Law School + Where you intend on practicing

[Lawstudent692419]

Hi all, 

If I intend on practicing in Toronto after law school, how important is it that I attend a law school in the Toronto area?

[99problems]

19 minutes ago, Lawstudent692419 said:

how important is it that I attend a law school in the Toronto area?

very inconsequential 

[Whisk3yjack]

You do not need to attend school in Toronto, but the standard advice you will receive is to go to school in the province in which you wish to practice. 

[Peanut Butter]

4 hours ago, Lawstudent692419 said:

Hi all, 

If I intend on practicing in Toronto after law school, how important is it that I attend a law school in the Toronto area?

Your number one priority is to attend a law school in the province you want to practice. Apply to law schools outside of your province as a backup plan in case you don't get accepted into your first choice.

[Darth Vader]

Going to law school in the province you want to practice is not as necessary as people make it out to be. If you get into top schools like McGill, UBC, Osgoode, and U of T, then you can generally work anywhere. I wouldn't turn down McGill to go to Western or Queen's, for example, even if I wanted to work in Ontario. If the area of law you are going into is also based mostly on federal statutes, then it really doesn't matter. 

[abogada]

23 minutes ago, Darth Vader said:

Going to law school in the province you want to practice is not as necessary as people make it out to be. If you get into top schools like McGill, UBC, Osgoode, and U of T, then you can generally work anywhere. I wouldn't turn down McGill to go to Western or Queen's, for example, even if I wanted to work in Ontario. If the area of law you are going into is also based mostly on federal statutes, then it really doesn't matter. 

This is true. Buttttt logistically speaking it does make sense to be in the same province. E.g. law firms in Vancouver do OCIs at the BC schools, and I don't believe they recruit directly in Ontario. Same with Toronto- I don't think Toronto firms are recruiting directly at UBC or UVic. You would have to go out of your way to apply. For interviews, you would have to fly across the county to do the interviews (though I don't know if with COVID they have loosened their practices in terms of video interviews). Networking is easier if you are in the same province. 

[CleanHands]

16 minutes ago, abogada said:

-Snip-

As a UBC student I participated in formal recruits in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. This was not difficult. First round interviews were over the phone or video conferencing. Some positions required flying out for second round interviews but I secured a formal recruit position out of province without needing to travel.

This was pre-COVID so I can only imagine firms have gotten more accommodating about such things.

There may be some value in face-to-face networking where small firms are concerned but this confers no advantage in the formal recruits where networking hardly ever makes any difference and the process is facilitated through online applications.

Edited to add: Even if one had to fly out for an interview that is not a good reason to choose one school over another. For example UBC's tuition cost is half that of Ontario schools so a UBC student could pay for flights to participate in the Toronto recruit and would still be well ahead financially.

Edited August 13, 2021 by CleanHands

[BlockedQuebecois]

@CleanHands I'm not sure how it was with COVID, but at one point students from UVic (and often UBC) skipped OCIs for many of the big Toronto firms. This may seem like a bonus, but what it actually meant was that firms had to like your application materials enough to schedule an in firm with you over someone else they had met (and presumably liked).

So there are advantages to being at a school where firms you're interested in conduct OCIs, assuming you're interested in OCIs. Whether that advantage is worth the ~$50,000 the average Ontario school will cost you compared to UBC or UVic is a whole other question.