- Western Law School
Infobox_University
name = University of Western Ontario Law School
motto = "Veritas et Utilitas"
(Truth and usefulness)
established = 1959
type = PublicLaw School
dean = Ian Holloway
endowment =
chancellor =Arthur Labatt
president =Paul Davenport
city = London
state =Ontario
country =Canada
undergrad = 510
postgrad = 12
faculty =
alumni =
campus = Urban/Suburb an—1.6 km² University of Western Ontario
free_label = Sport Teams
free =Western Ontario Mustangs
mascot = Mustang
affiliations = ACU, AUCC, IAU, G13, COU, CIS, CUSID, OUA
colours = Purple and White color box|#800080 color box|#FFFFFF
website = |website= [http://www.law.uwo.ca/ http://www.law.uwo.ca] |Western Law is a public law school located at the
University of Western Ontario in London,Ontario ,Canada . Founded in1959 , it's first Dean was formerSupreme Court of Canada justice, the Honourable Ivan Cleveland Rand, who saw the school as developing "in the minds of its students the habit of thinking in terms of the dynamic tradition, in the broadest sense, of our law."Facilities
The law school is situated in the southwest portion of Western's main campus and is housed in the Josephine Spencer Niblett building. While the school finds itself in the middle of the university's large campus, the law school is completely self-contained, offering students a lounge and café, moot court room and library. The John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library, located on the second floor of the law school, is the central information resource for students and faculty members of the faculty. The collection currently includes approximately 193,000 volumes and 45,000 microforms. Primary materials include a comprehensive collection of Canadian legislation and law reports, the principal British and American legal sources, and a growing collection of European and other international materials. The library also has an excellent collection of legal treatises and periodical literature. The building also enjoys wireless internet access.
[http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-prospective/law_videos.html Virtual tour of Western Law School]
Admissions & Academics
Admissions to the law school is competitive. For the 2007 academic year, there were 2,200 applicants for the 164 first-year spaces. The median entering grade was 82% (3.7 GPA) and the median LSAT score was 161.
Over the years, Western law has been an innovator with respect to legal education. In 1998, the law school initiated the "January term", now replicated at many other law schools. The law school altered its academic year from a semester system to a trimester system, with the "January term" consisting of a four-week semester wherein students enroll in a single intensive course. The format allows the school and to attract distinguished Visiting Professors to Western.
The school also has numerous exchange programs with law schools around the world. Upper year students have the opportunity to study abroad for one semester for credit to their Western
LL.B .Proportionally, Western Law has the largest [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/exchange_programs.html student exchange program] of any law school in North America with one in five students participating in an exchange. Reciprocally, Western Law welcomes approximately 30-40 visiting exchange students annually from around the world.
Meanwhile, students may study within specific areas of concentration. The concentrations are [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/aoc_taxation.html taxation] , [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/aoc_business.html business law] , [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/aoc_infotech.html intellectual property / information and technology law] , [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/aoc_criminal.html criminal law] and [http://www.law.uwo.ca/newSite/info-centres-progs/aoc_diplome_de_francais.html Diplome de Francais Juridique] .
Western Law, in conjunction with other faculties on campus also offers joint degree programs, including combined business and law degrees, combined law and engineering degrees and combined law and Ph.D. degrees.
Centres and Clinics
The law school houses a number of student-staffed legal centres and clinics, which provide services to different segments of the community, while providing law students with practical legal experience.
Pro Bono Students Canada Pro Bono Students Canada is a national program that was launched at the University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law in the 1998/1999 academic year. The function of the program is to match law student volunteers with community agencies with a need for legal services but with insufficient resources to compensate legal counsel. Agencies typically involved in Pro Bono Students Canada include public interest and non-profit organizations, tribunals, legal clinics and lawyers working pro bono on a particular case. Law student volunteers complete legal research or other law-related projects for member organizations over the course of the academic year under the supervision of a lawyer mentor.
Community Legal Services Community Legal Services (CLS) provides free legal advice and representation to members of the community, and to
Fanshawe College and Western students. CLS is funded by Legal Aid Ontario, Fanshawe Student's Council, the University Students Council, and the Faculty of Law.Over 200 students work at CLS over the course of the academic year under the supervision of three experienced lawyers. Students carry their own files, and gain valuable experience in client correspondence, legal research and drafting of pleadings. Students also have the opportunity to appear at court on behalf of CLS' clients, arguing motions, appearing in criminal court and conducting Small Claims Court trials. Further, students that take upper-year advanced litigation practice courses, also work at CLS for academic credit.
Dispute Resolution Centre
The Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) is a not-for-profit organization that provides mediation services to residents of London and Middlesex County who wish to resolve their disputes quickly, efficiently and inexpensively.
Operated by Western Law students under the supervision the Faculty at the University of Western Ontario, the DRC can help develop solutions to conflict in an organized and informal way. The DRC mediates disputes in varied types of conflicts, such as landlord/tenant, consumer/merchant, interpersonal/relationship, private contract and separation disputes.
Sport Solution
The Sport Solution is a joint project of Athletes CAN and the Dispute Resolution Centre at Western Law. The program is nationally available and provides assistance in resolving sport-related problems and offers support throughout the dispute resolution process.
Sport Solution also offers athletes guidance on how to avoid conflict and understand the fair administration of sport. The centre responds to the needs of athletes on a full range of issues and can provide information about national sport organization (NSO) procedures, athlete agreements, appeals and arbitrations and corresponding with NSOs.
Business Law Clinic
The Western Business Law Clinic strives to alleviate the burden of legal complexities put on aspiring entrepreneurs by providing small start-up and early stage businesses with affordable legal counsel. At the same time, the clinic creates an environment for students to learn invaluable practical skills. The clinic provides small or start-up businesses with legal representation on transaction matters including business structure, finance, intellectual property protection, product liability, employment law, government regulations, contracts, taxation, guarantees and personal liability and environmental issues,
tudent life
The law school is home to many student-run clubs, including a weekly student newspaper and various interest-based clubs. The building also houses a student lounge and central café spot. Law students also have access to all the amenities of larger university campus. The Western Law School features the John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library.
Western Law students also participate in many intramural sports, competing with other faculty and residence based teams on campus. Students also participate in the yearly "Law Games" against teams from other law schools across Canada. Western organized the 2007 edition of these games.
ee also
*
List of law schools in Canada External links
* [http://www.law.uwo.ca Western Law]
* [http://www.uwo.ca University of Western Ontario]
* [http://www.usc.uwo.ca University Students' Council at the University of Western Ontario]
* [http://www.canlii.org/ CanLII - Canadian Legal Information Institute]
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