Best Law Schools in Canada Forum

[The Avatar]

I understand that in Canada, prestige doesn't play as large of a role as in the U.S. Still, what do you hear to be among the best?

[str8yolked]

I understand that in Canada, prestige doesn't play as large of a role as in the U.S. Still, what do you hear to be among the best?

Toronto > Osgoode > UBC

Edit: some might argue Toronto > UBC > Osgoode, but either way Toronto > everyone else

[sighsigh]

All law schools in Canada are regional (provincial) schools, including UToronto. It's always best to go to law school in the province you want to work in. It doesn't make sense to rank law schools between provinces.

It makes sense to rank law schools within provinces, though, at least for biglaw placement. In Ontario, I'd say it's something like:

UToronto
--
Osgoode/Queen's/Western
--
Ottawa/Windsor
--
Lakehead

For Toronto biglaw placement numbers, check the Ultra Vires data: http://ultravires.ca/wp/wp-content/uplo ... t-2013.pdf

This year, UToronto placed just under 1/2 in Toronto biglaw, and Osgoode/Queen's/Western each placed about 1/4.

[cron1834]

(waiting for a BigHockeyLaw joke)

[The Avatar]

U of T medians are 3.9 Best 3 year GPA and Lsat 168.

Osgoode is about cGPA 3.65 and Lsat 162.

I think I'll get into Osgoode and if it's one of the best then I don't mind attending there. Is there a significant disadvantage between going to Osgoode rather than U of T?

[manu6926]

...

[sighsigh]

U of T medians are 3.9 Best 3 year GPA and Lsat 168.

Osgoode is about cGPA 3.65 and Lsat 162.

I think I'll get into Osgoode and if it's one of the best then I don't mind attending there. Is there a significant disadvantage between going to Osgoode rather than U of T?

This is only somewhat accurate.

UToronto doesn't use GPA in admissions, it uses percentage averages. U of T's percentiles for the entering class of 2013 were 83%/85.4%/87.7% (these are calculated from your best three full-time undergrad years). Keep in mind Canadian percentages are different from US percentages. Here, generally an A- is an 80%-84%, an A is an 85%-89%, and an A+ is a 90+%. U of T's LSAT percentiles for the entering class of 2013 are 164/167/169. http://www.law.utoronto.ca/admissions/j ... sionPolicy Also keep in mind that U of T is quite holistic. A full 1/3 of the app is weighted towards softs (PS/ECs/etc.). 1/3 is weighted towards the LSAT, and the final 1/3 towards the percentage average. http://ultravires.ca/2013/03/admissions ... e-is-made/

Osgoode's medians for the entering class of 2013 are cGPA 3.65 (OLSAS scale) and 162. http://digital.yorku.ca/i/144328 (p. 11-12) Keep in mind the OLSAS scale is deflated compared to the LSDAS one. For OLSAS, an A is a 3.9, not a 4.0, and an A+ is a 4.0, not a 4.33.

If you're set on biglaw, go to U of T. It places into biglaw about double (or close to it) what Osgoode places, if you consider both Toronto and non-Toronto (e.g. New York) hiring. But certainly nothing wrong with Osgoode; it's a very solid school.

Lawstudents.ca is a much better place to ask these kinds of questions. http://lawstudents.ca/forums/

[Quest4Knowledge]

Lawstudents.ca is a much better place to ask these kinds of questions. http://lawstudents.ca/forums/

+1.

In terms of purely prestige, I'd say University of Toronto and Osgoode would be 1 and 2 respectively.

[The Avatar]

What about Osgoode?

[Mack.Hambleton]

Bump

see sighsigh's post, I don't know what else you'd need

[banjo]

Toronto is the most prestigious Canadian law school and seems to have the best big firm placement. Beyond that, I'd go with Alberta or Calgary given the province's strong economy.

[cron1834]

Bump

see sighsigh's post, I don't know what else you'd need

Yeah. Wtf? OP, there are only about 20 schools to choose from, and that dude gave you a pretty authoritative run down. There's a TLS article on this exact topic that confirms. What are you looking for?

[jbagelboy]

If you are interested in working in the US, just reviewing entering summer classes at top firms and from the Canadian associates I've met, seems like U Toronto is the only school consistently & reliably placing grads into biglaw (New York). Others certainly do on occasion, but not with close to the same frequency and breadth of firms.