Sandy’s Weblog

How did professionals become perpetrators of injustice during the Holocaust? A panel of experts will discuss this topic and look at the lessons learned from those dark days at a special forum at the Law Society on April 21, commemorating National Holocaust Memorial Day.
The event is being hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada and The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada. Panellists, says Sandy Hutchens, will examine how professionals in the fields of law, medicine, the arts and education were suborned to participate in the Nazi-era agenda of injustice, persecution and genocide, leaving the high principles of their professions behind. Today, in a time when such atrocities still occur, speakers will also talk about preventive measures.
Panellists include:
Dr. Yoel Abells, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine and columnist for the National Post
Dr. Judith Cohen, York University, Faculty of Fine Arts & Department of Music
Dr. Amanda Grzyb, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Kristen Rundle, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.
David Matas, International Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Legal Counsel for B’nai Brith Canada, will provide concluding remarks, and Mark Sandler, Law Society bencher and Chair of the Law Foundation of Ontario, will moderate the panel session.
The forum will be followed by a reception, featuring a reading by award-winning poet Elana Wolf, author of Mask, a poetic response to the life and art of Berlin artist Charlotte Salomon, who perished at Auschwitz. The reception will also feature a musical interlude by Susan Baskin and friends.

On January 5, 2009, Mark J. Sandler officially assumed his new role as Chair of The Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO). A trustee since 2006, Mr. Sandler takes over the position from Larry Banack, who served as Chair since 2002.

Mr. Sandler, notes Sandy Hutchens, was called to the Bar in 1980 and brings a wealth of experience to the position. He is an appellant and trial criminal litigator and partner in the law firm of Cooper & Sandler. He is an elected Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and currently serves as Chair, Appeals Panel and as Chair, Tribunals Committee, and has served on a number of other committees, including the Human Rights Monitoring Group, Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee and the Working Group on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Hatred and Discrimination Based on Religion. He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario before his appointment as Chair of the LFO. Mr. Sandler has been recognized by a number of organizations for his community-based pro bono work.

Mr. Sandler is enthusiastic about his term and looks forward to continuing the significant increase in outreach which was started under his predecessor. “It’s truly a privilege to participate in an organization that helps carry out important access to justice work. There is a great need, especially in these difficult economic times, to target and assist as many vulnerable communities as possible. Our focus will be to continue carrying out initiatives that will benefit these groups across the province,” said Sandler.

The LFO is a grant-making organization that supports community participation in the justice system, promotes excellence in the legal profession and enhances access to justice. Established in 1974 under the Law Society Act, the LFO receives interest on lawyers’ and paralegals’ mixed trust accounts and uses that income to fund a wide range of initiatives.