Thomas McMorrow, PhD
Associate Professor
Undergraduate Program Director
Legal Studies, Liberal Studies
Undergraduate Program Director
Legal Studies, Liberal Studies
Dr. McMorrow's research is focused on constitutional law, Indigenous law and reconciliation, end-of-life decision-making, legal education, and the philosophy of law.
Full biography
Dr. Thomas McMorrow is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Undergraduate Program Director of Liberal Studies in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. During the first half of his 2018-2019 research leave, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Trento Faculty of Law in Italy, carrying out research on law’s governance of end of life decision-making. As of January 2019, he is an invited professor at the École Normale Supérieur in Lyon, France, exploring practices and philosophies of legal education in France and Canada. Dr. McMorrow has a doctorate and master's degree in Law from McGill University, and a Bachelor of Law and French from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His research embraces legal theoretical, doctrinal and qualitative methods. His work has been published in academic journals, such as the Dalhousie Law Journal, the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, and the Alberta Law Review. He has also published opinion-editorials for a wider audience, in such publications as Policy Options, The Toronto Star, and Huffington Post Canada. In 2016, he appeared as a witness before the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding Bill C-14 (on medical assistance in dying). His current academic interests include Canadian constitutional law, Indigenous law and reconciliation, end of life decision-making, legal education, and the philosophy of law.
Areas of expertise
Courses
- LGLS 3620UHuman Rights MediationHuman rights mediation looks at the way that mediation and alternative dispute resolution can be used in the context of human rights complaints. Students will examine human rights mediation initiatives such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission and ways that mediation is used to divert disputes from the tribunal process. Students are also exposed to the ways that mediation is used in human rights disputes to resolve conflict and to educate parties to rights issues. The student in this course is expected to understand the legal framework of human rights and will demonstrate an ability to create win-win solutions to typical conflicts in this area.
- LGLS 3130UFamily LawThis course provides the basis for understanding legal and policy-based regulation of the family and familial relations. It will focus on the regulation of familial relations at three major points: the formation of family, its ongoing functioning and its dissolution. Among the topics examined are common-law unions, marriage, divorce, adoption, custody, spousal support, dispute resolution and others. The impacts of socio-cultural norms about family life on family law, as well as issues of race, gender and sexual orientation will be discussed. This course is essential for students who intend to pursue a minor in mediation.
- LGLS 3600UFamily MediationThis course examines conflict not only in the traditional two parent family situation but also in emerging single and same sex parented families. While the main focus will be on conflicts created during marriage breakdown, separation and divorce, emphasis will also be given to issues of intergenerational care and abuse both involving children and the elderly. Skills and forms of practice leading to the creation of parenting plans and separation agreements will be examined against the backdrop of the emotional, social and legal forces affecting the participants. Family relations mediation, family financial mediation and family comprehensive mediation with emphasis on the development of parenting plans will be considered.
- LGLS 3220UPhilosophy of LawThis course explores the nature of law by examining fundamental legal concepts such as justice, authority, legal rules, and the obligation to obey. Students will learn to critically analyze patterns of legal reasoning and the goals they serve.
- LGLS 2100UPublic LawThis course is an introduction to the law relating to the state and its relationships, including the constitutional fundamentals of the Canadian legal and political system. It examines the structure of the Canadian constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, federalism and division of powers, judicial review and Aboriginal and treaty rights. The course also includes an analysis of basic principles in administrative law, as well as a consideration of the role of law in public policy. The legislative and common law foundations of public law will also be introduced.
Education
- DCLMcGill University, Montreal, Quebec
- LLMMcGill University, Montreal, Quebec
- LLBTrinity College Dublin, Ireland
Media appearances
Le Devoir December 31, 1969Aide médicale à mourir: pourquoi recourir aux tribunaux?Aide médicale à mourir: pourquoi recourir aux tribunaux?
Toronto Star December 31, 1969Will the real PCs ‘for the People’ please stand up?Will the real PCs ‘for the People’ please stand up?”
Policy Options December 31, 1969Does Bill C-14 pass constitutional muster? A question Parliament must confrontParliament has the power to draw the lines it chooses when it comes to the legislation on physician-assisted death, but it must make a strong case for the limits it places on Charter rights.