Need to do some surfing research on Canadian Law Schools? Here are all of the links:
University of Alberta Faculty of Law
University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
University of Calgary Faculty of Law
Dalhousie Law School
University of Manitoba Faculty of Law
Faculty of Law McGill University (Faculté de droit Université de McGill)
Faculté de droit de l'Université de Moncton
University of New Brunswick Law School
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Université d'Ottawa Faculté de droit)
Queen's University Faculty of Law
University of Saskatchewan College of Law
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
University of Victoria Faculty of Law
University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law
University of Windsor Faculty of Law
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Thursday, 26 October 2006
Law School: Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools
If you want a great read about various stats on different law schools in Canada, visit the Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools, published on LSAC's website. It's really complete. I have never come across this resource before, so I am wondering how new it is. Good stuff!
Note that the next LSAT Dates and Deadlines are as follows:
Saturday, December 2, 2006 Monday, December 4, 2006*+ Saturday, February 10, 2007* Monday, February 12, 2007*+
* This test is NONDISCLOSED. Persons who take a nondisclosed test receive only their scores. They do not receive their test questions, answer key, or individual responses.
+ This test is for Saturday Sabbath observers only.
Visit LSAC.org for full information.
Also, check through the archives of this blog for LSAT information, help and links.
Note that the next LSAT Dates and Deadlines are as follows:
* This test is NONDISCLOSED. Persons who take a nondisclosed test receive only their scores. They do not receive their test questions, answer key, or individual responses.
+ This test is for Saturday Sabbath observers only.
Visit LSAC.org for full information.
Also, check through the archives of this blog for LSAT information, help and links.
Friday, 20 October 2006
More Law School Curricular Ruminations
Almost as stunning as Harvard Law School's (HLS) October 6, 2006, announcement that it is changing its first year curriculum is the relative lack of internet chatter about it since then. Things seemed to have peaked right after the announcement, and then dropped off precipitously. Maybe people voiced their opinions and then moved on to other subjects. Announcements and posts on the subject include HLS's official announcement, my October 9, 2006 post, a blog post by John Palfrey of HLS's Berkman Center, and comments on the Volokh Conspiracy.But I keep thinking about it. And more to the point, I keep thinking about the current 1L curriculum at US law schools. Here are some of my thoughts and questions:
- What should be different in the current 1L curriculum, if anything? Did HLS get it right? Wrong? Miss the point?
- What courses among the standard 1L courses are perceived by students and law school grads as the most or least helpful or essential?
- What about legal research and writing courses? Should law schools teach their students such practical skills in distinct courses, or should they incorporate this sort of skills-building into other courses within the 1L and upperclass curriculum?
- By the same token, is HLS's new 1L course on legislation and regulations (see HLS's 10/6/06 announcement linked to above) something that should be in the first year curriculum of law schools? Or is the price of a separate course (taking time out of other 1L courses such as Torts or Contracts) simply too dear?
On that last point, it should be noted that a shift toward teaching more code-driven law has already occurred within some law school casebooks (and their supplements), at least to some extent. Look, for example, at a 1L Contracts casebook from 20 or 30 years ago versus a current casebook edition such as the one I use (Randy Barnett, Contracts: Cases and Doctrine (3d ed. 2003)). Chances are the new book, like Barnett's, includes significant use of the UCC. That's not to say, of course, that there shouldn't be more changes to the 1L curriculum, but it is to say that there has been some change in teaching focus in recent decades.
In any event, I would appreciate any comments readers might have on this subject.
Wednesday, 18 October 2006
Admissions: The Importance of where you do your undergrad degree
I had a call from a reader today who was considering transferring from her local, traditional university program to a long-distance learning program offerred through Athabasca University. Her question was whether such a move would be detrimental to her application success rate at various law schools. This is a good question, and I was glad to receive it.
From what I have heard, most, if not all law schools will not base your acceptance upon which university you have graduated from. However, I could be wrong about that. I would really appreciate any insight from any of you out there.
I can only really speak from personal experience. I completed my first degree at the University of Calgary. I wasn't satisfied with my GPA, and found my degree to be less than useful, so I enrolled at Athabasca University (Alberta) and completed a second degree in my true passion, English. My GPA was excellent, and seemed to serve very well in helping me to gain admittance at a number of law schools across Canada.
I have never heard of undergrad prejudice amongst admissions committees, but again, I could be proven wrong. I would love to hear any stories that would counter my experience.
