I was having breakfast last week with Peter Hrastovec, a Windsor lawyer, and the talk got around to the University of Windsor's law school.

My interest was in finding out just how unique it was, and why anyone would want to go there. I mean, why there and not Osgoode?

"Good question," Hrastovec said. "Let me send you a talk I gave. It might answer that question."

I hadn't realized Hrastovec had given the convocation address in June to the class of 2007. He was also there to help mark the 25th anniversary of his own class of 1982.

He began with the usual platitudes that mark such speeches, like telling them, "You never stop being a student of the law."

But that was only a lead up to a much more profound message, and one that needed stating. It involved reminding graduates what Windsor's law school represents. It comes down to "three simple words" that Hrastovec learned while attending it.

Access to Justice.

"When this law school was in its infancy and was attempting to find its way," Hrastovec said, "its founding faculty was quick to embrace a theme which was then a novel concept and more theoretical than practical -- access to justice.

"What did this phrase mean? To whom did it apply? What kind of justice did one seek? To what institutions or tribunals was it limited? Where and how did we as a profession fit in?'"

Hrastovec answered these clearly, stating that Windsor's law school "developed, nurtured and maintained an admissions policy that was revolutionary to say the least -- it opted to look at the whole person, not just their marks or their Law School Admissions Test."

He pointed out that certainly the school made room for the so-called "whiz kids," but there was also space reserved for the "mature students" or

"persons of experience, persons whose opportunity cost thousands of dollars in leaving safe and secure employment to pursue a law degree."

Such individuals, he explained, were "hungry -- hungry to learn and hungry for the chance to shape their lives into something they desired."

'Wisdom and substance'

Hrastovec described these individuals as "people of wisdom and substance," and explained that many younger students, like himself, often looked to these older students for guidance.

"We gained much from their intellect and ingenuity. This was a far cry from the 'old school' way of determining entrance to a law program."

Hrastovec cited the school's successes, pointing out that Windsor was at the forefront in developing programs that were "the envy of other institutions."

Community Legal Aid, for one, was a place where the up-and-comers "cut their teeth as advocates in small claims and provincial offence courts."

Another was the Community Law Caravan, a summer project involving a travelling clinic that brought law and access to justice to remote northern communities desperately in need of counsel and direction.

Hrastovec said Windsor led the way.

When it came to access to justice and what that meant, Windsor showed the way by "opening doors and tearing down barriers."

Hrastovec's message to the graduates was one of encouragement: "You will be called upon to help people, be they individuals or corporations. You will work with the wealthy and administer to the poor. You will be asked to work without compensation in difficult cases and you will be paid handsomely for seemingly simple tasks.

"You will need to spare some time to volunteer on behalf of your community and you will work diligently while accounting fairly to your paying clients.

"Regardless of your calling, be it advocate or solicitor, be it mediator, arbitrator and, in time, perhaps a member of the judiciary, you will be inspired and devoted to the principles of access to justice -- making law available to all, making justice work."

His final words, however, were reserved for a former colleague, Rose Voyvodic, who died in April after a two-year battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

She was a long-time executive director of Legal Assistance of Windsor, and taught law at the University of Windsor.

Her favourite theme was "access to justice," and according to Hrastovec she lived her life in dedication to it.

He said that is why he chose that theme for his own address.

Had Voyvodic lived, she would have been the one addressing them, Hrastovec maintained.

"I wish it could have been Rose. How can you replace one so treasured by her colleagues, her students, her classmates, and her family?"

mgervais@thestar.canwest.com