attended by approximately 80 law students from all the Ontario law schools, undergraduate students, legal professionals, and articling students.
The event was the culmination of months of planning and hard work by the organizing committee consisting of law students from Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, combining the efforts of the Asian Law Students of Osgoode (ALSO), Korean Law Students Association (KLSA), University of Toronto Asia Law Society (UTALS), and University of Toronto Korean Law Students Association.
The conference Co-Chairs, Lin Cong, from University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and Terry Wong, from Osgoode Hall Law School welcomed everyone to the event. Next, Mr. Richard Wong, a partner at Osler, then welcomed attendees on behalf of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, the Title Sponsor of the conference. Mr. Wong spoke of the advantages of having cultural diversity in the workplace and the challenges faced by Asian-Canadian lawyers in legal firms in progressing to higher levels.
The keynote talk was then given by Ms. Jean Lee, Vice President & Assistant General Counsel of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and the President of the Asian American Bar Association of New York. Ms. Lee’s talk was inspirational and epitomizes the theme of the conference, ‘Perseverance in the Face of Adversity’.
The students were then able to attend a number of panels in the morning and afternoon. The attendees of the conference enjoyed the event and benefited from the knowledge of the speakers and panel members. The organizers would like to thank everyone who contributed and participated in the conference to help make it a great success, including the sponsors who made this great event possible: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Blakes, BLG, Cassels Brock, Davies, FMC, Heenan Blaikie, JYJ Law, McCarthy Tetrault, McMillan, Norton Rose, Sherrard Kuzz, Stikeman Elliott, and Torys.
