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University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Canadian law school From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

University of Toronto Faculty of Lawmap
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The University of Toronto Faculty of Law, officially the Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, is the law school of the University of Toronto. It is located at the St. George campus in downtown Toronto.

Quick facts Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, Parent school ...

Originally founded in 1889, it is among the oldest law faculties in Canada.[4] The school was reorganized in the early 1950s into a modern professional faculty, and its Juris Doctor degree replaced the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 2001.[5] It was re-named after alumnus Henry N. R. Jackman in September 2025, following an $80 million donation to the school.[6]

Jackman Faculty of Law Alumni include two Canadian prime ministers, William Lyon Mackenzie King and Paul Martin; multiple justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, including Chief Justice Bora Laskin and Justice Rosalie Abella; and several provincial premiers, cabinet ministers, and senior judges. International leaders among its graduates include Eugenia Charles, prime minister of Dominica, and Noor Hassanali, president of Trinidad and Tobago. Other alumni novelist Guy Gavriel Kay, university president Ronald J. Daniels of Johns Hopkins University, and the current or past deans of leading global law schools: Stanford, Columbia, the University of Oxford, and Berkeley.

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History

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The University of Toronto Faculty of Law was established as a teaching faculty in 1887 pursuant to the University Federation Act,[7] which was proclaimed into force in 1889.[8] An earlier faculty of law had existed at King's College between 1843 and 1854, but was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1853.[8]

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William Proudfoot, Barrister and Professor

The Faculty of Law was officially opened in 1889, with two part-time professors appointed at its inauguration, William Proudfoot and David Mills.[9] The Faculty awarded LL.B. degrees to graduates of its program. However, the Law Society of Upper Canada at the time refused to accept the University of Toronto Faculty of Law as an accredited law school, preferring instead to maintain control over the profession by establishing its own school, the Osgoode Hall Law School.[9] Thus, students who graduated from the Faculty were still required to complete a full three-year articling term and complete courses at Osgoode Hall in order to join the legal profession. As a result, the Faculty's enrolment numbers in the early years were relatively low.[9]

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Caesar Wright in 1923

Despite the Faculty of Law's academic program, the Law Society of Upper Canada refused to recognize it as a degree-granting institution for the purposes of accreditation. In the early 1950s, law students and their supporters petitioned the Law Society, and in 1953, a group of 50 student protesters marched on Osgoode Hall demanding formal recognition for the Faculty of Law. Finally, in 1958, after years of negotiation and discord, the Law Society began to give credit to graduates of the law school seeking admission to the Ontario bar.[10]

In 2011, the Faculty of Law launched a campaign to raise money for the renovation and expansion of Flavelle House, with a goal of raising $53 million.[11] The new building is named the Jackman Law Building in honour of Henry N.R. "Hal" Jackman, who donated $11 million to the faculty's building campaign in 2012, the largest single gift the faculty has ever received.[12] The Jackman Law Building was designed as a joint venture between B+H Architects and Hariri Pontariri Architects.[13]

On September 9, 2025, the Faculty of Law was renamed the Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, following an CA$80 million gift from Henry Newton Rowell "Hal" Jackman.[14]

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Falconer Hall
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Flavelle House
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Jackman Law Building in 2016
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Rankings

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In 2025, the Faculty of Law was ranked 16th globally in the subject of law by the QS World University Rankings and 22nd globally by Times Higher Education.[17][18]

Within Canada, the Faculty has consistently been rated as the top law school for Common Law. It has held the number one spot in Maclean's law school rankings for Common Law since the rankings' inception in 2007 and is the highest ranked in terms of faculty journal citations.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

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Academic programs

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The Faculty of Law offers a range of professional and graduate degrees, as well as combined programmes with other University of Toronto faculties:

  • Juris Doctor (JD)

Introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the LL.B., the JD is the Faculty’s core professional degree. Each class has roughly 200 students, admitted on the basis of an undergraduate degree and LSAT score.[26]

  • Combined JD programs

The Faculty offers Canada’s largest selection of combined programs, including JD/MBA with the Rotman School of Management, JD/MPP with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, JD/MSW with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, and JD/MA or JD/PhD with the Faculty of Arts and Science.[27]

  • Master of Laws (LLM)

A one-year graduate degree offered in thesis or coursework formats, with concentrations such as Business Law, Criminal Law, Legal Theory, and Health Law, Ethics and Policy.[28]

  • Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM)

A 12-month executive-style program for working professionals, with streams in Business Law, Canadian Law in a Global Context, Innovation, Law and Technology, and Leadership. Prior legal education is not required.[29]

  • Master of Studies in Law (MSL)

