7 replies to this topic

[deebee23]

I'm interested in the field of family law and was wondering if anyone has a recommended school or program. I've been looking into Windsor's and UofT's MSW/JD degrees but am open to other suggestions.

[LHeureuxDube]

deebee23, on 20 October 2011 - 02:03 PM, said:

I'm interested in the field of family law and was wondering if anyone has a recommended school or program. I've been looking into Windsor's and UofT's MSW/JD degrees but am open to other suggestions.

You may want to consider U of T or Queen's - that's where the top profs are for family law. Carol Rogerson teaches family law at U of T and she came up with I think either the spousal support guidelines or child support guidelines and is a leading authority. Brenda Cossman also teaches family at U of T and she is amazing as a teacher and a true progressive if you care for that. Phil Epstein, arguably the leading family lawyer in the country, also teaches a seminar course at U of T. And Jeffery Wilson, arguably the leading lawyer and writer on Children's Law also teaches a seminar course at U of T.

Nicholas Bala teaches at Queen's and he's one of the leading family academics in the country.

Not sure what other schools have, but Toronto and Osgoode have a pro bono project that places law students in the family courts to work with people, which I hear is quite a good program for people interested in family. I guess one of the truths also is that most of the top family lawyers are practicing in Toronto, so U of T is an obvious choice for attracting practitioners to teach those courses.

[artsydork]

The family law profs at McGill are quite outstanding though we only offer Family Law and Family Law Property. The MSW program is pretty good at McGill as well. The joint degree can be done in 3.5 years, just like the regular BCL/LLB degree.
We also have a growing interest in mediation/negotiation, crucial areas if you want to go into family law.

I hear Osgoode has a good mediation program, so you may want to check that out.

Edited by artsydork, 16 December 2011 - 02:21 PM.

[Rumpy]

You should ask yourself a few questions first:
- do you want to practice family law or do you like studying family law- the two are very different and one school may be very good at preparing you for one but not the other. For example, if it was practicing I was interested in I would value clinical experiences over widely published faculty. You would be amazed how few judges care about academic theory - some really don't even care that much about case law.(and I quote Q: "Mr. Rumpy" don't you agree that as every family is different, that every case is distinguishable?" R: "Ummmmmmm")

- do you want to practice in a big firm, small firm, on your own? There are relatively few family lawyers working in big firms. Far more common are small boutiques and solo practitioners. If you are going to go the solo or small firm route the road to riches takes a bit longer so keeping the student loans reasonable is key.

[UNBer06]

Check out Dalhousie as well. They have some clinic options I believe and they also have Rollie Thomson who is a top family law academic. He was heavily involved in developing the Spousal Support Guidelines.

[Gronk]

LHeureuxDube, on 14 December 2011 - 08:09 PM, said:

You may want to consider U of T or Queen's - that's where the top profs are for family law. Carol Rogerson teaches family law at U of T and she came up with I think either the spousal support guidelines or child support guidelines and is a leading authority.

I would suggest a deeper look into current child support guidelines and what I would call the destructive nature of those guidelines before deciding to be taught family law by the woman who helped designed them (for instance, do you expect two parents each making 100K a year to spend 2K a month on 1 child, in after tax dollars BEFORE daycare or hockey/soccer?). The numbers don't appear to have any connection to actual cost in raising a child, and creates a financial benefit to limiting a child's time spent with the other separated parent.

Just my opinion, but I'd challenge you to find one study that shows the cost of raising a child DOES NOT decrease as a percentage of income as that income increases.

[Malicious Prosecutor]

Gronk, on 18 February 2012 - 12:20 PM, said:

I would suggest a deeper look into current child support guidelines and what I would call the destructive nature of those guidelines before deciding to be taught family law by the woman who helped designed them (for instance, do you expect two parents each making 100K a year to spend 2K a month on 1 child, in after tax dollars BEFORE daycare or hockey/soccer?). The numbers don't appear to have any connection to actual cost in raising a child, and creates a financial benefit to limiting a child's time spent with the other separated parent.

Just my opinion, but I'd challenge you to find one study that shows the cost of raising a child DOES NOT decrease as a percentage of income as that income increases.

When you consider the additional cost of housing (had to get a bigger house) and transportation (had to get a bigger car) I have no problem figuring I spend $2k / month of my kid.

Put away the politics.

My advice for the OP is the same advice I give every single time - go to school in the community you want to live and practice in.

[Fletcher Reed]

I've been thinking of posting in this thread for awhile because IMO I have some valid points for anyone who cares about family law:

1)Going to school in the jurisdiction you hope to practice in is always a good idea

2)As long as you have a basic family law course or two, that is really all that matters. It would be more useful to take negotiation/mediation, tax, trusts, wills, maybe some other important courses that I'm forgeting, and 1 or 2 family law courses than it would be to take a load of family law courses and none of the other ones I mentioned.

3)I'm not about to bad mouth academics, but if you want to practice family law, it is probably more useful to learn it from a no BS practitioner than from an LLM prof who doesn't practice. In family, the concepts are easy but the analysis of any issue in family will be very fact driven and open to more than one logical interpretation by any given judge, more so than in most other areas of the law. I found it helpful to have a top family lawyer tell me that straight up.

4)If you want to practice family, finding work will not be all that difficult. There are a lot of relationships breaking down out there and lots of lawyers would rather not deal with them as a job, because it can be emotionally draining to deal with those kinds of clients all the time. I guess all I'm saying to you with this last point is that even if you finish bottom of your class at some less desirable school, you will still find work in family law.

Conclusion: If you want to practice family, any school will do and you should pick your school based on other considerations like cost and what kind of city you would be happiest studying in and living in eventually. You can get the courses you need anywhere.

Edited by Fletcher Reed, 25 February 2012 - 02:57 PM.