Procedures for Change

Before going into procedural details, I'm looking for a few students who would like to join me at the LSA meeting on Monday Nov 17, 2008 (time TBA) to make a motion and discuss with the LSA exec and the Faculty Council regarding the progress on this issue. My voice alone may not be strong enough and if you care about the change, this is an opportunity. Please email s.manow@gmail.com if you are interested.

My last meeting with VP-Academic was in mid-October. The LSA proposed to form a research group to gather neutral information regarding the change to J.D. from various sources including other schools and alumni. No one really knows when this research group will be formed. Some students have suggested that the research project is irrelevant to the voting in a referendum. This should also be discussed in the meeting on Nov 17.

Voice from Alumni

If you're a McGill Law alum, we would like to hear your opinion/preference regarding to the change to J.D./B.C.L.

Please click "comment" to post you words.

Other Schools and Their J.D.

If you hear an interesting opinion from your friend who studies in a school that has recently changed its degree name to J.D., please share.

Here are pages that contain info regarding the change to J.D. of other schools:

Queen's

http://law.queensu.ca/alumni/jdConversionProcess.html

http://queenslaw.blogspot.com/2006/02/ubc-students-vote-for-jd.html


University of British Columbia

http://www.law.ubc.ca/news/2008/sept/09_02_2008_jd.html


Osgoode Hall
(My friend there confirmed that the 2009 graduates can pick either LL.B. or J.D. but Osgoode Hall's website does not seem to change the letters yet!)

http://osgoode.yorku.ca/media2.nsf/58912001c091cdc8852569300055bbf9/6fb85805a130278385257401006bbab2!OpenDocument


University of Western Ontario

http://www.law.uwo.ca/News/Sept_08/JD.html

(Dean Holloway at Western ON explained that "the timing now seems particularly ripe for change. The fact that Melbourne made the change – Melbourne, I think, is one of the best law schools in the common law world – gave me cause to rethink my own position...One of the things we’ve been working to do at Western, in recent years, is to internationalize ourselves. If a degree title will send a signal to the world that we’re part of a global community involved in legal education, then that’s a signal I wouldn’t mind sending.”

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=635


Melbourne Law School
("The name Juris Doctor is widely used to signify a graduate degree in law. The degree is internationally recognised, and is highly regarded by law firms and other employers of law graduates.")
http://jd.law.unimelb.edu.au/go/about-us/about-the-melbourne-jd


Hong Kong
(The J.D. in Hong Kong is almost identical to the LL.B. and is reserved for graduates of non-law disciplines, but the J.D. is considered to be a graduate-level degree and requires a thesis or dissertation.)