Queen's Law student Mathew Good published in Advocates' Quarterly

Photo by Bernard Clark

Mathew Good, Law '09, has written a paper that is being published in an upcoming issue of the Advocates' Quarterly.

While some may think that the professional and academic journals are the realm of lawyers, judges and professors, Mathew Good, Law ‘09, is one of three Queen's Law students and alumni proving them wrong in the last couple of months. His paper, "Non-Pecuniary Damage Awards in Canada - Revisiting the Law on Caps, Compensation, and Awards at Large," will be published in an upcoming issue of the Advocates' Quarterly.

This is Mathew's second publication. His first, an academic collaboration with Professor Tsvi Kahana about Israel's constitution and the relationship between the courts and legislature, was published by the Queen's School of Policy Studies. His paper in the Advocates' Quarterly was his first independent submission.

The paper, which Mathew wrote for an advanced torts class taught by Professor Rosemary King, was later reviewed under the auspices of Professor Erik Knutsen.

"Mathew's paper grappled with an eternally thorny issue in a sophisticated way by going beyond just what other scholars say to crafting his own solution, as well," Knutsen said.

"I had not put a great deal of thought into submitting a paper for publication," Mathew said. "Professor King's support and Professor Knutsen's enthusiasm and suggestions really provided the impetus to try and get it published. My experience on the Queen's Law Journal, supervised by Professor Adell, helped to prepare me for the sometimes rough process of editing and submissions."

King saw a great deal of promise in the paper. A good academic or professional paper has to be timely, original, and gripping, and Mathew's paper was all of that and more.

"Mathew's paper revisits an area of the law which puzzles practitioners and academics alike," said King. "Particularly novel and striking is the painstaking research done on the theoretical tenets of awarding damages; and the pros and cons involved. It makes for very exciting reading."

In the paper, Mathew examines the cap on non-pecuniary awards for personal injuries in the Canadian legal system, ultimately suggesting that it is an artificial construct, and interferes with the real objective of compensation - putting the injured party back into as good a situation as they would have been in without the injury.

"It is an honour to have my work published and a real boost in confidence to be endorsed by a professional journal," said Mathew. "I think that I will be more likely to submit other work in the future."