It's TRU! First New Canadian Law School In 35 Years To Open In B.C.

We've gotten used to new law schools here in the U.S.  I'm particularly proud to have been one of the six inaugural faculty at a darn good one here in Philadelphia.  But things are different north of the border.  Nobody has opened a new law school in Canada in 35 years.  That's about to change.

Thompson Rivers University (formerly The University College of the Cariboo), in British Columbia, plans to open the doors of its new law school in September of 2011.  The school will offer a three year J.D. degree.  It has now named its founding dean.  Chris Axworthy, the sitting dean of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Law, will move to TRU this May.  Axworthy knows Canadian legal education. He's been a faculty member at Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Dalhousie.  He has also been in and out of government. 

TRU may be offering an American-style J.D., but some things are clearly different in Canada.  Exhibit A: the school has entered a curriculum license agreement with the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary.  According to TRU's counsel:

“This is an historic agreement and we are very proud to be part of it.  Not only does it facilitate the establishment of our law school by licensing the curriculum of an existing first class law school, it does so across provincial boundaries in Canada. We think this is a great model for efficiently starting a new law school in a way that will serve our students and our communities.”

Comments

[Eric Fink]

"Cariboo U." is such a wonderful name' it's a pity they changed it.

[Michael Alexander]

Will a JD from a Canadian law school allow a person to sit for a US bar exam? Are there any US styled classes at a Canadian law school?

[Len Rotman]

Michael,

A Canadian J.D. degree does not provide any greater privileges to recipients than the former LL.B. degree did. No J.D. degrees granted by Canadian law schools are recognized by the A.B.A., so Canadians can write state bars only where non-A.B.A. approved degree recepients can write, such as the New York and California Bar exams. Some schools, such as mine, the University of Windsor, offer dual degree courses in conjunction with U.S. law schools, entitling students to gain both Canadian and American law degrees in reduced periods of time (usually 4 years, but for our program only 3 years).

My own school has recently approved changing the nomenclature associated with our law degree, going from the LL.B. to the J.D.: http://web4.uwindsor.ca/units/law/newschannel/news.nsf/ChannelsID/DF325DA280FE3639852576D500795C55. According to some Canadian students, the desire to change the degree name is based on the fact that, technically, an LL.B. is an undergraduate degree, while most Canadian law students possess at least a bachelor's degree prior to entering law school.

The main point is that the name change is merely that, a name change. Everything else remains the same. As for "U.S. styled classes," some Canadian schools do offer classes in American law or comparative law courses that include American content.

I hope this answers your question.

Len

[Sandra]

Your information help me a lot. Good job.keep it up. Thanks!

[achieve orgasms]

he main point is that the name change is merely that, a name change. Everything else remains the same. As for "U.S. styled classes," some Canadian schools do offer classes in American law or comparative law courses that include American content.
Thank you very much for that information. I liked your blog, the topic is very interesting and I would love be more aware.