Top 10 reasons TO go to my school

[saltshaker111]

U of Alberta anyone?

[Whist]

13 minutes ago, saltshaker111 said:

U of Alberta anyone?

I'm sure people who have graduated already will have a better list, but I'm happy to help!

1. The professors. Really, I've never met one so far who didn't have passion for either their field of law or for passing on their knowledge. Some are academics and some have been practitioners. There are some notable names on the roster - Sankoff, Bottos, and Ziff until he recently retired. One of the current property law professors spoke at the SCC a few weeks ago. I've never felt like they don't know their stuff or that they're not being thorough in their lectures.

2. The clinics. SLS is pretty much guaranteed volunteer experience if you want it and there are multiple projects to choose from. The crim project is especially strong. You can get court experience very quickly and can take almost as many files as you please, as there is no shortage of them. I can't confirm, but I believe it's one of the biggest clinics of its kind. You can work for SLS as a paid position in the summer.

3. Kind of a combination of the above two points, but UofA should have a better rep as a place to go for criminal law. There are excellent crim professors here and the ability to have access to things like the crim project right in 1L is great. There are many (currently virtual) events where crim practitioners will happily give their time to provide advice and guidance.

4. The location. I know me mentioning location as a perk might shock some people, because of Edmonton's reputation. But the university is in a very central location and the river is within walking distance. The LRT is reliable to get from A to B and you ride "for free" with your student card (the busses are "free" for the same reason). Whyte Avenue has a ton of restaurants and bars to go enjoy yourself in and it's a close walk away. Edmonton is surprisingly beautiful outside of the winter and very green, with a gorgeous river valley full of trails. It's one of the sunniest cities in Canada. I personally don't mind the winters, although I know this will be a sticking point for some. It might not be as close to the mountains as Calgary, but Jasper is no more than four hours away, and Elk Island Park, where you are guaranteed to see cool stuff like wild bison, is no more than an hour's drive.

5. Financial aid. I can't speak for everyone, and budget cuts likely can and will impact what's available, but I have still been treated very generously by financial aid even after the initial budget cut. I won't divulge the exact amount here but my first year's tuition was essentially free. 

6. Edmonton has a bigass mall with an entire indoor water park, an ice rink, multiple mini-golf courses, a shooting range, a theatre, a gym, an aquarium, an indoor go-kart track, and a bajillion stores inside it. If you need something to do for a day, you'll find something to do at WEM.

7. The cost of living. For a large city, Edmonton is quite affordable. The average student could probably justify a one-bedroom apartment to themselves for the cost. If you're coming from outside of Alberta, it'll be cheaper because we have no sales tax. The grocery stores nearest the university are a little more expensive, but in general, it's cheaper than what I was used to. The housing availability is also pretty decent - you likely won't struggle to find accommodations. 

8. The student body. This can of course vary, and I'm sure other schools have something similar to say, but upper year students love to give advice and my own cohort is full of smart, kind people and a surprising number aren't your standard K-JDs. There will always be exceptions, but people are open and you will probably wind up with a tight-knit group of friends.

9. The law library. It doesn't have that Instagram aesthetic, but it's very tidy and is the second biggest law library in Canada.

10. While it has all the standard large businesses, there are a lot of independent businesses, restaurants, and shops in Edmonton. You will never have a hard time finding somewhere "local" to get lunch. Whyte Avenue is an easy place to start to find some. I haven't had to eat the same restaurant more than once so far because there are so many.

10.5. The Hello My Friend Cafe! It was temporarily moved to another room recently while they renovate the lounge, but Steve has been serving coffee in the law building for 15 years. He's a bright presence in the law building and a staple of the place. Great when you're short on time and need to pick up a quick dose of caffeine before an early class or a pick-me-up in the afternoon.

[CleanHands]

5 minutes ago, Whist said:

2. The clinics. SLS is pretty much guaranteed volunteer experience if you want it and there are multiple projects to choose from. The crim project is especially strong. You can get court experience very quickly and can take almost as many files as you please, as there is no shortage of them. I can't confirm, but I believe it's one of the biggest clinics of its kind. You can work for SLS as a paid position in the summer.

