New Faces at U of A Law School:  an interview with Trevor Farrow

By: Mona Chan

A conversation with one of the young and very energetic new assistant professors at the University of Alberta Law School, Trevor C.W. Farrow, is like going on an international legal expedition. He joins us from Harvard Law School where he completed a year of post- graduate research funded through the prestigious AMES Fellowship after his LLM in 2000. There, he ran the Moot Court program and held group sessions for graduate fellows on U.S. Constitutional Law.

His contagious passion for law started in the late eighties at Princeton during his undergraduate studies in Politics.  In 1990, he journeyed across the Atlantic to Oxford, where he steeped himself in traditional British, adversarial legal studies.

Perhaps this sparked his love of litigation demonstrated by his four year commitment as a civil litigator at Torys in Toronto. There, he co-counselled in a Supreme Court action regarding free speech in employment law.

Trevor punctuates his ardour with a smile when he relates not only the importance of representing the client, but also the added benefit of accentuating a piece of the bigger social picture. Professor Farrow will be a panellist at The Centre for Constitutional Studies event on October 19, 2001, GLOBALIZATION: A CONVERSATION, A CACOPHONY, OR A BATTLEFIELD?

This year, he teaches two courses poised seemingly at disparate ends of the conflict spectrum: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Civil Procedure. Trevor points out that there will be a National Conference on Court-Annexed Mediation. The event, partly sponsored by the Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association is called Negotiating the Future. It is to be held in Calgary from November 14-16, 2001, and includes conference leaders such as Honourable Justice J. Chadwick of the Ontario Supreme Court, Honourable Justice A.B. Moen of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, and the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General, Dispute Resolution Office.

Candidly, he relates that alternative methods for dispute resolution are quickly becoming a critical peak of the Canadian legal landscape. He sees A.D.R. as an excellent complement to the traditional system of legal resolutions. Trevor asserts that it not only expands the options open to the public, but also better addresses some forms of mediation.. Some obvious examples being A.D.R. ’s ability to preserve special relationships such as that between a child and parent or an employee and boss, without threatening long-term mutual good.

One very interesting A.D.R. case Trevor worked on involved the NHL! When asked whether he plays hockey, and which position he plays, he confides that on the rink, he is the man behind the mask. Professor Farrow is an example of the University of Alberta Law School’s commitment to the addition of excellent faculty / teachers. Surely, we should look forward to Trevor’s classes next September.

Outside his teaching role, Trevor was seen easing the minds of 1Ls at the September orientation barbeque with friendly demonstrations of multiple burger acquisitions (Obviously, a non-traditional but very important way to start a new Law School year). In addition to his teaching position, Trevor volunteered to be one of the advisors for a group of very lucky 1L’s! Trevor Farrow is an example of one of the pluses to studying, at U of A Law School. Our faculty are extremely helpful, offering help to students as they face challenges as diverse as the students themselves.

Wanda Simpson, a part time student in First Year shares this thought, " He is a good listener, who seems to be genuinely willing to help with practical advice, and has a gentle, approachable manner."

Regarding his reasons to come to the University of Alberta? One might venture a few possibilities. Topping the list is his devotion to law, teaching and his wife’s native Alberta. He lives a life of balance; ameliorating some of the imperfections that may occur in litigious matters.

© 2001 Mona Chan