Meeting focuses on rising tuition and employment with updates from the Financial Aid Committee and the Career Development Office
On March 24, the Faculty Council met for the fifth time this academic year.
Dean Brunnée’s Remarks
SLS Tuition Letter
The Dean acknowledged the receipt of the Students’ Law Society (SLS) Tuition Letter. While she plans to properly address the issues and proposals listed in the letter, Dean Brunnée reminded Council that the Faculty is “operating under significant budgetary constraints that have been exacerbated by the recent tuition cuts and freeze.”
According to the Dean, the Business Board of the Governing Council recently received a recommendation for a domestic tuition freeze for the 2021-2022 academic year. This proposal will likely be presented to the university’s Governing Council for final approval on April 6. Assuming that proposal is approved, the Dean notes the Faculty’s budgetary situation will “remain challenging with continued difficult choices and very cautious planning.”
Equity Groups’ Open Letter
The Dean commented on the open letter sent to the Dean’s office last summer by five equity-facing student groups at the law school. This letter reminded the Faculty of its responsibilities in respect to “recognize and dismantle systemic racism within the legal sphere” and offered a series of recommendations to the law school including improved equity training and modified curriculums. Dean Brunnée apologized for the delay in responding to the open letter but stated she intends to provide a response before the end of the school year.
Dean Brunnée noted that The Council of Canadian Law Deans, of which U of T Law is a member, issued a statement last summer in response to anti-Black racism. She also drew attention to her priority for inclusive excellence, which was stated in her initial communications as the new Dean of the Faculty. She explained that she is in the early stages of planning a process that “is focused on equity, diversity, and inclusivity that will include all members of the law school community.,”
Future Plans for the Law School
Dean Brunnée noted that the approaching convocation will be virtual but assured graduating students that the day will be memorable nonetheless. “As Law Follies quite convincingly demonstrated, it is quite possible to make a virtuosity out of the online format,” said the Dean.
In regard to the upcoming fall semester, she noted that the Vice-President and Provost of the university stated that the university is optimistically planning on a return to in-person activities for the 2021-2022 academic year. While the law school is also planning towards an in-person fall term, Dean Brunnée reminded the Council to “expect the unexpected.”
The Dean closed her remarks by congratulating retiring student services staff members Aladdin Mohaghegh and Kim Snell. Mohaghegh served as the law school’s Senior Financial Aid Advisor for the past 23 years and Snell has occupied several roles since her employment with the law school in 2010, most recently acting as the Director of Student Programs.
Students’ Law Society (SLS) Updates
SLS President Robert Nanni (4L JD/MBA) announced that Jamal Howlader, a late member of the JD class of 2020, will be posthumously called to the Ontario bar. This follows joint advocacy efforts by Howlader’s family and close friends to urge the Law Society of Ontario to develop a policy on posthumous calls to the bar.
In regard to the SLS Tuition Letter, Nanni noted the letter was co-written by this year’s SLS executives and the past seven SLS presidents. The letter has since amassed 349 endorsements from students, alumni, student groups, and faculty members.
The SLS has also seen increased student engagement, especially this past month with trivia, a cooking class, March Madness Brackets, and a virtual Oakes Day social. Nanni is looking forward to the much-anticipated faculty-student trivia competition on March 30.
Lastly, Nanni discussed the recent SLS Spring Election, introducing the new executives and noting a record 55 per cent voter turnout.
Graduate Law Students’ Association (GLSA) Updates
GLSA President Anil Nair (GPLLM candidate) commended the Faculty for changing their final exam policy. Previously, GPLLM students had a maximum of a day to write a final exam. In response to consultations led by Nair with GPLLM students, the Faculty changed their final exam policy so that GPLLM students have a window of approximately three weeks to complete the three exams of the Canadian Law concentration.
Nair also noted that they are arranging a virtual event to celebrate the 2020 graduates of the GPLLM and LLM programs, whose convocation was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Graduating GPLLM students will receive a similar virtual celebration.
Financial Aid Updates and Numbers
Professor Anthony Niblett and Assistant Dean Alexis Archbold presented the Financial Aid Committee Report.
The Financial Aid Committee met six times this year. As in previous years, they received a number of student requests for reconsideration of financial aid awards. Professor Niblett noted that they devoted more time than usual this year to deliberations of these requests. In total, they reviewed and determined eight appeals for reconsideration.