Did not go to UofA but wanted to chime in to say I've appeared opposite SLS students in court and have always been impressed.

[Eathwens]

Haven't seen one for Western. Am I missing it? If there isn't one if anyone can do one that would be much appreciated. 

[saltshaker111]

Thank you so much for your detailed and incredibly helpful input, @Whist! I haven't heard too much about U of A on here so I didn't know what to think, but you've made it sound like a great school!

Does anyone have an idea of how U of A grads fare in the Vancouver/lower mainland market? I tried to browse online but I'm really not sure what I'm looking for.

[Arrowtotheny]

 

9 hours ago, saltshaker111 said:

 

http://ultravires.ca/2021/11/vancouver-2022-2l-summer-recruitment-numbers/

It should be noted that only 64% of the employers responded (compared to the 75% for the Ontario recruit). I also have no idea how many U of A grads actually tried, so the low number could be caused by the lack of interest.

The Vancouver recruit also seems very competitive. UBC placed only 28% of its students while Osgoode placed 39% at the Ontario recruit even though both schools should be equally competitive in their respective province. It would be great if someone more informed could interpret the data for me. 

Btw somebody please do an UVic one lol. I will likely attend there anyway. I just want to feel better about my decision. 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Arrowtotheny
typo

[Darth Vader]

1 hour ago, Arrowtotheny said:

http://ultravires.ca/2021/11/vancouver-2022-2l-summer-recruitment-numbers/

It should be noted that only 64% of the employers responded (compared to the 75% for the Ontario recruit). I also have no idea how many U of A grads actually tried, so the low number could be caused by the lack of interest.

The Vancouver recruit also seems very competitive. UBC placed only 28% of its students while Osgoode placed 39% at the Ontario recruit even though both schools should be equally competitive in their respective province. It would be great if someone more informed could interpret the data for me. 

Btw somebody please do an UVic one lol. I will likely attend there anyway. I just want to feel better about my decision. 

Most of the employers in the Vancouver recruit look like regional firms. It doesn't seem like law school reputation matters as much in Vancouver as it does in the Toronto recruit - at least not to the extent where employers think they need to take all their students from UBC. There are 8 law schools in Ontario so there is a hierarchy here that is less present in other provinces. 

[thelawwon]

Can someone do U of C? Please 🙂

[mjslava]

1 hour ago, thelawwon said:

Can someone do U of C? Please 🙂

This has been asked at least three times so far without a reply. What are they hiding from us? SPILL IT!

[secondcareer-er]

Throwing out another request for uvic please 🙏

[bocuma]

On 2/15/2022 at 11:48 AM, blue said:

UVic ??

2 hours ago, secondcareer-er said:

Throwing out another request for uvic please 🙏

I am but a lowly 1L, but I'll take a stab at UVic. I have no idea why, but UVic seems really underrepresented in the people posting online here. I'll restate the caveat that should apply to all the posts in here: I've only been to UVic, so this is all just how I feel about the school and says absolutely nothing about what your experience would be like elsewhere.

In no particular order:

1: Huge variety of people in the student body. There's a ton of different backgrounds, people from all sorts of different fields and previous careers, as well as a large contingent that just went straight into their JDs from undergrad. The downside of this is a genuine sense of inadequacy, because everyone has their own amazing accomplishments that have brought them here. I have huge respect for most of my classmates, because they're so accomplished and talented. I think other posters have said basically the same thing about their schools above, and I think you can say the same about UVic. It probably applies to most law schools, although maybe some more than others.

2: Great profs. I have no idea if they're leaders in their fields, but the instruction quality is very high. Law school is hard, but I feel like the expectations are clear and I'm given everything I need to learn the materials. Some instructors are more accessible than others via office hours etc., but all of them care about teaching, and it shows. You'll like the teaching styles of some better than others, but I've never heard a complaint about the quality of instruction. They've also done a great job of responding to COVID changes throughout the year, and really taking the safety and health of students seriously.

