General Questions about Bora Laskin

[tillandsia]

Hello all,

I wanted to start a thread where incoming or applying students may ask any questions about BL or Thunder Bay in general. Since BL is still a relatively new school (est. 2013), the alumni pool is far smaller than the bigger law schools throughout Canada. This means that the knowledge about BL and its program is less accessible to applicants canvasing for advice. However, I hope to change with this new forum and answer what I can as a 3L student from my experience and perspective. Hopefully other BL students can provide general knowledge from their experiences on this thread as well. 

Certainly things in the upcoming fall term will be different as the pandemic restrictions ease, but I can speak to my student time in person in 2019-2020 and remotely throughout 2020-2021.

Please feel free to ask anything about student life, the IPC program, living in Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay bar, and anything else that is on your mind.

All the best with your applications!

[iamdalaw]

Hi there,

Thank you so much for posting this! I was wondering what are some good areas/apartments to live in for my first year. I want to live alone and know that I should stick close to BL. 

Also, what do you mean by the Thunder Bay Bar? 

 

[tillandsia]

Thanks for your questions! I'll try to be thorough for anyone else reading the thread.

Your first question depends on if you have a car or not because there are some great neighbourhoods near and far from the school.

No car? Try to find a place close to the law school. The vast majority of students live in the Port Arthur neighbourhood of Thunder Bay for a number of reasons, mainly because of proximity and local amenities. I recommend focusing your search within a 20 minute walk to the school. Looking at the map, stay within John st + Algoma st + River st + Algonquin ave, as kind of like a grid. The law school is built into hill with High street being the peak and Algoma street being the bottom. You will thank yourself in January and February if you can find a place near the school within this area. The houses above High street tend to be young families with not a whole lot of students, but are close enough to the school for you to be engaged with student life.
Also I must caution you to avoid living anywhere along Court street north or south; I don't know why but it's a rough area. 

There are a couple of apartment buildings near the law school which are quite nice. Waverley Park Towers is the best but the most expensive ($2000 for a 1 bedroom). The towers on 9 Regent Street and 350 Red River Road are also pretty good but not that dazzling. The brand new apartment building on 324 John looks great, it's so new that it isn't on Google maps yet. There are also newly built apartment buildings around 230 Algoma that seem good. Lastly there's a nice mini apartment building on 350 Bay street- it looks shabby on the outside but it is gorgeous inside. Those are all the buildings I can vouch for.
The most popular option however is renting a room in like a 3 or 4 bedroom house with a 8-12 month lease in the range of $400-$800 per month utilities included. Port Arthur is full of big old war-time houses that landlords have upgraded into multiple units. There is a huge variety of houses so it's tough for me to speak to every single street around the law school, but generally the houses are good quality! 

You can find rooms for rent on the Facebook BLFL groups, Rent Panda, Kijiji, and Facebook Marketplace. When I was accepted back in 2019, I found the house I currently live in around June 15th on Kijiji. I paid for August 1st and moved in September 1st.
(Aside: people in Thunder Bay absolutely love to use Facebook Marketplace, so it's a great resource for finding furniture and rentals)

If you have a car and don't mind driving to school, you can branch out quite a bit into the outskirts of Port Arthur (or even over to Current River neighbourhood or Fort William neighbourhood), but I wouldn't recommended it because as a 1L it's nice to be nestled in the neighbourhood with your classmates. There is zero traffic in Thunder Bay and it literally takes 12-minutes to drive from end to end of the city, so it won't take you long at all to get to class if you find a house elsewhere. Even in the winter! Big issue is parking... the parking lot at the school is for professors/staff only. You can park your car along Waverley Park for 2hrs or all day in the little neighbourhood streets around the school. I'm not sure if there are talks to create a parking lot for students.. but fingers crossed.
The neighbourhoods in Fort William are nice but it's more quiet with young families.
If you choose to live in the Fort William area, avoid apartments on Simpson, Syndicate, & Frederica streets. 

Aside: If you have any legal issues with your landlord, you should apply for help from the law school's legal clinic (Lakehead University Community Legal Services). I worked there all of my 2L year and if you financially qualify (i.e. broke student) then the clinic may give you advice on any landlord & tenant issues you may have!


