The 2013-14 OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowships in Legal Ethics and Professionalism have been awarded to Professor Alice Woolley of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law (Fellowship in Research) and Amy Salyzyn, a graduate student at Yale University Law School (Fellowship in Studies).

Professor Woolley’s research project will consider the significance of the lawyer’s status as a fiduciary in defining the lawyer’s duties, in particular duties of loyalty and confidentiality.

Amy Salyzyn’s project will study the ethical implications of lawyers’ pre-litigation demand letters.

The OBA Foundation, the charitable arm of the Ontario Bar Association, administers and funds the fellowships.  The Fellowship in Research is a grant of $15,000, awarded annually to full-time teachers at a Canadian university or college.  The Fellowship in Studies, a grant of $5,000 is awarded to lawyers and students who are OBA members.

Media inquiries contact: Greg Crone - gcrone@oba.org or (416) 869-0513 Ext. 364

Background:

The 2013 Selection Committee for the Fellowships consisted of two members of the practicing bar, Susannah Roth (Sullivan Estate Lawyers) and Jacqueline King (Shibley Righton LLP); and two members of the legal academy, Douglas Ferguson (University of Western Ontario) and Adam Dodek (University of Ottawa).  The Fellowship is administered by OBA Foundation Trustee Lee Akazaki (Gilbertson Davis Emerson LLP).

The OBA Foundation is the charitable arm of the Ontario Bar Association.  It raises funds for the advancement of education and the encouragement of research related to the efficacy, understanding and application of the law and legal processes, as well as the improvement of the justice system.  Established in 1987, it was previously known as the Advancement of Legal Education and Research Trust (ALERT).

The OBA Foundation is a registered charity and may issue charitable receipts.