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Naiomi Metallic to join Schulich School of Law faculty in July

Posted by Jane Doucet on January 29, 2016 in Indigenous Blacks & Mi'kmaq Initative, News

We’d like to extend our congratulations to Naiomi Metallic, who has accepted a full-time tenure track position with the Schulich School of Law, effective July 1. Metallic is well known to many of us here; she graduated from our law school in 2005 and from the University of Ottawa’s civil law program in 2006. Metallic, from the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation in Quebec, was the first Mi'gmaq person to be a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006. She is currently completing a Professional LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

“We’re pleased to welcome Naiomi to the Schulich School of Law,” says Dean Camille Cameron. “In addition to her academic and practice achievements, she has an impressive record of public service.”

Metallic has served as a member of the Dalhousie University Board of Governors, the Halifax Aboriginal People’s Network, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Bar Council, and the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission, among other organizations.

She is a senior associate with Burchells LLP in Halifax and has been practicing there since 2008, after articling there. Her teaching and research interests include the very areas of a law in which she has practiced with Burchells since 2008: constitutional, Aboriginal, public, administrative, civil procedure, evidence, and labour and employment. She was named to the 2016 Best Lawyer in Canada list in the area of Aboriginal law.

“I’m excited about teaching, but I’m also excited about the opportunities for research and collaboration...”

Since 2008, Metallic has guest lectured at the Schulich School of Law on subjects such as Cultural Competence, Aboriginal Peoples and the Law, and Evidence. She also taught the Aboriginal Peoples seminar course and coached the Kawaskimhon Moot. In September, she’ll be teaching second-year Constitutional Law and the upper-year Aboriginal Peoples seminar course.

“I love interacting with the students, so I’m excited about teaching,” says Metallic. “But I’m also excited about the opportunities for research and collaboration with those in other disciplines, such as social work and public administration, for example, both within the Dal community and beyond.”

Metallic is also passionate about how the law can be harnessed to promote the well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and this drives her scholarly interests. Her many years in practice, working closely with First Nations in the region, has given her insight into legal areas badly in need of reform in this regard. This synergy between her practice and her research interests are the main reasons she wants to keep “a toe in practice” – to keep her connected with the realities facing Indigenous communities. 

Beyond this, Metallic is clear that her interest in academe is specific to Dalhousie University. “Dal is poised to be a leader in equity, inclusion, and diversity,” she says. “I’m excited to be joining the institution when these issues are really coming into focus, and I look forward to playing a role in strengthening the relationship between First Nations in the region and the law school and Dalhousie more broadly.”