Osgoode Hall Law School

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See also Osgoode Hall for the downtown Toronto building that originally housed the law school
Osgoode Hall Law School
Motto: Per jus ad justitiam
(Through law to justice)
Established: 1889
Type: Public
Dean: Patrick J. Monahan
Faculty: 141 (51 F/T, 90 adjunct)
Undergraduates: 867
Postgraduates: 107
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Campus: Urban/Suburban
Sports teams: Owls
Website: osgoode.yorku.ca
Osgoode Hall Law School Wordmark

Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law school in Ontario until 1957. The school was at the centre of the debates over the principles of modern legal education in the 1950s. Osgoode Hall Law School provided many of the founding members of the bar in the prairie provinces. Today, the law school offers a professional degree in law that is accepted for bar admission in every province with the exception of Quebec, as well as Massachusetts and New York, three joint degree programs, as well as Canada's largest graduate program in law. It also offers a United States JD degree in conjunction with New York University School of Law. While Osgoode Hall Law School currently refers to its degree as a Bachelor of Laws, students are admitted only after undergraduate studies. To reflect this reality, the the school is currently in the process of adopting a Juris Doctor degree designation. This initiative received 77% support from current students in a March 20, 2008 plebiscite.

Osgoode Hall Law School has the largest law library in the Commonwealth.
Osgoode Hall Law School has the largest law library in the Commonwealth.

The law school is home to the Ontario Law Reform Commission, the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, and the largest law library in the Commonwealth. The law school houses a student clinic (the Community and Legal Aid Services Programme), the Innocence Project, and according to the Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools, the most extensive range of clinical programs in Canada.

Osgoode Hall Law School is particularly known for its leading role in the areas of constitutional law, the Charter and human rights, and international law. (Peter Hogg, Brian Slattery, Patrick J. Monahan, Jean-Gabriel Castel)

Some of the world's most important legal scholars teach at Osgoode, including Leslie Green who holds the University of Oxford's statutory Chair in Philosophy of Law. The current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and former judge at the Supreme Court of Canada, Louise Arbour taught at and later became the associate dean of Osgoode Hall Law School.

Other world-class leading scholars at Osgoode include Michael Mandel and Sharon Williams (Public International Law, International Criminal Law, Private International Law), Alan Hutchinson (Torts, Public law, Legal Theory), Robert S Wai (International Trade Regulation), Benjamin Geva (Commercial and Banking Law), Ian MacDougal (Corporate Governance, Mergers & Acquisitions), Jinyan Li (International Taxation Law), Kent McNeil (Native Law), Eric Tucker (Labour Law), Mary Jane Mossman (Feminist Legal Theory, Family Law, Law Reform), Gary D Watson (Civil Litigation), Stepan Wood and Benjamin Richardson (Environmental Law), Brian Slattery (Constitutional Law).

The current dean of the law school is Patrick J. Monahan. He succeeds Peter Hogg who is a leading Canadian constitutional expert and the author of Constitutional Law of Canada, the single most-cited book in decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Contents

[edit] History

The current building which houses the law school, occasionally called "New Osgoode Hall".
The current building which houses the law school, occasionally called "New Osgoode Hall".

For its first seven decades, Osgoode Hall Law School was located at Osgoode Hall at the corner of Queen Street and University Avenue near the University of Toronto. The law school was not affiliated with the University of Toronto since law schools at that time traditionally were not connected with a university. The Law Society of Upper Canada maintained control of professional legal education in Ontario until 1957. In 1969, after a decision by the Ontario Ministry of Education requiring law schools to be affiliated with a university, the Osgoode Hall Law School moved to York University.

The buildings known as "Osgoode Hall" (the earliest dating from 1832) remain the headquarters of the Law Society and house the Ontario Court of Appeal. The structure at Queen and University is still known as Osgoode Hall.

The law school is responsible for numerous firsts in legal education in Canada. Osgoode was the first law school to introduce curricular streams in 2001, giving a student the opportunity to graduate with a concentration in a particular area of law, namely International, Litigation or Tax. Osgoode was the first law school to establish a combined law and business degree. Osgoode was the first law school to establish a combined law and environmental studies degree. Osgoode the first law school to establish a student-staffed community legal services clinic (Parkdale Community Legal Services, in 1972). Osgoode was the first law school to develop innovative intensive programs and clinical teaching programs.[citation needed] In 2007 Osgoode's Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governance won the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) Award for "Outstanding Program" in recognition of "high quality" of education. (http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.asp?Release=1287)

[edit] The New Osgoode Building

In May 2007, Dean Monahan announced plans for an extensive renovation and extension of Osgoode Hall Law School's current premises. The new building design is about light, space and functionality. It is also about student engagement and bridging the old and the new.

