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University of Toronto Faculty of Law

78 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M5S2C5, Canada
Phone: 416.978.0213 | Website: www.law.utoronto.ca

Introduction

Flavelle House exteriorThe Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto, with a long and illustrious history. The law school took on its modern form under the leadership of Cecil Wright in 1949, building on the foundations of the law school established at the University of Toronto in 1887.

Today, it is one of the world's great law schools, a dynamic academic and social community with 57 full-time faculty members and 25 distinguished short-term visiting professors from the world's leading law schools, as well as 500 JD and graduate students.

The Faculty's rich academic programs are supplemented by its many legal clinics and public interest programs, and its close links to the Faculty's more than 6,000 alumni, who enjoy rewarding careers in every sector of Canadian society and remain involved in many aspects of life at the law school.

Housed in two beautiful, historic buildings, the Faculty also features modern facilities, including the renowned, high-technology Bora Laskin Law Library.

Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, Canada's largest city, the law school is near a wide variety of attractions including the Royal Ontario Museum, which is next door.

Why U of T?

  • Our Faculty is internationally recognized for academic excellence.
  • Our students are exposed to some of the world's finest doctrinal and theoretical scholars in public and private law.
  • Our students are sought after by prominent law firms, nationally and internationally, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and leading graduate law schools.
  • Our law school distributes over $2 million in financial aid each year.
  • Our graduating classes typically enjoy the highest rates of employment of all Ontario law schools.
  • Linkages with other U of T faculties, other universities, and leading members of the bar and bench provide a diverse interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research.
  • Our law school has a strong and unwavering commitment to public service and leadership through numerous programs and activities.
  • Our student body is comprised of extraordinary individuals representing a myriad of backgrounds, interests, and accomplishments.
  • We are located in downtown Toronto—the heart of one of the world's most multicultural and interesting cities.

Law School Enrollment

Approximately 600 students are enrolled at the Faculty, including

  • 515 JD students;
  • 50–70 LLM students;
  • approximately 35 SJD students (6 to 10 entering per year); and
  • an international student body from North and South America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and the former Soviet Republic.

Faculty

  • Law Professor teachingOver 50 full-time faculty, 60 adjunct faculty, and 15–25 distinguished visiting faculty.

Dean: Mayo Moran
Associate Dean: Bruce Chapman
Associate Dean, First Year Students: Sujit Choudhry
Associate Dean, Graduate Program: Jutta Brunnée

Physical Facilities

Housed in two historic buildings—Flavelle House and Falconer Hall—the law school is located on the St. George campus of the University of Toronto, close to the heart of the city. Both buildings were private homes in the early 1900s, and offer students an architecturally inspiring environment for their studies.

In recent years, major renovations have equipped the historic houses with leading-edge technology: students enjoy Internet connections for laptops, and Internet-based conferencing technology that allows interaction with guest lecturers, legal experts, faculty, and other students and schools around the world.

Located in Flavelle House, the library is the prime study and research location for our law students. Opened in 1991, it provides a comfortable, modern environment where students can access rich legal resources and related materials. The library offers more than 265,000 volumes and strives to support law studies with the highest quality legal resources, services, and training. Its collection includes legal materials from the major common law countries and more than 700 scholarly periodicals from around the world, as well as subscriptions to leading law CD-ROMs and online systems such as Quicklaw, Westlaw, and LexisNexis.

Housing

There is a variety of accommodations available both on and off campus for single and married students enrolled at the Faculty of Law. Housing options include the university residences, independent residences, student-family housing, and off-campus housing.

Demand for residence is very high and law students are advised to apply for residence as soon as possible.

Graduate House

Law students conversingVisit the Graduate House website for all information about the residence, including its exact location, types of accommodation, amenities, fees, and the application process.

The University of Toronto has allocated 26 rooms in the new Graduate House residence for full-time first-year single students registered in the law school. The residence is located on the west side of the St. George Campus, a 10-minute walk to any point on the campus.

Priority for rooms in the Graduate House is given to first-year students from outside southern Ontario whose opportunities to locate suitable housing in Toronto prior to September was limited. Within this priority, preference is given to students who have shown financial need.

