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Login to watch this video if you have a subscription. Learn more about subscriptions.“Q & A With the Judges” is a lively, unscripted presentation in which members of the bench answer anonymously submitted and upvoted questions about how they work, what they expect from counsel, and how they manage modern civil dockets. The discussion covers how reserved judgments are tracked and monitored, what judges actually read and rely on in motion materials, preferences on citations and record organization, and the kinds of excess, disorganization, and scatter-shot argument that undermine advocacy. The panel addresses delays in written motions, the importance of early communication between counsel, and practical strategies for young lawyers handling court appearances with incomplete instructions. A significant portion of the conversation focuses on responsible use of artificial intelligence in factums and evidence, the risks of fabricated authorities and “hallucinated” facts, and the professional consequences of misusing these tools. Throughout, the judges stress integrity, clarity, proportionality in written materials, and respect for limited court time, framing these habits as essential both to effective advocacy and to building a strong, durable reputation at the bar.
Overall, the presentation centers on what judges find most helpful and most problematic in contemporary civil advocacy and on concrete habits that make counsel more effective, trusted, and efficient in court.
Justice Hackland was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in October of 2003. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1978 after completing his legal studies at the University of Ottawa Law School (LL.B,1975) and Oxford University (B.C.L.,1977) and articling at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to his appointment, he was a senior partner at Gowlings LL.P. (Ottawa) specializing in employment and administrative law and the representation of physicians and other professionals. Justice Hackland served as Regional Senior Judge of the Superior Court of Justice, East Region, (2008-14). During that period he served as Chair of the Committee of Administrative Judges of the Small Claims Court. Justice Hackland is currently a member of the Superior Court bench in Ottawa and a member of Deputy Judges’ Council (which administers Ontario’s Small Claims Court), and Chair of the Council’s Education Advisory Committee. He currently serves on the Canadian Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics and is a facilitator in the National Judicial Institute’s Evidence Workshop and Seminar for New Federally Appointed Judges.
Justice Jaye Hooper was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. After completing her undergraduate degree in International Relations, she obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor. Throughout her time at Windsor Law, she was involved with Community Legal Aid, becoming its Director of Finance in her final year. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2001. Justice Hooper spent most of her career at a boutique Ottawa litigation firm before starting her
own firm, Hooper Litigation, in 2015. She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants across a broad spectrum of litigation matters, including personal injury, employment, professional negligence, commercial, and construction law. She has acted as trial and appellate counsel at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
In addition to her practice, Justice Hooper has played an active role in Ontario's legal community. She is a past president of the County of Carleton Law Association and past chair of the Federation of Ontario Law Associations. She has been a frequent speaker at various legal conferences. In 2021, she was a contributor to the book, Autonomous Vehicles: Self-Driving Cars and the Law of Canada. Justice Hooper enjoys writing, spending time at the family cottage, and traveling. She and her husband, Paul, are very proud of their four exceptional children.
Justice Jensen is a bilingual judge who was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in November 2022. Prior to her appointment, Justice Jensen was Canada's first Federal Pay Equity Commissioner. Justice Jensen has held various roles in the legal profession including senior partner and head of the Labour and Employment group at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, Assistant Dean of the Common Law program at the University of Ottawa, full-time member of the Canadian
Human Rights Tribunal and counsel to the Law Commission of Canada. Justice Jensen has a master's degree in psychology from the University of Toronto. She worked as a social worker with marginalized populations for six years before becoming a lawyer.
The Honourable Marc R. Labrosse, was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Ottawa) in January 2014. Justice Labrosse received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa in 1994 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1996. He practised with the Ottawa law firm of Vice & Hunter since 1996. His main practise areas were municipal law, civil litigation and corporate law. Mr. Justice Labrosse has been a member of l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario since 1995 and a member of the Carleton County Law Association since 1996. He has served as an instructor for the Bar Admissions Course and been a part-time professor with the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Since being appointed, Justice Labrosse has regularly been sitting on civil, family and criminal matters in both official languages. He is the local administrative judge for the Divisional Court in Ottawa.
Justice Roger, from Hearst, Ontario, served as Case Management Master of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa from 2010 to 2015, sitting in civil and family matters. Previously, he was a partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Ottawa from 1991 to 2010, where he practised health law, insurance law, libel and defamation litigation, personal injury litigation, and professional negligence litigation. Justice Roger received a Bachelor of Commerce (Cum Laude) in 1986 and a Bachelor of Laws (Magna Cum Laude) in 1989, both from the University of Ottawa. He was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1991.His Honour was appointed as a judge of the Superior Court on June 26, 2015.
Justice Heather J. Williams was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa in May, 2017 after practising civil litigation in Ottawa for more than 25 years. Justice Williams practised with Cavanagh Williams LLP (which now goes by some other name) and before that, with Nelligan O’Brien Payne (formerly Nelligan Power). Justice Williams is proud to be a past president of the County of Carleton Law Association and a former chair of the CCLA’s Civil Litigation Updated conference at Mont Tremblant.
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