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Some months I use this newsletter to
answer a "question of the month." If you have a suggestion for a
question please email at: jr@lawschoolbound.com.
Please remember that my answers to these questions are my opinions. You
should pay attention to my reasoning. If the question pertains to your
situation, please discuss the question with your academic and/or career
advisor.
In the February newsletter, I dealt with was "How should I select law
schools?" In this context I discussed the joint LL.B./J.D. programs at
Windsor, Ottawa and the new Osgoode LL.B./J.D. program. The article that I
wrote on those programs (along with some others that you want to see) may be
found at:
http://osgoode.yorku.ca/media2.nsf/0/e108170e7921e81285256f95005c0dd1?OpenDocument
In the March newsletter I discussed joint law programs where a law degree is
combined with another kind of academic degree.
This month, in the April newsletter, I want to consider the value that the
joint LL.B/J.D. degree may have in the legal marketplace. How might it make a
difference to your career?
In order to provide a perspective on this issue I will include two articles.
The first is an article I wrote for "The Lawyers Weekly" which
appeared in the March 18, 2005 issue. The second is a link to an interesting
article that appeared in the March 14, 2005 Globe.
First, my article: "New joint-degree programs offer glimpse into future
of legal education”
By John Richardson
Toronto
There is perhaps no closer economic relationship than that of Canada and the
United States. And despite political differences, that relationship has grown
- and continues to grow - at a remarkable rate.
The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989 and the North American Free
Trade Agreement, which came into effect in the mid-1990s, were the catalysts
for the current upsurge in trade between the two countries.
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When the first agreement was signed,
two-way trade of goods and services was US$192.4 billion a year. In 2003,
that figure surpassed US$441.5 billion - more than double the amount of 14
years earlier.
But that's not all. There are reportedly more than 300 treaties governing
trade between the two countries and the U.S. has become an important market
for all Canadian businesses - including the business of law, as legal issues
with cross-border implications are becoming the rule rather than the
exception.
In response, many Canadian law firms have left behind their east-west
expansion plans, setting their sights south instead. Torys LLP and Blake,
Cassels & Graydon LLP are two examples of Canadian firms that have
expanded their businesses to the U.S. because of the rapidly growing needs of
Canadian clients with American interests.
Since its merger with New York-based Haythe & Curley in Oct. 1999, Torys
has established itself as a U.S. law firm practising U.S. law as well as
Canadian law. Its New York office has approximately 75 lawyers - 70 American
lawyers and five Canadian lawyers who have passed the New York State Bar -
while its Toronto office has 250 lawyers. Approximately 10 per cent of them
have passed the New York state Bar as well, with another five per cent on the
road to obtaining that designation.
As a result, the firm's business has become increasingly cross-border. Case
in point: Peter Jewett, the chair of the corporate department in the Toronto
office, recently headed a joint Canada-U.S. legal team that acted for the
federal government in its sale of Petro Canada - the largest equity offering
in Canadian history.
Blakes' American business model is far different. It acts as a foreign legal
consultant in New York, advising U.S clients on Canadian law.
Lawyer Virginia Davies, a Canadian practising in the New York office, says
lawyers in general must be better trained to deal with cross-border matters.
"Every transaction has multi-jurisdictional aspects and needs lawyers
who are not only experts in their own jurisdictions, but who can manage the
process of multi-jurisdictional transactions," she explained.
And as a result of the changing market, some Canadian law schools have begun
implementing programs or degrees in conjunction with American law schools
that will better prepare Canadian-trained lawyers deal with cross-border
issues.
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The latest example of such an
arrangement was announced in January when Toronto-based Osgoode Hall Law
School announced the creation of a joint LL.B.-J.D. program between the
school and New York University's (NYU) law school. Osgoode students who
enroll in the joint-degree program will spend two years at Osgoode and two
years at NYU.
"Globalization is having a tremendous impact on the profession,"
noted Osgoode's dean, Patrick Monahan. "Lawyers will require the skills
and training to practice in different jurisdictions. The LL.B.-J.D. program
is a reflection of the law school catching up with this reality, as the trend
deepens."
The trend of offering these unique degrees was set by the University of
Windsor and the University of Ottawa when they became the only Canadian law
schools to allow students to earn both a Canadian LL.B. and a U.S. J.D in the
fall of 2001.
