It is easy to forget, seeing as our students today probably worry considerably about grades and academic fortitude, that for nearly a century, Canada’s first official law school at Osgoode Hall didn’t even grant degrees. Up until 1957, anyone who studied law in Canada had to also attend Osgoode Hall for practical training before being called to the Ontario Bar. Along with articling, Osgoode represented the necessary practical component of legal training. This was consistent with the Law Society’s support of apprenticeship over academia and in some sense (much to the horror of many) a conception of law as a trade rather than a profession.
We have obviously come a long way.
But, although we have now been attached to a university for some 45 years, Osgoode still has that hands-on spark. We are known for our breadth of experiential education. This includes 13 clinical and intensive programs spanning across many different areas of the law from criminal to business to immigration. We have our own chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada, which partners with over 30 organizations in the community. We also have mooting competitions, Law in Action within Schools, the International Legal Partnership, the Ian Scott Fellowship, and countless other opportunities.
Osgoode is also the only Canadian law school that requires public interest service for matriculation. The OPIR program, which started in 2006, requires all students to perform 40 hours of legal work in the public interest to graduate. The benefits of participating for students are clear: to contribute to access to justice, identify areas of interest, meet mentors and potential employers, appreciate the practice of law as a profession that has the privilege and responsibility of self-regulation, and of course, gain practical skills.
The majority of our students participate in these experiential learning programs. For the class of 2015, Osgoode has made practical experience mandatory with the unveiling of the new “praxicum” requirement (see cover story). It is our hope that students embrace this. Like the OPIR program, the praxicum requirement is meant to encourage students to explore outside the classroom. Books can only teach so much. One common criticism of law schools is that they don’t prepare students for legal practice. Indeed, many of the characteristics successful lawyers possess come from engaging in the community, networking, and working with many different kinds of people. The praxicum requirement will help ameliorate these concerns – and get us in touch with our roots.