Ask a 1L — 2018 Edition

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

On 2/5/2018 at 10:53 AM, harveyspecter993 said:

1. If you're moving from another province, should you switch to a Toronto area code or keep your old number?

2. How do most law students dress? Are they mostly preppy? 

3. This last one might sound ridiculous but is there any judgement based on the brands you wear? I'd rather not splurge on Canada Goose if I don't have to, for instance.

1) It might be convenient to, but you probably won't get punished for not doing it. I changed my number when I got here, but other people from out-of-province still have their old numbers. 

2) There's a huge array of dress at school. Mature students tend to dress business casual, younger people dress like university students. There's a guy in my section who dresses like a punk musician (I'm talking studs and everything) Some people wear sweats. For the most part, whatever you wore to class in undergrad will be just fine. 

3) No, no judgment. There's a lot of Canada Goose, and I bought one when I got here, but there's no requirement to. Lots of people wear random brands, nobody cares.

[Havok 10]

On 2018-02-05 at 10:53 AM, harveyspecter993 said:

1. If you're moving from another province, should you switch to a Toronto area code or keep your old number?

2. How do most law students dress? Are they mostly preppy? 

3. This last one might sound ridiculous but is there any judgement based on the brands you wear? I'd rather not splurge on Canada Goose if I don't have to, for instance.

1. Save your money if your plan is cheaper.

2/3. Dress completely varies as above people have said. There won't be any judgement based on the brands you wear. Try to think of people as potential colleagues that you may know throughout your career. I would say a better investment is a decent suit rather than a "Canada Goose" jacket etc. There are plenty of extra-curricular events (moots, firm tours, etc) which you will wear a suit. Nobody is going to notice if you are wearing X jacket but people who know suits (ie lawyers you interact with) will know the difference between a "high school grad" suit and a work suit.

 

[samuellevin 9]

Are the course grading schemes in 1L more test or essay based?

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

33 minutes ago, samuellevin said:

Are the course grading schemes in 1L more test or essay based?

Four of your courses — torts, contracts, criminal law, and property law — will be evaluated by exams, predominately 100% final examinations. 

Two of your courses — legal process and state and citizen — will be evaluated by a mix. State and Citizen is about 65% exams and 35% essay, while Legal Process is about 75% exams and 25% small writing assignments (not an essay). 

Two of your courses — ethical lawyering and your perspective option (your only elective) — will be evaluated primarily by essay, with the perspective option being a 5,000 word essay worth 80 to 100% of your mark, and ethical lawyering being two essays being worth ~100% of your mark (you do a "moot" and some participation exercises, but the differentiation between you and your peers is primarily based on the essays).

[LeoandCharlie 257]

Hey all, I have a few more questions to add to this discussion. 

1. How does one go about paying for Chambers? Is it a lump sum one pays or does one pay monthly? Do I have to rent/lease for the whole year or can I decide to only stay there for the time during the school terms? 

2. Given that 1L positions are hard to come by, what do 1L students do in the summer months typically (Research assistant, work in smaller firms, etc.)? 

3. How does one go about applying for clinical positions and when do applications open for clinical positions? 

4. How do we go about providing proof of enrollment to the bank after firmly accepting our offer? Is there a letter Osgoode sends once you firmly accept their offer? 

Thanks in advance! 

Edited February 23, 2018 by LeoandCharlie
Additional question

[scoobysnacks 3]

How do intensives work at osgoode? I see that western and uottawa, for example, have the month of january dedicated to one course. Does it work the same way at osgoode?

[ZineZ 434]

On 2/23/2018 at 1:46 PM, LeoandCharlie said:

Hey all, I have a few more questions to add to this discussion. 

1. How does one go about paying for Chambers? Is it a lump sum one pays or does one pay monthly? Do I have to rent/lease for the whole year or can I decide to only stay there for the time during the school terms? 

2. Given that 1L positions are hard to come by, what do 1L students do in the summer months typically (Research assistant, work in smaller firms, etc.)? 

3. How does one go about applying for clinical positions and when do applications open for clinical positions? 

4. How do we go about providing proof of enrollment to the bank after firmly accepting our offer? Is there a letter Osgoode sends once you firmly accept their offer? 

Thanks in advance! 

1. Monthly. You pay through York. IIRC, you can stay for just one term and then move out. Just need to give standard two months notice.

2. It's a mix of RA, clinical programs which offer summer employment and going back to your old profession/picking up a general summer job. Honestly, there's no real wrong choice. I do know some individuals at "small firms" but this is really rare.  

3.  Clinical programs open up in January. It's through a portal on Osgoode's website and the procedure is similar to applying for most jobs out there. You'll likely have to interview. 

19 hours ago, scoobysnacks said:

How do intensives work at osgoode? I see that western and uottawa, for example, have the month of january dedicated to one course. Does it work the same way at osgoode?

Intensives have a slightly different meaning here. The way they work at Osgoode is that you get a placement for a semester or for a year, depending on the program. Link is here: https://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/programs/jd-program/clinics-intensives/

The closest we have to what you're describing is Ethical Lawyering. It runs for one week in September and two weeks in January. 

 

 

[bayberry 1]

Do professors at Osgoode do cold calling in class? 

[ZineZ 434]

2 hours ago, bayberry said:

Do professors at Osgoode do cold calling in class? 