The new building, designed by architect Jack Diamond, will showcase a three-story atrium that will serve as the living room or common area for the law school, uniting student space, faculty offices and the library.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2008. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the new structure will be named the Ignat Kaneff Building, in recognition of a $2.5 million dollar contribution to the Building Osgoode Campaign by businessman and developer Ignat Kanneff.

[edit] The Building Osgoode Campaign

In May 2007, Osgoode Hall Law School officially launched the Building Osgoode Campaign – the largest fundraising campaign in the history of legal education in Ontario - which aims to raise $25 million dollars to finance the renovation of the school's building, and the expansion of its academic and financial aid programs.

Almost $6 million in early commitments have already been pledged toward the cost of the building renovation, including the above-mentioned $2.5-million gift from businessman and philanthropist Ignat Kaneff. Other important campaign gifts to date include a $1-million contribution from publisher Canada Law Book toward the creation of a rare book room in the law school's library; $750,000 from Toronto-based firm Goodmans LLP for a new student cafeteria and lounge; and $500,000 from Markham developer Rudy Bratty (LLB '57). Osgoode students, faculty and staff have also demonstrated their support for the campaign with donations of $70,000 from the Legal & Literary Society student government and approximately $250,000 from faculty and staff. In addition, York University has pledged substantial support.

The Building Osgoode Campaign is the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by the law school. Other recent initiatives include creating two endowed Chairs, revamping the school's admissions policy and first-year curriculum, developing a joint degree with New York University School of Law, and becoming home to the new Law Reform Commission of Ontario.

[edit] Academics

In 2007, teams from Osgoode Hall Law School won several major mooting competitions in Canada.[1] During this same year they went on to win the Sopinka Cup, to be honored by the American Trial Lawyer's Association for their excellence, and to win all three of the 1st prizes at the US Mediation Tournament.[2]

[edit] Admissions

Osgoode Hall has recently altered its admissions process to a more holistic system, similar to that employed at McGill University Faculty of Law. This process will come into effect for prospective students applying in fall 2008. Holistic admissions processes take into account both Undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores, as well as "other relevant criteria" such as graduate degrees, work experience, and difficulty of prior academic studies.[3] Presently, the law school uses a formula which weighs the LSAT score as one year's GPA thus favoring applicants with several degrees. According to statistics published in the Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools, the median undergraduate GPA of accepted students is 3.9 (over 85%), and the median LSAT score is 162 (85th percentile). While it is possible to be admitted with only three years of undergraduate university study, in practice the majority of successful candidates arrive to first year law at Osgoode already possessing one or more degrees.http://www.lsat.org/CanadianReview/template2.asp?url=Schools/York.htm Admission is competitive; according to the Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools, 594 offers of admission were made to 2,541 applicants in 2007,[1] translating to an acceptance rate of 23.4%.

[edit] Joint degrees

Osgoode Hall Law School offers a joint M.B.A./LL.B. program with the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a combined law and environmental studies degree.

Osgoode Hall Law School also offers the Osgoode/NYU J.D./LL.B. program with New York University School of Law. Both schools offer joint-degree programs where students can earn an American J.D. (ABA-Approved) and Canadian LL.B. in four years, spending two years at each institution.[4] Osgoode and NYU have also recently introduced an Osgoode LL.B./NYU LL.M. program, whereby a student can obtain both degrees in just three and a half years instead of the four years it would normally take.[5]

Osgoode is also one of the few law schools to offer the possibility of graduating with both an English Canadian LL.B. and a Quebec LL.L. degree, enabling graduates to practice in the province of Quebec and providing graduates of this program with training in the Civil Law System in addition to common law. This program is offered in conjunction with the law school at the Université de Montréal.

[edit] Graduate programs

Osgoode is home to the largest Graduate Program in Law in Canada. Osgoode also hosts the only Professional Development Program in Canada, whose courses are taught at the satellite campus located at the Osgoode Professional Development Centre at 1 Dundas Street West in downtown Toronto. A variety of LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees in law are available.

[edit] Alumni

Notable alumni of Osgoode Hall Law School include:

Supreme Court Justices

Other judges

Others

[edit] References

  1. ^ It's a triple-crown for Osgoode's mooting teams. Y-File: York's Daily Bulletin. York University (2007-03-09). Retrieved on 2001-04-17.
  2. ^ Osgoode Wins All Three of the First Prizes at U.S. Mediation Tournament. Osgoode Hall Law School. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  3. ^ Osgoode Adopts New Admissions Policy. Osgoode Hall Law School (2007-03-19). Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  4. ^ Osgoode J.D./LL.B. Program. New York University School of Law. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  5. ^ Exciting New Opportunity: LLB/LLM - NYU - May 11 Deadline. Osgoode Hall Law School (2007-04-30). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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