University of Toronto Student Housing Services

Information about University of Toronto's Housing Services is enclosed with admissions material. Specifically, this information describes

  • the undergraduate residences on campus that accept applications from law students (be advised that space in residence cannot be assured, as priority is given to undergraduate students);
  • the university's family housing apartments;
  • independent residences located near the law school; and
  • other off-campus housing options, including summer and temporary housing.

The Housing Service now includes a registry of off-campus housing.

LLM Programs/Areas of Specialization

  • Excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary scholarship, including research centres in innovation law and health law, among others.
  • Our graduate program consistently produces superb scholars with a remarkable breadth of interests. Their graduate studies at the University of Toronto enable them to find rich and intellectually stimulating careers in teaching, research, policy, and practice around the world.

The University of Toronto Faculty of Law offers the following law degrees:

  • Juris Doctor (JD)
  • Combined-degree programs—JD/MA or JD/PhD
  • Master of Laws (LLM)
  • Master of Studies in Law (MSL)
  • Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM)
  • Doctor of Juridical Sciences (SJD)

Coursework-Intensive LLM

The coursework-intensive format is aimed at law students who wish to specialize in a specific area of law (particularly in one of the Law Faculty's several strengths), to develop an understanding of North American legal processes and laws, or to explore the common law at an advanced level.

Graduates of the coursework-intensive LLM have pursued further graduate legal education (through a doctoral program), entered directly into a university position, or resumed practice with private firms, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.

The coursework-intensive LLM is usually undertaken on a full-time basis, from September to August. In exceptional cases, with the permission of the Associate Dean, students may apply to complete the program on a part-time basis.

Students can customize an area of focus in the coursework-intensive LLM through their course selections and thesis topic. In the past, students have studied in areas like constitutional law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.

Requirements

Students must

  • remain in residence in Toronto for two academic terms (September to April);
  • complete 20 credit hours of coursework, including the mandatory graduate seminar, Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship; and
  • write a 4-credit thesis (approximately 50 pages or 15,000 words) under the supervision of a graduate faculty member.

We also offer an intensive course, Introduction to the Canadian Legal System, in late August for students who are new to Canada and/or common law.

Curriculum

Graduate students choose their other courses from those available in the JD program, which are posted online in the summer. Graduate students are expected to choose upper-level and seminar courses. Only in exceptional cases will students be permitted to select basic courses or courses from the first-year JD program.

Additional Information

For more information, please visit the Coursework-Intensive LLM website.

NOTE: An LLM does not qualify foreign-trained candidates to practice law in Ontario.

Thesis-Intensive LLM

The thesis-intensive LLM offers law graduates the opportunity to demonstrate advanced legal scholarship, through the writing of a dissertation of significant length. Graduates of the thesis-intensive LLM program often pursue further graduate legal studies (through a doctoral program) or seek positions in the academy or in policy development.

The full-time LLM is designed as a 12-month program commencing in September, involving a course of studies and a thesis which, combined, are valued at 24 credit hours. Students in the thesis-intensive LLM program can design a program in almost any area of law and legal theory that will meet that student's interests and needs.

All thesis-intensive LLM candidates participate in the graduate seminar, Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship, with other graduate students. The seminar is designed to expose students to various approaches to legal scholarship, including law and philosophy, law and economics, feminism and the law, legal history, law and society, analytical jurisprudence, and critical legal theory.

A part-time thesis-intensive LLM program may be taken over a period of two years. A candidate must successfully complete the course requirements (as above) by May 31 of the first academic year of attendance, and complete and present a satisfactory thesis by August 31 of the second academic year of attendance. Application to the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies is required for this part-time option.

Requirements

Students must

  • remain in residence in Toronto for two academic terms (September to April);
  • complete 8 credit hours of coursework, including the mandatory graduate seminar, Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship; and
  • write a 16-credit thesis (approximately 150 pages or 45,000 words) under the supervision of a graduate faculty member.
Curriculum

Graduate students choose their other courses from those available in the JD program, which are posted online in the summer. Graduate students are expected to choose upper-year courses and seminars. Only in exceptional cases will students be permitted to select basic courses or courses from the first-year JD program.

