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2012 Awards Gala

6:00pmCocktail Reception

Silent Auction proceeds to benefit the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario

7:15pm Appetizers Served

7:30pmWelcome Speech: President Rishi Bandhu

Law Student of the Year: Fahad Siddiqui

Male Practitioner of the Year: Professor Faisal Bhaba

7:45pm Dinner Served

8:20pm Keynote Speech: Rahul K. Bhardwaj

8:30pm Female Practitioner of the Year: Shalini Konanur

In-House Counsel of the Year: Manju Jessa

Remarks from the Ontario Bar Association: Morris A Chochla, President

8:45pmDessert Served

Distinguished Career Award: The Honourable Mr. Justice Russell G. Juriansz

Closing Remarks

9:30pmAfter Party at Stirling Room

accessible via complimentary shuttle bus

South Asian Bar Association of Toronto

The South Asian Bar Association of Toronto is the GTA’s premier legal organization dedicated to promoting the objectives of South Asian members of the legal profession. Members of SABA include lawyers that self-identify as South Asian or are of South Asian origin, and lawyers that advocate on issues of relevance to the South Asian community

Our membership is dynamic, ever-expanding and includes lawyers from large and small law firms, sole practitioners, government agencies and departments, non-profit organizations, and corporations. Members of the judiciary, academics and law students also form an integral part of SABA.

PREFERRED SUPPLIER

SILVER LEVEL SPONSOR($2,50000)

GOLD LEVEL SPONSOR($6,00000)

PLATINUM LEVEL SPONSOR($10,00000)

BRONZE LEVEL SPONSORS($1,80000)

SABA Toronto is grateful to the following sponsors for their support SABA Toronto is grateful to the following sponsors for their support

Rishi Bandhu WATERSHED LLP

Puja KumarTHIRD EYE CAPITAL

Sona SoodMINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Dal BhathalTHE COUNSEL NETWORK

Sundeep SandhuBLANEY MCMURTRY LLP

Jayashree GoswamiHOUSER ASSOCIATES, ZURICH CANADIAN HOLDINGS LIMITED

Pradeep Chand BRAUTI THORNING ZIBARRAS LLP

Gargi ChopraCHITIZ PATHAK LLP

Keya DasguptaNORTON ROSE CANADA LLP

Reshma KishnaniBASMAN SMITH LLP

Sapna Mahboobani SAPNA LAW PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

Saman Wickramsinghe LOCKYER CAMPBELL POSNER

Saba ZiaFRASER MILNER CASGRAIN LLP

Sirpal RandhawaGOWLING LAFLEUR HENDERSON LLP

Rustam JumaHEENAN BLAIKIE LLP

SABA’s achievement awards are presented annually to members of the Ontario legal profession in recognition of their outstanding dedication, creativity,

initiative, achievement and contribution to the community, profession, legal scholarship and pro bono activities.

SABA Toronto congratulations all of this year’s winners

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Raj Anand WEIR FOULDS LLP

Andre Bacchus HEENAN BLAIKIE

Dal Bhathal THE COUNSEL NETWORK

Av Maharaj KELLOGG CANADA INC.

Sanjeev Mitra AIRD & BERLIS LLP

Bobby Sachdeva PALLETT VALO, LLP

A donation has been made to the South Asian Women’s Centre on behalf of the Awards’ Committee to show our appreciation for their assistance.

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2012 RECIPIENT

FAHAD SIDDIQUI

Fahad Siddiqui is a third-year student at Osgoode Hall Law School. He holds a BA in History from the University of Toronto and a Master’s in International Law from the University of London where he graduated top of his class. He then spent a year with a well-known human rights NGO in Egypt acting as Legal Officer for North Africa and Sudan. In this role, Fahad travelled throughout North Africa and represented jailed human rights activists before the African Commission on Human Rights.

As a law student, Fahad has maintained an A-average and received numerous scholarships and awards. He has also lead diversity initiatives, including academic success and professional development workshops for first-year students of colour, and is a mentor to a number of Osgoode and York University students. This past summer, Fahad worked as both a Volunteer Caseworker for the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York, and as a Summer Associate in the New York office of one the world’s leading international law firms.

Following his graduation from Osgoode, Fahad will be clerking at the Ontario Court of Appeal, where he will complete his articles.

Law Student of the Year

2012 RECIPIENT

PROFESSOR FAISAL BHABA

Faisal Bhabha, Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, has researched and published in the areas of human rights, equality, multiculturalism, national security and access to justice. Previously, he sat as Vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, where he adjudicated cases of alleged discrimination under the Human Rights Code. He holds an LLM from Harvard Law School, and has lived and researched in South Africa and the Middle East. His current research projects pursue interest in diversity in legal education; ethics and legal professionalism; and human rights and legal pluralism. Prior to entering academia, Professor Bhabha carried on a varied public and private law practice, appearing before administrative boards and tribunals and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also advised or represented numerous public interest organizations and NGOs in matters related to constitutional law and human rights, and continues to engage in public interest litigation. Last year, he represented a national Muslim organization in a Supreme Court intervention in NS, a case about the niqab in the courtroom. Professor Bhabha has served as a member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Upper Canada and has been involved in a number of local and international initiatives concerning justice and development.

Male Practitioner of the Year

2012 RECIPIENT

SHALINI KONANUR

Shalini Konanur is a Barrister & Solicitor and the Executive Director of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO). A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Shalini was called to the bar in Ontario in 2000. As a student she worked at Parkdale Community Legal Services and then at CLASP (Osgoode Hall’s student legal clinic) in the worker’s rights divisions of both organizations. Shalini also articled at the Canadian Autoworkers Union with a focus on employee/union side labour law.

