Iacobucci Consults JD Students

Aron Nimani

Leanna Katz (2L)

Over the lunch hour on November 20, Dean-designate Iacobucci spoke with U of T Law JD students about their thoughts on “priorities for our law school going forward.” The town hall was part of a listening tour for Iacobucci in advance of taking office in January. He has been attending meetings with multiple stakeholders, including graduate students and alumni.

Fewer than twenty students were present at the outset of the event, including just one 3L. But, by the end of the event, Vic 215 was near full of students from every year of the JD program.

Iacobucci expressed his appreciation for the “opportunity to listen” to students’ concerns and ideas. Wearing a U of T tie, he struck an open tone, but was reluctant to offer firm commitments prior to taking office.

Students asked questions about Iacobucci’s vision for the Faculty of Law, how to develop this vision, and the position U of T occupies in the Canadian legal market. Students also raised issues related to tuition, financial aid, the grading system, and career choices.

In his answers, Iacobucci often returned to two main themes: endorsing the Faculty’s status as a top academic law school, and his commitment to improving financial aid. Iacobucci explicitly told students that financial aid would be his highest fundraising priority once the building campaign is complete.

One student flagged the issue that employers in less lucrative practice areas, like criminal defence, are concerned about whether U of T students will be able to work in such fields given their debt loads. Iacobucci responded that he wants to ensure “career choices are not distorted on the back end.” Another student raised concerns about the availability of debt relief for students who want to work in public interest law. Iacobucci said that being an accessible law school is an important part of being a great law school, though he didn’t refer to accessibility as an end in itself.

For Iacobucci, U of T’s strength is the breadth and depth of intellectual discourse, which he says is broader than at other law schools. Being an “academic law school defines us and is vital to our success.” Iacobucci invoked the foundations of the modern Faculty of Law, including its second dean, Cecil Wright, and the debate between an apprenticeship-based approach to learning and formal legal education.  He argued that the academic approach is essential if U of T is to continue encouraging students to become innovative problem-solvers.

The debate over the academic role of law schools continues today, with an increasing push from the profession to get students out the door and into practice. For instance, Iacobucci expressed misgivings about whether the new Law Practice Program, which emphasises the business and administrative side of legal practice, helps students become creative and critical thinkers.

Iacobucci spoke to the need to engage with institutions like the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada, as well as look to other law schools in Canada and abroad. But one student’s question gave him pause for thought. The student asked, in defining our law school, how much thinking is done within as opposed to comparing ourselves with other law schools?

This raises questions about whether we conceive of our success as an institution in terms of rank among other law schools, and whether we define our mission to be about meeting legal needs in our community, offering leading thought on legal and policy questions, or providing the best student experience. Being part of a great institution does not ensure the quality of an individual’s experience.

Looking externally can offer metrics for measuring the student experience. But looking internally to students can provide a sense of how we see ourselves and where we would like to see U of T Law in the coming years. This town hall was an important first step in that process, and Iacobucci expressed a keen interest in receiving ongoing student input.

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