Students may also enroll in other graduate courses in other faculties of the university. The selection of courses is subject to the approval of the Associate Dean.

Additional Information

For more information, please visit the Thesis-Intensive LLM website.

Global Professional Master of Laws

The Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM) is a 12-month executive-style master of laws offered during evenings and weekends and taught by a winning combination of distinguished law and business faculty and leading legal experts. The GPLLM combines the best of U of T's reputation for academic rigor with the pragmatic real-world expertise that is the standard in today's competitive business environment.

What is the GPLLM?

Focused on Canadian business law from a global perspective, the Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM) challenges lawyers, business leaders, and policymakers to think differently.

The GPLLM provides an intensive experience like no other that is currently available in Canada. Students examine the impact of globalization on laws, legal institutions and markets from a broad multi-disciplinary and comparative legal perspective. Through the program, they gain an overall understanding of the constructs of Canadian business laws that are affected by globalization by exploring comparative examples, case studies, and real business deals.

Equipped with a GPLLM, graduates add immediate value to their clients, businesses, organizations, and agencies. They are better prepared to ask the right questions when leading cross-border and domestic transactions. In collaboration with local and foreign counsel, auditors, and other parties, they are able to effectively identify the issues and challenges arising from the globalized business environment.

Faculty

Top legal minds from the U of T Faculty of Law teach alongside leading adjunct faculty from Canada and international institutions and top experts in the field. GPLLM Program Advisor, Professor Michael Trebilcock, will be joined by full-time faculty members like Professors Ben Alarie, Anita Anand, Tony Duggan, Mohammed Fadel, and Ed Iacobucci. Adjunct and international faculty from other universities and the business world are listed on our website.

Curriculum

GPLLM students must take the following six core courses (which are offered through a combination of evening classes and weekend modules):

  1. Law and Business in a Global Economy (foundational course)
  2. Comparative Corporate Governance
  3. Securities Regulation and Corporate Finance
  4. Mergers and Acquisitions
  5. Canadian and Cross-Border Issues in Corporate Tax
  6. Commercial Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

GPLLM students must also choose three seminar courses from the following options (which are each offered as two-day weekend intensives):

  • Seminar 1 (choose one)
    • Law and Policy of Public-Private Partnerships
    • Intellectual Property Law
  • Seminar 2 (choose one)
    • Regulated Industries and Competition Law
    • International Insolvency Law
  • Seminar 3 (choose one)
    • Organization of Transactional Legal Practice
    • Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics, and the Law

Additional elective courses will be offered in future years.

Additional Information

For more information, please visit the Global Professional Master of Laws website.

Student Services and Organizations

Students manage a remarkable range of organizations and activities at the Faculty of Law. Students also benefit from numerous services provided by the Faculty and the university. Organizations and activities include:

  • Aboriginal Law Students' Association
  • The Advocates' Circle
  • Artists' Legal Advice Services (ALAS)
  • Black Law Students' Association
  • Christian Law Students' Association
  • Criminal Law Students' Association
  • East Asian Law Students Association
  • Environmental Law Club
  • HELMUT
  • Health Law Club
  • International Law Society
  • Intramural Sports
  • In Vino Veritas
  • JD/MBA Students' Association
  • Jewish Law Students' Association
  • Law Ball
  • Law Follies
  • Law Games
  • The LIFT Project
  • Mandate for Public Interest Law
  • Muslim Law Students' Association
  • Out in Law
  • Senators Club
  • South Asian Law Students' Association
  • Sports and Entertainment Law Society
  • Technology and Intellectual Property Club
  • Ultra Vires
  • Women and the Law

Graduate Law Students Association

The Graduate Law Students Association (GLSA) represents all students enrolled in the Graduate Programme at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. The object of the GLSA is to assist graduate students in their dealings with the Faculty and to obtain representation for students on various committees and organizations that pertain to the graduate law programme. The GLSA strives to encourage and facilitate cooperation and understanding among students and faculty in order to improve the research activities and educational experiences of all graduate law students at the University of Toronto.

Other Programs of Special Interest

« Return to LLM/Graduate Law Program Guide

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