Faculty of Law Students
The Faculty will continue to update you on new developments via email. All messages will be posted to eLegal for reference.
To Whom It May Concern,
The Winter term of the 2019-2020 academic year was profoundly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the Faculty of Law converted to a mandatory credit/no-credit grading scheme for all JD students in all courses that ended in April 2020, including full year courses. We considered maintaining our grading scheme, moving to some kind of elective credit/no credit scheme and moving to a general credit/no credit scheme. There were good arguments for each option, but only the general credit/no credit scheme avoided problematic evaluative distinctions at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting students in highly differentiated ways that were independent of academic commitment and ability.
Please note that while much of the wider University transitioned to an optional credit/no credit grading system that semester, at the Faculty of Law the transition was not optional: all students’ marks were Credit or No Credit in every course.
Given this gap in information regarding the Winter, 2020 semester, please allow me to take this opportunity to remind you that the Faculty has an outstanding student body by any measure, and the strength of our incoming classes continues to grow. The distinguished reputation of the law school attracts the finest applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and life experiences, who in turn contribute to the lively intellectual climate fundamental to our academic programs. This was no less the case during this problematic term. With over 2000 applicants for just over 200 places in our first year, we enroll superb students. At 3.85, the median GPA (calculated on the best three years of undergraduate study) of our incoming students exceeds that of all other Canadian law schools. LSAT scores are another indicator of academic strength, and our students are tops in Canada, and place among the top law schools internationally. It is in part because of the strength of our student body, and our alumni, that the Times Higher Education rankings place the Faculty of Law first in Canada, and in the top ten of law schools in the world.
In closing, whether you are considering an employment application, or some other outreach, from affected students, please take these circumstances into account. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have about grading during the pandemic. Thank you for your understanding.
Best,
Edward Iacobucci
Dean and James M. Tory Professor of Law
All in-person courses across U of T’s three campuses have been cancelled and teaching is now being provided through other means. All instructional courses were moved online effective Monday, March 16 until the end of law classes on Thursday, April 9.
U of T’s response and FAQs
Further resources:
The Faculty will continue to update you on new developments via email. All messages will be posted to eLegal for reference.
Global Professional Master of Laws (GPLLM)
Update: Monday, March 30, 2020
The University of Toronto, School of Graduate Studies has confirmed that all summer semester courses scheduled to begin in May will be delivered online. It is not yet clear whether these courses will be delivered entirely online, or whether it will be possible to return to class part way through the semester.
This will impact the GPLLM April Intensives scheduled for April 4 & 5 and 25 & 26 as well as the Friday and Saturday classes scheduled for May 1 & 2, 8 & 9, 22 & 23. As noted above, we do not know whether classes offered in June and July will be delivered online or in-person.
The Faculty of Law is communicating directly with those enrolled in the GPLLM. We will continue to update you on new developments via email.
For more information:
