Queen’s Law Celebrates Borden Ladner Gervais Research Fellowship

Photo by Mindy Rose Caterina-Neufeld

Professor Darry Robinson and Logan Crowell, Law '12, at the BLG reception in the student lounge on November 23, 2010

Lawyers from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) joined faculty and students in the student lounge on November 23, 2010, to celebrate the completion of research funded by BLG’s 2010 Research Fellowship. The $12,000 research grant was awarded to Logan Crowell, Law ‘12, enabling him to assist Professor Darryl Robinson throughout the summer with research related to international criminal law.

Robinson's and Logan’s research focused on how international criminal law departs from complying with fundamental legal principles, despite aiming to comply with them, and culminated in a paper entitled “The Controversy over Territorial State Referrals: Reflections on International Criminal Law Discourse.” The paper will be published in the Journal of International Criminal Justice.

“Logan is a resourceful researcher, a strong writer and a thoughtful analyst,” Robinson said, “Working together was both very productive and very enjoyable.”

In an address at the reception, Logan spoke about the advantages of being able to assist Robinson over such a long period. “It’s one thing to be a research assistant,” he said, “it’s another to work through the entire process – you get a holistic perspective on something you might not have otherwise.”

Photo by Mindy Rose Caterina-Neufeld

Peter Doody, Law '80, of BLG, Dean Bill Flanagan, Logan Crowell, Law '12, and Professor Darry Robinson at the BLG reception

“The purpose of the award was to invest in the academic underpinnings of the legal profession – to strengthen academia and build the profession in that way,” said Peter Doody, Law ’80, a partner at BLG’s Ottawa office. “We’ve awarded these fellowships in every area of study. The professor who benefited from today’s award has done a lot of work in international criminal law, so from our perspective the fellowship has done exactly what it set out to do and we’re quite happy.”

The grant, which began in 2004, was originally awarded each year to 10 students from 14 participating Canadian law schools. In 2009, BLG expanded the project and committed to granting 20 annual fellowship awards of $12,000 until 2013. Selected students are able to spend the summer after their first year assisting faculty with leading research.

Dean Bill Flanagan, who was also in attendance at the reception, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity made available by BLG. “It sends a strong signal about how BLG supports Canadian law schools and cares about providing students with exceptional research opportunities,” he said.

Queen’s Law students will be able to apply for the 2011 BLG Research Fellowship once a faculty researcher has been selected.