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Making the grade Students give high marks to Canadian law schools BY KIRSTEN MCMAHON ture lawyers have a wealth of excellent schools to choose from. Because our rankings don't often change drastically from year I to year, Canadian Lawyer decided to do something a little different this time. In addition to calculating grades for the law school from recent survey results, we have averaged them with the marks from our 2006 and 2007 survey. This year, we took the new responses and combined them with the 1,000-plus of the last two years to give a more accurate picture of law schools across the country. The complaints are the same as always: tuition is too high, grad- ing can be unfair, the facilities aren't as good as they could be. But more often than not, respondents praised their alma maters, not- ing improvements are also a constant. One thing that is changing is the global nature of business and of law. It has some schools and students rethinking the traditional LLB designation. The University of Toronto made the move to a JD (juris doctor) in 2001, and now Queen's University is thinking of following suit. There, the Law Students' Society held a referen- dum in February 2007, with more than 75 per cent of students in favour of changing their degree to a JD. "The JD is internationally regarded as indicating a second-entry professional degree program, unlike the LLB, which in most com- mon law countries indicates a first-entry degree program with no post-secondary entrance requirements," says Queen's law school's web site. "In short, most international employers regard the JD as evidence of a much more sophisticated legal education. " This move is not without controversy, with many blasting the Ameri- canization of Canadian law schools. Osgoode Hall Law School partnered with New York University's School of Law and has a joint program that qualifies graduates on 36 JANU AR Y 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com t's a good time to be in any one of Canada's law schools — alumni and law firm donations are rolling in, dated fa- cilities are being renovated, and even the LLB is getting a makeover. Looking over the results of Canadian Lawyer's 2008 Law School Survey, it's easy to see that Canada's fu- both sides of the border. The University of Windsor has a similar partnership with The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law for a joint JD/LLB law degree program. "In a competitive global economy, a key success factor is the ability to provide a service that your competitor cannot match. A joint degree can be the first step to advancing your competitive edge," says Windsor's web site. With some U.S. firms paying starting salaries of US$160,000, a JD can be an attractive option for law students. But there is the risk that Canada, already aching for good legal talent, will experience a brain drain, something we'll be watching closely in the next year. As for this year's results, although someone always has to come in near the bottom of any rankings, all of the schools surveyed placed quite closely and were given great marks. Rather than focus on the areas where schools may have been missing the mark, this year's rankings highlight news and milestones from the past year. Schools missing from the survey did not garner enough responses to be meaningful. 1. OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL 1 Curriculum: A- Faculty: A- Professors: A- Testing: B- Facilities: B Practice Relevance: B Recommenda- tion: A Final Grade: B+ This year's winner has had a long and storied history in our rankings. More than five years ago, Osgoode generally lan- guished near the bottom of our rankings. But it listened to its graduates and made improvements. And things are only getting better. Last year, Osgoode launched its Building Osgoode Cam- paign — the largest ever Ontario law school fundraising campaign. The school has already raised more than $6 mil- lion of the $25-million price tag for the renovation and ex- pansion. While Osgoode's infamous windowless structure will still exist, the expansion's centrepiece is a three-storey atrium that "will bring light and will give inspiration to the community at Osgoode," said Dean Patrick Monahan. Con- struction is scheduled to begin this summer.