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The Honourable Abraham (Abe) Lieff ’26 (1903-2007)
Abraham (Abe) Lieff was the first Jewish justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario and, as such, was also the first person to be sworn in wearing a yarmulke and holding the Old Testament. Born in Antopol, Poland (now Belarus), Lieff emigrated to Canada when he was just one year old. After graduating from Osgoode in 1926, Lieff joined his brother’s practice in Ottawa where he specialized in family law (at a time when divorces could only be obtained through special acts of Parliament). In 1963, he was appointed to the Superior Court of Ontario and, as a judge, pioneered the use of pre-trial conferences for mediating child custody, spousal support and other contentious disputes outside of the courtroom. Lieff’s contributions earned him the title of “Father of Ontario Family Law.” He was an example for generations of Jewish lawyers in Canada who aspired to leadership positions in the profession.
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1926 - How Much Should We Know?
The Law Society of Upper Canada adopts the Canadian Bar Association’s recommendation that two years of university training be a prerequisite to legal studies. York Street from the Osgoode gates, 1927.
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Margaret Hyndman ’25 (1902-1991)
Upon Margaret Hyndman’s call to the bar, the guest of honor remarked that he regretted that her parents had spent so much money to educate her for a profession in which there was no room for women. Undeterred, Hyndman went on to establish a successful career in company law and litigation. In 1945, she became the first woman director of a Canadian trust company. She was also the first Canadian woman to appear before the Privy Council in London. During WWII, Hyndman organized the voluntary registration of Canadian women for war work and pushed to provide free legal aid to members of the Armed Forces and their families. For her services to the Free France Movement she was awarded a citation from Charles DeGaulle and received a silver medal from the City of Paris. A passionate advocate of women’s rights, Hyndman served on many legal and women’s organizations, such as the National and International Federation of Business and Professional Women. In her role as president, she helped shape Ontario’s legislation on equal pay for equal work. Hyndman also participated in the Kaufman birth control case, the Lavell case involving native women's loss of status after marrying non-native men, as well as the Bell Canada equal pay case. In recognition of her accomplishments, she was appointed the second female King’s Counsel in 1938, a member of the Order of Canada in 1973, and received the Law Society Medal in 1986.
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1925 - Champions
The Osgoode Hall football team makes a comeback in the Ontario Intercollegiate Union. The Osgoode Hall Intercollegiate football team, 1925.
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David A. Croll ’24 (1900–1991)
David Croll was born in Moscow and immigrated with his family to Canada when he was a young boy. An early advocate of welfare and other types of social assistance, Croll first worked as a lawyer then moved into politics. He served as the mayor of Windsor from 1931 to 1934 during the height of the Great Depression. Croll insisted the city go into deficit in order to provide relief programs for the unemployed and destitute. He became Canada’s first Jewish cabinet minister when he was appointed the Minister of Public Welfare under Mitchell Hepburn’s Liberal government. While serving as Minister of Labour, Croll resigned from Hepburn’s Cabinet, after the Premier sided with General Motors during the 1937 United Auto Workers Strike in Oshawa. He wrote: “I would rather walk with the workers than ride with General Motors.” After another term as mayor of Windsor, and service with the Canadian Army during WWII, he was elected as an MP for Toronto-Spadina riding. Croll became Canada’s first Jewish senator in 1955. He was the author of an influential report on poverty, which moved the Trudeau government to triple family allowances and institute the Child Tax Credit in 1978. Croll was also responsible for several Senate reports on aging. In 1990, he was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council, an honour usually given only to federal cabinet ministers.
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