Designed for non-law academics whose research intersects with law, providing foundational legal training to enrich interdisciplinary work.[30]

  • Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)

The Faculty’s research doctorate, requiring advanced coursework and a dissertation of 90,000–100,000 words. It is the only terminal SJD program in Canada.[31]

Student body

For fall 2025, the entering J.D. class at the Faculty of Law received 2,771 applications, and enrolled 220 first-year students.[32] The class profile includes a median LSAT score of 168 (94th percentile) and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.90.[33]

Other demographic and academic statistics for the J.D. entering class include:

  • 46 undergraduate institutions represented.
  • 56% women.
  • 45% students of colour.
  • 85% are the first in their family to attend law school; 6% are the first to attend university or college.
  • 31% born outside Canada; 62% have at least one parent or guardian born outside Canada.
  • 14% of students hold a prior graduate degree.
  • Entering combined programs include JD/MBA, JD/MA in Criminology, Economics, or English, JD/MGA, and JD/MPP.[33]
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Faculty members

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The Faculty of Law has over 50 full-time faculty members and serves approximately 640 students across its JD, graduate, and professional degree programs. Many of its permanent faculty are recognized scholars who publish widely in their areas. Current faculty include:

Its Distinguished Visitors program brings short-term visiting professors and jurists from leading law schools and international institutions to teach at the Faculty each year. Past visitors have included Aharon Barak, former president of the Supreme Court of Israel; Zhenmin Wang, former dean of the Faculty of Law at Tsinghua University; David M. Malone, former permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations; Payam Akhavan, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague; Guido Pincione of the University of Buenos Aires; and Hanoch Dagan of the University of California, Berkeley.

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Legal clinics and internships

The Faculty of Law offers several clinical programs, enabling students to engage directly with clients on real-world legal matters. Students provide legal representation and advocacy in areas including public-interest law, international human rights, constitutional litigation, investor protection, and health equity. Additional community partnerships allow students to serve Indigenous communities, injured workers, and women experiencing violence. Clinics offer volunteer and academic-credit opportunities under professional supervision, combining practical legal training with community service.[34]

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International exchange programs

The Faculty of Law offers JD students the option to spend a semester abroad through exchange partnerships with leading universities in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. Notable partners include the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, Melbourne Law School, and Sydney Law School.[35]

Students may also participate in the Centre for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS) in London, a collaborative program run by an international consortium of law faculties. Faculty members from U of T Law regularly teach there alongside international colleagues.[36]

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Tuition and financial aid

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The Faculty of Law has the highest tuition among Canadian law schools.[37] For the 2023–24 academic year, tuition for Ontario residents enrolled in the Juris Doctor (JD) program is approximately C$33,040, rising to C$35,730 for other Canadian students, and C$62,880 for international students.[38] Including mandatory fees, total annual costs are approximately C$34,000 for domestic students from Ontario and over C$64,000 for international students.

To mitigate these costs, the Faculty provides a needs-based financial aid program. In the 2019–2020 academic year, approximately C$4.3 million in bursaries and interest-free loans were awarded to around 82% of financial aid applicants, with first-year students receiving an average bursary of C$12,500.[39] Additionally, all students demonstrating unmet financial need receive bursaries and assistance with interest payments on private student loans during their studies.[40]

The Faculty uniquely offers Canada's first back-end debt relief program, designed to help graduates pursuing lower-income careers. This program subsidizes repayments of recognized financial aid and interest-free loans for up to ten years after graduation, but generally excludes private bank loans and credit lines.[41]

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Grading system

The Juris Doctor (JD) program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law uses a modified honours/pass/fail grading system introduced in the 2012–2013 academic year. The system awards grades of High Honours (HH), Honours (H), Pass with Merit (P), Low Pass (LP), and Fail (F).[42] Students who began law school before 2012 continued under the former modified letter-grade system during a transition period.[43] Graduates receiving a distinction (typically the top 10% of the class) generally have mostly High Honours (HH) and Honours (H) grades.[44]

Centres and institutes

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The Faculty of Law hosts several interdisciplinary centres and institutes that convene scholars, students, and practitioners to explore contemporary legal challenges and advance public-policy impact:

  • David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights

Founded in 2008 with a CA $7.5 million endowment, the Centre focuses on constitutional rights advocacy, research, and education in Canada. It hosts a legal clinic where students, faculty, and the bar engage in constitutional litigation and public legal education.[45]

  • Centre for the Legal Profession

A forum that brings together academics, judges, practitioners, and public-interest lawyers to discuss and strengthen the capacities, judgment, and community leadership integral to ethical and effective lawyering.

