Court Connections

Casey Caines, ’23 JD, is growing accustomed to blazing trails.

The first in her family to attend university, she has been selected to clerk for Michelle O’Bonsawin, who was appointed last fall as Canada’s first Indigenous Supreme Court justice.

“My grandmother wasn’t even able to vote 60 years ago,” says Caines, who is a member of Fort Nelson First Nation. “Here I am, two generations later, clerking for an Indigenous justice at the Supreme Court — it’s almost unimaginable.”

A recent graduate from the Faculty of Law, Caines is determined to use what she learns at the Supreme Court to make life better for Indigenous people. She starts her clerkship in August 2024. “My main goals are reducing systemic inequalities and barriers to access,” she says. “The reason I applied to the Supreme Court was I wanted to see the inner workings of the system so I could better use those tools out in the world.”

Caines represents a new chapter in the history of Canadian courts, one partly guided by the spirit of truth and reconciliation. Her education also reflects the close and evolving relationship between the U of A’s Faculty of Law and the court system.

“Our students are extremely well regarded at the court,” says former Dean of Law David Percy, who taught some of the judges who now sit on the bench. “It’s a testament to the rigorous and perhaps more traditional nature of our program.” The impact of U of A Faculty of Law alumni is felt across the country. In addition to numerous clerkships, alumni are among the judiciary at every level, from Alberta’s Court of Justice to the Supreme Court of Canada.

One high point, says Percy, was the brief period in 2017 when our women graduates held three top superior courts positions simultaneously — Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin, ’68 LLB, Chief Justice of Alberta Catherine Fraser, ’70 LLB, and Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (as it then was) Mary Moreau, ’79 LLB.

“I describe it as the perfect trifecta,” Percy says. “I don’t think it has ever happened in Canada before.” 

Many alumni on the bench have returned as sessional instructors, guest lecturers, moot court judges or to simply share their wisdom and experience at alumni events. Justice Kevin Feehan, ’78 LLB, of the Court of King's Bench is a long-standing sessional instructor; the Hon. Leonard (Tony) Mandamin, ’82 LLB, serves as the scholar in residence for the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge; and Chief Justice Derek Redman of the Alberta Court of Justice and Justice Bob Alonessi of the Court of King's Bench, ’87 LLB, gave their time to the 1L foundations class in fall 2022.

“It gives students a practical understanding of how law is made, including the procedures, policy considerations and thinking behind legal decisions,” says Dean Barbara Billingsley. The personal contact also diminishes the intimidation students might feel when they eventually appear before a judge as practising lawyers, Billingsley adds. “It may inspire students to work toward a judicial career.”

SUPREME TEAM

Canada’s former Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is one of our best-known graduates, the first woman to hold the position. Before her retirement in 2017, she would often take the time to speak to students at the Faculty on a variety of topics. She was commended for her ability to blend theoretical principles of the law with practical applications.

Alumna Sheilah Martin, ’83 LLM, was appointed to fill McLachlin’s vacant seat. Martin is the seventh member of the university community to ascend to Canada’s top court.

Martin was among three Supreme Court justices who visited the Law Centre in 2022-23, alongside O’Bonsawin and Justice Mahmud Jamal. Jamal presented an inspiring address to the Class of 2025 for orientation while Martin was a guest speaker for 1L foundations and O’Bonsawin spoke at the Indigenous Law Students’ Association’s speaker series.

Elisa Carbonaro, ’22 JD, is also heading to the Supreme Court of Canada to clerk in 2024-25. She has already clerked at the Alberta Court of Appeal this past year and says she’s looking forward to observing the inner workings of the court. “I’m fascinated by the way criminal law reflects our changing society and values,” she says. “I’m also drawn to the constitutional overlay. You get so many charter issues, and you see this massive tension between the weight of the state and the individual. It’s always ripe for legal analysis.”

ALBERTA BENCH

In another recent change of the guard, Chief Justice of Alberta Catherine Fraser stepped down in 2022 after 30 years in the role. Her appointment in 1992 marked the first time a woman had become chief justice of a Canadian province.

Throughout her career, Fraser devoted time to the education of judges to ensure they remained abreast of evolving social issues.

“Since judging fairly requires that judges understand the world around us, one of my initial priorities was to ensure that judicial education included education on social issues,” she said at her retirement. These issues included gender equality, racial equity and Indigenous justice. “I am pleased that today, social context education is a key component of a judge’s education.”

