Address: 29 Hollybrook Cres. Willowdale, Ont., Canada, M2J 2H5

Phone: tel: (416) 497-0031   fax: (416) 497-3163

Email: dmm@interlog.com
 

EDUCATION
 

2004-2005 2002-2004         2000-2002	Post-Doctoral Studies, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University  Doctoral Program, Osgoode Hall Law School Conducting empirical analysis of the methods the Supreme Court of Canada employs to arrive at its decisions Awarded Harley D. Hallet Scholarship LL.M., Professional Development Program, Osgoode Hall Wide ranging program comprising eight courses across the spectrum of criminal law issues, including two courses on international criminal law. Major research project focussed on the practical limits of deterrence.
1981	Bar Admission Course Toronto, Ontario Called to the bar April 9
1976-1979	Bachelor of Laws, Osgoode Hall Law School Wrote major paper on Immigration policy in Canada focussing on  proposed amendments to the Immigration Act. My recommendations contributed to at least one important amendment to the legislation. Won academic prize in Property
1973-1976	Bachelor of Arts from York University (Psychology)

TEACHING BACKGROUND

2005 (winter): Sessional Adjunct, Queenís University Faculty of Law (teaching Civil Procedure 225 and Appellate Advocacy 325)

2003-2004: Teaching Assistant for Law & Society Course at York University.  Led two twenty-five student tutorials and marked their
                    exams and assignments.  Delivered guest lecture on drugs, impaired driving and deterrence.  Course topics ranged from
                    legal philosophy to research and writing to access to justice.

 
Delivered two guest lectures at the law school: one on jurisprudence, the other on Joinder (Civil Procedure).

Completed the York University Teaching Practicum.

Completed the University Teaching and Learning course at York University.

PUBLICATIONS and RESEARCH INTERESTS

PowerPoint in Legal Education: Pedagogical Paradoxó An Exploratory Study, (2004) 42 O.H.L.J. 303 (refereed)

To Intervene or Not to Intervene, That is the Question, (2002), 2 Global Jurist Advances: No. 2, Article 2 (http://www.bepress.com/gj/advances/vol2/iss2/art2) (refereed)

Case Comment: Poole, Chinniah and Sandreswaren, (2002) 23 M.V.R. (4^th) 49

Impaired Driving Sentences: Part of the Problem, (2002) 16 M.V.R. (4^th) 41

My post-doctoral work on empirical jurisprudence consists in readying several articles, beginning with Overruling in the Supreme Court of Canada, and a monograph for possible publication at U of T Press as well as the expansion of my research to other courts, interviews, cognitive studies and the employment of database software such as N6 & Nvivo.

My doctoral research analyzed the results of an empirical study of the Supreme Court of Canadaís jurisprudence since 1950, a project which required me to survey approximately 4,950 decisions. This investigation documented a major shift in the early eighties: the Court reduced its reliance on the facts of the individual cases and turned increasingly towards policy analyses. The Courtís almost total reliance on formal legal reasoning began to give way to more multi-textured contextual modes. Forthright overruling surpassed more indirect methods of modifying precedent. There are indications that the trends making up this shift have recently begun to accelerate: For example, in the early nineteen seventies, overrulings occurred just over once a year, now the Court reverses itself almost three times every year. In addition, I documented numerous qualitative and quantitative ways in which the Courtís Charter jurisprudence persistently differs from its handling of other cases. Overall, this research has implications for the ways in which law is taught, practiced, and theorized about. In the future, I would hope to continue this study and expand it to the United States Supreme Court as well as to our Courts of Appeal and Superior Courts.

My LL.M. investigations focussed on the limits to the efficacy of deterrence to regulate anti-social behaviour. One paper focussed on Environmental Regulation and concluded that, beyond a certain point, punitive enforcement is counterproductive. The Impaired Driving Sentences paper provided support for the proposition that relaxation of drinking and driving sanctions in Ontario would result in the saving of more than 70 lives annually. The Intervene paper outlined the proper preconditions for international humanitarian intervention.
 

