Alumni & Faculty Supreme Court of Canada Law Clerks
Read their clerkship stories
John Manley, LLB ’76, DU ’98
SCC Law Clerk 1976-77 with Chief Justice Bora Laskin
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
At that time, each judge had only one law clerk. While very intimidating, this also meant I had private time alone with the Chief Justice almost every day.
The Chief Justice rarely offered comment on your work, a fact I verified with my predecessor, so it’s a very special memory that one day he referred to “that excellent piece of research” that I had done on a case.
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
In my several careers, I have been in the company of heads of state and of government including Kings, Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers. None has ever intimidated me half as much as Bora Laskin. I think of him in his office being as great as Lincoln in his monument!
Tell us about your career.
I have had 5 careers:
As a lawyer, I practised with Perley-Robertson, Panet, Hill and McDougall in Ottawa, primarily in business and income tax law. I later returned to law at McCarthy Tetrault and continue to be a senior advisor to Bennett Jones LLP.
I entered politics in 1988 when I was elected as MP for Ottawa South, where I served until 2004. I was in Opposition until 1993 when the government of Jean Chretien was elected. Over the next 10 years, I served as Minister of Industry, Foreign Affairs and Finance as well as Deputy Prime Minister.
After politics, I had a career in corporate governance that continues. I have served on the boards of five public companies and as chair of three (CIBC, CAE, and TELUS. I am still chair of TELUS.
I was President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada for nine years (2010-2018).
I am an Investment Banker, chairing Jefferies Securities Inc since its arrival in Canada in 2023.
I have LOVED every stage of my working life!!!
Denis Boivin, LLB ‘91, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 1991-1992 with Justice Frank Iacobucci
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
My interest in this field was piqued and I decided to concentrate on private law during my graduate studies at Yale.
Tell us about your career.
My clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada was a springboard for a career in academia. Now here I am, 34 years later: I’m a professor of tort law and the author (alongside my colleague Louise Bélanger-Hardy) of the book La responsabilité délictuelle en common law, second edition, published by Thomson Reuters in 2023.
Cynthia Westaway, LLB ’99, Part-time Professor, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 1998 with Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
Lots of hard work and laughter. Madame had a brilliant mind and great sense of humour. She always amazed me with her downhill ski adventures, daily swimming at the Ramada Hotel pool and her aerobics classes with Justice Alice Desjardins (of the Federal Court of Appeal). With the clerks – the best memories were just the countless hours of substantive discussion and friendship building. Best memory was the end-of-the-year skit for the judges when I choreographed a dance move for various clerks to perform to represent each judge (a tango for Justice Iacobucci; Swan Lake for Chief Justice McLachlin, jig for Justice Bastarache, rodeo for Justice Major, the Charleston for Justice L'Heureux Dube, soft shoe shuffle for Justice Cory and “Staying Alive” disco by the Bee Gees for Justice Binnie. (I was a professional ballet and modern dancer for 10 years in New York City before law school.)
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
It shaped how I think, collaborate, litigate, and envision the future.
Tell us about your career.
I left the SCC to join the federal government to focus on building Aboriginal Law expertise. After 10 years in think tank roles supporting s. 35 constitutional and appellate litigation, I moved into management as a Director of the Trade Law Bureau and then Director General of the Department of Justice unit at Global Affairs Canada (4 years). Then I left to focus again on Aboriginal law at Gowlings and BLG then[SB1] my own firm of Westaway Law Group (15 years). I transferred my business to First Peoples Law (FPL) two years ago. I now work on just a few files for FPL and have moved to teach at the University of Ottawa Common Law Section. I spend time consulting on Indigenous law matters for Ecojustice; teach practitioner-focused negotiation and litigation courses. I am presently working on a “Consultation Hub” project where law students can share pro bono legal support services with First Nation to increase access to justice.
Pascale Fournier, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 2000-2001 with Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
The close friendships iwth some of my fellow clerks, and hearing cases!
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
Clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada means being in on one of the biggest secrets — seeing law from the inside as multiple drafts get passed around, and then acting like the final version is the only one that’s ever existed. Given how private the role is, it means seeing that law is also political, ever-changing and human. This peek behind the curtain — a restricted, immediate, almost obscene view of law — has driven my whole career. Through my research, I tried to understand how positive law fits with what’s happening in the real world: how subjects understand the law, the limits it creates, the benefits it provides, the untruths it sometimes takes as givens and the promises it often boasts about. I left the court for Harvard University, and while there, I met some extraordinary thinkers very early on. They guided me in my quest — to reflect on and document the law as a system, as a performance and as a symbo.
Tell us about your career.
I'm fascinated by human rights, knowledge mobilization and dissemination, and leadership! I enjoy creating opportunities for dialogue and building bridges between academia, the judiciary, NGOs, international organizations and the general public, in Canada and around the world. Former Vice-Dean Research (2010-2012), holder of the Research Chair on Legal Pluralism and Comparative Law (2012-2018), Commissioner at the Quebec Human Rights Commission -please tag @CDPDJ (2015-2018) and President/CEO of the Trudeau Foundation (2018-2023), I am driven by a new passion that culminates all facets of my career: the Observatory on Human Rights at the UN (please tag) where I play the role of Founding Director! It’s a collective adventure, fueled by the generosity of Pilots, Collaborators, team members and Leaders, and whose objective is to support the work of the United Nations Treaty Bodies in Geneva while offering a leadership program focused on experiential learning in an interdisciplinary and international setting. Follow us!
