Shauna Van Praagh Book Launch “Building Justice: Frank Iacobucci and the Life Cycles of Law”.
This event is open to all current students, the invitation extends to faculty, staff and alumni.
Please join Professor Shauna Van Praagh for a reading and conversation on life and learning in law based on her newly published book:(University of Toronto Press, 2022).
Building Justice: Frank Iacobucci and the Life Cycles of Lawdraws on the contributions of Canadian jurist Frank Iacobucci to provide critical insight into the study of law and the contours of engaged citizenship through law. Grounded in Iacobucci’s own voice intertwined with voices of individuals, including the author, whose life projects have been marked by the intersection of their paths with his, the book takes the unique shape of a narrative collage. Readers are invited to hear many stories situated in multiple modes of practicing law and participating in the building of justice. The principal message, that nothing is final, fixed, or finished, is illustrated through the central image – found in a story often repeated by Frank Iacobucci - of “building a cathedral”. This is a book about identity, tracing the tale of a child born in Vancouver to semi-literate Italian immigrants who, ignoring the warning that he had the wrong kind of name to study law, went on to become a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. It is a book about responsibility, underscoring the significant post-retirement role played by Iacobucci in Canada’s multi-faceted and ongoing response to the legacy of Residential Schools. It is also a book about the importance and power of intergenerational mentoring; written by a legal scholar with 30 years of experience in law teaching, it shows how our trajectories are shaped and our impact assessed through connections with others in our lives.
Reception to follow at 17h00.Caren and Jordan H. Waxman Common Room, Old Chancellor Day Hall (entrance through 3660 Peel Street)