Professor Stephanie Ben-Ishai Selected as 2012-2013 Scholar in Residence

Dean Lorne Sossin and Dr. Patricia Hughes, the Executive Director of the LCO, are pleased to announce that Professor Stephanie Ben-Ishai has been selected as the OHLS LCO Scholar in Residence for 2012-2013. Professor Ben-Ishai has received teaching release for the winter term and will serve as Scholar from January 1 to June 30, 2013. 

Professor Ben-Ishai will undertake research in connection with her own project, “Peddling Relief: An Examination of the debt Relief Industry in Ontario”.  Canada’s household debt-to-disposable income ratio has reached record highs. In response the debt relief industry has expanded, making the issue of legal regulation of the industry a timely issue. Professor Ben-Ishai’s research focuses on regulation of the industry, particularly non-profit credit counselling organizations in Ontario. 

During her term as Scholar, Professor Ben-Ishai will undertake consultations and organize a symposium, with the LCO’s assistance.  She expects to produce a background paper and final paper with law reform proposals.    

In making the selection, the Selection Committee of Dean Sossin, Associate Dean (Research, Graduate Studies & Institutional Relations) Poonam Puri and Patricia Hughes considered the relationship of the applicants’ proposals to the LCO’s mandate and how their own research would be advanced by the appointment.

The Scholar in Residence Program is only one contribution Osgoode makes to the LCO, but one with particular value for both Osgoode and the LCO. This program helps the LCO to advance its mandate to promote scholarly legal research; for Osgoode scholars, it provides an opportunity to pursue their research in collaboration with an institution, the LCO, committed both to adding to the body of knowledge in the particular area and applying research to the development of pragmatic recommendations for law reform.