Better law school: York vs. Ottawa?

Osgoode is by far the better law school. uOttawa law grads get good jobs too, but I don't see them getting into government any easier/more frequently than those from York (or even other law schools). The only reason I see uOttawa grads landing in the federal government is because there are more uOttawa grads in Ottawa so they are naturally overrepresented in the federal workplace. The only programs I know of where students land public service jobs "easier" are programs at uOttawa and Carleton (as compared to universities elsewhere) that are aimed specifically at the public service. Carleton's MPA program, for example, has great connections with the federal government.

At the end of the day, prestige matters for law, so I'd say your friend should go to the most well known school they can get into. The rest will fall into place.

Quality of education, peers and reputation all suggest it is not even close. Osgoode is miles ahead though U of T is in a class of it's own above that. It's a better choice for almost anyone. That said ,it is true being in Ottawa is a big advantage for landing federal govt jobs. Maybe a bit less for elite entry level jobs but still very helpful. The thing is not having even started law school it's hard to predict what they will want to do post graduation. They sound like a reluctant student looking for a credential to advance a public sector career. It's a common path but they might fall in love with corporate law etc. once they start to study and if they decide to go corporate or even work in a start-up as above poster says prestige matters.

I am a lawyer. To be clear, if you want to go into civil service or diplomacy you should not be going to law school. That is not the purpose of a law degree. Rather, you need to be doing a master's in public policy or public administration program. Placements with the federal government are better from Carleton and UOttawa, but this is practically irrelevant for a law student that is looking for a legal job. The main hiring process into the federal government for law students is the DOJ Legal Excellence Program — https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/r ... index.html — and the DOJ has offices all across Canada. It is also extremely difficult to get into.

Approximately 80-90% of law students from any law school, including U of T, go into the private sector. Only 10-15% of students get public sector jobs.

https://www.law.utoronto.ca/student-lif ... statistics

Realistically, whether you go to Osgoode or UOttawa, you probably will not get a public sector legal job because it is just that competitive. Make your decision based on this consideration.

I'd suggest you invite them to the Canadian Law Forum and their associated discord

https://canlawforum.com/

Eragon wrote: ↑ I am a lawyer. To be clear, if you want to go into civil service or diplomacy you should not be going to law school. That is not the purpose of a law degree. Rather, you need to be doing a master's in public policy or public administration program. Placements with the federal government are better from Carleton and UOttawa, but this is practically irrelevant for a law student that is looking for a legal job. The main hiring process into the federal government for law students is the DOJ Legal Excellence Program — https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/r ... index.html — and the DOJ has offices all across Canada. It is also extremely difficult to get into.

Approximately 80-90% of law students from any law school, including U of T, go into the private sector. Only 10-15% of students get public sector jobs.

https://www.law.utoronto.ca/student-lif ... statistics

Realistically, whether you go to Osgoode or UOttawa, you probably will not get a public sector legal job because it is just that competitive. Make your decision based on this consideration.

Governments of all levels need lawyers. Municipal government, provincial government, federal government; all of them need lawyers of various knowledge, expertise, and vintage in order to be able to make Government function properly. You can go to law school being interested in working for government as a lawyer, although obviously you don't need to be a lawyer in order to work for the government. It ultimately depends on what type of job you want to do for the government. If you want to be a lawyer for the government, there's lots of options. Do you want to advise government departments on how to act to avoid the government being sued? Do you want to draft bills for the legislature to debate and possibly pass one day? Do you want to represent the government in civil actions? Do you want to be a prosecutor? Do you want to protect children and help out parents who need help in becoming better parents? These are all some examples of what government lawyers are tasked with doing.

I would agree that about 80% of law school graduates end up in the private sector in some sort of capacity, with the remaining 20% ending up in government, non-profits, or even electing not to practice law at all. I would also agree that that there aren't as many government jobs as private sector jobs, but that's largely due to the reality that there are a lot of private sector employers (firms) than there are government departments hiring articling students / lawyers, particularly given if you want to work in government you're limited to three employers...the city, the province, or the feds. At least leading up to the end of law school, most people seem drawn to the private sector over the public sector, and in particular the big national firms, largely because people have a lot of student debt and/or people want to make as much money as possible starting as early on in their career. Money isn't everything though.

It genuinely does not matter which law school someone goes to if they want to work for government. The main thing government and, indeed, any prospective firm, is going to be looking for is the person's connection to the jurisdiction that they want to practice in, their grades, their experience, and their "fit" with the prospective firm. If you want to work in Vancouver but have no connection to Vancouver or BC, employers are going to be hesitant to hire you for that purpose. In contrast, if you went to law school at UBC and set down some roots in Vancouver while doing so, that will more easily open up that legal market for you, as well as also keep open the legal market from where you originally grew up / came from.

As for which law school to go to between the two options listed, I'd say go to Osgoode. It's got a better reputation (although after you've been practicing law for a few years, where you went to law school and what your grades were really don't matter all that much) and it'll allow for easier access to both public sector (city of Toronto, Province of Ontario, and also the federal government which does have SOME DOJ stuff in Toronto) and private sector jobs. Nearly all the really big national firms have offices (and often their Canadian HQ) in Toronto. This is especially so if the person wanting to go to law school is already in Toronto and wants to stick around in Toronto after graduating from law school.

The main question the person should ask is where do they want to live and work after law school is done. If they want to live and work in Toronto, they should TRY to go to a law school in Toronto if they can because they connections they make during their time in law school (friends, lawyers, etc) will benefit them while looking for a job and when they being practicing law.

EDIT: RFD isn't a great place for this question. Canadian law student forums will likely provide more responses to the question and give more to think about than what will be answered here.