3: Co-op. UVic has the only law co-op program in the country. If you're not interested in big law, co-op is a great opportunity to try different stuff before you commit to a practice area or to a certain type of employer. You graduate having completed two work terms, without the expectation that you'll commit to articling at either of the places you worked at. Government jobs, public interest, small firms, sole practicioners, all post co-op positions. Co-op is also not super popular, so there can be more jobs than students at times - that's a unique situation to be in for recruiting that you won't get elsewhere.

4: Low tuition. I really think this is worth mentioning, because when you graduate with enormous debt it can close some doors. Less debt can translate more options for what you do with your career. It's hard to do poverty law for $60k when you have a lot of debt looming over you.

5: Small faculty. There are about 130-150 students in each year, and that translates into there being tons of opportunities for people to get involved. You'll also probably end up knowing a sizeable portion of your cohort, which creates a more collegial environment. 

6: The faculty does things to lower the amount of stress. Grades aren't posted publicly, nothing is curved, some stressful assignments and stuff like moots are pass/fail, and for moots the judges didn't give us a verdict so nobody lost/won. 1L exams have also moved heavily to take-homes, which gives people more time to process/think about the material. (the downside of take-home exams being that they can sometimes feel like a 48-hour writing marathon)

7: Great supports for students. We have a counsellor just for law students, and a whole team dedicated to helping students through tutoring and other means. I haven't used any of these services, but other people have good things to say. Also closely related to that is our careers office, which is staffed by former lawyers exclusively (probably the same as at other places). I've used career offices at other institutions and found the advice pretty much completely useless, but the folks at our careers office actually really know their stuff especially as it pertains to the legal field.

8: The climate/nature here is lovely. I bike to school regularly, which has really benefitted my wellbeing in general throughout 1L. It probably rains less here than you think, so you can totally get by with just a bike year-round. There's also an overwhelming amount of nature to check out, tons of hikes in the area, huge waterfront parks, etc. If you like outdoor activities (aside from skiing, which is REALLY hard to do here) you will probably like it here.

9: Unique strengths in Indigenous Law. I know a lot of people say this about their schools, but UVic literally has the only degree program in Canada that focuses on Indigenous Law, and we have the academics here and community connections to back that up. If indigenous issues and/or decolonization are things you're passionate about, UVic would probably be a great fit. Most of your 1L courses will have an indigenous law component, and you may be tested on them (we had to do legislative interpretation of some indigenous legislation for a final exam in one class). You will also spend a solid chunk of time over the course of your first two weeks learning about indigenous issues. That said, we have no required indigenous law course (which I've heard is a thing at other schools).

10: UVic has some of the best merch of any university in the country. You could tell me you don't want the blue hoody with the yellow UVIC lettering on it, but you would be lying 🙂

11: The rent is affordable and it's easy to find places to live. Just kidding, it's appallingly bad and probably not getting better. I regularly see rooms going for $1000 a month, and it doesn't seem like it gets cheaper with more people. A two-bedroom apartment is still going to cost you $2300 at least, if you're lucky enough to find a vacant one. Things might cool off over the next year (some indications that the housing market might slow down), but it's crazy out here, and everyone coming back after COVID made it much worse. I got extremely lucky finding a place, other people it took a lot more effort to track down a place to live.

 

[RWC]

Couldn't find a post for it, so throwing out a request for Western 🙂 

[legal101]

another request for U of C please!

[Patient0L]

On 3/24/2022 at 8:03 PM, bocuma said:

6: The faculty does things to lower the amount of stress. Grades aren't posted publicly, nothing is curved, some stressful assignments and stuff like moots are pass/fail,

 

Thanks for this post! I’m pretty excited about the vibe of UVic so far.

Tell me more about this. UVic doesn’t use a curve?! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

[bocuma]

2 hours ago, Patient0L said:

 

Thanks for this post! I’m pretty excited about the vibe of UVic so far.

Tell me more about this. UVic doesn’t use a curve?! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

I'm glad my post had that effect! 🙂

The thing about the curve may have been misleading. There is no curve, but it is very hard to get an A. The grading is based purely on the quality of the work you hand in. If it's good, you get a B. If it's excellent, you get an A. The standards for excellence are significantly higher than most undergrad programs though.