PRESENTATIONS

May, 2004: Empirical Methodology in Jurisprudenceat the 6^th Annual Osgoode Graduate Studentsí Conference, Toronto

March, 2004: Limits to Humanitarian Intervention at the at Columbia Law Schoolís Third Annual Baháíí International Law Conference, New York, N.Y.

June, 2003: PowerPoint: Pedagogical Paradox, to the Faculty Seminar, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto

May, 2003: Impaired Driving Sentences, to the Ontario Bar Associationís Making Sense of and Defending Impaired and "Over 80" Cases program, Toronto

May, 2003: Radical Departures in the Supreme Court of Canada at the 5^th Annual Osgoode Graduate Studentsí Conference, Toronto
 

RECENT CONFERENCES ATTENDED

North American Constitutionalism, University of Toronto, October 1, 2004

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, May/June, 2004 (primarily CALT and Law & Society)

Judicial Appointment in a Free and Democratic Society: The Supreme Court of Canada, University of Toronto, April, 2004

Constitutionalism in the Charter Era, University of Western Ontario, London, September, 2003

Professing to EducateÖ And Educating to Profess, McGill University Faculty of Law; Montreal, July, 2003

2002 Constitutional Cases, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, April 2003

Towards a Spiritual Civilization: Spirit into Order, Association for Baháíí Studies Annual Conference, Mississauga, Ontario, August, 2002

Competing Sovereignties: Institutions and Identities, Osgoode Hallís 4^th Annual Graduate Studentsí Conference, Toronto, May 2002
 
 

LEGAL PRACTICE SUMMARY

1994 to date: Solo Litigation Practice

• Continued civil, including personal injury, defamation, family, and criminal litigation practice
• Engaged in complex civil challenge to search warrant requiring detailed constitutional arguments
• Won large verdict in hotly contested arson case
• Wrote and self-published The Motor Vehicle Accident Kit, Picking up the Pieces

• Drafted contracts, conducted negotiations, drafted wills and administered estates, advised regarding debtor/creditor, trademarks, copyright, patents, incorporations, corporate registration, securities, and shareholder agreements. Raised capital for two start-up corporations and assisted them with incorporation, governmental and regulatory documentation, and business plans.

• Expanded criminal practice to include prosecuting criminal matters on a per diem basis and defence appeals

• Fully computerized on both Windows and Mac platforms almost completely eliminating need for support staff
• Limited new cases to concentrate on academic activities

• Managed the high volume multi-lawyer litigation department which concentrated almost exclusively on tort claims
• Organized department and revamped tickler, completely eliminating missed limitations
• Handled a wide range of personal injury cases involving product liability, brain injury, and slip and fall matters as well as other civil litigation areas; assisted criminal department as required
• Co-ordinated transition between several different motor vehicle insurance regimes
• Trained Juniors
• Brought computers into the office and assisted transition to electronic-based practice

• Civil litigation comprising commercial, torts, estates, contract disputes, mediations, immigration, arbitration, labour, construction liens, matrimonial, criminal, real estate, Landlord and Tenant, and patents
• Arrested a ship in Toronto Harbour
• Took major brain injury case from inception to successful trial verdict
• Wide range of criminal cases including impaired driving, attempted murder and sexual assault

• Specialized in personal injury litigation (plaintiff and defence)
• Helped prepare and assisted at major trials
• Obtained important injunction
• Prepared and argued appeals in the Court of Appeal

• Specialized in commercial litigation with former associate of articling principal
• Learned the ropes with client suing his former lawyer for alleged embezzlement

• Broke even in second month and made a profit thereafter!

• Wide range of experience focussing on civil and criminal litigation and including a controverted election as well as exposure to real estate and commercial matters.

MEMBERSHIPS and AFFILIATIONS

• During both years of the doctoral program, I served as Secretary for the Graduate Law Studentsí Association and have served on Osgoodeís Faculty Council, as well as on its Grad Studies Committee.
• Life Member of the Association of Baha'i Studies and referee for The Journal of Bahá'í Studies
• Member of the Legal Aid Local Area Committee and its OíConnor/Mills panel
• Past President of the Rotary Club of Willowdale during which a Boys and Girls Club was established in the problem-plagued Jane/Finch area
• Past executive committee member of the Inventorís Alliance of Canada