The Foundation
King's College - 1827
Faculty of Law at King’s College was founded in 1827 and became the secular U of T in 1850. However, the University of Toronto Act enacted in 1853 eliminated the faculty.
An Idea - 1887
The senate of U of T invited the Law Society of Upper Canada to co-operate with establishing faculty of law in the university. The Law Society set up committee to study the proposal and get input from other universities and law associations, where they were met with disagreements. Instead, in 1889, the Law Society took the committee's consideration and established Osgoode Law School, making it the only professional law school in Ontario.
Origin - 1889
Following the establishment of the Osgoode law school, an Order in Council was approved by the province permitting establishment of the new faculty at U of T.
The university law course attracted only a handful of LLB students each year and the graduates would have to spend three years at Osgoode as well.
There was a continuing tension between those who advocated for academic discipline compared to practical on-the-job training.
Kennedy's Wish - 1926
W.P.M Kennedy created a special undergraduate program that started in department of political economy that turned into separate department in faculty of arts and then into a a separate division. However, Kennedy's law school was not a professional law school. It offered a BA in Politics and Law after 4 years in program and had the option for an extra year of study to receive a LLB from U of T and then attend Osgoode Hall law school.
The Entry of Wright - 1949
When Kennedy retired, Cecil (“Caesar”) Wright assumed the deanship of U of T's law school. He resigned his post as Dean of Osgoode Hall, rejecting the Law Society's apprenticeship model in favour of U of T's vision of a full-time legal education, hinging on the professional bachelor of laws degree from a university. Wright built upon the solid intellectual and institutional foundations laid by Kennedy, introducing a three year LLB program, creating today's modern law school that would transform legal education in Canada. Joined by colleagues Bora Laskin and John Willis, Wright immediately revamped U of T’s law programs, establishing an intellectually challenging program for his students.
The Protest - 1953
Despite the law school's solid academic program, the Law Society of Upper Canada refused to recognize U of T as a degree-granting institution. In the early 1950s, law students and their supporters petitioned the Law Society. In 1953, a group of 50 student protesters marched on Osgoode Hall demanding recognition for U of T Law School.
Victory - 1958
Finally, after years of negotiation and discord, the Law Society began to give credit to U of T law graduates seeking admission to the Ontario bar. At this historic moment, Dean Wright was moved to tears, finally having won the long battle.
Dean Wright and his predecessor, Kennedy, charted the course of the law school, establishing its core values and traditions of scholarly excellence, societal relevance, institutional leadership and risk-taking. Over the years, the faculty has continued to be led by deans of exceptional vision and commitment who have upheld these guiding principles, and who together have created one of the leading law schools in the world.
Sources
Friedland, M. L. The University of Toronto, Ont.: A History. University of Toronto Press, 2002.
Friedland, Martin L. Searching for W.P.M. Kennedy: The Biography of an Enigma. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
Our history of leadership
W.P.M. Kennedy
(1943-1949)
Cecil Wright
(1949-1965)
Ronald St. John Macdonald
(1965-1972)
Martin Friedland '58
(1972-1979)
Frank Iacobucci
(1979-1983)
J. Robert S. Prichard '75
(1984-1990)
Robert Sharpe '70
(1990-1995)
Ronald J. Daniels '86
(1995-2005)
Mayo Moran '99 (SJD)
(2006-2014)
Edward Iacobucci '96
(2015-2020)
Jutta Brunnée
(2021- )
Dive deeper into our story
Navigate through the lives of our graduate students who created the pillars of the school and Canadian law.
While the class of 1952 is generally regarded as the first class to graduate from the modern Faculty of Law, the members of the small graduating class of 1951 have a remarkable story.
Dive deeper into the stories of the 15% women entering law school in beginning or 70s and rising to 30% at the end of the 70s. These women were the “firsts”, making history while overcoming many challenges.
Explore the stories starting from a century ago of the first female barrister in Canada to the first Jewish women to sit on Supreme Court of Canadian bench. It is the study of persistence and courage
Our Law School Buildings
