En septembre de chaque année, PBSC accueille des conférenciers de renom pour le lancement de ses programmes dans tout le pays. Nous invitons certains des avocats, promoteurs et organismes les plus en vue en matière de travail bénévole et d’intérêt public à parler aux étudiants du caractère généreux et de la valeur incroyable du travail bénévole. Nos conférenciers mettent en valeur l’importance que revêt un engagement envers la justice sociale aussi bien pendant la formation en faculté de droit que par la suite à titre de membre de la profession juridique, et ils communiquent aux étudiants – au moyen d’anecdotes innombrables – les défis et gratifications qu’apporte le travail accompli dans l’intérêt public.

The line-up of speakers for fall 2011 was as spectacular as ever, and included Mary Eberts, co-founder of the Women’s Legal Education Action Network (LEAF) and David Scott, Q.C., who was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his pro bono contributions from Lexpert’s Zenith Awards.

August 31, 2011 – Université de Montréal – Keynote speakers: Ayse Dalli and Anja Djogo are both associates in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Montreal and dedicated pro bono advocates; Gilles Trudeau is Dean of the Faculty of Law. September 2, 2011 – University of British Columbia – Keynote speaker: David Eby is the Executive Director for BC Civil Liberties Association and was this year’s winner of the B.C. Human Rights Coalition and U.N. Association in Canada’s Renate Shearer Award for his contributions to the human rights field locally and internationally. September 6, 2011 – McGill University – Keynote speakers: Janet Dench is the Executive Director for the Canadian Council for Refugees; Walter Tom is a lawyer and coordinator of the Concordia Student Union Legal Information Clinic;  Roderick Macdonald is a professor at McGill University; and Daniel Jutras is Dean of the Faculty of Law. September 6, 2011 – Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University – Keynote speaker: Grace Campbellis the Project Coordinator of the Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network.

September 6, 2011 – University of Toronto – Keynote speakers: Cynthia Petersen is a constitutional lawyer who has litigated many leading equality rights cases, including almost all of the LGBT rights cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada over the past two decades and Nikki Gershbain is PBSC’s National Director.

September 7, 2011 – University of Moncton – Keynote speaker: Michel DesNeiges is the Director and Founder of the New Brunswick Environmental Law Society’s Law Clinic. September 8, 2011 – University of Calgary – Keynote speakers: Justice Neil C. Wittmann is the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Douglas Yoshida is a partner in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Calgary and Gillian Marriott, QC is the Executive Director for Pro Bono Law Alberta (PBLA). September 9,  2011 – Queen’s University – Keynote speaker: Justice Harvey Brownstone of the Ontario Court of Justice is a Queen’s law graduate and a leading member of Canada’s family law bench. September 12, 2011 – University of Sasketchewan – Keynote speaker: Mary Eberts is a lawyer, co-founder of the Women’s Legal Education Action Network (LEAF) and the current Ariel F. Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. September 12, 2011 – Université du Québec à Montréal – Keynote speakers: Michèle Moreau is the Executive Director of Pro Bono Law Québec, Jean-Pierre Beaud is the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Law and Caroline Paquin is an associate in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Montreal. September 13, 2011 – University of New Brunswick – Keynote speakers: Debra Doherty, is the Executive Director of the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick and Ian Peach is Dean of the Faculty of Law. September 14, 2011 – Université de Sherbrooke – Keynote speakers: Serge Harel is the Director for the Centre d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes de l’Estrie and Sébastien Lebel-Grenier is Dean of the Faculty of Law. September 14, 2011 – University of Ottawa (Civil and Common Law Sections) – Keynote speakers: David Scott, Q.C.  is Co-Chairperson of Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) and Counsel in the Ottawa Office. He was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his pro bono contributions from Lexpert’s Zenith Awards. Bruce Feldthusen is Dean of the Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, Pascale Fournier is the Vice-Dean Research and Associate Professor (Civil Law Section) and Anne Levesque is a Part-time Professor (Common Law Section). September 14, 2011 – Osgoode Hall Law School at York University – Keynote speakers: Junior Sirivar is a partner in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto, Lorne Sossin is Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and Nikki Gershbain is PBSC’s National Director. September 15, 2011 – University of Manitoba – Keynote speaker: Justice Robyn Diamond is a Court of Queen’s Bench judge (Family Division) in Manitoba. September 19, 2011 – University of Windsor – Keynote speaker: W. A. Bogart is a professor at the University of Windsor and was one of the founders of the university’s Access to Justice program. September 20, 2011 – University of Victoria – Keynote speaker: Jamie McLaren is the Executive Director for Access Pro Bono. September 22, 2011 – Université Laval – Keynote speaker: Jérémie-Nicolas Moisan is an associate in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Quebec and member of the National Committee responsible for the approval of Pro Bono work, Sylvio Normand is Dean of the Faculty of Law and Audrey Villeneuve is Director of the Centre de justice de proximité de Québec. September 29, 2011 – University of Western Ontario – Keynote speaker: Douglas Stewart is a lawyer with Frasner Milner Casgrain (FMC) in Toronto and is supervisor of the firm’s participation in Pro Bono Law Ontario’s Small Claims Duty Counsel Project. October 4, 2011 – University of Alberta – Keynote speaker: Suzanne Alexander Smith is a lawyer and 2011 Winner for Distinguished Service in Pro Bono Legal Service from the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta. 2011 PBSC Chapter Launch Events 2010 PBSC Chapter Launch Events