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Bora Laskin Faculty of Law (LakeheadU)


fplaw7

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fplaw7
  • Applicant

 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be able to give some insights on Bora Laskin as I rarely see any posts about the school and I would love to know more about your guy's experiences with 1L, 2L, 3L, adjusting in Thunder Bay, 1L prep, housing, classes, exams, IPC, etc. BASICALLY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ABOUT BORA LASKIN!!!

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cmoney
  • Law School Admit
On 3/27/2022 at 3:36 PM, fplaw7 said:

 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be able to give some insights on Bora Laskin as I rarely see any posts about the school and I would love to know more about your guy's experiences with 1L, 2L, 3L, adjusting in Thunder Bay, 1L prep, housing, classes, exams, IPC, etc. BASICALLY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ABOUT BORA LASKIN!!!

Yes i second this LOL

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capybara
  • Law Student

Bora Laskin 1L here!

I could go on forever about how great this place is, but here’s some info you asked about:

Thunder Bay - TBay is great; don’t listen to whatever you hear about it being scary. We might not have the variety and excitement that Toronto has, but we have a couple of great bars you’ll find half your class at each weekend and there’s tons of great outdoor activities to do if that’s your thing. The culture and small town feel TBay has is unique from anywhere else I’ve ever lived. All this being said, if you’re from down south the long, cold winter can be a big adjustment and can really take a toll on your mental health - be ready for this and find ways to have fun in the winter.

1L prep - I didn’t do anything specific to prep for 1L and I’m doing alright haha. I would echo the advice that’s often said here to just enjoy your last summer of not thinking about law. Also, if you don’t have your drivers licence yet this is the time to sort that out. I know down south lots of young people don’t have licences but up here it’s important and I’ve been asked about having a licence/car in job interviews.

Housing - It can be tricky to find housing in TBay, especially near the law school. As far as I know, no one lives in the Lakehead residence (it’s pretty far away since the law school isn’t on main campus). If you don’t have a car (and honestly even if you do) you really want to live within walking distance of the school. Parking near the law school isn’t great and using public transit is worse.

Classes - Like everywhere, there will be classes you like and others you don’t. I’ve really enjoyed all of mine. For the most part, professors are extremely approachable and want you to succeed. Our classes in 1L only have about 30 people in them so it’s easy to form study groups and it’s not as intimidating to participate and ask questions in class. Upper year students are also super helpful. We have weekly, optional sessions for each class in 1L run by an upper year student where we review what we’ve learned each week which I’ve found to be useful for preparing for exams.

IPC - I can’t speak too much to this yet since the big IPC thing is the semester of work experience in 3L. However, in each of our classes we have IPC components, such as writing legal memos and doing a mock bail hearing. It’s nice since it takes some of the weigh off of exam grades and we’re definitely learning some practical skills.

Lakehead might not be the place for everyone, and maybe there’s some things to consider depending on your career goals, but I am so happy with my choice to be here and I can’t imagine myself going to law school anywhere else.

Feel free to ask any more questions!

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fplaw7
  • Applicant
49 minutes ago, capybara said:

Bora Laskin 1L here!

I could go on forever about how great this place is, but here’s some info you asked about:

Thunder Bay - TBay is great; don’t listen to whatever you hear about it being scary. We might not have the variety and excitement that Toronto has, but we have a couple of great bars you’ll find half your class at each weekend and there’s tons of great outdoor activities to do if that’s your thing. The culture and small town feel TBay has is unique from anywhere else I’ve ever lived. All this being said, if you’re from down south the long, cold winter can be a big adjustment and can really take a toll on your mental health - be ready for this and find ways to have fun in the winter.

1L prep - I didn’t do anything specific to prep for 1L and I’m doing alright haha. I would echo the advice that’s often said here to just enjoy your last summer of not thinking about law. Also, if you don’t have your drivers licence yet this is the time to sort that out. I know down south lots of young people don’t have licences but up here it’s important and I’ve been asked about having a licence/car in job interviews.

Housing - It can be tricky to find housing in TBay, especially near the law school. As far as I know, no one lives in the Lakehead residence (it’s pretty far away since the law school isn’t on main campus). If you don’t have a car (and honestly even if you do) you really want to live within walking distance of the school. Parking near the law school isn’t great and using public transit is worse.

Classes - Like everywhere, there will be classes you like and others you don’t. I’ve really enjoyed all of mine. For the most part, professors are extremely approachable and want you to succeed. Our classes in 1L only have about 30 people in them so it’s easy to form study groups and it’s not as intimidating to participate and ask questions in class. Upper year students are also super helpful. We have weekly, optional sessions for each class in 1L run by an upper year student where we review what we’ve learned each week which I’ve found to be useful for preparing for exams.

IPC - I can’t speak too much to this yet since the big IPC thing is the semester of work experience in 3L. However, in each of our classes we have IPC components, such as writing legal memos and doing a mock bail hearing. It’s nice since it takes some of the weigh off of exam grades and we’re definitely learning some practical skills.

Lakehead might not be the place for everyone, and maybe there’s some things to consider depending on your career goals, but I am so happy with my choice to be here and I can’t imagine myself going to law school anywhere else.

Feel free to ask any more questions!

Thank you so much!! Just sent you a PM! 

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  • 2 months later...
Amsale
  • Law School Admit

Hi there,

I was recently accepted to Bora Laskin and the program seems very interesting to me!  I’ve been reading forums and there is some discussion of Bora Laskin being “small firm” oriented. Is this true and do you feel it would be limiting if you one day want to pursue something more large scale? 
 

Also, it says that there is some stigma associated with being into Bora Laskin. Is this just strictly because it’s a newer program? 

Also, the smaller class sizes. Do people enjoy this and is it easy to make friends? 

Ultimately, I am very excited I just needed to investigate. Thanks!

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