From what I have heard, most, if not all law schools will not base your acceptance upon which university you have graduated from. However, I could be wrong about that. I would really appreciate any insight from any of you out there.
I can only really speak from personal experience. I completed my first degree at the University of Calgary. I wasn't satisfied with my GPA, and found my degree to be less than useful, so I enrolled at Athabasca University (Alberta) and completed a second degree in my true passion, English. My GPA was excellent, and seemed to serve very well in helping me to gain admittance at a number of law schools across Canada.
I have never heard of undergrad prejudice amongst admissions committees, but again, I could be proven wrong. I would love to hear any stories that would counter my experience.
Tuesday, 17 October 2006
Theft of a website
I noticed that sales of my book had gone down significantly this last week. I was really curious as to why, as sales are usually pretty steady. Demand for the book has increased over the last number of months. So, I started poking around, and realized that www.canadalawstudent.ca was no longer up. Some jerk snagged the URL. The URL had been registered to my old U of A email, and I guess they sent the notification that the URL was going to expire to that email. Well, I guess someone was lurking, because if you go to www.canadalawstudent.ca, you will now find somebody else's content. Boy, did that make me angry! I'm not linking to it in this post, because I don't want to support that jerk.
www.canadalawstudent.ca was built as a resource for current and prospective law students. It has been enjoyed by many, and is bookmarked by a lot of people.
As such, I will be reposting the content of that site to another URL within a few days. Please have patience with me. In the meantime, if you want the book, please click here. Sorry for the inconvenience. I wish that I could take that pirate down, but it would seem that he has now legally purchased the domain name, and we are all stuck scrambling to find another home on the WWW.
On another note, I promise to post some new material over the next week, so stay posted.
www.canadalawstudent.ca was built as a resource for current and prospective law students. It has been enjoyed by many, and is bookmarked by a lot of people.
As such, I will be reposting the content of that site to another URL within a few days. Please have patience with me. In the meantime, if you want the book, please click here. Sorry for the inconvenience. I wish that I could take that pirate down, but it would seem that he has now legally purchased the domain name, and we are all stuck scrambling to find another home on the WWW.
On another note, I promise to post some new material over the next week, so stay posted.
Monday, 9 October 2006
Harvard Law School's Curricular Changes
One of my recent posts invited readers to comment about what they think is good or bad about law school. Thanks to everyone who commented. The comments certainly have given me food for thought.
Now the faculty at Harvard Law School has weighed in on the matter (although unfortunately not through my blog). In their view, one of the biggest problems in current US legal education is the first-year curriculum. So, they have voted unanimously to implement radical changes. In the future, the first-year curriculum at Harvard will de-emphasize the caselaw method, with its reliance on appellate decisions, and focus more strongly on regulatory, governmental, and international sources of law. Yes, international. An October 6, 2006, announcement by Harvard Law School's Dean Elena Kagan can be found here, and a Boston Globe article discussing the changes can be found here. My thanks go to my colleague, Professor Michael McCann (who received his LL.M. from Harvard), for bringing this story to my attention. (FYI--Check out McCann's excellent Sports Law Blog here.)
This really is a stunning development. My teaching and research focus on international law and international trade regulation, so it's amazing to see. International legal courses are all too often viewed purely as strictly optional or luxury courses in law schools, and yet here is a pre-eminent law school turning that assumption completely on its head. I'm all for more international law in the law school curriculum, and yet honestly I do wonder whether the first year is the best place for it. It's something to think about, anyway.
But even more importantly, Harvard's move basically brings the whole model of legal education into question. Not the value of legal education per se, but rather the nature of the education now offered.
I will be paying attention to this revamped curriculum as it gets rolled out. Who knows--20 years from now, the current way of teaching law may be history. Given the frustration that many students feel in law school, and the perception of many law graduates (and their employers) that law school does not prepare people for the practice of law, perhaps these changes will be a good thing.
FYI--The Volokh Conspiracy has a post on this subject too, although that post focuses primarily on the addition of international law to the 1L curriculum. Check out the comments, which are largely negative, and very interesting.