Another trailblazer on the bench is Mary Moreau, the first woman appointed chief justice of the Alberta Court of Queen’s (now King’s) Bench.

After studying law at the U of A, she practised criminal, constitutional and family law in Edmonton. She litigated landmark cases that established the right to a criminal jury trial in French in Alberta and affirmed the right of francophone Albertans to manage and control their own schools.

Like McLachlin, Moreau was trained in philosophy  as well as law, and credits the discipline with instilling a critical mindset.

“The most useful tools I developed as a lawyer, then as a judge, came from my experience as an undergrad philosophy student. Philosophy helped channel my curiosity into a critical thinking framework of sorts,” she says. “I have learned to use that pause button in my head before giving an oral decision … to give me time to consider and reflect on issues and potential solutions from all angles.”

Replacing Fraser in 2022 was Chief Justice of Alberta Ritu Khullar, who also heads the Courts of Appeal of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. She earned a BA in political science at the U of A and completed the second year of her legal studies with the U of A Faculty of Law. Khullar had a lengthy career in private practice before her first judiciary appointment to the Court of Queen’s Bench in 2017.

In the late 1990s, she served as the Belzberg Lecturer in Constitutional Law at the Faculty for three years, and she taught labour arbitration for a decade as a sessional instructor. She returned in 2016 to teach advanced administrative law.

“For many years, we have benefited from Justice Khullar’s generous offerings of her time and expertise as a sessional instructor and a guest lecturer, and we are excited to continue to work with her in this new role,” says Billingsley on Khullar’s appointment.

The Honourable John Rooke, ’10 LLM, retired as associate chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench in late 2022. In 2010, at the age of 62, he earned an LLM in dispute resolution in the Faculty during a study leave with the Canadian Judicial Council. “It was a very worthwhile exercise but a very busy time,” he says. “I was completing several serious projects, along with several long, written judgments, and basically continued in most aspects of my judicial role during that time.”

Rooke remained in close contact with the Faculty while in Edmonton as associate chief justice until his retirement, describing the association as “a great relationship of mutual respect and strength.”

COURTING EDUCATION

One of the Faculty’s many valuable opportunities for students to see judges in action is the courts clerkship experiential learning course, first proposed by the provincial court. The program is offered annually to 11 students in third and fourth year. The students rotate through the civil, family and criminal divisions of the Alberta Court of Justice or serve at the Court of Appeal, shadowing judges and gaining a rare, inside view of their legal perspectives.

In addition to reviewing case documents and providing research briefs for court hearings, the students debrief with judges after proceedings. They sign confidentiality agreements and take oaths in advance, allowing them to discuss sensitive aspects of cases to which they wouldn’t otherwise have access.

“It’s really unmatched by any other course I took,” says Varun Kapoor, ’23 JD. “You get to see in action the things you’ve learned in classes. The whole purpose of the common law is to be able to apply it to a specific situation. The judges are open books, and you see what their preferences might be with respect to advocacy,” Kapoor says. “Best of all, they want you to succeed in your career and enjoy what you’re doing.”

JUSTICE IN RESIDENCE

Serving students directly as a judge in residence at the U of A this year was Justice Rodney Jerke, ’79 LLB. Supported by the Canadian Judicial Council Study Leave program, the residency promotes lifelong learning, allowing judges to engage in research and teaching activities with students and faculty.

Jerke is a Court of King’s Bench co-convenor of an initiative called Reforming the Family Justice System, working to re-imagine the family justice system. He has dedicated study time at the U of A to a project that focuses on fundamental reform of the family justice system Only one or two judges per year in Alberta are selected for the residency, which is considered a oncein-a-career opportunity.

“The Faculty of Law benefits immensely whenever a judge spends their study leave at the Law Centre,” says Billingsley.

“Justice Jerke’s presence this year was invaluable. He engaged and supported the intellectual life of the law school in multiple ways, including judging moots and giving guest lectures to students and faculty members. We are looking forward to having Justice Peter Michalyshyn as the Justice in Residence in the upcoming academic year.”

And it’s that spirit of reciprocal learning from which the Faculty and judiciary both benefit. The courts benefit from well-trained lawyers taught by the best in the profession, which in turn builds considerable experience on the bench.

This fruitful relationship between the Faculty of Law and the courts promotes the success of both institutions. A wide network of partnerships, collaborations and engagements mean the connections reverberate across the broader legal community, benefiting the lives of ordinary Canadians.