François Larocque, LLB ‘99, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 2001-2002 withJustice Louise Arbour
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
One of my fondest memories was the privilege of working with the incredible Louise Arbour, who had just returned to Canada after her transformative time as chief prosecutor at the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Fun fact: when Justice Arbour joined the Supreme Court, it was the first time the court had ever had five Francophone judges (justices L’Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, LeBel, Bastarache and Arbour). I also still have great friendships with the 26 other law clerks. They’re amazing people, and their intelligence and work ethic inspired me every day. In short, the Supreme Court of Canada those days, under Chief Justice McLachlin, was a wonderfully collaborative environment.
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
I found a mentor and friends for life. I’d already planned on going to graduate school, but being able to apply for a PhD program at Cambridge with support from Justice Arbour certainly helped me out! Her support meant I not only got admitted to my first-choice program but also earned the Commonwealth Scholarship, which covered the full cost of my education. Not to mention the work habits I cultivated at the SCC really helped me complete my PhD thesis thoroughly and efficiently.
Kristen Boon, Dean Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 2002-2003 with Justice Ian Binnie
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
Playing ball hockey on the front steps of the Court with other clerks, and occasionally judges!
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
My clerkship year was incredibly stimulating intellectually. Clerks are exposed to a very wide range of cases, legal doctrines, and advocacy styles. I watched the oral arguments with great interest in order to learn how to advocate. I saw some of Canada’s top litigators during my time at the Court. I also appreciated the important contributions of interveners, who had different ways of framing a case or who brought different stakeholders into the conversation.
Tell us about your career.
Before clerking, I worked in the litigation department of a New York law Firm for two years. After clerking, I worked at both Global Affairs Canada and the UN for short periods of time, and I received a fellowship from the Chumir Foundation in Calgary to pursue research in international law. I then undertook a JSD in Law at Columbia University with a specialization in international law and went into academia. I am currently the Dean of the Common Law Section at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, and the Editor in Chief of the Canadian Yearbook on International Law.
Natasha Bakht, LLB '02, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 2003 with Justice Louise Arbour
What was your favouite memory while clerking?
Getting to know and become lifelong friends with some very exceptional people.
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
It has been an unexpectedly wonderful community of people that I have been able to turn to for advice, support and encouragement during my career.
Tell us about your career.
I have the best job possible as an academic at a fantastic law school. I can interact with brilliant colleagues and progressive and thoughtful students every day. My research is in family law and the intersecting area of religious freedom and women's equality, so I get to think, write, teach and talk about cutting-edge issues that affect the daily lives of minoritized communities
Gabriel Poliquin, LLB '10, Director, Certification in Common Law in French (CCLF)
SCC Law Clerk 2010 with Justice Louis LeBel
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
The Court organized a group trip for the law clerks to Washington, where we met with our counterparts from the Supreme Court. We attended a court hearing and also had the chance to meet some of the judges. I had a chance to speak with Justices Alito, Kagan and Scalia. A whole new world! The trip was also a good opportunity to get to know my colleagues from the Canadian court!
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
The fact that I was a clerk allowed me to get to know other excellent jurists from every region of the country. They make up an outstanding network of people I’ve kept in contact with to this day and who’ve remained my friends.
Tell us about your career.
After my clerkship with the court, I worked in a big national firm in Montreal, after which I returned to Ottawa, my hometown, to practise law in a litigation boutique. I had the opportunity there to gain solid experience as a litigator and build my own practice. When I felt ready to fly solo, I founded my own litigation practice, which concentrates mainly on public law litigation. I’ve always liked variety, so I always do many things at once. As well as practising law, I serve as a deputy judge on the Small Claims Court, I write research articles and I teach at the University of Ottawa. My experience at the court has informed every aspect of my career.
Pascal McDougall, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section
SCC Law Clerk 2015-2016 with Justice Clément Gascon
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavors?
My time working as a law clerk at the Supreme Court has allowed me to significantly refine my understanding of the judicial process and of the structure of legal argument. For a future law professor, this kind of training is invaluable. I also have very fond memories of my time at the Court because of the many friends I have made among a group of brilliant young jurists from across the country!
Tell us about your career.
I am an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa. After working as a law clerk at the Supreme Court, I completed my doctorate at Harvard Law School and was a visiting researcher and adjunct lecturer at Sciences Po, Paris. I was then hired at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law.
Jolene Hansell, JD '18
SCC Law Clerk 2020-2021 with Justice Nicholas Kasirer
What was your favourite memory while clerking?
Talking about the minutia of the law with my fellow clerks and colleagues. During a clerkship, you are surrounded by brilliant colleagues, many of whom are elbow deep in the same cases as you, and all of whom want to talk for hours on end about how the law works, how it should work, and how it can or should be applied to the facts of a given case. It’s like summer camp with complex legal issues.
How has being a Clerk affected your career and life endeavours?
My clerkship gave me valuable insight into how judges make decision. As a criminal trial and appeal lawyer, this insight is critical to advocacy in the courtroom. It helps me to identify the relevant legal issues and articulate them in a way a judge will find persuasive each and every day.
Tell us about your career.
I am a criminal lawyer. My practice includes criminal trials and appeals. I am also an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa where I teach criminal law and public and constitutional law, and public international law depending on the year. I also coach the uOttawa Jessup Moot Team.
