Osgoode Hall Law School,

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First Year Program

Osgoode’s first year program includes seven core courses and one elective, taught in an innovative and engaging way. Through these courses we aim to teach first year students:

  • substantive legal knowledge in six foundational topic areas (torts, contracts, criminal law, property law, public and constitutional law, and civil procedure)
  • practical legal research, writing, and analytical skills
  • critical and theoretical approaches to the substantive law, including ethical and global-minded perspectives

Community is important and Osgoode seeks to foster community both within and beyond the law school. First year students are grouped into four sections of approximately seventy-five students, with whom they will take the majority of their classes. Studying in smaller groups builds camaraderie and first year sections are often a source of lifelong friendships and professional relationships. Sections are further subdivided into small groups of twenty to twenty-five students for some classes, allowing students to work closely and collaboratively with their professors and peers. Depending on the subject matter and objectives of the course, professors may also ask students in both small groups and large classes to practise applying what they are learning through the use of case studies and other active learning exercises.

Students are also expected and encouraged to give back to the larger community. In addition to the benefits to others, volunteering is an excellent way to gain practical skills, to identify areas of interest, and to meet mentors, role models and potential employers. In 2006 Osgoode introduced the Osgoode Public Interest Requirement (OPIR), requiring all students to complete forty hours of unpaid public-interest legal work before graduating. Some examples of the ways in which Osgoode students fulfill this requirement are: