April 17, 2012

Louise Brown

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1163267–yoga-foot-massage-and-dogs-this-is-law-school

University of Toronto law student Promise Holmes Skinner brought her dogs Cloudy and Julius to campus for law school’s recent Doggie Day, where exam-stressed students were able to play with and walk one of the dozens of dogs on hand to ease their nerves. A student smiles in background.

They held a day before exams where stressed-out law students could play with dogs.

They offered yoga and foot massage to these future titans of trials.

Now the University of Toronto’s law school could become the first in Canada to scrap the often nerve-wracking letter grades of A, B, C, D and F for the kinder, gentler ratings of Honours, Pass and Fail.

Is this any way to run a law school? What happened to Paper Chase pressure?

“Look, stress is inevitable with law, but there’s lots of evidence to show that developing some perspective and a healthy lifestyle is part of becoming a great advocate,” said Dean Mayo Moran, who brought her dachshund Alfie to school along with other canine visitors on a recent “doggie day” — to rave reviews from weary cram artists.

“Taking a dog for a walk can give you perspective; I do some of my best thinking while I’m on the boardwalk,” said Moran.

“The fact you do yoga doesn’t mean you’ll be flaky in negotiations.”

After two years of studying how to make often frazzled law students worry less about marks and actually enjoy what they’re studying, the U of T law faculty is considering a plan to ditch its seven old letter grades (A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F) and introduce five broader categories of marks; High Honours, Honours, Pass, Low Pass and Fail. It’s a system adopted by the law schools of Berkeley, Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

The law school may also start telling professors roughly how many students should fall in each category, to avoid a wild variation in marks from class to class.

“We’re trying to shift the culture and give students permission to really follow their interests and not just focus on what marks they get in a course,” said Alexis Archbold, assistant dean of students. It’s part of a larger move to tackle mental health issues across Canadian universities, she said, “and quite frankly, it’s good advice for your career as well.”

Hogwash, says defence lawyer Edward Sapiano.

“That’s ridiculous! Dogs on campus? Changing the grading system to spare student feelings? The law school paying for foot massage? That does not bode well for the field of law,” clucked Sapiano. “We’re creating a false environment; the pressure is going to be intense when they get out, but this teaches them that the world will change for them.”

Besides, law students are smart enough to find their own ways to burn off stress — “even if it’s smoking a joint of marijuana. Whatever works.”

But law student Erin Simpson said she appreciates faculty efforts to lower the stress “that can sometimes run amok because of the competitive group of students law schools attract.”

With 2,000 applicants for some 200 spots, the entering average is 86 per cent, and assistant dean Sara Faherty said some students have never landed a mark below A before arriving at law school, which can cause anxiety.

“But there’s a lot of talk these days about how to retain more women lawyers at the senior levels,” said Simpson, mother of a toddler, “yet the fact is, the hours that you’re expected to work are not compatible with family life; it’s a cut-throat business. I applaud anything they can do to reshape that culture.”

Aaron Rankin, president of the Students’ Law Society, said he likes the move to streamline the mark spread, but that dropping letter grades “is really just rebranding. You could call them Leprechaun and Rainbow for all the name matters.”

In the end, can law change from dog-eat-dog to a dog’s life? Replied Rankin: “The jury is out.”

The verdict: Lawyer well paid at $8 million

March 30, 2012

Niamh Scallan

Canada’s highest paid lawyer in 2010 earned more than $8 million, according to government data that for the first time revealed the confidential earnings of some 20,000 self-employed lawyers across the country.

The Canada Revenue data, included in a report commissioned by the Department of Justice to gauge judicial compensation rates, had lawyer names stripped from their annual incomes — but the report did note that the top lawyer earned $8,072,545, was at least 64 years old and lived outside a major metropolitan area.

Many believe it’s Windsor lawyer Harvey Strosberg.

“It’s the country’s worst kept secret. I can almost guarantee it’s him,” said Warren Bongard, president of legal headhunting firm ZSA Legal.