University of Ottawa students spend two years in Ottawa and two years at
either Michigan State or American University in Washington, D.C while Windsor
students earn the LL.B. and J.D. degrees by studying for three years in an
integrated program at the Universities of Windsor and Detroit.
Graduates of joint LL.B.-J.D. programs earn separate Canadian and American
law degrees and can take the Bar exam in Canada and the U.S. That, according
to University of Windsor Faculty of Law Dean Bruce Elman, is a major benefit
not only for students, but for the firms where they will practise once
they're called to the Bar(s).
"Students who graduate from our integrated program have had the benefit
of studying the law of Canada and the U.S. in an integrated fashion," he
explained. "Their value to a firm is that they are well equipped to
research and write memos in U.S. law and can assist their firms in
understanding what lawyers on the other side of the table are talking
about."
Dean Bruce Feldthusen of the University Of Ottawa agrees. "The
joint-degree provides training in two legal systems, two legal cultures and
two national cultures," he noted. "In an era of globalization, this
will soon be a minimum requirement for many areas of the practice."
But the deans say these joint-degree programs were not the result of a
request or pressure from the legal profession.
"The profession was not involved at all," said Feldthusen. "We
have had to work hard to inform the profession about the program [but] in our
case, the initiative came from the two U.S. law deans. The U.S. schools
increasingly want to take an international perspective to legal
education."
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Although the deans say these initiatives
were not driven by the profession, the response from firms has been nothing
but positive and many of their lawyers are supportive of it.
Blakes' Virginia Davies noted that the firm "is very enthusiastic about
this initiative." She sees it as a "new integrated process for
people to get an education in both Canadian and U.S. law."
Meanwhile Peter Jewett of Torys believes that LL.B.-J.D. programs will
"not turn out experts in U.S. law," but, instead, graduates will
start their careers "with an exposure to both legal systems" in
"an international world where international awareness is becoming more
and more crucial."
And even U.S. lawyers and firms are excited about the prospects. Willard Taylor, a partner at Sullivan
& Cromwell in New York and a part-time professor at NYU, notes that the
number of Canadian lawyers and law students who already go to New York is
huge - largely because New York is a "magnet for lawyers."
His firm regularly interviews Canadian law students because of the firm's
international agenda. "Canada is a great source of good law
students," he said, "some of them speak French and Sullivan
Cromwell has an office in Paris."
From a student perspective, he sees the already existing interest in New York
as proof that there is "an appetite for an LL.B.-J.D. program."
There is also early proof that these degrees are an effective tool to
combating the academic brain-drain.
According to the deans, early evidence suggests that LL.B.-J.D. programs are
not only keeping strong law students in Canada, but are providing an
opportunity for Canadians studying law in the U.S. to return to Canada.
Dean Monahan says that Osoode's new LL.B.-J.D. program is already attracting
interest from Canadians who were only considering top U.S. schools, but now
see the Osgoode-NYU joint-degree as an opportunity for the "best of both
worlds."
And Dean Feldthusen has received interest in the Ottawa LL.B.-J.D. from
Canadians in the U.S. who see it as a way to return to Canada.
From a student perspective, the programs are becoming more and more popular.
The University of Ottawa program received over 300 applications last year and
it expects to graduate 25 students per year while the University of Windsor
had 21 graduates in 2004 and expects that to increase to 29 graduates by
2006.
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Thus far, Osgoode has received enormous
expressions of interest, according to Dean Monahan.
Besides Osgoode, Ottawa and Windsor, none of the other law schools in Canada
have yet to offer such a program. But with the potential of a joint-degree to
redefine legal education, as well as the increasing demand of the profession
to offer more cross-border services, many say it's only a matter of time
before other Canadian law schools begin to offer their own joint-degree
programs."
This article appeared in the March 18, 2005 Lawyers Weekly. Click here to see it in a pdf version.
http://osgoode.yorku.ca/media2.nsf/83303ffe5af03ed585256ae6005379c9/ceca11c734c3bd9f85256fc5005bd6ab!OpenDocument
or at:
http://www.prep.com/LW.pdf
Second, check out this article that focuses specifically on the Toronto law
firm Torys.
http://globeandmail.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/qprinter/20050314/PFTORYS14
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