About Ryerson
As General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors, Julia Shin Doi works with all areas of the Ryerson community. She advises on laws, regulations, by-laws, policies, and best practices in governance, and ensures that the Board's administrative needs are met so the Board can perform its decision-making functions efficiently and effectively. She is also responsible for providing advice on legal issues and has operational responsibility for access to information, privacy, and information security. She reports to the president.
Prior to joining Ryerson University, Julia was counsel in the Office of the Counsel, practicing corporate and commercial law, intellectual property law and privacy law, and advising on a broad range of legal matters. An adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, she is the past director of the Osgoode Business Clinic, past assistant director of the LLM in Business Law and past instructor of Osgoode Professional Development's Commercial Legal Drafting Workshop.
An active member of her community and the legal profession, Julia is an executive member of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, Greater Toronto Area chapter and past executive member of the Ontario Bar Association's Privacy Section and Entertainment, Media and Communications Section. She is an active member of the Canadian Association of University Solicitors and has served on the Council of Ontario Universities’ Privacy Task Force. Julia is president of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and a founding member and past director of the Korean Canadian Lawyers Association. She was recognized in 2010 by The Law Society of Upper Canada’s Diversifying the Bar: Lawyers Make History project as an early and exceptional lawyer from a diverse community, and by the Korean Canadian Leadership Development committee as a community leader.
Julia is the co-author of the leading Canadian text on drafting boilerplate contract clauses, Behind and Beyond Boilerplate: Drafting Commercial Agreements. She has also published and presented in the areas of licensing, securing copyright and privacy law and serves on the editorial board of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada's Canadian Intellectual Property Review.
Julia obtained her BA with distinction from the University of Toronto, her JD and LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School, was admitted to the Bar in Ontario in 1994, and is a registered trademark agent.
General Counsel & Secretary of the Board of Governors
What does the General Counsel do?
A university is a large complex organization that is governed by a vast array of laws and regulations. The areas of law that impact a university include contracts, employment and labour relations, human rights, access to information and protection of privacy, real property, intellectual property, corporate finance, taxation, estates and trusts and more.
In this environment, General Counsel helps the university to avoid legal liability by providing up front and on-site legal and strategic advice to the University administration at all levels and working with the administration on development of policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance.
When legal problems arise General Counsel provides advice when appropriate, or advises on retention or retains outside lawyers and manages the relationship and cost of those lawyers on behalf of the University.
The General Counsel also manages the University’s compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as well as applicable University guidelines and policies relating to information access and privacy protection.
Finally, the General Counsel provides information and education on legal issues affecting the University.
What is outside the scope of General Counsel?
The General Counsel does not provide legal advice on individual legal problems to members of the university community or to separate legal entities that may use campus facilities. If you require legal information or advice you might want to contact that Law Society of Upper Canada lawyer referral service or Legal Aid Ontario.
What is the Secretary of the Board of Governors?
Ryerson University has a bicameral governance system comprised of two bodies, the Senate and the Board of Governors . The Senate is responsible for the academic policy of the University and is supported by the Secretary of Senate . The Board of Governors is responsible for the administrative management of the institution. In general, meetings of the Board and its committees are open to the Public.
The Board Secretariat supports the Board of Governors and its Committees. The Secretary of the Board of Governors is the officer of the Board responsible for the Secretariat.
What is the role of the Board Secretariat?
The Board Secretariat is responsible for:
- providing governance advice and expertise to the Board Chair, the administration and the broader university community,
- assisting the Board and its Committees to conduct themselves in accordance with the Ryerson University Act and By-Laws,
- setting the schedule of Board and Committee meetings for each year,
- setting agendas for the Board and its committees in conjunction with the Board and Committee Chairs and the senior administration of the University,
- providing effective and efficient service to Board members including providing materials for all Board and Committee meetings,
- designing and providing orientation for new Board members,
- administering the search process for new Board members,
- administering elections to the Board for students, alumni, faculty and staff, and
- administering the Chancellor and Presidential search processes.
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