Now the faculty at Harvard Law School has weighed in on the matter (although unfortunately not through my blog). In their view, one of the biggest problems in current US legal education is the first-year curriculum. So, they have voted unanimously to implement radical changes. In the future, the first-year curriculum at Harvard will de-emphasize the caselaw method, with its reliance on appellate decisions, and focus more strongly on regulatory, governmental, and international sources of law. Yes, international. An October 6, 2006, announcement by Harvard Law School's Dean Elena Kagan can be found here, and a Boston Globe article discussing the changes can be found here. My thanks go to my colleague, Professor Michael McCann (who received his LL.M. from Harvard), for bringing this story to my attention. (FYI--Check out McCann's excellent Sports Law Blog here.)
This really is a stunning development. My teaching and research focus on international law and international trade regulation, so it's amazing to see. International legal courses are all too often viewed purely as strictly optional or luxury courses in law schools, and yet here is a pre-eminent law school turning that assumption completely on its head. I'm all for more international law in the law school curriculum, and yet honestly I do wonder whether the first year is the best place for it. It's something to think about, anyway.
But even more importantly, Harvard's move basically brings the whole model of legal education into question. Not the value of legal education per se, but rather the nature of the education now offered.
I will be paying attention to this revamped curriculum as it gets rolled out. Who knows--20 years from now, the current way of teaching law may be history. Given the frustration that many students feel in law school, and the perception of many law graduates (and their employers) that law school does not prepare people for the practice of law, perhaps these changes will be a good thing.
FYI--The Volokh Conspiracy has a post on this subject too, although that post focuses primarily on the addition of international law to the 1L curriculum. Check out the comments, which are largely negative, and very interesting.
Friday, 6 October 2006
A Few Things I Have Been Reading (While I Have Not Been Writing)
It's been a busy past few days, so I am a little behind on my posts. One thing I have been doing this fall is searching for additional sites that discuss law career issues, as well as some law students posts that may be worth checking out. The following are a few interesting things I have found recently.
2L student blog Shelley's Case has a nice response to a question I posted on this blog on September 26, 2006--namely, what your thoughts on law school might be. Shell's survival tips for the Socratic Method and comments about the classroom being like a courtroom are very good indeed--the latter especially. Like many things in life, interactions in the law school classroom can be thought of as roleplaying, which not only makes the experience more fun (or less awful at least), but perhaps more meaningful as well.
On a sidenote, the graphic design of that blog has changed. If I remember correctly, last year it was all in pastel colors, but this year it is monochromatic grayscale. A legal blog in shades of gray--somebody must have a sense of humor.
2L student blog Shelley's Case has a nice response to a question I posted on this blog on September 26, 2006--namely, what your thoughts on law school might be. Shell's survival tips for the Socratic Method and comments about the classroom being like a courtroom are very good indeed--the latter especially. Like many things in life, interactions in the law school classroom can be thought of as roleplaying, which not only makes the experience more fun (or less awful at least), but perhaps more meaningful as well.
On a sidenote, the graphic design of that blog has changed. If I remember correctly, last year it was all in pastel colors, but this year it is monochromatic grayscale. A legal blog in shades of gray--somebody must have a sense of humor.
Second year associate blog Lack of Scienter. Visually very nice, and contentwise it is refreshing to hear the views of a junior associate who is not miserable or angry at her law firm. (At least not yet.) Good recent posts include one on the "Working Mothers" List (Sept. 26, 2006) (query: is there such a thing as a "Working Fathers" List?) and another on associate mentoring programs (Sept. 25, 2006), which is a favorite topic of mine. But read this blog's posts soon, since there are no archives, and old posts just get deleted.
The New York Lawyer. This is not a new site, but I only started reading it regularly this fall. It has lots of online articles relevant to newbie lawyers and people considering career changes within the law. Favorite recent article: Large Firm Life: Managing Junior Associates (Oct. 6, 2006). Note: You need to register to have access to this site, but registration is free.
Other Stuff? To be honest, this post was supposed to be about interesting new law student blogs, but frankly I haven't found any good new ones. (Check out the ones I already had listed on my blogroll, though.) Maybe it's because a lot of them say much the same thing: I'm overwhelmed, everyone IMs in class, exams stink, I'm drunk (again), etc. Those that seem more original don't necessarily discuss the kind of behavior I'd like to encourage--like the blog posts I found about how to sleep with half the attorneys and staff at the firm where you are a summer associate and still get a permanent offer (I'm definitely not dignifying that one with a link).
Maybe I am just turning into a cynical, crabby old geezer a decade or two before my allotted time. But I don't see much out there on the student side of things that catches my eye as worth reading. If anyone one sees something I missed, though, please post a comment and tell me about it.
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