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Upper Year JD Course Selection Process

Learn how to make the most of your law school experience with over 150 course options, requirements, and tips for planning your schedule. Explore different subjects, perspectives, and approaches to learning and thinking about content. Choose courses based on your interests, career requirements, and preferences.

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Upper Year JD Course Selection Process

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  1. Upper Year JD Course Selection Process Nuts & Bolts for the Class of 2021 Assistant Dean Mya Rimon Associate Dean (Students) Lisa Dufraimont March 26, 2019

  2. Get the most from your law school experience • many course options (over 150) in the upper year curriculum • Requirements: • OPIR • IALR • 2nd Year Research Paper • 3rd Year Research Paper • Praxicum • review, research, discuss: • what you are interested in • career requirements for particular areas of law • law school happens but once…take a cross-section of subjects, perspectives and methods (lectures, seminars, experiential programs, directed research, exchange) • focus on skills and approaches to learning and thinking about content, not simply content – laws change, the skills and approaches learned rarely do, and will carry well into your professional career

  3. Planning your schedule • Explore your own likes/dislikes, priorities, and plans for career • Make a plan for the next four semesters • Use handout to plan a balanced progression of courses that meet your identified needs/interests

  4. Considering your Options Categorize courses by… • Subject area • Skills learned • Format (lecture, seminar, clinical) • Evaluation method (exam, paper, assignments) • Material (case law, statutory interpretation, theory, interdisciplinary) • Credits • word of mouth • Position on the timetable • Professor or instructor Choose according to your preference or for a balanced course of study

  5. Other Resources • review the possible “areas of concentration” in the syllabus • review the course evaluations available at the law library circulation desk or online (since Fall 2014) with respect to professors and courses • review the LSO licensing process • speak to upper year students – your Dean’s Fellows are a great starting point • arrange to meet with a trusted faculty member • contact Associate Dean Dufraimont, Assistant Dean Rimon or Karen Willoughby

  6. Reminders • review all available materials and ask questions (a list of professors available to offer advice will accompany the posting of the syllabus) • consider your various options over the course of two years / four semesters • plan to enjoy your next two years of law school in your own individualized way • think about the opportunities available to prepare yourself for the future that you want • consider subjects covered in the lawyer licensing exams • while not every course choice decision is critical, the overall impact will be substantial

  7. Requirements Totalrequired credits for upper years: minimum of 60 over four terms (may graduate with more) Minimum/maximum credits per term: 13-17 (more or less will require permission); this is about 4 or 5 courses/seminars per term (exclusive of any summer credits taken) OPIR: 40 hour public interest requirement (detailed info available online) 2nd and 3rd Year Research & Writing Requirement: In each of 2nd and 3rd year, all students must complete • a research paper of at least 7,000 words (excluding notes) or about 28 pages, • in a class/program for which the paper is worth at least 60% of the final grade; • many opportunities (in a course, seminar, intensive, directed paper, etc) – will be indicated in the Syllabus • Successful completion will be indicated on MyJD

  8. Requirements cont. Praxicum: - A seminar, course or program that integrates legal theory with practice - Clinical & Intensive Programs and Courses/Seminars - will be indicated in the Syllabus Indigenous & Aboriginal Law Requirement (IALR): - A lecture, seminar or other for-credit course offering that carries at least 3 credits - Course content focuses primarily on Indigenous and Aboriginal legal issues - Current list of qualifying courses: Indigenous Peoples & Canadian Law (2110.04) Directed Reading: Indigenous Realities and Perspectives (6001.04) Comparative Law: Indigenous Legal Traditions (3040.03) Rights & Reconciliation: Indigenous Peoples and Law (3390.03) Comparative Law: Indigenous Rights in Four Settler States (3041.03)

  9. Specific Requirements • JOINT PROGRAMS: • JD/MBA and JD/MA students need 45 upper year JD credits • JD/MES students need 48 upper year JD credits • each program may also have other specific program requirements—consult with Karen Willoughby and/or Faculty Director for each program • CURRICULAR STREAMS: ICT, Tax, LDA and Labour: Each stream has specific course and credit requirements for within the stream, in addition to the overall mandatory academic requirements for the JD degree—consult with the Faculty Convenor for each

  10. Curricular Streams • Options for students interested in focusing on: • International, Comparative & Transnational (ICT), • Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Administration of Justice (LDA), • Tax Law or • Labour Law • Be sure to check syllabus carefully for requirements, including “capstone” courses

  11. Ways to Earn Credit Courses • 4 credits/4 hours or 3 credits/3 hours • usually lecture format and generally final evaluation is by exam/assignment; class limit usually 85-90 students Seminars • 3 credits/2 hours or 4 credits/3 hours • evaluation usually by paper; class limit usually 20 students; • only permitted 2 seminars per term (subject to permission for more) Summer Credits: • up to 4 credits per year, maximum of 8 over the two years • approval of courses/programs required • must still enrol in at least 13 credits in each of fall and winter terms

  12. Ways to Earn Credit cont. Intensives & Exchanges • Approx. 15 credits per semester • restrictions • limit of one 15 credit intensive • joint program students limited to one of a 15 credit, full-term intensive OR an exchange, not both • applications for both in January of the preceding year • subject to openings throughout the spring/summer Research Opportunities • Supervised Research Paper (2,3 or 4 credits; ~20, 30 or 40 pp respectively) OR • Comprehensive Research Program (15-30 credit hours over 2nd and 3rd years); • both require submission of request form and agreement of a full-time faculty member

  13. Other ways to earn credit York Graduate Courses: • with permission by Osgoode and York Graduate Studies Office, may take up to 9 credits of extra-disciplinary courses within a York graduate faculty • counts as a “seminar” at Osgoode UofT/Osgoode Exchange • approximately 3 courses per year offered by each school to students of the other school, with approximately 3 spots per course; details in the Summer Enrolment Guide Letters of Permission (LOPs) (attending another institution) and Leaves of Absence (LOAs) • require written request to the Programs and Records Office • a maximum of up to 2 terms/1 academic year

  14. Course Selection Tools 2019-2020 Osgoode Online Syllabus will include: • information on prerequisites • enrolment procedures • academic requirements • a detailed description of all courses and seminars being offered • course information tables with last year’s enrolment numbers Timetable and Exam Schedule for all (Fall 2019/Winter 2020) upper year courses and seminars Draft Plan of Study to chart your options for the next 4 terms Permission Forms available on MyJD: • Supervised Research Papers • Request to take more than 2 seminars • Prerequisite Waiver

  15. Course Selection Process I • Syllabus will be posted online in early June (you will receive email notification when materials posted) • “Law Select”: Electronic Course Selection Process • you must submit your choices during the designated week in June • access from anywhere online through MyOsgoode • process involves ranking or prioritizing your courses selections for the year (A,B,C, D... J) • review the Syllabus for information on class size, number of students registered the year before (see the course information tables) to help predict whether the course will go to a lottery and whether you will need to use a high priority ranking) • rank carefully and thoughtfully • Pre-requisites for clinical and intensive programs must be prioritized

  16. Rule: Conflict & Overlap are not permitted • It is your responsibility to ensure the absence of scheduling conflicts for your classes and examinations • Both of these situations are strictly forbidden

  17. Course Selection Process II • The Programs & Records Office runs a lottery for oversubscribed courses • Mid-summer, students receive confirmation of the results of the lottery (and the courses in which they are successfully enrolled), as well as an SummerEnrolment Guide which lists updates • Waitlist if demand exceeds space – check Law Select for waitlist status • Add/Drop period starts in mid July and runs until the end ofthe 2nd week of each term

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