1889
Osgoode Hall Law School is founded when the Law Society of Upper Canada permanently establishes the law school at Osgoode Hall.
1892
The Phillips-Stewart Student Library is established after Thomas Brown Phillips-Stewart, a 26-year-old barrister and sometime poet tragically dies, leaving the law school $8,000 to purchase books expressly for the use of students – the equivalent of more than $250,000 today.
1897
Clara Brett Martin graduates from Osgoode, becoming the first woman in Canada to be admitted to the bar and making her the first female lawyer in the British Commonwealth.
1901
The Legal and Literary Society becomes the official student society of the law school.
1920
Helen Kinnear, the first woman in the British Commonwealth to be appointed King’s Counsel, graduates.
1924
Graduation of Vera Parsons, the first female criminal defence lawyer in Ontario, likely the first woman to represent clients before a judge and jury, and the first to defend an accused murderer.
1926
Graduation of Abraham (Abe) Lieff, the first Jewish justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario and the first person in Ontario to be sworn in wearing a yarmulke and holding the Old Testament.
1927
The first issue of the Osgoode student newspaper Obiter Dicta hits the presses.
1936
Bora Laskin graduates, later becoming the first academic and the first Jewish man to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada (1970) and to become chief justice (1973).
1945
Kew Dock Yip, Canada’s first Chinese Canadian lawyer, graduates.
1948
George Carter, the first Black judge born in Canada, graduates.
1952
All Osgoode entrants now must have a bachelor’s degree.
1958
Leonard Braithwaite graduates. He goes on to become the first Black member of the Ontario legislature.
1965
The benchers of the Law Society of Upper Canada unanimously approve in principle the affiliation of the law school with York University.
1966
The Community Legal Aid Services Program (CLASP) is established. Under the supervision of practising lawyers, Osgoode students provide legal services to members of the community who would otherwise be unable to afford representation.
1968
Osgoode Hall Law School is officially affiliated with York University and becomes the first law school in Canada to allow upper year students to choose their own courses.
1971
A student-staffed community legal services clinic is established at Parkdale Community Legal Services.
1972
Russell Juriansz graduates. He goes on to become the first person of colour and the first South Asian judge on the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2004.
1973
Osgoode and York University’s Faculty of Administrative Studies establish the LLB/MBA. The combined degree is the first of its kind in Canada.
1975
The Clinical Education Program begins with the Intensive Program in Criminal Law. The LLB/Master of Environmental Science degree is introduced.
1976
Osgoode adopts a comprehensive policy on admission for mature students, Indigenous students and economically disadvantaged students.
1977
Harry La Forme graduates and goes on to become Canada’s first Indigenous appellate judge.
1978
A Gay Caucus is formed at the law school to provide support for LGBT individuals after the officers of the Pink Triangle Press in Toronto are charged with using the mails to “transmit indecent, immoral or scurrilous” literature.
1988
New student groups include the Osgoode International Law Society and a Native Law Student Association.
1994
The Aboriginal Intensive Program in First Nations Lands, Resources and Governance is established as a pilot project by Osgoode graduate Susan Hare and Professor Alan Grant.
1995
Dean Marilyn Pilkington spearheads a new Professional Development Program, which oversees the continuing legal education of law graduates by offering part-time graduate programs, non-credit courses and various one- or two-day programs.
1997
Professors Dianne Martin ’76 and Alan Young ’81 found Osgoode’s Innocence Project. Based on the original Innocence Project created by the Cardozo School of Law in New York City, Osgoode’s Innocence Project investigates cases of suspected wrongful conviction.
1997
Mark Nathanson donates $3 million to create the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption.
2006
Osgoode signs a gift agreement with developer Ignat Kaneff, whose $2.5 million donation to the law school helps to launch The Building Osgoode Campaign in 2007. The law school building is named in recognition of his generosity.
2007
Osgoode becomes the first Canadian law school to introduce a public interest graduation requirement (Osgoode Public Interest Requirement or OPIR) to promote the ethic of community service and public mindedness. Students are required to complete 40 hours of unpaid, law-related public interest work.
2007
Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community, a required first-year course that emphasizes legal ethics and professional responsibility, is introduced.
2008
A new holistic admissions policy based on excellence and equity is introduced. There are two categories of admission: a general category and an Indigenous category. Under the policy, admission decisions are based on a holistic set of criteria, including undergraduate grades, LSAT score and a personal statement.
2009
The bachelor of laws (LLB) degree designation is changed to a juris doctor (JD) degree.
2009
Osgoode begins building renovations.
2011
The renovated building opens.
2012
The Office of Experiential Education is established to support the wide array of experiential opportunities – including clinical programs, the Osgoode Public Interest requirement and internships.
2012
A student success and wellness counsellor is hired to support JD students.
2013
Osgoode Professional Development establishes the LLM in Canadian Common Law program.
2013
The annual Anishinaabe Law Camp is established.
2014
Osgoode Digital Commons, an open-access institutional repository of the law school’s intellectual output, is launched.
2015
The praxicum course degree requirement is introduced. Students must take a course, seminar or program that integrates legal theory with practice in order to graduate.
2015
The Income Contingent Loan Program is implemented. The three-year pilot program is focused on improving financial accessibility by offering five eligible JD students every year admission on an income-contingent loan repayment basis.
2015
The first Honour Ceremony for Indigenous graduates is held as part of spring convocation celebrations. Senator Murray Sinclair, chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is awarded an honourary doctorate.
2016
A composite of all Black alumni of Osgoode Hall Law School from 1900 to 2015 is created for the Osgoode Black Law Students’ Association’s (BLSA) annual Black History Month celebrations.
2018
An Indigenous and Aboriginal Law Requirement is adopted that requires all JD graduates to complete at least one course that engages in a substantial way with Indigenous law, Aboriginal law and aspects of professionalism and/or practice skills related to serving Indigenous clients.
2019
Creation of a new administrative role of Program Manager & Special Advisor, Indigenous & Reconciliation Initiatives, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action number 28.
2020
Osgoode goes remote in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.