[Patient0L]

13 hours ago, bocuma said:

I'm glad my post had that effect! 🙂

The thing about the curve may have been misleading. There is no curve, but it is very hard to get an A. The grading is based purely on the quality of the work you hand in. If it's good, you get a B. If it's excellent, you get an A. The standards for excellence are significantly higher than most undergrad programs though.

Ah… so there’s no curve per se, yet the letter grade distribution is similar other 1L programs… 

[bocuma]

1 hour ago, Patient0L said:

Ah… so there’s no curve per se, yet the letter grade distribution is similar other 1L programs… 

That's correct. I think the advantage is in knowing that you're not competing with people - it's not like sharing information or helping your classmates is risking putting them ahead of you on the curve or something. It is possible for everyone to get an A, just very unlikely due to how difficult the exams are. On one of my exams though the prof pretty explicitly stated that a lot of people got As, so it is possible for grades to skew high, just very unlikely.

Edited April 18, 2022 by bocuma

[Pantalaimon]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:46 AM, legal101 said:

another request for U of C please!

I was hoping a current student would provide one, but I suppose my experience is pretty recent so I can pitch in.

1. Tuition. I haven't kept up with the tuition increases at peer schools, but I think Calgary is cheaper than any of the other western school except UVic and possibly UBC. This goes hand in hand with...

2. Scholarships. UCalgary is lucky enough to have a lot of financial support from the Calgary legal market. The school offers several full rides and five-figure entrance scholarships, and has a differential tuition if you had substantial undergraduate debt. Most people I knew received some form of financial assistance, and I was lucky enough to pay net-zero tuition over my three years.

3. Big law prospects. UCalgary routinely places by far the most students in the Calgary big law market (twice as many as UofA for 2L recruit last year). If you want to work in Calgary big law, UCalgary will give you the best shot. Calgary's salaries aren't quite Bay, but it's comparable to any other market in Canada with a much lower cost of living  (i.e. one can actually buy a house as a first or second year).

4. Class size. Enrolment has been flat for a while around 130, so you end up knowing basically everyone in the class. Combined with the large UCalgary presence in practice, and it's rare that any transaction I'm on doesn't have someone I personally know on the other side as a junior.

5. Upper year mentorship. The student government is really active, and upper years are are tapped as paid tutors, TAs, and club/extra-curricular organizers. I met and have kept in touch with a ton of upper years, which was really nice for networking and continues to be helpful in practice.

6. Highly relevant course offerings. I'm not a huge proponent of the whole 'experiential learning' pitch, but I found the course offerings practically relevant to a lot of my current practice (and no, I'm not in oil & gas). 'Resource law' might sound like an unappealing dead-end practice, but there's so many applications for a lot of the principles (e.g. duty to consult or asset-based lending) beyond pipelines and oilsands. Deep dives into aboriginal law and regulatory work are interesting and can be helpful in a lot of practice areas.

7. Calgary's OK, I guess. I was reluctant to include this, but if UofA's top ten includes 'location' I can't just let that slide! 😉 I'm not an outdoorsy type, so I would prefer to live in Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal, personally. But I meet a lot of people who are the opposite and appreciate Calgary's plentiful outdoors and extremely low population density. Nearly any "where should I live" post will be met with 10+ suitable neighbourhoods which are all generally quiet, clean, and lovely to live in. The Rockies are only an hour away, and I'm told the foothills are excellent for biking and cross country skiing. The winter is not nearly as bad as you probably think - the average Dec/Jan temperature is -7, which is hardly colder than most of southern Ontario.

8. The law building is quite nice. All of the lecture spaces are bright and airy (see here, for example, which is the biggest lecture hall but is honestly middle-of-the-road in terms of how nice the space is). Most lecture rooms, and all of the 1L section rooms, have an entire wall of windows which helped my mood a lot in the winter.

9. Near-100% articling placement. While I focused on big law, the school as a whole has consistently placed 96%+ of students in articling positions. Most of the regional firms do quite well and have good compensation, too, so these are good positions with upwards mobility.