After her call, Shalini made the decision to focus her career on poverty law, a field she found inspiring as a student. Shalini took a position as a staff lawyer at Renfrew County Legal Clinic, where she witnessed some of her most impoverished clients and was exposed to the lack of access to justice and legal services available to these rural Ontarians. Shalini returned to the GTA to take a position at Mississauga Community Legal Services to jump-start their immigration practice. While there she appeared several times at the federal court and did region-wide training for municipal workers in Peel on immigration issues.

Since taking on the role of Executive Director at SALCO in 2008, Konanur has helped the organization become a significant voice for low-income South Asians in Ontario. Under Shalini’s guidance SALCO has intervened multiple times at the Supreme Court of Canada, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Federal Court of Appeal, and Ontario’s Divisional Court and Court of Appeal on issues including racial and religious discrimination, immigration, family violence, the racialization of poverty, and the continued erosion of judicial access for low-income South Asians. SALCO has also become a national leader on the issue of forced marriage and the protection of woman and girls in violent situations. Shalini has spoken on several expert panels on topics such as diversity on the bench, the term “honour” as it relates to the South Asian community, racism in our criminal justice and immigration systems, and the disproportionate rate of poverty among South Asians in Ontario.

In her private life, Shalini is classically trained in South Indian music, and enjoys a wonderful home life with her husband and 3-year-old son, who she is training to be her youngest SALCO activist!

Female Practitioner of the Year

The Female Practitioner of the Year Award is generously sponsored by

In-House Counsel of the Year

2012 RECIPIENT

MANJU JESSAManju Jessa is Senior Counsel and Head of the International Wealth Management legal team at the RBC General Counsel Group. Along with her team of six senior counsel, she tackles the world of International Wealth Management by structuring, negotiating and customizing credit agreements; collateral arrangements, registrations/perfection of security and bespoke derivatives for high net-worth individuals for all business units dotted around the world. In addition to this, Manju is part of a several internal committees which deal with escalation matters, enterprise/wealth management policies, mentoring and diversity.

Originally from the U.K., Manju completed her legal training in England and practiced corporate and commercial law in the U.K. prior to joining OM London Exchange as Chief In-house Counsel. After moving to Canada in 2003, she joined Scotiabank’s derivatives group working on transactions from Toronto, but also supporting the U.S., Asia, Europe and Mexico businesses. From 2005 to Nov 2008, Manju practiced law at McMillan LLP (Toronto) in the financial services group.

In November 2011, Manju was named one of the Lexpert Rising Stars, an award for Canada’s best lawyers under 40. In September of that same year, Manju accepted the award for Diversity Action by In-House Department at the 2011 Lexpert Zenith Awards. Manju has been featured in AMÖI Magazine as well as Women of Influence Magazine. At the request of McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Manju co-wrote a case study based on RBC General Counsel Group practices and was published in a book entitled Project Management for Lawyers.

Manju is married and has two sons aged 3 and 5. She is almost a vegan which means she cooks an awful lot at home much to her husband’s delight. She speaks Gujarati in her home and is raising her sons to be conversant in this language.

The Female Practitioner of the Year Award is generously sponsored by

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StartersVEGETARIAN

Sev puriHaryali kebab stuffed with goat cheese

Gulisatni kebab

NON-VEGETARIAN

Fish KolawadiSundried chicken tikka

Main CourseSpring mix & sprouted bean salad with Host special mango dressing

VEGETARIAN

Dal BukharaTawa Vegetable –Kur kuri bhindi & baigan

Paneer tikka masala

NON-VEGETARIAN

Butter chickenBoneless Rajistani goat

BREAD & RICE

Laccha paratha and NanPalak pilau

DessertRasmalai with gajjar halwa

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2012 RECIPIENT

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RUSSELL JURIANSZ

The Honourable Mr. Justice Russell G. Juriansz was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on March 12, 2004. He was the first person, not white, to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Justice Juriansz was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice on March 17, 1998. He was the first, and so far only, person of South Asian origin to be appointed to the Superior Court. While at the Superior Court, he was president of the Ontario Superior Court Judges Association from April 2002 until his elevation to the Court of Appeal.

Justice Juriansz was born December 24, 1946 in Pune, India. His family emigrated to Canada, arriving by boat, on April 5, 1955. He graduated from Northview Heights Collegiate Institute in 1965, and from the University of Toronto in 1969 with a science degree. He attended Osgoode Hall law School where he was elected president of the students association (The Legal & Literary Society) and was awarded the Osgoode Hall Gold Key for outstanding achievement and contribution to school life on his graduation in 1972.

Upon his call to the bar of Ontario in March of 1974 he first practiced general litigation in Toronto. He was a consultant to The Metro Toronto Task Force on Human Relations (The Pittman Commission) in 1976 -- 77, which was appointed to inquire into violence against the people of South Asian origin. After that, for the rest of his career, Justice Juriansz practiced primarily in the human rights area.

Beginning in 1977, he spent 10 years with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa where he was first legal counsel, then General Counsel and Director of Legal Services. He left the Commission in January 1987 to join Blake, Cassels & Graydon, where he was a partner. Immediately before his appointment, he had his own boutique law firm specializing in human rights cases.

As a lawyer, Justice Juriansz appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada in some of the leading human rights cases: O’Malley and Bhinder, that recognized systemic discrimination; Robichaud, the first sexual harassment case to reach the Supreme Court; Taylor & Western Guard Party, which confirmed the constitutionality of s. 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which prohibits exposing people to hatred and contempt on a ground of discrimination. He was counsel in the Women in Combat case that opened combat trades in the Armed Forces to women. He also represented newspapers in a number of freedom of the press cases.

Justice Juriansz lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters.

Distinguished Career Award

The Distinguished Career Award is generously sponsored by

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