TORONTO, January 23, 2009 -- York University’s Senate yesterday approved a change in Osgoode Hall Law School’s undergraduate law degree designation from Bachelor of Laws (LLB) to Juris Doctor (JD).
The JD will take effect with Osgoode’s graduating class of 2009, which will convocate in June and will also apply retroactively to alumni who choose to convert their degree.
Details of the exchange process for alumni will be announced in the fall.
Although the degree designation has changed, there will also be an opportunity for current Osgoode students to opt out of the change and receive an LLB rather than a JD.
The change in degree designation follows on the heels of extensive consultation with Osgoode students and alumni including a student plebiscite and an alumni survey in which 73 per cent of students who took part in the plebiscite and 90 per cent of approximately 500 alumni who completed the alumni survey indicated their support for the JD designation.
Osgoode Dean Patrick Monahan said the move to the JD is “part of a growing trend among law schools in Canada and internationally to acknowledge that the degree holder has completed a period of post-secondary education prior to entering law school and that law is a second-entry degree.”
Monahan added that the JD will be “a clearer reflection of the nature of the Osgoode degree,” particularly for international audiences who may not be familiar with the LLB and who may incorrectly think that an LLB is a first-entry degree.”
Applicants to Osgoode must have a minimum of three full years at a recognized university in a program leading to a degree to be eligible for consideration.
A total of about 900 students are enrolled in Osgoode’s three-year JD Program. The Law School also offers a Graduate Program in Law, with thesis-based Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs. Osgoode Professional Development Program, which operates out of its own centre in downtown Toronto and is unique in Canada, offers numerous specialized part-time LLM Programs that run on varying cycles as well as Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses for lawyers and non-lawyers.
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For further information, please contact:
Virginia Corner
Communications Manager
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
