General
General discussion about law schools or your applications.
Have general questions about law school or applying?
What to major in? What grades you need? What LSAT score is good? What schools you should apply to? What's a good personal statement or extra-curriculars? Whether you should study law abroad?
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Applicant FAQ (4261 visits to this link)
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Ontario (OLSAS) and UBC GPA Calculator (4525 visits to this link)
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What's Happening
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Help getting to Document Tracker!!
I paid for the application and I got a email with confirmation, however when I try to get to the document tracker link, it keeps showing undergraduate admissions and when I click undergraduate application it just says personal information. - I really need help to get back to the document tracker!! Please help!! -
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How Often Do You Go to Court?
Being in court is so different from being in a labour arbitration. My goto was "This is totally new to me. I'm going to need a break." I guess that's the difference when you are the decision-maker's client as well as a party (to be fair, the union is in the same position). -
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How Often Do You Go to Court?
There are some key phrases all counsel need to know to get out of a tight spot. "Your Honour, I wonder if we might stand down briefly so I can seek instructions from my client." "Your Honour, I hadn't turned my mind to this issue and I would like the opportunity to consult senior counsel regarding next steps." "Your Honour, I note the time and would appreciate an early break so I might better prepare for the _________ [ cross examination / submissions / reply]." "Your Honour, with my apologies, I did not anticipate this particular argument and would like to review the caselaw before going any further. Perhaps I might have a half hour / half day / an early lunch break ?" Now, only use these when you have to. It's not a good look if you didn't do the necessary preparation and didn't research the law ahead of time. A young Crown who got Charter Notice had better be ready with the case authorities and applicable tests on hand. A young defence had better know how their client's statement to the police can and cannot be used against them at trial. These things you see miles down the road and not being ready will anger the judge. But if all of a sudden opposing counsel brings up some argument or consideration that hasn't been brought up previously, and you're new at this, flag it for the record and get yourself prepped before opening your mouth. If the judge makes you go ahead anyway and it explodes your case, you've preserved the record for a possible appeal. But most judges have no interest in doing that.- 1
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cGPA: 3.83, LSAT: 161, applying to all schools in Ontario
thanks so much for replying! does it make any difference that my L2 is 3.88 in terms of Western, Queens, and OZ? -
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How Often Do You Go to Court?
After two back-to-back absolutely batshit self-rep trials today I can't second this enough right now. haha -
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McGill Law Application HELP
WiseGhost is right, and there are many more options for civil law graduates to receive a JD/LLB after completing their civil law degree. Off the top of my head, these schools have one-year programs to upgrade a civil law degree into a JD/LLB: - Dalhousie - Université de Moncton - UOttawa (Their 1-year national program lets a common law graduate upgrade to civil law and vice versa) - UVic To answer your original question, I'd opt for deleting the 156 from your record. If you're gunning for McGill it lowers your candidature as a whole.- 1
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Personal essays or statements
Thanks everyone. This is making more sense to me now. I think I need to throw my academic hat out the window for a minute....its been a long time since I've written a personal essay. It feels very unnatural at this moment but these points help.- 1
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McGill Law Application HELP
Since you are bilingual, want exposure to common law, and would like to keep the option of returning to France in the future, UdeM and other civil law schools in Quebec could be an option. For example, UdeM students can do an LLB/JD with Osgoode if they tack on an extra year of study. You also wouldn't need an LSAT score to apply!- 1
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Personal essays or statements
I think you just unearthed a thought I haven’t properly formed until now. Yes, when I think about it, most personal statements can be lumped into the category of cliché, trite, and/or insincere. But when one’s personal statement has those traits, and its topic is on access to justice… invoking the most vulnerable and needy among our society as a plot point to get into law school makes it extra off-putting. It is that extra off-puttingness I wanted to caution against. (Of course, I’m not saying the OP is this person. I was writing in general). I think that gets to why my first instinct was skepticism toward focusing a personal statement, which in all likelihood will have some of those 3 traits, around this topic. -
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cGPA: 3.83, LSAT: 161, applying to all schools in Ontario
Very Good chance Ottawa Good chance Western, Queens Good to fair OZ At least 2 to 3 offers -
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Personal essays or statements
With a personal statement, your goal is to convince adcoms that they should accept you. It should ideally explain why you want to pursue law, what your strengths are + any interesting experiences that you may have had, and why you are interested in the school you are applying for. It seems to me that you might be focusing far too much on the "why law" aspect instead of establishing what makes you an interest candidate. If you're struggling, this is a decent template for a PS. 1. Provide an anecdote that succinctly explains why you are interested in law and who you are as a person. 2. Describe the skills and experiences that make you stand out and explain how they make you likely to succeed as a law student. 3. Explain why you are interested in attending this particular school.- 2
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Personal essays or statements
97% of personal statements are cliché, trite, and/or insincere. OP should obviously spend time reflecting on their personal experiences and motivations for going to law school (as all applicants should), but there’s nothing wrong with writing about increasing access to justice if that is the reason they want to go to law school.- 1
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Personal essays or statements
Don’t cite anything. The personal statement is a genre of writing in which you write about yourself in the first person in a tone and style that's less formal than academic writing. If you have citations, not only would your personal statement break convention and stand out (in a bad way), it'll make the reader think you don't know what you're doing. As with the above poster, I’d also caution against writing about access to justice in general. My one caveat is that I think it may be effective only in the limited situation where you actually have substantial and meaningful experiences that back up why you’re drawn to it. And even then, I’d still tread carefully. Writing about access to justice is easily susceptible to sounding cliché, trite, and/or insincere.- 2
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3.5 gpa, 3.63 B2 170 LSAT- applying to Ontario schools
Applying to Ontario schools, but specifically interested in Queens, Ottawa and Osgoode. GPA is per OLSAS but might be wrong as the azure calculator hasn't been working for me recently (speaking of, any other recs for calculating that?). Average ECs, one internship on parliament hill, approx. 500 hours volunteering at a specific org, probably average letters of recommendation. -
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A thread to vent toxicity about litigation (or law generally) when you've had a bad day
Just had an unnecessarily difficult discovery with an old timer OC who was busy puffing his chest and trying to correct and undermine me, rather than focus on his client. This really doesn’t have to be so toxic and difficult. Let me ask my questions, you ask yours, and then let’s move on.
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