Osgoode Hall Law School introduces six new donor-funded awards

Osgoode Hall Law School has announced six new student awards funded by donors.

The law school will annually award the Bill Francis ’60 Bursary to a first-year JD student with financial need. The bursary, donated by the Five B Family Foundation, was established in the memory of Bill Francis ’60.

The Mary L. MacGregor Memorial Award will be awarded to a second-year or third-year JD student with financial need, high academic standing, an interest in estate law and active community involvement in the law school. The family, friends, and colleagues of Mary MacGregor donated the award. MacGregor, who was a trusts and estates lawyer for over four decades, taught estate and succession law at Osgoode and estate planning and administration for the Ontario Bar Admission Course. In 2011, the Ontario Bar Association distinguished her with the Award for Excellence in Trusts and Estates.

The McCabe Valuations Bursary will annually go to a JD student showing financial need. Patrick McCabe, owner and founder of McCabe Valuations, established this $2,500 annual bursary to honour the professionalism of the lawyers with whom McCabe has worked when seeking fair and equitable valuations in disputes in the areas of family law, commercial litigation and civil litigation. McCabe offers valuation and advisory services to organizations and litigation teams in Canada and in the U.S.

“We recognize the stress that students may be under, especially at this time,” said Patrick McCabe in a news release. “We wanted to support a law student and future law students that are working hard towards their goals and hopefully relieve a bit of financial stress.”

The Susan Vella Social Justice Award will go to a second-year or third-year student with financial need, a grade that is a minimum of B average and a demonstrated interest in furnishing legal services to marginalized populations in the areas of sexualized misconduct or domestic violence. The award, donated by Susan Vella’s family, friends and colleagues, marks her milestone birthday. Vella, an Osgoode graduate who was described as “a pioneer in developing the area of civil liability for sexual abuse in Canada” in the law school’s news release, served as counsel in numerous landmark civil cases and to public inquiries relating to issues of sexual and other kinds of violence.

The Tom Curry Family Award will annually go to a JD student with financial need and with an interest in litigation. Tom Curry, a trial and appellate counsel who graduated from Osgoode in 1984, created the award as a means for his family to back the future generation of lawyers.

The Wildeboer Dellelce LLP Award, which was donated by the firm of the same name, annually goes to a JD student with financial need, good academic standing, at least one year completed in the program and the highest degree of interest in business law. Wildeboer Dellelce is a corporate, securities and business transactional law firm.

In the news release, the law school thanked the donors for creating these new student awards.