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Osgoode Hall Law School, formally the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, is the faculty of law of York University in Toronto. Despite its name, the school is located on the Keele Campus of York University and not at Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto (having relocated in 1969). Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was originally established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889.
The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. Osgoode also hosts Professional Development Programs (OPD). A variety of LL.M. and academic Ph.D. degrees in law are available. The current dean of the law school is Lorne Sossin.
History and reception
For its first seven decades, Osgoode Hall Law School was located at Osgoode Hall at the corner of Queen Street and University Avenue near the University of Toronto but it was not affiliated with the University. In 1969, after a decision by the Ontario Ministry of Education requiring law schools to be affiliated with a university, the Osgoode Hall Law School relocated to the campus of York University that is now called the Ignat Kaneff Building, while retaining a small downtown campus in central Toronto. Since its absorption as a faculty of York University, it has been known as the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
The structures at Queen and University (the earliest dating from 1832) are still known as Osgoode Hall. They remain the headquarters of the Law Society of Upper Canada and house the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
In May 2007, Dean Monahan announced plans for an extensive renovation and extension of Osgoode Hall Law School involving a renovation of the existing building, and the addition of an additional wing. The building was designed by architect Jack Diamond with the construction of the renovated building beginning in the summer of 2009. The project has been majorly funded by a $2.5 million gift by Ignat Kaneff, and the building will be renamed in his honor.
Maclean's magazine has ranked Osgoode second amongst Canadian common law schools in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In the 2008 rankings published by Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Osgoode was ranked first in Canada,[8] and was awarded high marks for the quality of its professors, flexible curriculum, and the diversity and relevance of course offerings.