Why Choose Ivey

By: Dany Horovitz · May 15, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized · Add Comment 

Every beginning is a consequence – every beginning ends some thin.
~ Paul Valery

I kid you not; it is 2:52am according to my computer. I just got home from one of those nights that you wish wouldn’t end. I said goodbye to a lot of close friends who graduated today. We laughed, and danced, and drank the night away.

I know that it has been a while since I wrote, and I did not say anything about Ivey’s elective cycle. What could I say? It was an exhilarating six weeks full of simulations, negotiations, presentations, and genuine business opportunities. I enjoyed it very much, and I would have had much to say if my workdays weren’t 12 hours long. But no matter, it was worth it.

Today was convocation, and Ivey’s MBA graduates crossed the stage. As a JD/MBA student, I could not go with them; the nature of my program is, understandably, that I do not get to receive either degree until I complete both. In one year’s time I will finally have my MBA, but I will always remain a proud member of the class of Spring 2009.

Do you want to know the reason why you should choose Ivey for your MBA? It is this: we care about each other.

As you probably know, Ivey’s main competitive advantage is it’s alumni network, but to say it that way sounds cold, unfeeling, and, well, business-like. The truth is that Ivey’s network runs much deeper: it is about fellowship, friendship, and to a certain extent love. Every member of this graduating class has earned my respect and, more importantly, my trust. To a certain extent, each Ivey alumnus now has my respect as well; after all, Ivey’s admission process is rigorous. It was no coincident that this certain group of students was admitted last year, and it was not coincidence in years past; which students make up the next generation will not be a coincidence, either. If you are offered a spot at Ivey, take it because you will fit in. As the career management team is fond of saying, no one gets into Ivey by accidence.

Last week, Ivey held its biannual semi-formal, and I began chatting with a new student. I told him, give your peers your very best and watch as you receive theirs right back. You can learn something from everyone all of the time.

There is not much more that I can write in this blog, except that it will not be my last. You have another year of me, yet, dear reader. With the exception of a few business electives that I must take at the end of the summer to complete my MBA, the rest of my education lies in the faculty of law at Western. However, I am quite suspicious that the rest of my legal education and apprenticeship will symbiotically tied to my time at Ivey.

Congratulations, Class of Spring 2009.

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Real Media Don’t Die, We Multiply

By: Omar Ha-Redeye · April 7, 2009 · Filed Under Administrative, Diversity in Law, Law School, Marketing/PR in Law, Media Law · 1 Comment 

If you’ve been alive and on the Internet in the past year you would have read the obituaries – print newspapers are dead.  Or dying, so they claim.

Some are even claiming the recession with determine the outcome of print, who are expected to see a major decline in 2009.  Even law reviews are seeing the transition to exclusive virtual publication.  And print legal researchers may be an endangered species.

One of the best April Fool’s gags this year was The Guardian’s story on how they had moved to Twitter – exclusively.

But others claim that traditional media is not dying, it’s simply changing.  Parker Mason, a PR friend of mine in TO said,

Did the invention of the printing press kill off the spoken word? No. It just meant that hand-lettered books were no longer necessary, and it gave more people access to literature and information.

Did the invention of radio kill off the written word? Again, no.

Did television indeed kill the radio star? No, but it might have forced some radio stars to adapt to become more television-friendly. And it also created a whole knew breed of radio stars.

Did the internet kill television? Again, no. If you’re like me, you might not use an actual television set but you probably still enjoy watching television shows on your computer or portable device.

Print media is likely to be around regardless.  What papers will do is probably enhance their online presence, and many Canadian papers are already seeing an explosion of comments and interactivity on their sites.  Dany Horovitz of Law is Cool also writes for the National Post’s Executive Blog, an exclusively digital publication.

Legal media is probably not much different, despite our affinity in this industry for paper.  With over 4,500 hits a day on this site (and growing), we’re competing directly with legal print media for numbers.  But not necessarily readership, because ours is global; or even for content, given our unique format and different focus on students specifically.