By the 'Thunder Bay Bar' I mean the pool of lawyers in Thunder Bay. "Bar" is a term used to refer to local practicing lawyers. Like the "Toronto Bar" is 100x larger than the "Thunder Bay Bar", meaning if you practice in Toronto, you probably won't see the same opposing counsel more than once. But in Thunder Bay, you'll be seeing the same faces in the court house every day. So you need to be nice and civil to everybody to protect your reputation! 

[Socratic Ape]

On 6/9/2021 at 2:28 PM, tillandsia said:

Hello all,

I wanted to start a thread where incoming or applying students may ask any questions about BL or Thunder Bay in general. Since BL is still a relatively new school (est. 2013), the alumni pool is far smaller than the bigger law schools throughout Canada. This means that the knowledge about BL and its program is less accessible to applicants canvasing for advice. However, I hope to change with this new forum and answer what I can as a 3L student from my experience and perspective. Hopefully other BL students can provide general knowledge from their experiences on this thread as well. 

Certainly things in the upcoming fall term will be different as the pandemic restrictions ease, but I can speak to my student time in person in 2019-2020 and remotely throughout 2020-2021.

Please feel free to ask anything about student life, the IPC program, living in Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay bar, and anything else that is on your mind.

All the best with your applications!

Hello,

I have two questions; 1) I know that this is not reflective of all years, but how was your weekly 1L schedule? (i.e., how long were the gaps between classes, how early were the earliest classes, and when did classes usually end), and; 2) does Bora Laskin have a on-site gym and/or showers within the facility?

And if you have the time, may I ask you some study-related questions via the messaging system?

Thank you for taking the time to help prospective students!

Edited June 17, 2021 by Socratic Ape

[tillandsia]

Hey there, happy to help any way I can. Please feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions about studying or whatever else! 

1)   The 1L schedule was pretty good considering you don't have any choice for course selection or timing. No class on Friday either semester! All 1L's take the same foundational courses, 8 for credit courses and 1 non-credit participatory class about Indigenous experiences in Canada.
      The timing of the 1L schedule is decent. From 9:00am-11:50am, you have two 1hr15min year long courses. Then two days a week you have afternoon classes that are 2.5hrs long. Those could get rough sometimes. The days on which your classes fall depend on if you're "Group A" or "Group B". It's not alphabetical, so I have no idea how the school splits everyone up. Each group is about 30-32 students. If 100% back to the physical classroom, the groups share the same hallway, locker space, and lounges, so you see everyone all the time.
       Classes start 9:00am SHARP. Do not be late!!! It's a small class, so it's a significant faux pas for people to walk in late to shuffle around finding a seat and setting up their laptop while the prof is starting their lecture. Your prof will be peeved.
       The gap between your morning classes is about 10-15 minutes, which is just enough time for you to pack up your bag, go to the bathroom, fill up your water bottle, then walk down the hall to your next class and set up. Fortunately all 1L classes are on the same floor of the law school. Sometimes you don't change physical rooms but rather the professors swap. 

I was in Group A, so our schedule looked a little something like this back in 2019-2020:

Fall:
Monday
Contracts (9:00am - 10:15am)
Constitutional (10:30 - 11:45am)
Foundations in Canadian Law (Online course, no specific time)

Tuesday
Criminal (9am)
Torts (10:30am)

Wednesday
Contracts (9am)
Constitutional (10:30am)
Legal Research and Writing (1:30-4pm)

Thursday
Criminal (9am)
Torts (10:30am)

Winter:
Monday
Contracts (9am)
Constitutional (10:30am)
Indigenous Legal Traditions (1:30-4pm)

Tuesday
Criminal (9am)
Torts (10:30am)

Wednesday
Contracts (9am)
Constitutional (10:30)
Property Law (1:30-4pm)

Thursday
Criminal (9am)
Torts (10:30am)

**There is also a year long non-credit course called "Aboriginal Perspectives" that you need to finish before your April final exams. You have to complete around (I think) 30 hours of community involvement in cultural, social, academic, and media Indigenous activities. It's a lot of fun and provides many wonderful in-depth learning experiences. It's life changing, especially for law students who were not fortunate enough to learn much about Indigenous peoples in Canada before coming to law school.  

