Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School 

Rabiat Akande is an Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Akande works in the fields of legal history, law and religion, constitutional and comparative constitutional law, Islamic law, International law, and (post)colonial African law and society. Her current research explores struggles over religion-state relations in comparative contexts and illuminates law’s centrality to one of modernity’s most contested issues–the relationship between religion, and the state, and society–while also interrogating law’s complex relationship with power, political theology, identity, and socio-political change.

Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

Faisal Bhabha is an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. He also serves as the Faculty Director of the Canadian Common Law LLM degree program. He has researched and published in the areas of constitutional law, multiculturalism, law and religion, disability rights, national security and access to justice. He teaches constitutional law, human rights, legal ethics, and appellate advocacy. Previously, he sat as Vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (2008-2011). He maintains a varied public and private law practice, appearing before administrative boards and tribunals and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He advises and represents a variety of individuals and public interest organizations in matters pertaining to constitutional law and human rights. He has appeared as an expert witness before Canadian parliamentary committees and served as a member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Ontario. He has lived and worked in the Middle East and South Africa, and has lectured and taught in many countries. He is currently a senior editor with the International Review of Human Rights Law.

Shelby M.C. Davis 1958 Professor of History, Princeton University

Linda Colley, the Shelby M.C. Davis 1958 Professor of History, is an expert on British, imperial and global history since 1700. Born in Britain, she graduated from Bristol University with First Class Honors in history, and completed her Ph.D. in history at Cambridge University. The first female Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, she moved to Yale University in 1982.

In 1999, Colley was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Academia Europaea, and a non-resident Permanent Fellow in history at the Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study. In 2009, she was awarded a C.B.E. She holds seven honorary degrees. Professor Colley joined Princeton University’s History Department in 2003.

Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander Law School

Joshua Sealy-Harrington is a passionate teacher, scholar, and advocate. Drawing on critical race theory, Sealy-Harrington’s current research explores the ways in which law mediates racial hierarchy, with a particular focus on how criminal and constitutional law subordinate Black and Indigenous people, and relatedly, construct notions of racial identity — including through dialogue with gender, sexuality, disability, and class.

Before joining the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University, Sealy-Harrington completed a B.Sc. (mathematics) at the University of British Columbia, a J.D. at the University of Calgary, an LL.M. at Columbia Law School, and three clerkships — one for Justice Donald J. Rennie at the Federal Court and two for Justice Clément Gascon at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

A member of Osgoode’s faculty since 1982, Professor Allan Hutchinson served as Associate Dean from 1994 to 1996 and later, in 2003, he was named Associate Dean (Research, Graduate Studies and External Relations). Professor Hutchinson is a legal theorist with an international reputation for his original and provocative writings. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2004 and named a Distinguished Research Professor by York University in 2006.  His research interests are law and politics; legal theory; the legal profession; constitutional law; torts; jurisprudence; civil procedure; and racism and law. As well as publishing in most of the common-law world’s leading law journals, he has written or edited many books. Much of his work has been devoted to examining the failure of law to live up to its democratic promise. His latest publications are Evolution and the Common Law (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and The Companies We Keep: Corporate Governance for a Democratic Society (Irwin Law, 2006). In 2007, he received the University-wide Teaching Award and was a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School.

Assistant Professor, Queen’s Law

Lisa M. Kelly is an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law, where she teaches criminal law and evidence. She studied history and political science at the University of British Columbia (B.A) and is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (J.D.) and Harvard Law School (S.J.D.), where she was a Trudeau Scholar. Kelly’s doctoral dissertation – Governing the Child: Parental Authority, State Power, and the School in North America – analyzed legal struggles over race and school discipline from the late-nineteenth century through the present. Before joining Queen’s, she held a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia Law School and the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York City. She previously served as a law clerk to Justice Marshall E. Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada. Kelly has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow, and a Fellow of the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School.

Professeur titulaire, Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal

Jean Leclair was born in Montréal in 1963. Having graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Université de Montréal in 1985, he worked as legal secretary for the honourable Alice Desjardins, judge of the Federal Appeals Court of Canada. Recipient of the Duff Rinfret Scholarship, he subsequently furthered his studies (LL.M.) under the direction of Professor André Morel. In 1991, he was appointed a professor of constitutional law and legal history at Université de Montréal. He founded a course entitled “Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law” in 1999. Professor Leclair was one of four Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation fellows in 2013 and recipient of the 2016-2017 Prix-André-Morel for teaching excellence. This charitable national organization, which is independent and has no political affiliation, “recognizes fellows who have set themselves apart through their research achievements, their creativity, and their social commitment” on an annual basis.

