IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK.

THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE. LAW STUDENT SOCIETIES OF ONTARIO (LSSO) DRAFT CONSTITUTION Approved at the LSSO Inaugural Conference on October 19th and 20th, 2012 at Kingston, Ontario ARTICLE 1 DEFINITIONS AGM means Annual General Meeting. Council means the entire membership of the LSSO, as defined in Article 5.5.1. Executive means President, Vice-President Internal, and Vice-President External. Ontario Law School means Lakehead University Faculty of Law, Queens University Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, Ottawa University Faculty of Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, University of Windsor Faculty of Law, and Western University Faculty of Law. Member Law Society (or Society) means a governing student representative society from an Ontario Law School participating in the LSSO. Student Representative means a member of Council selected by its Member Law Society to act as a representative for its faculty. ARTICLE 2 MANDATE 2.1 The LSSO is an advocacy body representing students attending Ontario Law Schools for the purpose of articulating their needs to, and building relationships with, the member organizations that govern their professional interests, the universities administering their legal education, and government bodies. 2.2 The LSSO formulates evidence-based policy that is member-driven and researchbased. 2.3 The LSSO is intended to connect, rather than replace, the member law societies it represents. 2.3.1 It does not act as a substitute for student positions on other advocacy bodies.
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IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE.

2.4 The LSSO will strive to hold two asks each year. 2.4.1 An academic ask will occur in January to impact the school year beginning that September. 2.4.2 An administrative ask will occur in August to the respective membership organizations. The number of asks may be limited at first, as the organization finds its footing. ARTICLE 3 EQUITY 3.1 The LSSO is an inclusive, equitable, welcoming and safe organization for all individuals. 3.2 The LSSO strives to be a bilingual organization, both in the composition of its council and its official communications. ARTICLE 4 APPROACH 4.1 The LSSO researches the needs of law students, develops policy, and respectfully articulates these needs to professional partners such as the Ontario Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada. 4.2 This approach is designed to achieve policy goals while fostering informed and collaborative relationships with professional organizations, thereby ensuring that the educational and professional vision of law students will be meaningfully considered by relevant decision-makers. 4.3 The LSSO remains strictly non-partisan in its approach, although it reserves the right to comment on the decisions and actions of relevant professional bodies. The LSSO adopts a strict issues-based approach to advocacy in all communications.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE. ARTICLE 5 STRUCTURE 5.1 The LSSO is composed of an Executive as well as a governing Council. 5.2 The Executive shall meet monthly either by teleconference or in person. 5.3 The Executive and the Council shall meet together annually at the AGM. 5.4 The AGM will serve to set the strategic direction for the year ahead and elect the Executive of the organization. 5.5 Council Structure 5.5.1 The governing Council is comprised of students from the member student bodies, as selected by each student society. 5.5.2 It is the responsibility of Student Representatives to liaise between their Councils and the LSSO. 5.5.3 Votes on the LSSO Council are proportional for agenda setting purposes. 5.5.4 Each law school has one vote in executive elections. 5.5.5 Each student society shall select a number of members of Council equal to or less than their number of votes, but not less than two. 5.6 Executive Structure 5.6.1 The Executive is comprised of members of the governing Council, elected from within its membership. 5.6.2 The Executive oversees the general affairs of the LSSO, and implements the agenda set by the Council.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE. ARTICLE 6 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 6.1 The purpose of the AGM is to elect the new executive, approve the budget and determine the strategic direction of the LSSO. 6.2 The AGM may be held either electronically or in-person, to be chaired by a Speaker of a member society. 6.3 Voting rights at the AGM will be restricted to Council members. 6.4 Interested observers being welcomed as silent observers. 6.5 At meetings of both the Council and AGM, each school will provide at least one representative. 6.6 Each school is entitled to a number of delegates equal to the number of their votes. 6.7 Regardless of the number of delegates attending the AGM or council, the number of votes per school will remain the same. 6.8 All students belonging to member societies are welcome to observe the AGM.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE. ARTICLE 7 EXECUTIVE ROLES 7.1 President 7.1.1 The President shall implement the strategic direction and vision for the organization as set by the Council, and is responsible for supervising the VicePresidents in this capacity. 7.1.2 The President is the representative of the LSSO to membership organizations, the government, the media and all law students. 7.2 Vice-President Internal 7.2.1 The Vice-President Internal (VPI) shall be responsible for the internal administrative functions of the LSSO, such as finances, internal communications, minutes and record-keeping, 7.2.2 The Vice-President Internal shall be responsible for the oversight of LSSO committees. 7.2.3 The VPI will also be responsible for the collection of information from the law student societies. 7.3 Vice-President External 7.3.1 The Vice-President External (VPE) is responsible for all official communications of the LSSO, such as press releases and the official website. 7.3.2 The VPE is the point of contact for students and organizations who want to reach the LSSO, working closely with the President in this regard. 7.3.3 The VPE is responsible for the production and release of LSSO materials to the public. 7.3.4 The VPE will ideally be bilingual for communication purposes. 7.3.5 However, should they not be bilingual, every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate bilingualism through the direction of the VPE. 7.3.6 This may include the creation of a separate committee.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE. ARTICLE 8 - OPERATIONS 8.1 Approval of work product will be decided on a unanimous basis by the Council as a whole. 8.2 Agenda-setting is to be determined by majority rule of the Council. 8.3 The LSSO Council shall be comprised of both the Executive and student representatives from each Member Law Society, either to be the President of each Society, or to otherwise be determined by each Societys governing documents. 8.4 Student Representatives to the Council shall be proportional to the number of students at each school for agenda-setting purposes. 8.5 It shall be the responsibility of Student Representatives to liase between their Councils and the LSSO. 8.7 In addition to the Student Representatives, delegates from each school will be chosen to attend the LSSO AGM, at which a new executive will be elected. 8.8 Speaking privileges on the LSSO Council will reflect the number of delegates at each school. 8.9 Representation on the LSSO Council will be proportional for agenda-setting purposes, however, in the case of executive elections, each school has an equal number of votes. ARTICLE 9 - MEMBERSHIP 9.1 Members shall join the LSSO with a majority vote of their membership Society. 9.2 Members shall withdraw from membership with a majority vote of their membership Society. 9.3 Should a withdrawal happen mid-year, any of the withdrawing members fees unused at that time will be refunded on a pro rata basis. 9.4 Where membership is undertaken mid-year, membership fees become payable one (1) month after joining the LSSO.
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IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION ONLY, FOR PURPOSES OF SOLICITING STUDENT FEEDBACK. THE FINAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO STUDENT APPROVAL BY REFERENDUM PRIOR TO BECOMING EFFECTIVE.

ARTICLE 10 FEES 10.1 Fees are approved within the yearly budget at the AGM. 10.2 Fees are to begin at a flat fee of $500 total, to be paid in proportion to the prescribed number of votes per school. 10.3 Any increases would be subject to the unanimous ratification of each school. 10.4 Collected fees remaining at the end of the fiscal year shall be refunded or carried over at the discretion of the individual schools. 10.5 The fiscal year of the LSSO shall begin May 1st.