Smart newspapers will make this transition seamlessly.  Smarter ones will partner with existing online media outlets.

The University of Western Ontario’s law school paper, Nexus, did post here for some time through their former editor-in-chief, Alex Dimson.  The paper has gone through some changes and is now named Amicus Curiae, and we’re pleased to announce that the new paper will posting selective articles on Law is Cool as well.

Check out Ahmed Farahat’s excellent interview with Justice Binnie.  Kamila Pizon of Amicus Curiae will also be posting shortly on the transition from LL.B. to J.D.

The synergies between print and virtual media are natural but often overlooked.  We benefit from well-researched, carefully edited pieces, and they have an opportunity to speak to a larger audience.

Trained journalists also benefit from going online, and bring their writing skills with them.

For example, we’ve just taken on Digal Haio, a 2L at Osgoode.  I first met Digal years ago during outreach activities in politics, where she was working for the Somali Press, an important voice for a vibrant and dynamic community with unique challenges of marginalization, discrimination, and racism. We’ve always had a strong mandate on this site for social justice and empowerment, and her contributions will definitely be valued.

At one time I also worked as a reporter in a print-based newspaper as a side job.

But the conversation goes the other way as well.  I recently did an interview with Charles Adler on his nationally-syndicated radio show.  The topic of conversation?  My blog post on Animal Spirits, something everyone is worrying about in the midst of the G20 and economic troubles. I did another interview yesterday with Luigi Bennetton for Lawyers Weekly on web collaboration and wikis.

The Internet is an excellent place journalists to find topics of interest among the public, and find resources and experts for their pieces.

Law firms and lawyers have never underestimated the need for media presence, for client development or even basic advocacy.  At some point they’ll have to start including online media, because that’s where most of the content will be.  The University of Western Ontario law school recently started posting videos and downloadable audio files for our distinguished speakers, a move that will likely increase their profile generally in the legal community.

The growth of online media does not necessarily mean the demise of print.  It just harkens change, one of the inevitabilities in life.  Those embracing this change will not only flourish, but will find their media experiences enriched as a result.

Please note most of us are entering our exam period, and regular postings will be on hold.

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Flexibility, Please

By: Dany Horovitz · April 6, 2009 · Filed Under Corporate Law · Add Comment 

Blame the current economic crisis on too much debt taken on with too little research.

Nobel Prize winning economist Myron Scholes lectured at the University of Western Ontario’s Faculty of Law on March 19, packing the faculty’s largest classroom to overflowing with students, professors and businesspersons curious to know what the Professor (Emeritus) of Finance from Stanford University had to say about today’s financial doldrums.

Scholes, who won the Nobel Prize in 1997 for work on the Black-Scholes Options Pricing Theory, was speaking as part of the Torys LLP Business and Law Pre-Eminent Scholars Series.

When financing operations, business organizations can choose between raising equity by selling shares, or taking on debt. Often they prefer debt financing because interest on debt is tax deductible.

Leading up to the crisis, financial institutions leveraged debt heavily, which means the outcomes, whether positive or negative, would be magnified.

One of the main problems with the current debt market, Scholes suggested, is the debt rating system. Under the current regime, debt that is considered high quality is low risk for investors. By comparison, debt that is rated lower is considered more risky — and with that weighting comes a greater promised rate of return.

Scholes offered several criticisms of the rating system.

First, he suggested that rating agencies use too little data in making their assumptions. The agencies used data from only the last few years and assumed – incorrectly, as it turned out – that housing prices wouldn’t fall. Had agencies used older data, they would have seen different long-term trends.

Secondly, rating agencies assumed that any losses on housing prices would occur idiosyncratically. In other words, their models did not have a built-in contagion or domino effect.