A Goliath in the realm of class-action lawsuits, Strosberg’s name is attached to some of Canada’s most high profile cases, including the infamous hepatitis C class-action lawsuit in the early 1990s, where he recovered more than $1 billion for his clients.

Strosberg, now 67, has become the foremost class-action lawyer in the country, his pockets well-padded along the way. He suffered a debilitating stroke in 2010, but rebounded and has since returned to his Windsor-based firm.

He was out of the country Friday and could not be reached for comment. A partner at his Sutts, Strosberg LLP refused comment.

Read the complete article here.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Congratulations to Mr. Strosberg for his recovery from a stroke in 2010.

https://twitter.com/#!/lsatpreparation/status/185713089189122049

Last week the New York Times featured a story focusing on a drop in the number of LSATs administered. The article noted that:

The Law School Admission Council reported that the LSAT was given 129,925 times in the 2011-12 academic year. That was well off the 155,050 of the year before and far from the peak of 171,514 in the year before that. In all, the number of test takers has fallen by nearly 25 percent in the last two years.

I read this with great amusement. In the 1997-98 cycle the number of LSATs administered fell to as low as 104,000. That’s approximately 25% less than the current number!  This is why it is dangerous to look at too small of a sample. But, speaking of statistics …

It’s probably better to get your statistics directly from the Law School Admission Council. As we know: there are “lies, dam lies and statistics”. Nevertheless, here are two sets of statistics that may be of interest.

1. The number of LSATs administered from 1987 to 2012.

2. LSAC volume summary showing both the number of law school applicants and the number of LSATs administered from 2001 to 2011.

It is true that both the number of applicants to ABA approved law schools and the number of LSATs administered has been on a bit of a decline. Furthermore, these two aspects of the law admissions process seem to be correlated.

What does it mean?  Why is it newsworthy? Even if you could discern what it  means, why would it matter to law school applicants? Why would it matter to the law schools?  Why would it matter to LSAT preparation courses and LSAT tutors? Here is what I think the answers to these questions are:

1. What does a decline in LSATs administered mean?

It just means that fewer people are taking the LSAT. This has no effect on LSAT scores. Who are the winners? Nobody. Who are the losers? The Law School Admission Council (they sell the LSAT), the LSAT prep industry and the law school admission consultants.

2. Why is this newsworthy?

Actually, I don’t think it is. There was a major recession in the 1990s. In the 1997-98 the number of LSATs administered fell to approximately 104,000. Compare that number to today! There is always an ebb and flow in the number of applications to anything. There is an ebb and flow to anything. There is an ebb and flow in the real estate market … It’s just life.

3. Why would any of this matter to law school applicants?

Assuming that the decline in LSATs administered is correlated to a decline in law school applications, it probably means that the competition to be admitted to some law schools will be less. It will not affect the competitiveness at the top law schools (whatever they are).

4. Why would this matter to the law schools?

Obviously the overall demand for their product has fallen slightly (it is always up and down). This will put pressure on the least competitive schools. This is good for law school applicants. Some applicants may have a slightly greater choice of schools. It won’t make  the slightest difference to the most competitive schools.

5. Why would this matter to LSAT prep courses, LSAT tutors and Law School Admission Consultants?

Well, now we are on to something here. Probably not a great time to in the LSAT prep business. But then again, maybe the least competitive prep courses and tutors will leave the business.

The decline in the number of LSATs administered doesn’t mean anything to a law school applicant. The decline does affect some of the other “stakeholders” in the game.

So, you want to be a lawyer? Are you a serious law school applicant?

Some advice from a long term admissions counselor (that would be me).

1. Ignore all this crap. It’s just noise. The real issue is whether or not you want to go to “law school”. Note, I said “law school”. I know that your final goal is to become a lawyer. But, if you really don’t think you would enjoy law school, then you shouldn’t go period.

