Queens vs Western - International Law

[blackeye]

Is there a significant difference in the opportunities provided by either school for international law? Or in education in that field? 

[TheAEGIS]

What do you mean by international law?

Do you mean conflict of laws or something more like Trade law, International agreements?

[blackeye]

38 minutes ago, TheAEGIS said:

What do you mean by international law?

Do you mean conflict of laws or something more like Trade law, International agreements?

more like trade law! honestly, my ideal situation would be one where i get to travel most so i’d pursue that area of law. i’m under the impression that this is the case for trade law but please correct me if i’m wrong. thanks! 

[reaperlaw]

There is (was) travel for trade pre-pandemic but no guarantee it returns in earnest as the world returns to "normal". It's also not something that would be likely for juniors at the big Toronto firms that do trade, and for the boutiques/Ottawa firms the trade lawyers there are overwhelmingly U of Ottawa grads. There's also the federal government trade lawyers (JLT) who travel for trade negotiations, but that is not exactly a likely career outcome coming out of law school. Even for the Toronto firms, good luck getting one of BLG, McCarthys etc. to hire you back into their trade groups.

Of Queens and Western, Queens would be better. They have more courses on trade, and are I believe the only school in Canada besides U of Ottawa to do the WTO moot. I think Western used to have a 1L summer internship partnership at the WTO in Geneva but not sure if that's still a thing.

Same is likely true of international law more general at Queens.

Edited May 8, 2022 by reaperlaw

[theroaringbadger]

I would say Queens. They have a pretty good rep for international law. 

[QueensGrad]

Queen’s and it isn’t close. Queen’s low key has probably the strongest group of international law profs in Canada.

[GHpor]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:14 AM, reaperlaw said:

There is (was) travel for trade pre-pandemic but no guarantee it returns in earnest as the world returns to "normal". It's also not something that would be likely for juniors at the big Toronto firms that do trade, and for the boutiques/Ottawa firms the trade lawyers there are overwhelmingly U of Ottawa grads. There's also the federal government trade lawyers (JLT) who travel for trade negotiations, but that is not exactly a likely career outcome coming out of law school. Even for the Toronto firms, good luck getting one of BLG, McCarthys etc. to hire you back into their trade groups.

Of Queens and Western, Queens would be better. They have more courses on trade, and are I believe the only school in Canada besides U of Ottawa to do the WTO moot. I think Western used to have a 1L summer internship partnership at the WTO in Geneva but not sure if that's still a thing.

Same is likely true of international law more general at Queens.

Can you elaborate more on JLT?

 

[reaperlaw]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:34 PM, GHpor said:

Can you elaborate more on JLT?

 

Trade Law Bureau. Jointly part of GAC and DOJ, housed at GAC. Three divisions: trade remedies, international investment, and market access. They work on WTO cases and advise the federal government on certain trade issues (but not all, e.g. Finance also has some trade lawyers) including trade negotiations. Do some other stuff too.

They hire articling students through the DOJ's Legal Excellence Program in Ottawa. They also hire summer students for 1L and 2L (mostly 2L unless you have a trade background). Most people hired there come in as laterals, usually at the junior to mid level. 

[goosie]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:14 PM, reaperlaw said:

I think Western used to have a 1L summer internship partnership at the WTO in Geneva but not sure if that's still a thing.

Western does technically still have a few international law internships, including at the WTO, World Bank, and WHO but they were curtailed quite a bit by the pandemic. They were offered in 2019-2020 but held remotely, and I don't think they've been offered since due to travel logistics, but they may come back. They're also available based on the relevant organization's need/interest, so not all of them are offered each year anyway.

[colecaufield]

Queen's also has the public international law and international business law programs at Herstmonceux Castle in the UK. Huge bonus is that the program has a ton of opportunity to network.