# Queen's University Faculty of Law

The Queen's University Faculty of Law is a professional faculty of Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. According to the most recent ranking of law schools conducted in Canada by Macleans, Queens Law School was tied for third.
While the tradition of legal education at Queen's University heralds back to 1861, the law school as it currently exists was officially established in 1957. Past and current professors at Queen's such as William Lederman, Toni Pickard, Gary Trotter, Allan Manson, Nick Bala and Don Stuart are routinely cited in Supreme Court of Canada and other appellate decisions. As consultants, advisors, and project directors, Queen's Law professors have made substantial contributions to various provincial and national law commissions, as well as national and international organizations.
Queen's Law School is housed in Sir John A. Macdonald Hall. The building was inaugurated by Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker in 1960, and was completely renovated in 2003. It houses the William R. Lederman Law Library, named after the former dean and respected scholar, which contains over 150,000 legal volumes.

## History

The first faculty of law at Queen's University was established in 1861, two years later awarding its first honorary Doctor of Laws degree to John A. Macdonald who would go on to serve as Canada's first Prime Minister. The first Dean of Law, Alexander Campbell, was also a "Father of Confederation". This early faculty only lasted a few years and efforts were made to revive the law school in 1880 although, again, after graduating a number of students the law school closed after a number of years largely because the Law Society of Upper Canada refused to recognize degrees awarded outside of Osgoode Hall. The modern law school was founded in 1957 with James Corry, Stuart Ryan and Daniel Soberman as the founding members of the faculty. In 1958, William Lederman, the pre-eminent constitutional law scholar of his era, became the first dean of the new law school.
Prime Minister Macdonald, a Scottish immigrant, settled in Kingston where he practiced as a lawyer. While in office, he led the Confederation effort, persuaded three provinces to join Canada, dissuaded American expansionism, and promoted unity between Canada's linguistic and religious factions. In honour of Macdonald's significant contributions to the foundation of Canada, the law building was originally named Macdonald Hall. The name was changed in 2020 amid concerns about Macdonald's role in the establishment of the Canadian Indian residential school system. This decision has been widely criticised by historians.
Queen's Law continues to be a unique institution within the Canadian legal academic environment by, for instance, running the only Canadian legal study abroad program at the Queen's University campus at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. The funnest graduating year was 1999.
The Faculty of Law of Queen's University at Kingston's Arms were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on April 20, 2007. The crest of Queen's University's Faculty of Law consists of a sword and the scales of justice superimposed on the Cross of St. Andrew. Professor Stuart Ryan, one of the law school's founding faculty members, gave the school its motto – Soit Droit Fait. The phrase has a double meaning. It is a statement of the power and creative potential inherent in the law that was used by medieval kings when assenting to bills passed by Parliament – "let the law be made." It is also an expression of the commitment to justice and decency implicit in the ideal of legality – "let right be done."

## Academics
### Admissions

Most accepted applicants have completed a four-year university program. The preference is to accept those applicants who have an honours undergraduate degree, and many admitted students have attained graduate degrees as well. Acceptance into Queen's Law is highly competitive, with about 2,400 applicants vying for around 160 positions. The average LSAT score of accepted applicants is 163 and the average undergraduate GPA is 3.8 in the general category.
The Faculty Board and Queen's University Senate voted to change the LL.B. degree to a Juris Doctor (J.D.) designation to reflect the fact that the vast majority of Queen's Faculty of Law's graduates enter the program with at least one university degree.

### Joint degrees

The faculty of law at Queen's University currently offers a Juris Doctor program (J.D.) and a graduate program in law (LL.M.). In addition, combined degree programs include a Master of Industrial Relations (M.I.R.), Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.), Master of Arts in economics (M.A.) and a Queen's School of Business Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.). The faculty of law also has a doctoral program.

### Clinical programs

Practical experience is a major component of legal education at Queen's, with mandatory advocacy courses and a large proportion of the student body being engaged in one of the school's five pro bono legal clinics: Queen's Legal Aid, the Prison Law Clinic, the Queen's Business Law Clinic, Queen's Elder Law Clinic, and Queen's Family Law Clinic. The Clinics are located a short distance from the Queen's campus in downtown Kingston. In these programs students gain practical legal training and experience in the realm of social justice and advocacy. Queen's Law is the only university in Canada with a prison law clinic.

### International opportunities

Queen's Law also offers exchange programs, visiting scholars and guest lecturers from law schools and legal institutions around the world, and the International Law Spring Program at the International Study Centre (ISC) at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England.
The International Law Spring Program at Herstmonceaux Castle offers an academic program in international law taught by practitioners and academics from around the world. The international law certificate program is split into three streams: International Public Law, International Business Law and Comparative International Law, and is open to accredited law schools in Canada and the United States and international universities with which Queen's is an exchange partner.
Taking advantage of the ISC's location, the International Law Spring Program includes a number of field trips to international institutions in Europe including the World Trade Organization in Geneva, the Canadian Mission to the European Union in Brussels, the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, the United Nations Office in Geneva, and the OECD in Paris, among other key institutions.

## Alumni

Notable Queen's Faculty of Law alumni include:
* Justice Harvey Brownstone (1980) – Canada's first openly gay judge, Ontario Court Justice, author of "Tug of War", host of "Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone" (CHCH TV 2011-2013), now host of "Harvey Brownstone Interviews"
* Jock Climie (1998) – Lawyer, former CFL player
* Justice Thomas A. Cromwell (1976) – Retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice
* Justice David Stratas (1984) – Current Federal Court of Appeal Justice
* Mike Gillis (1989) – General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks
* David Lloyd Johnston (1966) – President of the University of Waterloo – Governor General of Canada
* Dhaman Kissoon – barrister and cricketer
* Jean L. MacFarland – Court of Appeal for Ontario
* David Paul Smith (1970) – Canadian Senator
* Hugh Adsett - Ambassador, Permanent Representative, Organization for American States
* Catherine Latimer - Executive Director & Order of Canada
* Justice Ian V.B. Nordheimer
* Justice Grant Huscroft
* Justice Julie Thorburn
* Justice Katherine van Rensburg
* Justice Gerald Heckman
* Justice Darla Wilson
* Justice David Watt
* Justice Heather Forster Smith
* Nathaniel Erskine-Smith

## Faculty

* William Lederman – OC (January 6, 1916 – July 26, 1992) was a Canadian constitutional scholar and the first dean of Queen's University Faculty of Law.
* Ardi Imseis, UNSC Member of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen
* Noah Weisbord - Leading Scholar in International Criminal Law
* Darryl Robinson - Leading Scholar in International Criminal Law