This year, the Financial Aid Committee allowed students to submit letters requesting special consideration before the awards were granted. The Committee received 11 letters.
Changes to the Financial Aid Program Policies
The Dean asked the Committee to review and revise the Faculty’s policy documents relating to the front end financial aid program. Based on student recommendations concerning how parental income is factored into financial aid assessments, the Financial Aid Committee approved a change whereby “material drops in parental income will be considered.”
Professor Niblett noted a “small but significant change” in the language of the policy. Rather than refer to “deemed parental contributions,” the Financial Aid Committee is interested in tracking the students’ “socio-economic index.” The revised policy will reflect this interest.
Professor Niblett thanked the students involved in reviewing and editing the front end Financial Aid Program Policies and Procedures Booklet, stating that a revised version will be posted soon.
He also noted that the Committee made a recommendation to the Dean that the Committee next year continue the process of improving clarity and collecting feedback from students and stakeholders.
Starting this year, the Financial Aid Committee will be keeping an anonymous but detailed record of submissions and Committee decisions in an effort to help with continuity and ensure consistency in the annual financial aid decision-making. SLS President Nanni commented that this was a “really important step.”
The Dean further asked the Committee to consider whether the law school should exempt equity-based scholarships and external awards given to all equity-seeking groups during financial aid assessments, which currently take into consideration external funding with the exception of Indigenous students who receive institutional financial support due to their Indigenous status or identity. The Committee determined that they require more information to make this decision, and have asked for the inquiry to continue next year.
The Dean also requested the Committee continue the process of creating a Post-Graduation Debt Repayment Assistance Program (PDRAP) calculator. PDRAP is a low income assistance program for U of T Law graduates with lower incomes. Professor Niblett noted that while Senior Financial Aid Advisor Mohaghegh and Senior Recruitment, Admissions and Diversity Outreach Officer Jerome Poon-Ting have been working with a developer to create the calculator, the pandemic caused a delay.
Professor Niblett ended his part of the presentation by giving special thanks to Mohaghegh as the “backbone of our Financial Aid Program.”
Total Financial Aid Budget
Assistant Dean Archbold presented the total budget for the financial aid program, including the front end and the PDRAP.
| 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
| Funding from Operating | $3,209,605 | $3,209,605 | $3,209,605 |
| Funding from Non-Operating Sources | $1,097,000 | $1,438,610 | $1,520,077 |
| Total Faculty Financial Aid Budget | $4,306,605 | $4,648,215 | $4,729,682 |
| Percent Increase | 13% | 8% | 2% |
For the 2020-2021 year, there was $3,209,605 funding from operating and $1,520,077 funding from non-operating sources (restricted fund bursaries, entrance scholarships and annual donation, and PDRAP repayments) with a total budget of $4,729,682. This was a two per cent increase from last year.
Assistant Dean Archbold attributed the larger increase seen in 2018-2019 to the Boundless Promise matching program for donations implemented by the University of Toronto. She explained it was an “unusual year” and the increases in subsequent years are more reflective going forward.
Professor Edward Iacobucci clarified that while the donation matching program may have influenced the larger increase seen in 2018-2019, it is more likely due to the fact that the operating budget has been steady over the last two years. When tuition was cut, the Faculty did not reduce or increase the operating budget devoted to financial aid.
Front-End Financial Aid Budget
| 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
| Total Front End Budget | $4,021,605 | $4,363,215 | $4,444,682 |
| Average First Year Bursary | $10,374 | $13,214 | $14,785 |
| Average Second Year Bursary | $10,540 | $12,445 | $19,153 |
| Average Third Year Bursary | $9,487 | $11,701 | $14,906 |
| Average Faculty Assistance (all three years) | $11,065 | $13,126 | $17,050 |
| Maximum Bursary | $17,728 | $22,413 | $28,395 |
| Minimum Bursary | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,232 |
| Average Interest-Free Loan (all three years) | $18,073 | $15,397 | $15,477 |
| Aggregate amount of external grants/scholarships and government grants for students who applied for Faculty aid | $2,689,016 | $1,456,016 | $1,931,302 |
| Average amount of external grants/scholarships and government grants for students who applied for Faculty aid | $7,171 | $4,220 | $5,748 |
| Number of students who applied for Faculty financial aid | 375 | 345 | 336 |
| Number of students who received Faculty bursary/grants/scholarships | 320 | 266 | 253 |
| Number of students who received Faculty interest-free loans | 320 | 285 | 269 |
| Percentage of all students who received a Faculty bursary/grant/scholarship | 51% | 43% | 39% |
| Percentage of all students who received Faculty aid (including interest-free loans) | 51% | 46% | 42% |
| Number of applicants who did not receive Faculty bursaries | 55 | 79 | 83 |
| Average parental income for applicants who did not receive Faculty assistance | $227,470 | $281,613 | $184,108 |
The budget for the front end Financial Aid Program this year was $4,444,682. The average first-year bursary was $14,785, second year bursary was $19,153, and third year bursary was $14,906. Assistant Dean Archbold commented that they were “healthy increases over the previous years’ average bursaries.”
The average Faculty assistance for all three years including the bursaries and the interest subsidies that the Faculty pays on the approved interest-free loans students take was $17,050.
Assistant Dean Archbold noted two reasons for this significant increase in comparison to previous years. One, there was more money in the budget and fewer students in the program. Two, the Committee was conservative in their initial estimates of the bursary amounts for students since they were unsure if there would be increased need caused by the pandemic. Since that was not the case, they were able to provide a second bursary payout in the fall. Going forward, Assistant Dean Archbold expects 60 to 65 percent of unmet need for students will be received in bursaries.
This year, the maximum bursary was $28,395 and the minimum bursary was $1,232. Assistant Dean Archbold emphasized that the number of high bursaries is increasing significantly from previous years. This year, over ten students were awarded bursaries of over $22,000, compared to last year where the highest bursary awarded was $22,413.
The aggregate amount of external awards, including government financial aid and OSAP, for students who applied for Faculty financial aid was $1,931,302. This is a marked decrease from 2018-2019. Assistant Dean Archbold explained this is caused by a decision by the Ford government, which stopped paying out the grant portion of the OSAP payment upfront and returned to a previous regime where that grant portion is paid out post-graduation.
336 students applied for Faculty financial aid this year, a decrease from previous years. 253 students received bursaries and 269 students received interest-free loans. Assistant Dean Archbold stated the decrease in the number of applications and awards given is due to a change in the Financial Aid Policy approved last year by the Committee. Students who have an unmet need of $5000 or less now have that need met solely through an interest-free loan. This was one way to increase the amount of money available for students with the highest need.
This year, 42 per cent of all JD students received Faculty of Law financial aid. The average parental income of students who applied and did not receive Faculty of Law financial aid assistance is $184,108.
Professor Ariel Katz drew attention to the significant drop from last year’s average parental income for applicants who did not receive Faculty assistance, of $281,613. In response, Assistant Dean Archbold stated that in discussion with Senior Financial Aid Advisor Mohaghegh, they’ve noticed that “even with the financial aid calculator, which is an excellent resource for students to give them a sense of what they may receive, and is often very close to what they actually receive, students still apply with very high parental incomes.”
In the previous two years, the Financial Aid Committee observed a group of students with very high parental income who still decided to apply, which created the increase in the averages. According to Assistant Dean Archbold, Mohaghegh felt very strongly that “there was nothing more than that to infer from these numbers.”
Professor Benjamin Alarie added that some students don’t know what their parental income is and will occasionally ask their parents to submit their materials directly to the Financial Aid Office. It just takes one student with an extremely high household income to dramatically increase the average parental income for those who don’t receive financial aid. He emphasized that even with the financial aid calculator, “this isn’t going to be perfect.”
SLS President Nanni added that average parental income is not a helpful metric and something that can’t necessarily be used to draw conclusions from. Instead, Nanni suggests providing median parental income that won’t be skewed by really high or really low parental incomes. He also suggests providing a lowest parental income as a more useful reporting metric “to show where a cutoff was for people.”
Second Year Student Affairs and Governance Representative Dhriti Chakravarty (2L) asked if the financial aid assessment factors in family debt, and if not, will it be included in the new socio-economic index. Assistant Dean Archbold answered that the Financial Aid Committee does not consider family debt nor assets for a “variety of reasons that have been discussed quite thoroughly at the Committee and that is not something [they’ve] been asked to do, although it is a live discussion.” Parental income continues to be the chosen proxy for socio-economic status of students.
