2015 Retreat

The 2015 Advocacy Club Retreat date is set for May 2, 2015. The retreat is open to all members who joined after September 1, 2013. Hosted by RSJ McNamara, it will be organized and presented by members. The program is accepted by the Law Society of Upper Canada for continuing professional development (CPD = 3 hours - professional). Registration Proceeds will be donated to CNIB. Contact John Hollander to register, and pay the registration fee of $35 directly to his CNIB donations page.

2014 Retreat

The 2014 AC Retreat was attended by 45 members and 15 distinguished guests. Organized by four AC members, each panel consisted of a distinguished guest and two AC members.  Scroll down this page for details. The Retreat raised almost $1,500 for CNIB's SCORE program. SCORE graduate Avesta Alani and CNIB officers attended the social event following the Retreat. Avesta also visited the AC in February, where she observed, participated and excelled during the workshop! We look forward to welcoming  her as a member of the Advocacy Club when she graduates from university and law school. For information on SCORE and the Advocacy Club's support for this initiative click here. 

Both retreat sessions were followed by an afternoon social gathering at John Hollander's home. 

2013 Retreat 

The first Advocacy Club (AC) retreat, "Unleash the Talent," held on June 8, 2013, was a resounding success!  Organized and moderated by AC members, the retreat was designed to help young advocates to acquire increased advocacy responsibility – in the courtroom. . . in discovery. . . with clients. . . everywhere.  Thirty-two AC members attended, along with 10 observers, who included three judges and representatives of LSUC, CCLA, OTLA, CDL, OBA and the University of Ottawa.  Retreat sessions were sanctioned by the Law Society for 3.5 professional hours of CPD.  (For details on the "Unleash the Talent" agenda, click here.)

Comments from Retreat Participants

I attended the Advocacy Club retreat as an observer. It is obvious, by the way the club members handled themselves, that they are receiving excellent training. The open dialogue on an important topic to the law profession (how to ensure young litigators receive proper training) was refreshing. This is a group of young lawyers who are clearly very interested in advancing themselves in the profession and who are taking positive, proactive steps in that regard.

Laurie A. Tucker, Lawyer

As a former long-term Bar Ad  and Licensing Exam Instructor, current Deputy Judge (Ottawa Small Claims Court), and Contract Instructor for the Department of Law at Carleton University, I am acutely aware of the very pressing need for practical and meaningful instruction in the civil litigation process, in practice management, in legal ethical issues, and in the process of just surviving (and thriving) as a young lawyer. The Advocacy Club, and John Hollander in particular, are to be commended for so ably filling this void in legal education.

David Dwoskin, Lawyer