For more than a century, Osgoode Hall Law School, which was founded in 1889 by the Law Society of Upper Canada and became affiliated with York University in 1968, has led the most important developments in Canadian legal education. Highlights include the following:

• The first law school to introduce curricular streams (in 2001), giving a student the opportunity to graduate with a concentration in a particular area of law, namely International, Litigation or Tax;
• The first law school to establish a combined law and business degree;
• The first law school to establish a combined law and environmental studies degree;
• The home of the first comprehensive textbooks in several important fields of Canadian law including torts, constitutional law and restitution;
•  The home of the largest law library in Canada;
• A pioneer in online legal research;
• The home of the largest Graduate Program in Canada;
• The home of the only Professional Development Program in Canada;
•  The first law school to move to an optional upper-year curriculum (in 1968);
• The first law school to establish a student-staffed community legal services clinic (Parkdale Community Legal Services, in 1972);
• The first law school to develop courses and programs in poverty law;
• The first law school to develop innovative intensive programs and clinical teaching programs.