Chakravarty also asked if the lower average parental income for applicants who did not receive Faculty assistance may be due to financial loss caused by the pandemic. In response, Professor Alarie clarified that the last tax year the Committee had data to consider would be the 2019 taxation year which was not affected by the pandemic.
In total, funding from the law school’s front end financial aid program (including bursaries, interest payments, scholarships, and interest-free loans) was used to fund over 50 per cent of tuition of the financial aid applicants. The remaining funds came from government loans, external bursaries and scholarships, and personal assets.
Back End Financial Aid (Post-Graduation Debt Repayment Assistance Program) Budget
| 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
| Total PDRAP Budget | $285,000 | $285,000 | $285,000 |
| Number of applicants | 74 | 65 | 57 |
| Number of participants | 63 | 48 | 42 |
| Average number of years of participation in PDRAP | 2.7 | 3 | 3 |
| Average PDRAP benefit | $3,802 | $3,546 | $3,281 |
| Average total eligible debt load | $59,036 | $54,558 | $56,767 |
| Average participant salary | $42,966 | $42,893 | $41,103 |
| Highest participant salary | $92,000 | $96,000 | $87,002 |
| Maximum PDRAP benefit | $9,852 | $10,017 | $10,145 |
| Minimum PDRAP benefit | $140 | $90 | $270 |
The budget for this year’s back end financial relief program was $285,000 with 57 applicants and 42 participants. Assistant Dean Archbold explained that this was a “good news story,” indicating that it means the Faculty’s graduates are doing well and “not needing to avail themselves of the support.”
SLS President Nanni commented that this “sounds positive at first blush as it may mean people don’t need it,” but he wonders if the Committee’s clarification of the processes last year led individuals to realize they wouldn’t qualify. Assistant Dean Archbold replied that, “if folks are not applying and wasting their time because we created extra clarity through revamping our materials, that’s a success. We don’t want people to waste their time and be declined because of misunderstanding the requirements.”
Nanni continued by saying that he’s “a little worried that with the survey we did and some of the results we got, that people didn’t find [the PDRAP] very helpful. I wonder if that got around with the alumni and people are self-selecting out.” In response, Assistant Dean Archbold stated that they can’t really know if individuals are discouraged from applying for the PDRAP but the Financial Aid Committee is hoping to conduct a deeper review next year in order to learn more.
The salary cut-off this year was $61,407. The average PDRAP benefit was $3,281. The numbers in general reflect those of previous years.
In terms of the distribution of PDRAP participants, as expected, the last four graduating years have the highest percentage of students in the program with 21 per cent being 2019 graduates, 14 per cent being 2018 graduates, 16 per cent being 2017 graduates, and 18 per cent being 2016 graduates.
84 per cent of participants in the program reside in Ontario, 11 per cent in Canada (non-Ontario), and the remaining five per cent outside of Canada.
In the PDRAP, over 53 per cent of participants are in private practice and 23 per cent are employed by the government. Nine per cent work in the non-profit sector, three per cent are students, and ten per cent are unemployed.
Professor Mohammad Fadel expressed concern that the majority of students getting back end debt relief are in private practice implying that “they were unable to get any kind of job at a firm, going solo or working in a small office, and are making less than around $61,000 a year.” In response, Assistant Dean Archbold cautions against drawing conclusions from this data, stating that from what she knows about the profession in Ontario, “the large majority of folks are in private practice.”
She went on to state that from her understanding, “the majority of our students don’t go immediately into private practice, these are decisions being made later in their careers. Our students go to article with the government and firms, largely. Are these students [in PDRAP] hopping into private practice right away? Hard to tell. We don’t track our graduates past articling in any kind of comprehensive way. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time but haven’t had the resources to do.”
Professor Fadel also commented that it would be more relevant to determine the percentage of post-graduation debt payments representing a median graduate salary, ideally for the first five years post-graduation. “We could see how burdensome that debt burden is for the median student in the beginning of their career,” states Professor Fadel.
Vote to Amend Faculty Council’s Constitution Next Week
Associate Dean Christopher Essert reminded the Council that the Faculty Council Documents Amendment Process Committee had proposed an amending formula for the Faculty Council’s Constitution. Based on a double majority, the formula requires more than two thirds of people who are present at the meeting as well as more than 50 per cent of total membership of the Faculty Council.
