A Law School
On a June day in 2017, the university’s Senate approved a proposal that would transform the institution. The proposal was to develop a law school and a Faculty of Law, an idea that had been percolating for years within the university. Once the process began, it took countless hours of preparation to transform the idea into a vision, and it would take enormous diligence and resolve to bring the proposal to fruition.
Inspired by the principle to challenge the status quo, the law school initiative was a bold, innovative plan to deliver a legal education like no other. Channelling the university’s history of responding to societal need, the school’s vision would challenge conventional approaches not just in legal education, but in the legal profession as well. There were many who said the university could not and would not succeed.
Video: When TMU announced the launch of its law school, it promised to challenge the status quo and do law differently.
In fact, it had taken 10 years for the law school to transform from an idea to a proposal. Work on a juris doctor program for the university began in 2007 with the establishment of a group to explore the possibility of a law school. But efforts were suspended in 2008 when the provincial government announced it would not consider funding any new law schools for the immediate future. However, the university continued to keep interest in legal education active through support for conferences and research, and the establishment of the Legal Innovation Zone. When the Law Society of Ontario announced a pilot project in 2011 to address the critical shortage of traditional articling positions in the profession, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) developed the Law Practice Program, funded by the Law Society and launched by the university in 2014. The vision for a law school continued to receive support and generate interest, and a wide range of activities helped to establish the strong basis for seeking a law school at the right moment. That moment arrived in 2017.
Photo: Some of the 170 inaugural TMU law students who want to change the face of legal education in Canada. Clockwise from top left: Ivy Lok, Jessica Barbosa, Manuela Jimenz Bueno, Heather Batista Baez, Khushi Dave, Leo Cho, Kaylee Rich, Latoya Brown, Omar Jawabri, Brankica Jakovlevski and Kian Rastegar. Photograph by Janick Laurent.
Doing law differently: that was the fundamental principle for the school, and it was defined by four pillars:
1. Increasing access to justice for Ontarians and Canadians
2. Innovation and entrepreneurship
3. Equity, diversity, and inclusion
4. Sound academic grounding with innovative pedagogy
The school was built to prepare law students for a future that would look dramatically different from the past. The legal field was changing, fewer traditional job positions were available and most importantly, society needed a different kind of law school. Disruptive, it would be.
On April 28, 2017, the university filed a formal submission for a new juris doctor program to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, proposing a law school that would offer a bold new approach to legal education, including a focus on technology, access to justice and social innovation. The program was developed with a committee of university faculty experts. Meetings were held with law firms large and small, and with the deans of law schools across the country. Working with the Law Society of Ontario, a program was developed that included both an academic and a practitioner in each course. Significantly, the program included a one-semester co-op placement for third-year students, in place of articling. It was a monumental innovation.
In 2018, the university’s law school proposal was approved by the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the Law Society of Ontario. Notably, the Law Society of Ontario held a convocation of its members to consider the program’s submission. The convocation approved the proposal with a standing ovation.
The next year, the fledgling law school, led by Interim Dean Anver Saloojee, joined the Ontario Law School Application Service, and named a search committee for its inaugural dean. Meetings with law firms resulted in more than $300,000 pledged for scholarships. Despite unforeseen decisions by the provincial government regarding funding, progress continued to be made on the law school, which began taking applications starting in 2020, for classes to begin that September.
Photo: TMU will take possession of 277 Victoria Street in 2025 and is planning renovations to transform the space into an innovative facility for the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Photo by Jae Yang.
In a major development in early 2020, the Faculty of Law’s program was made OSAP-eligible. This represented a significant victory. The program had initially been declared ineligible for the student financial assistance program, but the university worked diligently to reverse the decision. A major, though quiet, campaign to build trust in the university and its different kind of legal education hosted government ministers for tours of the university’s innovation ecosystem, and rallied champions of TMU law to tell its story. The campaign achieved its preliminary goals by liaising with law firms and the government to show why the new approach would not only be different, but vital to the future of legal study in Ontario.
In September 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the Faculty of Law welcomed its first cohort of students. Immediately it set about fulfilling its promise to innovate, diversify the legal profession and expand access to justice. It welcomed a diverse group of new faculty members; its Dean, Donna Young, received a Female Trailblazer of the Year Excellence Award from the Canadian Law Awards; and a team of students won the 2021 Canadian Client Consultation Competition.
In May 2021, the law school was officially renamed the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, commemorating the life and legacy of the brilliant lawyer and distinguished public servant. In June 2023, the school graduated its inaugural class.
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