University of Windsor Faculty of Law

For other uses, see Faculty of Law.

Faculty of Law
University of Windsor logo
Motto	Bonitatem, disciplinam, scientiam
Motto in English	Goodness, discipline, knowledge
Established	1967 (1967)
Type	Faculty (law school)
Academic affiliation	University of Windsor
Location	Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Dean	Camille Cameron
Academic staff	74
Students	642
Website	www.uwindsor.ca/law/

The Faculty of Law is a faculty of the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was opened in 1969, and places particular focus on trans-border legal issues and access to justice.

The Faculty of Law is one of seven in Ontario, and has a major teaching and research focus on Social Justice and Transnational Legal issues. It publishes the law journal Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice and the student run law journal Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues. Students can take advantage of faculty expertise in Aboriginal Law, Commercial/Corporate Law, Fiduciary Law, Freedom of Religion & Expression, Human Rights Law, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Law, Labour Law, Poverty Law and Tax Law.

Clinic

University rankings
Global rankings
Canadian rankings
Maclean's Common Law	14

The faculty, in conjunction with Legal Aid Ontario, runs a community legal clinic in downtown Windsor called Legal Assistance of Windsor. The clinic is staffed by lawyers, social workers, law students, and social work students, and aims to meet the legal needs of persons traditionally denied access to justice. This clinic provides services in the areas of landlord-tenant, social benefits, and immigration and refugee law. It also assists clients in applications for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Ontario.

The University of Windsor runs a second legal clinic, Community Legal Aid, on the campus of the University. This clinic is a Student Legal Aid Services Society (SLASS) clinic, which is staffed primarily by volunteer law students and overseen by supervising lawyers, called review counsel. This clinic operates primarily in the areas of criminal law, landlord tenant law, and small claims matters. The clinic offers free legal services to those who qualify financially and all full-time undergraduate students of the University.

Program

File:Ron W Ianni.jpg

Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building, University of Windsor

The faculty also has a dual J.D. degree program with the University of Detroit Mercy. The program is completed in three years and students take courses at both the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy.

Windsor Law offers a joint J.D./M.B.A. programme through the Odette School of Business. In 2010, the faculty began offering a joint Master of Social Work/Juris Doctor (M.S.W./J.D.) program. It is a three- or four-year accelerated program. (A Master of Social Work is normally a two-year professional program without a Bachelor of Social Work; it is a one-year program if entrants already hold a B.S.W.).

Journals

The Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues (WRLSI) is one of the few multi-disciplinary legal academic student-run journals in Canada. First published in 1989, the WRLSI was initially published annually. However, due to the increase in submissions received and recognition of its journal, the WRLSI now publishes two volumes each year containing essays from academics, the judiciary, practitioners, law students, and university students both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. As an inter-disciplinary law journal, the WRLSI strives to use the study of law as a vehicle for social change. Its journal endeavours to be a resource for professionals, students and academics. The theme of "Access to Justice" maintained by the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor has influenced our mandate to publish papers that explore law in its social context, and the impact that social issues can have on the law. Domestic and international concerns relevant to Canadian society also play a key focus in articles selected for publication. Legal libraries both nationally and globally subscribe to the WRLSI. The legal journal has also been made available through electronic databases such as Quicklaw/LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Hein Online.

While the journal publishes primarily academics and practitioners, the Annual Canadian Law Student Conference is a unique annual event which showcases the research and scholarship of LL.B., J.D., LL.M., and Ph.D. students across Canada, and provides a forum for discussion and feedback from practitioners and peers. The Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues invites all law students to submit original, scholarly work on any legal topic with a Canadian nexus to be considered for presentation at the 5th Annual Canadian Law Student Conference. Papers should not exceed 20,000 words including footnotes. Footnotes should conform to the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide, 7th edition). Two papers will be chosen as the “Best Student Papers” which are eligible for an award of $250 each. These awards are generously sponsored by Torys LLP.

Created in 1979, the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice was the earliest Canadian journal devoted to the trans-cultural and international study of individuals and groups excluded from the protections of the domestic or international legal orders. The Yearbook is independently refereed, publishes French and English essays and book reviews, is faculty-run and is supported by a distinguished Advisory Board. The Yearbook encourages a wide diversity of essays from a broad range of disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, history and comparative literature as well as law.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor, publishes the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice semi-annually with the assistance of grants from the Ontario Law Foundation and support from the Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor. From time to time, additional support has included grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The Yearbook is indexed and abstracted in the following: CSA Sociological Abstracts, Canadian Association of Learned Journals, Current Law Index, Current Law Journal Content, Index to Canadian Legal Literature, Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, IndexMaster, CPI-Q, Hein On-Line, LegalTrac, Lexis-Nexis, Quicklaw, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, Westlaw & Wilson Web. The Yearbook has been ranked as one of the top subject-specific law reviews in the “2006 ExpressO Law Review Submission Guide”. http://law.bepress.com/expresso/2006/subject_popular.html

Admissions

The Faculty of Law takes a holistic approach to admissions which takes into account various factors: The school focuses on transnational legal issues, and access to justice initiatives. The Faculty's connection with social justice issues is reflected in the school's unique admissions policy. Seven factors are considered and weighted equally:

• Undergraduate performance: Undergraduate GPA, academic awards and prizes, the level of degrees obtained;
• Work experience: Qualifications, vocational skills, organisational and administrative skills;
• Community involvement: Religious/athletic/social/community service activities;
• Personal accomplishments: Extracurricular activities, hobbies, artistic or athletic accomplishments, language skills;
• Career objectives of the applicant and how they intend to employ their legal education;
• Special personal considerations: Illness, bereavement, family responsibilities, other special circumstances;
• LSAT score

See also

• List of law schools in Canada

External links

• University of Windsor Faculty of Law
• Students' Law Society
• University of Windsor
• University of Windsor Students' Alliance
• CanLII - Canadian Legal Information Institute