2. The easiest way to get into law school is to take courses that you like. If you don’t like your courses,  you won’t get good grades. If you don’t get good grades …

3. Broaden your mindset. If your mindset is such that the “ONLY” thing you want to do is law school, you are in trouble. I do encourage law. It presents lots of opportunities. But, it is not the only game in town. Pay attention to all that is going on around you. I remember a great bumper sticker that read:

“When my ship came in, I was at the airport.”

4. Stop reading discussion boards, blogs, etc. It is misdirected focus. Every second that you are on a discussion board, somebody else is working on their LSAT, grades or law school application.

Conclusion: The decline in LSATs administered (interesting as it may be) means nothing to a serious law school applicant. Ignore it. The United States of America is a “nation of laws”. It will always need lawyers to obscure  (sorry I meant interpret) them.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
― Confucius

(and this principle is not affected by the ebb and flow of LSATs)

McMaster Pre-Law Society - Wine and Cheese

“Hello John,

Your one piece of advice was more meaningful than any part of the ______  course. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to talk to you that day.

If you are at all available to meet for one day in Toronto to discuss an overview of general approaches to the LSAT, I think it would be extremely helpful. Please let me know if you are able to meet in January and at what cost it would be.”

______________________________________________________________________

Personal “Early Bird Start”:

For  people  taking the June 12, 2012 LSAT we are offering you the  opportunity of a “Personal Early Bird Start”. What does this mean?

You are invited to take a three  hour private session featuring:

- Pre-Law Counseling

- Areas of Pre-LSAT Prep that may be appropriate for you

- Early Bird LSAT Logic Games and Logical Reasoning start

- anything else  that you want to talk  about

This may be done in a live meeting in downtown Toronto or  over the telephone. It  is  scheduled at a time that works for  you.

The cost  is an additional $250 over the cost of the Mastering The LSAT program. In other words the cost  of the Mastering The LSAT program with the “Personal Early Bird”  start is $999 + $250 = $1249.

The personal “Early Bird Start  is available without the taking the Mastering The LSAT course for $499.

To schedule your Private “Early Bird” Start call  416 410 7737.

Note: This is also available as a small group session – a group of friends, etc.

George Jonas, National Post · Oct. 19, 2011 | Last Updated: Oct. 19, 2011 3:09 ET

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/When+grow/5571289/story.html

Where the jobs are: More than 1,000 Canadians have applied to U.S. law schools over the last few years

Denise M. Champagne, The Daily Record of Rochester
Aug. 30, 2010

Competition for a limited number of law schools in Canada means more students are heading south of the border.

More than 1,000 Canadians have applied to U.S. law schools over the last few years, according to Wendy Margolis, director of Communications at the Pennsylvania-based Law School Admission Council, which administers more than 170,000 Law School Admission Tests annually worldwide.

Margolis said 7,310 students applied to the 15 member Canadian law schools this year, up 15.1 percent over the previous year. LSAC recorded a 2.2 percent increase in the number of applicants to U.S. law schools, 87,476.

Margolis attributed some of the overall increase to the economy, noting that graduate schools tend to become an appealing option for people who can’t otherwise find jobs. More than 200 law schools in the United States, Canada and Australia are members of the council.

About 13 of the 750 students enrolled this year at the University at Buffalo Law School hail from Canada.

One of them is second-year student Stephanie Le Coche, a Toronto native now living in Buffalo.

“There are a lot more law schools here,” she said of her own decision to head to Buffalo. “Even though the states are competitive, I don’t think it’s as competitive as the schools in Ontario.”

Le Coche said there are more opportunities to practice law in the United States, particularly in litigation, which she is considering. She noted that New York City – the financial capital of the world – also offers the most opportunities for students considering corporate law. She is interviewing for a 2011 summer associate position in Buffalo.

Le Coche’s undergraduate degree is in sociology and psychology. She is a graduate of York University in Toronto, but came to the United States because she eventually wants to practice law here.

“I was torn between going somewhere in Ontario, which would be close to home, and going somewhere in the states because I thought I always wanted to practice American law,” she said.

Buffalo is only about 90 minutes from her home and turned out to be a good choice, she said, but she wasn’t prepared for the cultural shock she experienced.

