Justice Sydney Robins

Physical Description: 4 cm of textual records; 10 photographs : b&w and col. ; 25 x 31 cm or smaller

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting the life and career of Justice Sydney Robins. The records include photographs, diplomas, correspondence, and material written by or about Justice Sydney Robins.

Custodial History: Records were donated by Robins' son-i-law, Steven Sharpe.

Administrative History: Sydney Lewis Robins (1923-2014) was born in 1923 in Toronto, Ontario, to Samuel Robins and Bessie Kamarner. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1944 and was admitted to Osgoode Hall Law School that same year. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in September 1947. Robins received an LL.M. degree from Harvard University in 1948. Robins served as a special lecturer on torts at Osgoode Hall Law School from 1948 to 1960, and participated in many continuing legal education sessions for the Law Society of Upper Canada. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1962. Robins was first elected a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1961, and served as its Treasurer from 1971 to 1974. Robins was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1976, and to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1981. Robins served on several Ontario provincial commissions, and arbitrated a TTC labour dispute. Following his retirement from the bench in 1998, Robins joined the law firm of Goodmans LLP. He served as Chair of the Law Foundation of Ontario, and was active in the Canadian Bar Association. Robins died in Toronto on 10 January 2014.