From his last update on February 10, the Committee was seeking approval from U of T’s Provost’s Office and Governing Council. Associate Dean Essert was pleased to report that in fact, the Committee does not have to go through the Governing Council process of approval. The Faculty Council is competent to create an amending formula themselves. “We can handle things inside the law school, isn’t that lucky for us,” stated Associate Dean Essert.
The adoption of the amending formula is to be voted on during the next Faculty Council on March 31.
Academic Freedom for Clinical and Experiential Education
Associate Professor Vincent Chiao stated in light of the IHRP controversy, the Clinical & Experiential Education Advisory Committee began consultations with present and former clinical staff and lawyers at our law school and other law schools on academic freedom in the context of the law school’s clinics, externships, and other experiential educational opportunities. He noted U of T Law currently lacks a policy regarding academic freedom in such cases.
Associate Professor Chiao elaborated that this is a complex issue with concerns from different groups both within and outside the university. It is further complicated in the Canadian context since it is often associated with employment status and collective bargaining.
Associate Professor Chiao stressed that there is not an obvious consensus model and there are some significant principal differences as well as a number of bureaucratic and practical issues that must be resolved.
The Committee recommends Dean Brunnée empower a committee to consult with clinical staff, faculty, administration, students, and alumni across the law school, and within other Canadian law schools and other professional faculties, on academic freedom. The goal, Associate Professor Chiao states, is to devise concrete suggestions and best practices that could be implemented at the law school.
Associate Professor Chiao recognized that there “are constraints on what the law school can do unilaterally in this regard. We’re just trying to think of what might be possible within those constraints going forward.”
Dean Brunnée echoed these statements, stating that “one of the challenges is that some of these issues may not actually be within our purview.” She cited university policies and HR matters as potentially falling outside the purview of the law school’s committees.
Employment Statistics
Director of the Career Development Office (CDO) Neil Dennis stated this year’s priority of the CDO was “to do everything we could to deliver the same level of service and programming that we have in the past while also adapting our operations to the demands of quarantine requirements.”
Director of the Career Development Office (CDO) Neil Dennis noted some of the challenges the CDO navigated this past year. This included cancelling their annual March career information sessions, helping students whose summer employment opportunities were cancelled due to the pandemic, petitioning the New York Court of Appeals to waive remote learning limitations for U of T Law students and alumni taking the New York bar exam, figuring out how to submit transcripts and get documents notarized for students who were registering for the Ontario bar exam, and working with other law schools and employers to revamp the recruit dates.
Dennis noted in hindsight, there weren’t too many students whose employment was cancelled last year due to the pandemic but “there was still enough to be worrying.”
Dennis commented optimistically that, “I can say with pride that your CDO does not give up and can overcome or at least deal with any challenge that we’re faced with.”
Dennis also drew attention to the 2015-2020 employment statistics, noting that not many schools publish this information publicly like U of T Law. For 2020 graduation statistics, 97 per cent of students seeking an articling position were able to secure these positions. 84 per cent were in private practice settings which includes full-service firms, boutiques, smaller law firms, and general practice offices. 11 per cent were working for government and public interest employers, mostly Ministry of Attorney General offices.
In reference to Professor Fadel’s earlier remark on post-graduation employment prospects, Dennis commented that “over 55-57 per cent [of graduating students] end up in full-service law firms with 27 per cent in smaller firms or boutiques.” He guesses that it is the latter who represent the PDRAP participants in private practice.
78.5 per cent of the Class of 2020 graduates stay in Toronto while 9.5 per cent work in New York. The rest are scattered across other Ontario cities including Ottawa, British Columbia, and Alberta.
Dennis commented that the number of U of T Law graduates working in New York City is growing, with an average of eight to ten percent of the graduating class working in New York each year. He expects that number will continue to grow.
For the 2020 summer employment statistics for 2Ls, Dennis noted that 97.5 per cent secured employment, with 14 per cent working in Faculty positions. This is an increase from previous years.
Dennis attributes the increase to the new project-based research assistant positions that were made available last year. In collaboration with faculty members and the Dean’s office, the CDO developed over 60 short-term research projects. Funding for these projects came directly from the professors involved or the administration. Rather than having students apply to each project separately, the CDO matched students to projects and professors based on their interests. Dean Brunnée noted this summer research assistant program would continue this year.