Visiting Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School 

David Lepofsky CM, O. Ont, LL.B. (Osgood Hall), LL.M. (Harvard Law School), LL.D Honorary (Queen's, University of Western Ontario, and the Law Society of Ontario) is visiting professor of Disability Rights and Legal Education at Osgoode Hall. As adjunct member of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, he's taught a freedom of expression course for 31 years.

From 1982 to 2015, he was counsel with Ontario's Ministry of the attorney General, arguing constitutional, civil, administrative law and criminal cases. He has appeared on at least 30 cases in the Supreme Court of Canada, as counsel or co-counsel, and in 200 cases in the Ontario Court of Appeal.

He chairs the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance. He is a member and past chair of the Toronto District School Board’s Special Education Advisory Committee. He was a member of the Kindergarten-Grade 12 Education Standards Development Committee, which recommended reforms to tear down barriers impeding students with disabilities.

Twitter: @davidlepofsky

Partner, OKTLaw

Senwung Luk is a Partner at OKT. He has appeared in different levels of court and tribunals, including the Supreme Court of Canada and various courts of appeal, representing Indigenous clients fighting for their rights. He has focuses on litigation on Aboriginal rights and title, Treaty rights, the Crown's fiduciary obligations to First Nations, and Energy Law.

Senwung received his J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School, where he won awards for highest standing in Aboriginal law, civil liberties, and constitutional law courses. He served as law clerk to Mr. Justice John Evans of the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada. Senwung also received a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford, where he wrote a master’s dissertation on the constitutional protection of Aboriginal self-government rights. Senwung did his undergraduate studies at Yale University, where he received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics.

Senior Counsel, Civil Litigation Section, Department of Justice

Zoe Oxaal works as Senior Counsel for the Department of Justice.

Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School 

Professor Ryder joined Osgoode Hall Law School’s faculty in 1987.  His research and publications focus on a range of contemporary constitutional issues, including those related to federalism, equality rights, freedom of expression, Aboriginal rights, and Quebec secession. He has also published articles that explore the historical evolution of constitutional principles and is currently researching the history of book censorship in Canada.

Associate Professor, University of Ottawa Law School   

Professor & Associate Dean (Academic),  Osgoode Hall Law School

Craig Scott is Associate Dean (Academic) and Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School. He joined Osgoode in 2000 following a decade with the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.   From 2001 to 2004, he was Osgoode’s inaugural Associate Dean (Research, Institutional Relations, and Graduate Studies). He was Director of the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, 2006-2011. From March 2012 to October 2015, he was Member of Parliament for Toronto-Danforth and the New Democratic Party’s Official Opposition Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform.

Prior to starting his academic career, he served as law clerk to the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Brian Dickson. Currently, he serves on the Panel of Senior Advisors to the Auditor General of Canada and is also on the board of Ethelo Decisions, a British Columbia “B Corp”, and active with the non-profit eDemocracy Network.

Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa Law School   

Samuel Singer is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa. He has a passion for all aspects of tax law and policy. Professor Singer's current research interests in tax focus on tax dispute resolution and the regulation of non-profit organizations and charities. He greatly enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for law and policy through teaching. Professor Singer is also a long-time advocate for trans people. He frequently presents his research on trans legal issues to members of the legal profession. 

Associate Professor, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law 

Professor Stewart is an associate professor at the University of Calgary. He is an award-winning teacher and scholar. Stewart is the 2020 Dentons Canada LLP Research Fellow in Energy Law and Policy and also a 2020 Research Fellow in Energy and Environment at the School of Public Policy. Stewart has a Ph.D. in law from Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto), where he was an adjunct professor for four years. He was also a Visiting Fellow at Columbia Law School (New York City), studying law and governance.

Senior General Counsel, National Litigation Sector

Anne is a Senior General Counsel with the National Litigation Sector of the Department of Justice in Ottawa. Her broad-based civil litigation practice consists of appearances before all levels of courts and administrative tribunals on a broad range of legal issues. In particular, Anne has extensive experience before the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Courts. She was lead counsel for the Government of Canada before the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Anne is an active contributor to legal education and mentoring in the Department of Justice and the wider legal community. She is a past Director of The Advocates’ Society (2016-2020) and has been an advocacy advisor with the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute since 2012. Anne was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.