2) There isn't a workout facility at the law school, but there is one on main campus called "The Hangar" that's this huge gym inside an airplane hangar on the campus. There is a gymnasium with changerooms since the law school used to be a big high school. I haven't been there, but my cohort in 1L would play basketball games of Group A vs Group B. I assume there are showers down there, but I have no idea though.

Edited June 21, 2021 by tillandsia

[missanxiety]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place! Was hoping for some guidance with my application for 2021. I haven’t heard anything from Lakehead since I submitted my app back in November. What do you think my chances are at this point? 3.46 CGPA (OLSAS), 160 LSAT and applied access category. 

[tillandsia]

On 6/27/2021 at 7:56 PM, missanxiety said:

Sorry if this is in the wrong place! Was hoping for some guidance with my application for 2021. I haven’t heard anything from Lakehead since I submitted my app back in November. What do you think my chances are at this point? 3.46 CGPA (OLSAS), 160 LSAT and applied access category. 

Hey there,

Sorry, I unfortunately don’t think I’m able to advise you or anyone about admission chances, at any time of the cycle. Lakehead is notoriously quiet about their admissions process and thresholds, so it’s anyone’s guess. They do not disclose anything about their considerations. I’ve met admitted students with hard and soft stats all over the spectrum. I think it’s about how you (humbly) sell yourself in your application. 

However, I haven’t personally met anyone who was accepted in July or August, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before. I was admitted as an access student off the waitlist in early June of 2019 (3.25 cGPA, 3.6 B2, 161 LSAT)
 

Perhaps things will be different this year! Maybe more spots will open up after the waitlist is spent. However I doubt the school will admit more than 65 students as it prides itself on small class sizes. 

[Ruby II]

Hey there! 

I wanted to get this thread back up and running for the same reasons @tillandsia started the thread. I'll do my best to answer any questions and speak from my experience. I hope that other BLFL students will also jump in as well.

Best of luck with your applications!

[tillandsia]

Hey thank you @Ruby II- your attention to this thread is appreciated! I’m also available to interested applicants here to share an alumni perspective if wanted, but your answers as an active student are certainly the most guiding. 

Cheers!

[MAGIC TURTLE]

 

On 10/19/2022 at 6:58 PM, tillandsia said:

Hey thank you @Ruby II- your attention to this thread is appreciated! I’m also available to interested applicants here to share an alumni perspective if wanted, but your answers as an active student are certainly the most guiding. 

Cheers!

Thank you so much for this thread - very helpful!

I got an offer from Bora Laskin in December but I’m still waiting to see if any more offers come in (Windsor, Western). I have lived in London Ontario all my life and would potentially be moving to Thunder Bay with my wife who can work remotely but isn’t thrilled about potentially leaving London. I personally think both the school and city would be great learning environments for me. 

I had a couple of questions about Thunder Bay and  Bora Laskin but most of them have already been answered by your very helpful posts.

1. Does the school have programs in place to complete the 30 hours of indigenous community involvement?

2. Are there any school requirements for the summer? E.g. work at a law firm.

3. Can you explain the 6 month placement? Heard it used to be unpaid but LSO has recently switch to requiring payment for law students?

4. Are there a lot of extra curricular activities to get involved in at the law school?

5. Are the workout and recreational facilities included with the admission fee (hope so)?

6. How dark is it in Thunder Bay throughout the year and how long is summer?

7. What are some fun things to do in Thunder Bay?

8. How expensive are groceries and cost of living in Thunder Bay?

9. What are the job opportunities like for law students in Thunder Bay?
 

Thank you so much for your time, your in-depth responses are extremely helpful in this next chapter of my life!

 

 

 

On 10/3/2022 at 2:22 PM, Ruby II said:

Hey there! 

I wanted to get this thread back up and running for the same reasons @tillandsia started the thread. I'll do my best to answer any questions and speak from my experience. I hope that other BLFL students will also jump in as well.

Best of luck with your applications!

Thank you so much for starting this up again for 2023!

I got an offer from Bora Laskin in December but I’m still waiting to see if any more offers come in (Windsor, Western). I have lived in London Ontario all my life and would potentially be moving to Thunder Bay with my wife who can work remotely but isn’t thrilled about potentially leaving London. I personally think both the school and city would be great learning environments for me. 

I had a couple of questions about Thunder Bay and  Bora Laskin but most of them have already been answered by your very helpful posts.