  • Centre for Innovation Law and Policy (CILP)

An interdisciplinary hub dedicated to the intersection of law, technology, and innovation. It organizes conferences, lectures, seminars, and supports graduate fellowships and faculty-student research initiatives.[46][47]

  • Capital Markets Institute (CMI)

A joint venture with Rotman School of Management that leads research on capital market structure and regulation, aiming to improve investor and issuer outcomes within Canada’s financial ecosystem.

  • Future of Law Lab

Launched in September 2020, this initiative connects students, academics, and legal professionals to explore how technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and access-to-justice intersect with legal practice. Its programming includes speaker series, hackathons, workshops, externships, and summer fellowships.[48][49]

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Publications

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The University of Toronto Faculty of Law is home to several prominent legal journals and publications that contribute significantly to Canadian and international legal scholarship:

  • University of Toronto Law Journal – Established in 1935, it is internationally recognized for interdisciplinary and comparative legal research.[50]
  • University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review – Canada’s oldest student-edited law journal, publishing bilingual student scholarship twice annually.[51]
  • Canadian Business Law Journal – Founded in 1974, this journal covers developments in Canadian and international business law.[52]
  • Critical Analysis of Law: An International & Interdisciplinary Law Review – Provides an interdisciplinary forum exploring contemporary legal theories.[53]
  • Middle East Law and Governance – A collaborative publication with Yale Law School, focusing on legal and socio-political issues in the Middle East.[54]
  • Journal of Law and Equality – A student-run, peer-reviewed journal emphasizing equality issues within Canadian contexts.[55]
  • Indigenous Law Journal – Canada’s first student-run legal journal dedicated exclusively to Indigenous legal issues.[56]

Additional lists of Canadian legal periodicals, including those based at the University of Toronto, can be found through academic library guides.[57]

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Student organizations

The Faculty of Law supports a vibrant extracurricular network of approximately 65–70 officially recognized student clubs and initiatives, spanning legal practice, cultural identity, arts, recreation, advocacy, and special interests.[58] Governance is provided by two umbrella bodies: the Students' Law Society (for JD students) and the Graduate Students' Law Society, which manage funding, administrative support, and student advocacy.[59]

Post-graduation employment

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The Faculty of Law consistently achieves among the highest employment rates and average starting salaries for legal graduates in Canada, with a significant number securing positions at top Bay Street firms annually.[60] Over 95% of JD graduates obtain legal employment—either as articling students in Canada or as licensed lawyers in jurisdictions without an articling requirement, such as the United States.[61]

Bay Street employment

Bay Street, located in Toronto, is colloquially known as Canada's financial and legal hub, housing many of the country's most influential corporate law firms. Among these are the historically prominent "Seven Sisters" firms, which have long been considered the elite of Canadian business law. These firms include:

These firms, along with other leading national and international firms such as Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG), Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (Fasken), Bennett Jones LLP, and Gowling WLG, regularly participate in the Toronto 2L Summer Recruit process, offering summer positions that often lead to articling opportunities and full-time employment.

The Faculty of Law has established strong relationships with these firms, resulting in a significant number of its students securing positions on Bay Street annually. In the 2025 Toronto Summer 2L Recruit, at least 104 U of T Law students obtained summer positions through the official recruit, representing 48.6% of the class. Notably, Blakes hired the highest number of U of T Law students, with 13 securing positions at the firm.[62][63]

Government employment

A portion of U of T Law graduates pursue careers in government legal services at both federal and provincial levels. Employers include the Department of Justice Canada, the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, and various Crown agencies. These positions encompass roles in criminal prosecution, regulatory enforcement, and policy development.[64]

Public interest employment

The Faculty of Law maintains a strong commitment to public interest law, supported by its extensive clinical programs and public interest fellowships. Graduates often secure positions with legal aid organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and advocacy groups focusing on areas such as human rights, environmental law, and social justice.[65]

U.S. summer associate positions

A growing number of students secure summer associate positions in the United States, particularly in New York City. In 2024, at least 30 students obtained such positions, with the majority working in New York.[66]

In 2025, at least 32 students accepted summer associate roles in the U.S., predominantly in New York, along with placements in Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area. Of these, 28 were 2L JD students and four were 3L JD/MBA students. The majority of these positions were secured through pre-OCI recruitment, reflecting a shift in the hiring timeline for U.S. firms.[67]

Judicial clerkships

The Faculty has a strong record of students obtaining competitive judicial clerkships. For the 2026–2027 term, 23 students from U of T Law will be clerking at various courts, including seven at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and seven at the Supreme Court of Canada. At the Supreme Court, U of T Law students will be clerking for six out of the nine judges.[68]

Notable alumni

Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada

Politicians

Lawyers

Scholars

Other

References

External links

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