None I've met in two years.  Not sure if anyone else has a different experience. 

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

On 2/23/2018 at 1:46 PM, LeoandCharlie said:

3. How does one go about applying for clinical positions and when do applications open for clinical positions? 

@ZineZ covered off basically everything else in your post, but I'll expand on their response to this question. 

You'll have the opportunity to volunteer with some clinics early in first year, with applications due right around the start of September. I know CLASP, the Osgoode business clinic, and Parkdale all took on first year students, but those are the only ones I remember. Those either run the whole year (OBC and Parkdale) or 1 semester (CLASP). 

Then, as Zine said, you'll have the chance to apply at the end of January to the whole slate of clinics (less the IP one, because you need to be a third year for that). You'll need a resume and your transcript for every one, and basically all of them will require a cover letter too. Some require you to answer some questions. I know CLASP,  Parkdale, Criminal Law Intensive, International Law Intensive, and the Innocence project all do interviews. I don't think any of the business ones do. I'm not sure about the others. 

If you end up applying to any and getting an interview, ask around with upper years about what they're like. 

Note that a lot of them are very competitive, and some care a lot about your grades. There were a lot of sour grapes when acceptances came out this year. 

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

On 2/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, ZineZ said:

The closest we have to what you're describing is Ethical Lawyering. It runs for one week in September and two weeks in January. 

And is stupid. 

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

2 hours ago, bayberry said:

Do professors at Osgoode do cold calling in class? 

Some of mine did. Clearly YMMV based on section/professors. Hutchinson cold called quite often. 

[Nabbo 176]

4 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

@ZineZ covered off basically everything else in your post, but I'll expand on their response to this question. 

You'll have the opportunity to volunteer with some clinics early in first year, with applications due right around the start of September. I know CLASP, the Osgoode business clinic, and Parkdale all took on first year students, but those are the only ones I remember. Those either run the whole year (OBC and Parkdale) or 1 semester (CLASP). 

Then, as Zine said, you'll have the chance to apply at the end of January to the whole slate of clinics (less the IP one, because you need to be a third year for that). You'll need a resume and your transcript for every one, and basically all of them will require a cover letter too. Some require you to answer some questions. I know CLASP,  Parkdale, Criminal Law Intensive, International Law Intensive, and the Innocence project all do interviews. I don't think any of the business ones do. I'm not sure about the others. 

If you end up applying to any and getting an interview, ask around with upper years about what they're like. 

Note that a lot of them are very competitive, and some care a lot about your grades. There were a lot of sour grapes when acceptances came out this year. 

Sorry if this a dumb question but I don't quite understand what a clinic or an intensive actually are. Is there a difference between the two? Is it mandatory?

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

1 minute ago, Nabbo said:

Sorry if this a dumb question but I don't quite understand what a clinic or an intensive actually are. Is there a difference between the two? Is it mandatory?

Clinics and intensives are really just a way to get practical experience in law school. 

Osgoode's clinics all work with individuals who can't afford lawyers by helping with legal matters. So CLASP caseworkers (students) help people with criminal, family, or administrative matters under the supervision of real lawyers (I think they have an in-house one?). OBC caseworkers help small businesses with their legal issues under the supervision of lawyers from one of the bay street firms. Etc. 

Intensives are a bit different — they usually involve a seminar you take followed by a placement with an outside organization. So the Criminal Law Intensive involves taking a seminar followed by a semester long placement with a defence firm, the crown, or a judge. 

Neither are mandatory.

[baconandmegs 57]

34 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

Neither are mandatory.

I thought there was some sort of mandatory practical experience requirement to graduate? How do you fulfill that?

[Marquis 334]

3 hours ago, bayberry said:

Do professors at Osgoode do cold calling in class? 

Very infrequently, but it happens. I would classify most of my experiences as "soft socratic". You're not likely to be cold-called on, but if you volunteer a comment / questions, you'd do well to expect some pushback / follow-up.

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

6 minutes ago, baconandmegs said:

I thought there was some sort of mandatory practical experience requirement to graduate? How do you fulfill that?

There are a lot of courses that can fulfill that requirement, they're indicated on the syllabus. 

[JDtobe 12]

Can anyone speak to the breakdown of 1st year? Specifically if courses are full year vs. semestered as well as the grade breakdown for 1st year courses (100% final vs. midterm and a final)? Thanks!

[BlockedQuebecois 4837]

59 minutes ago, JDtobe said:

Can anyone speak to the breakdown of 1st year? Specifically if courses are full year vs. semestered as well as the grade breakdown for 1st year courses (100% final vs. midterm and a final)? Thanks!

I addressed grading breakdown here: 

 

Only two courses run for the whole year: Legal Process and State and Citizen. State and Citizen is one course that runs for the whole year, while Legal Process is actually two courses combined into one — "Legal Process" is a course on legal research and writing that runs all year (but only 2 hours per week), while "Civil Procedure" is a course on civ pro that runs for the winter semester only. 

The rest of your courses (Crim, Torts, Contracts, Property, and your perspective option) are all semestered, with the first three in the fall and the latter two in the winter. 

[Nabbo 176]

Does Osgoode have its own bookstore or is it just 1 large bookstore for all of York? Also, where can I get some apparel?