The Faculty of Law introduces two new programs aimed at impacting the future of the legal profession
On February 10, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law officially launched two new programs: The Future of Law Lab (FLL) and the Investor Protection Clinic (IPC). The event was held virtually with a keynote speech by Neil Gross, Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission Investor Advisory Panel. Distinguished speakers included Dean Jutta Brunnée, former Dean Ed Iacobucci, Associate Professor in Law, Economics, and Innovation Anthony Niblett, Director of the IPC Ivy Lam, and Director of the FLL Josh Morrison.
Neil Gross celebrated the launch by sharing his thoughts on the introduction of “Big Technology” into the wealth management space, the impact of technology and social media on the market, and the significance of legal education for emerging technologies.
The Future of Law Lab
Josh Morrison, Director, and Anthony Niblett, Academic Advisor to the Future of Law Lab, discussed the interdisciplinary hub’s goals of inquiry, discussion, and activity. From academic and guest talks, to workshops and events, to externships for students, the Lab seeks to provide initiatives and information about the changing face of the legal profession. The Lab will promote, support, and develop programming relating to the intersection of law, innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Josh Morrison discussed with me his thoughts on where he sees the Future of Law Lab in five years.
“While it’s tough to predict exactly what the Future of Law Lab will look like in five years’ time, I hope that we will be viewed as a leader in legal technology/innovation and in legal education. I’m really excited about interdisciplinary collaboration, and I’d like to create an environment where students, staff, faculty, and stakeholders across the professions can investigate the legal questions that are driving changes in society. As Professor Niblett mentioned during the Launch event, there are important questions being raised around predictive technologies, improving access to justice, competition law and the rise of tech giants, tribunal delegating authority to algorithms, and intellectual property rights, among a host of other issues. The Future of Law Lab will be the place to dive into these types of questions.
In terms of concrete initiatives, I anticipate a focus on legal design where we’ll bring together students from law and other disciplines, and stakeholders together to address real-world legal challenges. I’m envisioning an environment with whiteboards, post-it notes, prototyping materials, and other items more commonly seen in design spaces and less so in the legal profession. I’d like to see monthly workshops where we employ design-thinking and modern problem-solving techniques in a variety of substantive areas, such as data governance, employment, or tax.
I’m also partial to simulation or case-based learning, and I would like to explore the possibility of case competitions, where students would be inserted into a fact pattern based on a real situation. Students, or teams of students, would then work together to think about how they would resolve the legal and strategic problems in the pattern, and present their business plan to a panel of judges. I think there is an excellent opportunity to examine how organizations are responding to “future of law” related questions and how they can improve in the years to come.
On the student experience side, we’d like to expand our offering of in-house partnerships and give students the opportunity to experience that type of work environment. We’ve developed a strong relationship with Nestlé, and I’m hopeful that this is a model we can recreate with other companies. We’d also like to explore potential summer opportunities with mid-size technology companies, where students can get the best of both worlds by being part of an entrepreneurial start-up environment and also work directly with internal counsel on practical legal questions.”
On March 5, the Future of Law Lab will hold its first workshop in which law students can generate legal innovations that address a problem, such as building a regulatory regime well suited for handling digital business. Students will learn to use and implement the tools of human-centered design to bring fresh thinking to legal challenges.
The Investor Protection Clinic
The Investor Protection Clinic seeks to fill a critical gap in the investing community for those without access to public legal education who are at risk of suffering harm, or who have already suffered harm relating to their investments. The Clinic seeks to educate vulnerable members of the community, such as the elderly and newcomers to Canada, and those who may not be able to afford representation. Currently, law students can volunteer at the Clinic through Volunteer Working Groups; the IPC provides students a space where they can engage in advocacy, policy development, and access to justice. The IPC is also hiring summer clinic workers and offers an upper-year clinical course for academic credit.
I sat down with current clinic volunteers Robin Chang (1L) and Daiana Kostova (3L) to get an inside look into the IPC’s goals and its meaningful work.
Kostova discussed the work of the IPC’s largest working group, Public Legal Education (PLE), which is creating a series of workshops to educate the public on financial and investment issues. These workshops will be delivered virtually through community organizations in March 2021 and through the IPC’s current partner, the Toronto Public Library, whose free programming draws a broad audience.
There are currently four workshops under development. Kostova is on a team that is working on one related to investment and financial scams or frauds. “Our goals are to educate the public on red flags related to common scams, how to avoid being a victim, and how to report any financial harm that may result if they do unwittingly find themselves embroiled in one of these unfortunate situations. Part of our focus is on the typologies and fraud risks that have emerged as a result of COVID,” she explained.
Chang is part of the Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) working group; the IPC has partnered with CLEO to create a section on investor protection for their website called Steps to Justice. This resource seeks to cover the various questions and concerns inexperienced investors may have. For example, an investor can search for how to find a qualified advisor, and what options they have if they have a complaint about the way their investment was handled. Chang conducts research on these topics and worked with the other members of the clinic to create an initial draft for the resource.
Another current student-run project which Kostova discussed seeks to create a social media presence for the Clinic. The IPC hopes to use Twitter and Instagram to further its public legal education mandate, engage with the legal community online, and provide another outlet for potential clients or individuals who may need our help to locate the Clinic. The IPC is on Twitter and Instagram @UofTLawIPC.
To learn more about getting involved with the Investor Protection Clinic and the Future of Law Lab, visit their webpages.