1. Does the school have programs in place to complete the 30 hours of indigenous community involvement?

2. Are there any school requirements for the summer? E.g. work at a law firm.

3. Can you explain the 6 month placement? Heard it used to be unpaid but LSO has recently switch to requiring payment for law students?

4. Are there a lot of extra curricular activities to get involved in at the law school?

5. Are the workout and recreational facilities included with the admission fee (hope so)?

6. How dark is it in Thunder Bay throughout the year and how long is summer?

7. What are some fun things to do in Thunder Bay?

8. How expensive are groceries and cost of living in Thunder Bay?

9. What are the job opportunities like for law students in Thunder Bay?
 

Thank you so much for your time, your in-depth responses are extremely helpful in this next chapter of my life!

[JudgeJudy]

@MAGIC TURTLE Id be happy to answer some questions for you, I am an active upper year student. 

1) Yes there is this program in place and you do it through your first year, It is not overly onerous and most people enjoy it, its one of the course credits. 

2) There are no summer requirements whatsoever. People do a variety of things some work in law, some just go back to their retail or serving jobs, some people take a break and do nothing. 

3) So the placement has been a point of contention for a while. It is true that the LSO updated their guidelines, however the placement remains unpaid. Sometimes if you relocate from Thunder bay you can expense certain things, like rent, however the firm you are placed with is not required to pay you anything. This program is one that can be applied for as an exception to the LSO, so our school for what ever reason really wants to keep it unpaid, so it appears it will be that way for some time. 

While it is unpaid, you replace an entire semester in your third year and don't take classes. So your third year will be 4 months class, and 4 months placement, the placement counting towards course credit. 

4) Theres a ton of extra curriculars, especially in your second year, I wouldn't shy away from getting involved in your first year either. Theres so many opportunities to get good experience here. and also lots of non-law extra curriculars. Theres always a bunch of intramural sports teams going on also. 

5) Yes main campus, which isn't that far has a nice workout facility which is included. 

6) Winter pretty much starts for good in November, and goes well into April. While it is much colder here, what I will say is that it is very very sunny, which makes a huge difference. I actually prefer winters here than the ones in southern Ontario. In terms of daylight,  its actually darker longer in the morning, its light from about 9am-6pm, while it is further north, its so far west into the timezone that its actually lighter later in the evening compared to southern Ontario. 

7) If you like outdoors, theres endless things to do, some of the best hiking ever, and never any crowds since its so remote. Then there are any of the other things to do that you'd find in a mid size city (movies, bowling bars, restaurants etc). Thunder bay is truly very beautiful. 

8. Groceries are really the same as anywhere, I don't notice a huge difference. Housing is way cheaper though, lots of people renting rooms for 500-600. Cost to live on your own is a bit more because the housing stock is mostly detached homes. Overall, its cheaper to live here. 

9) Im not sure exactly what you mean for this question, if you mean part time work while in school, there are lots of minimum wage jobs no problem, although id avoid doing this while in school if possible. it terms of legal jobs in the summer and afterwards, there is a pretty good demand for lawyers/students, especially in certain areas, like family. 

 

I hope this helps you, best of luck with the rest of your applications

 

[LawyerGirl]

Hey! Does anyone know if all the law classes are in one building? Sorry, may be a dumb question, but looking into housing!

[tillandsia]

@MAGIC TURTLE Thanks for your questions! I second all of @JudgeJudy 's answers here.

Just to throw in my two cents to some of your questions:

3) I received a few gift cards from my placement firm as a thank you for the work/time. 

4)  There exists a good number of clubs at BLFL for you to join! Engagement during the school year with something (anything) is important. You don't need to jump into anything major right away as you're trying to acclimate to being a 1L. But definitely check out everything the school has to offer! Join one of the clubs and make it more active than it already is; start a new club; be a TA for one of the 1L classes if you really liked it (this is paid work); be a mentor for the lower years; join Pro Bono; take one of the legal clinics in 2L; or even just volunteer at the Dew Drop Inn soup kitchen a couple of times a month. Don't just go through the motions of going to class and then go home. But also, for the sake of your health and grades, don't do more than a couple of things. Law school is a lot of reading, so making sure you stay on top of your understanding with your classes is also important. A part-time job is not advisable during the school year if you can avoid it... 