Thirdly, the current rating system suffers from a “cheapest to deliver” problem. Scholes compared the problem to buying wheat. If wheat vendors are only allowed to put up to X amount of sawdust in their wheat, then those vendors will put exactly X amount of sawdust in their wheat. Likewise, when rating agencies specify precisely what criteria will achieve a high rating of, say, AAA, then companies will do just enough to pass that test and no more. Indeed, they will keep pushing the envelope to get away with doing less.

In the future, Scholes said our economies will need a design with more flexibility. Flexibility refers to the ability to protect oneself with financial reserves.

During prosperous times, keeping reserves, such as money in the bank, instead of investing is seen as costly. However, a policy based on the preservation of some flexibility will signal to people that having options is a part of life. By example, carrying an umbrella when it does not rain is burdensome; not carrying an umbrella when it starts to rain is more burdensome. As people become afraid, they build up excess amounts of reserves and money stops flowing through the economy.

Ultimately, Scholes argued that the cost of being reactive is gigantic. Financial and political leaders should think about developing proactive solutions that build flexibility into our economy.

The Torys LLP Business and Law Pre-Eminent Scholars series is one of Western Law’s most popular courses. Each month one of the world’s top legal and business scholars presents a paper in his or her area of expertise to Western law students.

Cross-posted from the Financial Post Executive Blog and the UWO Law site.

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Catching Up

By: Dany Horovitz · March 12, 2009 · Filed Under Law School · Add Comment 

Cross-Posted from the Financial Post Executive Blog

I’m surprised how long it’s been since I last wrote; my life has been a whirlwind of activity for the past several weeks. Let me bring you up to speed.

I’d like to start with ‘Obiter Dicta,’ Western Law’s annual charity talent show. The phrase ‘Obiter Dicta’ originates from the legal term for parts of written judgments that aren’t legally binding: it is Latin for ‘by the way.’ Western Law has a lot of talent, and it was a lot of fun to watch the various musical and comedy acts. Each class also makes a video and displays it to the rest of the school. The night is a lot of fun and always one of the big highlights of the year. I even went up on stage to play my guitar for the audience, and I don’t normally like to do that.

What I noticed most during the show were the third year students. For them, the night marked the very last ‘Obiter Dicta’ that they would attend. Near the end of the night, there was a great sense of nostalgia in the air, especially as the student council president got up and blew the audience away with his own law-school cover of Vanilla Ice’s Ice, Ice Baby. Not long ago, I asked a friend of mine who is articling in Toronto whether he’s enjoying working. He looked away for just a moment and responded, “Yes, I really am. But at the same time, my advice to you is to enjoy every moment of law school. It just won’t happen again.” I am sure that at the talent show, the third years were thinking something similar, just as I am sure that those words will be on my mind next year, at my last ‘Obiter Dicta.’

I didn’t have too much time to think about it because I had final exams shortly after. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but at Western, a joint-degree student’s second year is split between the faculty of law and the Richard Ivey School of Business. I took one night off to attend “Obiter Dicta,” and then I went back to studying for my business exams: marketing, operations, and information technology. Business exams at Ivey all have a very large strategy component to them. In some ways, it is frustrating because as a student you spend so much time studying concepts, only to spend half an exam discussing strategy. On the other hand, I get it: Ivey’s director of recruitment told me once that they try to admit students who seem like they would make good CEOs. The underlying philosophy is clear: Ivey wants its grads not only to understand business concepts, but also to have the ability to apply those concepts to a certain set of facts and make a well-informed decision. I wrote the exams while doing my best to keep that idea in mind.

Exams weren’t the end of the module, either. The next week – last week – my class took part in a marketing simulation, done through a computer program. Teams of students made decisions about what attributes to give products and how best to market those products. The teams were then pitted against each other to grab market share in two hypothetical target segments: one mature, and one new. The simulation required a great amount of decision-making, and an even greater amount of teamwork. It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress, and ultimately (in my opinion) a significant part of the learning experience at Ivey.