10. Variety in the student body. The holistic admission process can be challenging because it's tough to manage your expectations or predict admissions. But I enjoyed that it produces a great variety in classmates. My law school friends are anywhere from K-JD to small business owners doing a law degree mostly for fun, and have undergrads from STEM to philosophy. I'm confident that no matter what type of person you are, you'll find a close group of friends with some sort of shared interest.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Pantalaimon
Formatting

[legal101]

On 4/18/2022 at 3:37 PM, Pantalaimon said:

10. Variety in the student body. The holistic admission process can be challenging because it's tough to manage your expectations or predict admissions. But I enjoyed that it produces a great variety in classmates. My law school friends are anywhere from K-JD to small business owners doing a law degree mostly for fun, and have undergrads from STEM to philosophy. I'm confident that no matter what type of person you are, you'll find a close group of friends with some sort of shared interest.

Thank you so much for your post! I'm really considering UCalgary and this is of great help 🙂 

[Jimmy McGill]

Can someone do UofT? I’m surprised it hasn’t been done already.

[Chewy]

43 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

Can someone do UofT? I’m surprised it hasn’t been done already.

It has been. 3rd page.

[2easy]

Can someone do uSask?

also, I know this thread is to list the positives, but could someone let me know of the negatives that I would face there? (outside of weather/location/prestige)

[ckk]

can someone do western? I've seen a couple of requests but no answer yet. Would really appreciate it!

[tortstortoise]

Here's one for Western:

1. The small group program. It's amazing having a small group (20-22) of people to get to know early on and it takes away some of the stress of socializing and forming connections. You get to know your small group really well during orientation week and you have them as a resource throughout 1L and beyond. 
2. The collegiality. This is partly due to the small group program (and the smaller overall class size) but also the culture at Western as a whole. Everyone is very social and supportive and everyone tends to know each other. The upper years are also great at instilling early on that we shouldn't compete with one another. Everyone shares resources. No one gets left out or excluded. You can always approach people you barely know for help and receive it. People are also very open about the pressure of law school and how they feel, which helps you feel less alone. 
3. The clinics. There are five clinics (IP, Sports, Business, Community Legal Services, and the Dispute Resolution Centre) so no matter where your interests lie, you can get involved. The clinics also offer a lot of hands-on experience and everyone I know involved in one has loved it. 
4. Good job placement rates. We tend to have the third highest percentage of students hired in the Toronto 2L recruit (after Osgoode and UofT). Beyond Toronto, our CPDO is also well-versed in the London recruit and plenty of students participate in that so you have many upper-year connections to assist you. We also have a good articling placement rate (I don't know the exact statistic, it's somewhere in the mid-to-high 90's) 
5. The campus is gorgeous. Western's campus is mostly car-free and walkable. There's tons of green space and it's nice to walk around when stressed. If you walk up the hill across from the law building, there's a forest with a nice trail which is owned by the University. In the fall and spring it's very colourful and cheerful which always lifts my spirit. 
6. The Spoke in the University Community Centre. They sell bagels. They are incredible. They are responsible for my weight gain. 
7. The social life. Linked to the collegiality, there's always something happening on or off campus. This is not a commuter school where people go to class and go home. Most people aren't from London and live close to campus. Everyone is open to meeting new people. If looking for something to do, there's a climbing club, a running club, bi-weekly bar nights (called Dennings), a foodie club, a wine club, and more. There's always an event running and you're bound to find something that interests you. The clubs are also very receptive to new people joining which is a great way to meet people outside your small group in 1L! 
8. There's an in-house counsellor. He only meets with law students and has an office right in the law building. He's a great resource to have around, even if you never need him. 
9. The professors. Not only are they very knowledgeable, they're also really kind. My contracts professor would give pep-talks to us regularly around stressful periods, and my small-group professor would meet with us individually or in groups of 2-3 to see how we were doing. They genuinely care about your success and make themselves available for anything you need whether it be help with the course, career advice, or personal support. 
10. There's a cafe in the law building and the coffee is cheap but still very good. The employees are also really friendly! 

[Legal warrior]

can someone do an updated one for queens