Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. A variety of LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees in law are available. The law school's alumni include three Canadian prime ministers, three Attorneys General, eight premiers of Ontario, four Mayors of Toronto, eleven Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, four of whom were Chief Justices, and one Academy Award nominee. The current dean of the law school is Trevor C.W. Farrow.

History

Osgoode Hall was named for William Osgoode, an Oxford University graduate and barrister of Lincoln's Inn. He was the first person to serve as the chief justice of Upper Canada. The law school traces its origins back to the 1820s, and it counts the first Canadian prime minister (Sir John A. Macdonald) among its graduates. It was reorganized in 1889, and the Law Society of Upper Canada permanently established the law school on the site now known as Osgoode Hall. At the time, it was the only law school in Ontario, and this remained the case until the establishment of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1949. Ontario lawyers were originally required to attend Osgoode Hall in order to practise in the province. In 1855, the Law Society began requiring members to attend lectures given at Osgoode Hall (the building). In 1862, a law school opened in that building, only to close in 1868. It frequently opened and closed throughout the late 19th century. The law school at Osgoode Hall was only titled "Osgoode Hall Law School" in March 1924, when the Law Society of Upper Canada formally assigned it that name. The school signed an agreement of affiliation with York University in 1965. It relocated from the Osgoode Hall building in downtown Toronto to York University's Keele Campus in 1968.

Rankings and reputation

Osgoode Hall is one of the most elite law schools in Canada. Times Higher Education ranked Osgoode Hall Law School 43 in the world in 2021. Its long and distinguished history has led to a lay prestige that is unmatched by any other Canadian law school. In 2022, Osgoode's joint JD/MBA program with the Schulich School of Business was named among the top 10 business and law programs in North America by FIND MBA. In its most recent rankings, Maclean's magazine has ranked Osgoode second amongst Canadian law schools. In the 2008 rankings published by Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Osgoode was ranked first in Canada, and was awarded high marks for the quality of its professors, flexible curriculum, and the diversity and relevance of course offerings. The faculty has been described as the "strongest in the country," and rank number one in Canada for faculty journal citations. In the 2022-2023 year, 3600 applicants applied for the 290 spots available in the first year program, resulting in an acceptance rate of around 8%. The only North American law school with a lower rate of acceptance is Yale Law School.

Original building and current facilities

For its first eight decades, Osgoode Hall Law School was located at Osgoode Hall at the corner of Queen Street and University Avenue. The structures at Queen and University (the earliest dating from 1832) are still known as Osgoode Hall. They remain the headquarters of the Law Society of Upper Canada, house the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, the offices of the Law Society of Ontario and the Great Library of the Law Society. Currently, the law school is located on the Keele Campus of York University, in the Toronto suburb of North York. In May 2007, Dean Monahan announced plans for an extensive renovation and extension of Osgoode Hall Law School involving a renovation of the existing building, and the addition of an additional wing. The building was designed by architect Jack Diamond with the construction of the renovated building beginning in the summer of 2009. The project had been majorly funded by a $2.5 million gift by Ignat Kaneff, and the building has been renamed in his honour. The law school is referred to by York as its faculty of law. Osgoode's Professional Development offices and classrooms are based at 1 Dundas Street West in Downtown Toronto, overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square.

Student life

The Legal & Literary Society, Osgoode Hall Law School's official student society, coordinates student activities both on and off campus. The organization also funds over fifty student clubs, as well as the student newspaper, Obiter Dicta. Osgoode hosts Professional Development Programs (OPD) which are located in downtown Toronto at 1 Dundas Street near the original Osgoode Hall building.

Notable alumni

Supreme Court of Canada justices

Other judges

Prime Ministers

Premiers

Government

Law

Business

Arts

Science/medicine

Scholarship

Sportspersons

Notable professors

Footnotes