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I am an American interested in McGill Law school in Montreal. Although I am potentially open to staying and working in Canada, one of the main reasons I am interested in McGill is that I would ideally like to do international work (so the McGill curriculum is particularly valuable). I am also open to the idea of returning to the US to work in biglaw, in which case McGill is much cheaper than T14 schools, even as an international student. However there is not as much info on McGill as there is for T14 schools on the internet.

1. What does the employment outlook look like for McGill's most recent classes?

2. What kind of grades would I need at McGIll to return to a V100 firm, for instance?

3. Does McGill give merit scholarships in the same way T14 schools do?

Hi, I can't answer those questions, but one thing to consider for McGill is that I believe there is a passive-bilingual requirement. As in, some of the curriculum will be taught in French, as far as I understand. You don't need to speak French fluently, but you should be able to read and understand French with some proficiency.

This may not be an issue for you, I wasn't sure, but I knew quite a few students considering McGill Law that were taken aback by this requirement.

Unless you're Canadian or a dual citizen and want to practice in Canada, going to a Canadian law school is a bad idea.

First of all, very few Americans actually go this route, which makes it impossible to get good data on outcomes. Everybody knows exactly what you're getting when you invest in Georgetown or NYU. We have enormous amounts of data and anecdotes on what happens to GULC grads and NYU grads. On the other hand, we have no clue what happens to Americans who attend UBC or Osgoode or McGill. Looking at the number of McGill grads who end up in the United States is useless because that number fails to account for self-selection. We also know that pre-recession numbers are no longer applicable, meaning we have only a few years of data to work with.

Secondly, have you thought about the visa/immigration issues? Immigration laws might require Canadian employers to try to hire a Canadian before hiring an American. You will almost certainly not be eligible for many government positions. What about for summer jobs? And in the long term, there may be different immigration treatment of lawyers as opposed to, say, engineers or domestic workers.

More importantly, have you thought about how Canadian employers might interpret your lack of ties to the region? Do you think a smaller firm will give an articling position to an American who might flee after a couple years? All Canadian schools, except maybe Toronto, are regional to an extent, so this is an important consideration.

Third, have you considered the additional requirements you'll have to meet to practice in the United States, if you decide to go that route? Do you know which states you can practice in with a Canadian law degree and no additional academic work?

Fourth, how do you plan to pay for the degree? Are the usual loans available?

I can think of many other issues. For example, foreigners often pay higher tuition at Canadian law schools, but big law salaries in some Canadian markets can be pitiful relative to COL (British Columbia, for example). Do the numbers work out for an American hoping to practice in Canada?

Basically, have you really thought through this?

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Canadian GPA is calculated a bit differently if I recall.

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