Speaking of marketing let me tell you about ICP. All Ivey students are required to work in teams on a pro-bono Ivey Consulting Project (ICP) for a real client; my team developed a marketing plan for a local London business. It was a project that we had been working on since the fall of 2008, but in the last few weeks the work really picked up. On Monday, we handed in our final report. I am pretty satisfied with the results; when we began the project I thought I knew what our recommendations would be. As the project continued, it was incredible to see which ideas were wrong, which ones were right, and which ones were right but for the wrong reasons.

Around the time that SABRE happened, I got an email saying that I was accepted to study abroad next fall at the University of Limerick, in Ireland. I was very happy when I got the news because Ireland was my first choice for exchange. I had visited Dublin before, and had a fantastic time. Did you know that Guinness tastes better over there? Also, going on exchange to Ireland means a great opportunity to spend a few weekends visiting the rest of Europe. I’m really looking forward to the fall semester.

And now I am on reading week. To be honest, I needed the break, but I’m already getting a little restless. I’ve been so busy recently that I didn’t notice how much fun I had. As I tread ever closer to the end of my life as a student, I know that I will remember my friend’s words more. So far, at least, I’m enjoying every moment.

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My Brand (As a Joint Student)

By: Dany Horovitz · February 11, 2009 · Filed Under Law School, Marketing/PR in Law · 1 Comment 

Cross-posted from the Financial Post

When I was an undergrad, Western law had the reputation for being the “business” law school. Indeed, Western makes an effort to distinguish itself through this brand; in fact, one of the criticisms levied against the school is that it is too focused on business law and not enough on other concentrations, like family and criminal law. I don’t mind. It is the corporate law brand that I’m interested in.

It was never clear to me exactly how Western law got its reputation, until a friend of mine pointed out to me that Western itself, had always been known as the “business” university, thanks to Ivey. Rankings notwithstanding, Western has always been home to the oldest business school in the country. Ivey places great emphasis on alumni relations, who spread the reputation through their words and deeds, and the business reputation continues. As far back as anyone can remember it has always had a great reputation. The entire university benefits from that brand, including the law school.

In this blog, I have often sung the praises of Ivey, without giving the faculty of law its due. I chose Western based on a number of factors, including its reputation, and I haven’t questioned my decision since. Midway through my degree, I am still in awe of many Western’s law students whether they are in the joint program or not. They are more than just smart: Western law students are smart in a way that’s useful.

Just the same, I confess that I feel a special connection when I meet joint-degree students, whether HBA/JD or JD/MBA. I think that every joint student here does. In fact, it’s the same feeling I get when I meet someone who graduated from McGill (my undergraduate alma mater). It’s the feeling of sameness, that feeling of association. Anyone who has ever been involved in the Greek system of fraternities and sororities probably knows what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever traveled to another country and randomly met someone from your hometown, you probably know what I’m talking about too.

A handful of students have just received offers of admission into the JD/MBA program. The way the program is designed, they apply before or during first year, and begin the program the following spring after their law school final exams are done. The new class starts business school this May, just as I started last May. Knowing what I now know about the program, I am very excited for them all. I am also excited for the long-term future of the program. The more time I spent in the program, the stronger the bond I felt to the program’s brand, and the more important it became to me that next year’s class succeed.

Today I received an email from one of the new students in the class, who wants to organize a clothing sale for the group. Last summer I organized one, so when I read the e-mail I smiled. The surest sign that any academic or social group will succeed is when the next generation wants to become actively involved.

Growing up, my father always told me: you’re only as good as your next sale. In other words, always try to do better. If you didn’t do great last time, you’ll get better; if you did great last time, there is no reason to be arrogant and become complacent. Western law wasn’t complacent: it matured its business law brand by recruiting the top business law academics in the country. Ivey matured its MBA brand by restructuring the program to stay competitive in a world that emphasizes a one-year degree. The three-year JD/MBA brand at Western/Ivey is still very young, so it’s hard to see how exactly it will mature; but if every generation going forward brings in students who want to get involved, then I can only foresee success for my program and my brand.

