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Law Legal History

The Promise and Perils of Law

Lawyers in Canadian History

edited by Constance Backhouse & W. Wesley Pue

Publisher
Irwin Law Inc.
Initial publish date
Apr 2009
Category
Legal History
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552211663
    Publish Date
    Apr 2009
    List Price
    $54.00

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Description

The papers that make up this volume were produced on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the opening of Osgoode Hall, one of Toronto’s landmark buildings. This event presented a unique opportunity for reflection on the legal profession and its role in Canadian history. The “legal profession” is simultaneously a trade organization, a corporate ideology, an important cultural actor, and an aggregation of individuals known both for their zealous pursuit of their clients’ interests and for their assertive individualism. This book offers essays that seek to add to the understanding of Canada’s legal profession and to provide a background to inform conversation concerning its past, present, and future.

About the authors

Constance Backhouse is a professor of law, distinguished university professor, and university research chair at the University of Ottawa. She obtained her B.A. from the University of Manitoba (1972), her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall (1975), and her LL.M. from Harvard Law School (1979). She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1978. She teaches feminist law, criminal law, human rights, and labour law. She is the author of many award-winning legal history books, including Petticoats & Prejudice: Women and Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada (1991), Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canadian Law, 1900–1950 (1999) and The Heiress vs. the Establishment: Mrs. Campbell's Campaign for Legal Justice (2004). She received the Law Society Medal in 1998 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2002. She has served as an elected bencher of the Law Society from 2002. She became a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004.

Constance Backhouse's profile page

Wes Pue holds the Nemetz Chair in Legal History at the University of British Columbia. His research interests extend to the histories of legal professions, comparative legal history, and issues related to constitutionalism and policing. He is Editor of the University of British Columbia Press' "Law and Society" book series. Appointed Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research in July 2003, he was called to the Bars of the Northwest Territories and Alberta (1981) and has served as President of the Canadian Law and Society Association. He has held faculty positions or visiting professorships in Canada, the USA, England, and Australia.

W. Wesley Pue's profile page