At a capacity-crowd lecture and in two small-group sessions, the Queen’s Law Community gave a warm welcome to Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada on Feb. 25 and 26. During his visit to Macdonald Hall, he spoke on “Twenty-three years of judging: some lessons learned” to an audience that filled a 150-seat lecture theatre, gave a seminar on “Buyer’s Remorse and the need to Dissent” to faculty and doctoral students, and had an informal fireside chat with a small group of JD students. He answered questions on a broad range of topics, including how young lawyers can improve Canada’s judicial system, how he feels about the MacDonald Laurier Institute naming the Supreme Court as 2014’s “policy-maker of the year,” why the Courts have not fully recognized the duty of "good faith" in all categories of contract, and how issues of justice affect his decision when they diverge from the issues of law that determine them.

“It was very insightful to discuss several Supreme Court cases with Justice Rothstein, as well as the delicate balance between promoting justice and interpreting the law,” says Mandy Ng, Law’15, one of the students who participated in the fireside Q&A. “Our informal chat gave me a greater appreciation of the decision-making process at the Supreme Court, and made me realize that judges are not only very intelligent, but also have an incredible sense of humour.”