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Welcoming Dany Horovitz and Darcy Ammerman

By: Law is Cool · November 21, 2008 · Filed Under Administrative · Add Comment 

Law is Cool is forever growing and expanding.

We welcome our two newest contributors, Dany Horovitz of the University of Western Ontario, and Darcy Ammerman of the University of Ottawa.

Dany Horovitz is in his second year in the J.D./M.B.A. program at UWO.  He writes for the Financial Post Executive Blog and cross-posts his entries here.

Darcy Ammerman is a second-year law student at the University of Ottawa, and the Fundraising Coordinator for the Health Law Student Association (HLSA).  She will be posting about events and activities related to the HLSA.

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My Race to the Finish

By: Dany Horovitz · November 17, 2008 · Filed Under Law School · 3 Comments 

By Dany Horovitz

Whenever anyone asks me what the difference is between an MBA and a JD for a joint degree student, I tell them that an MBA is more much more intense, and a law degree is far more stressful. This summer, while in the MBA program, I probably spent 3 hours everyday on homework, but the grade curve is kept pretty tight; as long as I kept on top of the work I would do well.

Law school is very different. For the first 8 weeks of a semester, you just need to show up to class and do readings (a week’s worth of readings can usually all be done on a Saturday). The last 4 weeks of the semester are spent in a mad-dash, trying to consolidate your understanding of the law, to make sure that you get how all the pieces of the legal puzzles fit together. At the end of the process, you should have a brief summation that you can refer to during the open book final exam.

In reality, summaries are rare brief. To return to an old favorite, in the movie The Paper Chase, one student praises his property law summary as being “800 pages long and fantastic.” To give you a real world example, a friend of mine who graduated and now works at a top Toronto law firm showed me her corporate law summary of 150 pages.

The theory goes that law professors are given more leeway than undergraduate professors to create tricky and specific questions because students have access to all of their notes. In reality, the problems are so many and complex that if you have to check your summary during an exam, you’re already in trouble. The invention of the computer has, I suspect, made law school tougher, not easier. Someone who copies and pastes a case summary from the Internet can be just as competitive in an exam situation as someone who has actually read all of the cases. Competition is fierce, and professors are under pressure to hand out a certain amount of each letter grade that the difference between a B+ and a C+ may be as many as a single multiple choice question (a recent Civil Procedure mid-term at UWO law had exactly that result). And, as I have mentioned before, getting a job as a lawyer is all about grades.

I am not here to criticize the process – after all, with so many applicants, comparing trascripts seems to be the most efficient way to discriminate between prospective new hires. But it also means that the last month before exams is a blur of 12 hour work days, every day including weekends; for those who suggest that real lawyers work just as hard, I counter that real lawyer gets paid for it. Law students get marked, and perhaps poorly, depending on the temperament of the marker on a given moment. Exams are nothing more than legal fiction, but studying for them is more stressful than real work.

Of course I cannot change the way it is, and I will not try. I don’t have the time anyway. Yesterday I ran out of food but didn’t have time to go grocery shopping, so I started eating the basics of food. For dinner tonight I ate chicken broth and peanut butter.

It is currently the first semester of my second year. It is also the only semester that I have at law school before next summer because I will go back to Ivey in January. I need to have a good average this semester, because when you only have four classes, even one bad mark will stand out as some student recruiter look at my transcript. If I don’t get good marks, it becomes much harder to find a job. In a nutshell, that’s why I say that an MBA is more intense but law school is more stressful.

I can’t wait for this semester to be over, to go back to Ivey to that every day grind reading and solving problems on a case-by-case basis. It is intense, difficult, and you have to keep up with the workload; no doubt about it, the MBA experience far more accurately mimics what work as a lawyer will be like. Yes, I can’t wait for this semester to be over, and more than anything else I can’t wait to be a lawyer.

Posted: November 16, 2008, by Reproduced from the Financial Post Executive Blog with the author’s permission.

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