6) Thunder Bay winters are more of a dry cold, but yes, most days are a bright full sun.  I've since move back to southern Ontario, but I miss Thunder Bay summers and falls dearly. Truly the best summer weather is in northern Ontario... Incredibly, most days will be 22 degrees and the sun will set at 10:00pm from mid-May until late-August! If you have the opportunity to stay in Thunder Bay during the summer, it is absolutely stunning and I highly recommend exploring every hiking trail you can access. 

7) In addition to the proximity to nature, the restaurant scene in Thunder Bay is also starting to boom with more young business-minded people from Thunder Bay choosing to stay in Thunder Bay, rather than going to a big southern city.
Fort William Country Club has a beautiful golf course; Skiing at Mount Baldy is great and has flexible passes to purchase.

9) I'd recommend doing something non-law related for your first summer after 1L if you are fortunate to do so -- or do nothing. I didn't have a law job in 1L summer (pandemic..) and I was stressing about it at the time.  I'm a lawyer in a firm now and was not asked about my 1L resume hole in job interviews.  I think it didn't make a difference for me because I was active during the school years.  The need for student-level help is out there in Thunder Bay, but you often need to pound the pavement and solicit the work yourself. The school will circulate any ads they receive from local firms looking for summer student help which typically comes from the bigger firms. There are many mid, small, and solo sized law firms who don't post ads online or send ads to the school. If you're interested in a firm/lawyer, I highly recommend reaching out to them to express your interest and why you would be an asset to them as a summer student. Maybe you're even interested in doing your 3L placement there. The firms are looking for permanence... so if you plan on staying in Thunder Bay after law school, definitely make that clear.

I can confirm there is need for family law and criminal law lawyers in Thunder Bay. I understand estate work is busy as well, including estate litigation. I'm not sure about other practice areas. I still get the email blasts from the school about job ads it receives from around Canada, and I will occasionally see junior associate level positions by Thunder Bay firms. Otherwise, you will similarly need to make the connection with the firm directly and sell yourself. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by tillandsia

[tillandsia]

7 hours ago, LawyerGirl said:

Hey! Does anyone know if all the law classes are in one building? Sorry, may be a dumb question, but looking into housing!

Hello! All questions are worthy and this is certainly a good question because the school doesn't really make this information clear.

As a graduate of spring 2022, I can say yes, all of my classes and tutorials were in one building -- 401 Red River Road. On Google Maps, its the big three story stone castle at the top of Waverly Park. The law library is in here too. 

Aside: I'm pretty sure you can talk to the Dean about taking an elective 2L or 3L class hosted by the main campus, if the course is sufficiently law related.

Aside: I don't know about any changes or additions as to where classes are to be held. If the school were to ever expand (which I doubt), I would hope it would try to use the Magnus Theatre, which is a lovely community theatre at the bottom of Waverly Park. It's holds at least one hundred seats. The biggest classes are the 2L and 3L mandatory courses, like Professional Responsibility, Evidence, or Real Estate. I'm trying to remember the number of participants in Zoom lol... I think it was 50 people for a couple of them? I can't exactly recall... it might be fewer than that.

Edited January 16, 2023 by tillandsia

[LawyerGirl]

On 1/15/2023 at 10:30 PM, tillandsia said:

Hello! All questions are worthy and this is certainly a good question because the school doesn't really make this information clear.

As a graduate of spring 2022, I can say yes, all of my classes and tutorials were in one building -- 401 Red River Road. On Google Maps, its the big three story stone castle at the top of Waverly Park. The law library is in here too. 

Aside: I'm pretty sure you can talk to the Dean about taking an elective 2L or 3L class hosted by the main campus, if the course is sufficiently law related.

Aside: I don't know about any changes or additions as to where classes are to be held. If the school were to ever expand (which I doubt), I would hope it would try to use the Magnus Theatre, which is a lovely community theatre at the bottom of Waverly Park. It's holds at least one hundred seats. The biggest classes are the 2L and 3L mandatory courses, like Professional Responsibility, Evidence, or Real Estate. I'm trying to remember the number of participants in Zoom lol... I think it was 50 people for a couple of them? I can't exactly recall... it might be fewer than that.

Thank you, that is super helpful!!