In terms of the recent 2L recruit, Dennis noted that based on “very raw numbers and quite incomplete data, U of T Law is still on-track to claim roughly the same percentage of [OCI] positions as last year,” claiming approximately 22 per cent of the total jobs available to all law students across Canada. 91 out of 179 U of T Law OCI participants got jobs through the OCI recruit, which is over 50 per cent of participants.
Dennis notes that the CDO still is collecting numbers on the amount of government and non-OCI positions that were obtained by the 2Ls.
The CDO did not see an impact on the number of jobs available due to the pandemic. “At most, some employers may have reduced their summer classes by two to five positions, but in other cases, employers increased their size by two to five positions. It is kind of balancing out.”
In terms of post-recruit jobs, Dennis notes that “they could be better.” The usual firms that tend to post on UTLC job boards after the OCI recruit are still posted, and the CDO continues to receive postings. Dennis notes that he independently searches for employment opportunities to post on the UTLC job board and that he made a plea to all employers for more summer employment opportunities while also soliciting for next year’s articling positions.
Dennis was also pleased to announce that, so far, U of T Law students and alumni have secured over 20 clerkships. Professor Martha Shaffer will discuss clerkships in more detail during the next Faculty Council meeting.
Dennis also drew attention to U of T Law’s internal OCI program, the Law School Student Employment Program (LSSEP). The LSSEP includes research assistant positions, summer jobs with resident clinics, as well as positions with external, public-interest organizations funded by internal and external fellowships. He noted that the LSSEP grew this year with the inclusion of new employers like the Investor Protection Clinic and the Advocates for Injured Workers. While 1Ls tend to make up the majority of applicants, Dennis notes that it is an amazing program for 2Ls who are dedicated to public interest work.
The CDO is still in the process of collecting data for the 2021 articling statistics.
Graduate Admissions and Funding
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Malcolm Thorburn presented the Graduate Admissions report.
In terms of admissions to the LLM, on average they receive approximately 250 applications, make around 80 offers, and enrol around 30 students each year.
Associate Dean Thorburn commented that in speaking to other graduate associate deans across Canada, some of them witnessed significant decreases in enrolment due to the pandemic. Conversely, the number of LLM applications at U of T Law stayed consistent with previous years. “This is testament to our really strong position in graduate education both in Canada and internationally,” said Associate Dean Thorburn. He also attributed the neutral effect of the pandemic due to the team’s consistent communication with applicants and ensuring they could come to Canada.
Associate Dean Thorburn noted that in effort to make the LLM program more consistent with masters programs in major United States and United Kingdom law schools, there has been work made to the coursework LLM option.
Associate Dean Thorburn was proud to announce the SJD numbers. They received over 100 applications, an increase from previous years, for eight offers. “They were really terrific applications so it was sad to not send out more offers in some cases,” remarked Associate Dean Thorburn. Of the eight offers made, seven were accepted.
The graduate team has also seen an increase in the overall number of applications to the SJD program.
SJD candidates have a guaranteed stipend of at least $17,500 a year, in addition to fees and tuition for three years. Associate Dean Thorburn noted however that they are dependent on their graduate students securing external funding and grants. He notes that SJD students receive support in their applications to major grant-awarding agencies and they have been very successful.
Associate Dean Thorburn expressed concern that the cost of living in Toronto is high., and “so for the sake of the intellectual community, we want to make sure that they have adequate funding so they can continue to work and study. There are not many teaching opportunities to secure additional income at the law school for SJD students. We have helped them secure RAships but this is something we continue to think about.”
He noted that as the university is working to top-off graduate funding across the university, the graduate programs at the Faculty of Law will be participating in that review.
Associate Dean Thorburn commented that the GPLLM program has nearly tripled in size over the last few years. There are 123 students this year compared to the fewer than 50 students enrolled in the program five years ago. The Innovation, Law and Technology stream has been growing with 31 students in the stream this year. The Canadian Law in a Global Context stream has also grown with 75 students this year. The GPLLM’s oldest concentration, the Business Law stream, has also seen solid numbers. Associate Dean Thorburn noted that while the Law of Leadership stream received positive feedback two years ago, there has not been similar uptake in recent years.
In regard to the higher enrolment of GPLLM students compared to LLM and SJD, Associate Dean Thorburn noted there is more outreach to GPLLM applicants. He expects all numbers to grow in coming years.
A condensed version of this article was originally published on April 7.