At first, it was just little things like different currency and gas being measured in gallons, not metrically. In Canada, school grades are numbered, as in ninth or 10th, so at first she didn’t know what people were referring to when they said “freshman” or “sophomore” years.

She quickly became labeled “The Canadian,” but she said she has found the people in Buffalo are nice and helpful.

“I think at first, they kind of looked at me like I was from another planet,” Le Coche said. “I kind of got that impression at the beginning of the year when I started asking questions that most Americans would know, so I couldn’t hide that I was Canadian. It took some getting used to , but I like it.”

To help future Canadians who may end up studying law in Buffalo, she is writing a paper on the challenges she faced. Topics include adjusting and settling in, obtaining a student visa to work in the United States and returning to Canada with an American law degree.

Le Coche also is resurrecting the Canadian Law Students Society at UB, which had been inactive in the last few years.

“We will have meetings about any issues that affect the Canadian students here,” she said, noting the group is not limited to Canadians. The focus will be on job opportunities, along with social events.

One of Le Coche’s friends is a student at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Le Coche said her friend plans to practice in Canada, where the process to enter the bar includes a 10-month program similar to an apprenticeship. Upon successful completion, young attorneys then apply to Canada’s National Committee on Accreditation.

By most accounts, more Canadians are crossing the border into American law schools than Americans traveling to study in Canada.

Bob Linney, communications director with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, said only 226 people who applied for an NCA certificate between June 30, 2009 and June 30, 2010 graduated from U.S. law schools. He acknowledged the countries’ licensing requirements are different and directed further questions to the federation’s website at www.flsc.ca.

Joseph E. Schneider, director of Post-Professional and International Education at the University at Buffalo Law School, said he doesn’t know of any American students who have decided they want to practice exclusively in Canada.

Many choose to learn about the enforcement of judgments in Canada and businesses that work on both sides of the border, and set up cross-border practices based in Western New York.

“Where a person comes from is not necessarily an indication of where they want to end up geographically,” Schneider said. “I actually get a fair amount of interest in our L.L.M. program from people outside of the U.S. I bring it up because it’s not always a safe bet to assume that just because somebody is a lawyer from Mumbai that that person plans on going back to Mumbai.”

Schneider said UB Law School does not have a formal relationship with any law schools in Canada, but such partnerships do exist. The University of Detroit Mercy in Michigan and Windsor Law at the University of Windsor, just north of the Michigan border, offer degrees in American and Canadian law.

Courses required to practice law in Canada include Canadian administrative law, Canadian Constitutional law, Canadian criminal law and procedure and foundations of Canadian law. The Michigan/Ontario program includes credit hours at both schools.

What does your LSAT score  measure? Your LSAT test score is a measure of how well you answer LSAT questions (on that particular test day). What does  a high LSAT score mean? A high LSAT test score means  that the person reads well. It is probable that a low LSAT scorer does not read well (although there are a number of other factors that might contribute to a low score). This makes sense because the LSAT is a test of how well you apply your reading and reasoning skills to LSAT questions. In a previous post, I suggested that the LSAT should be called the “R.E.A.D.” test (Reading Effectively and Deducing).

The Two Kinds of LSAT Preparation

“Formal LSAT preparation” = the process of specifically learning to improve the application of your reading and reasoning skills to actual LSAT tests, for the purpose of achieving your maximum  LSAT score

“Informal LSAT preparation” = the process of improving your general level of reading and reasoning skills so that you are starting your “Formal LSAT preparation” from a higher general level of reading and reasoning

Although the “Formal LSAT preparation” stage of your life is relatively short. The acquisition of reading and reasoning skills is a life long project. You will start your “Formal LSAT preparation” from the level of reading and reasoning skills that you have developed from a lifetime of reading and critical thinking. Different people start their “Formal LSAT preparation” from different levels. “Informal LSAT preparation” is a process of improving your reading and reasoning skills with a view to starting your “Formal LSAT preparation” from a higher level.

I once attended a MAPLA (Mid-West Association of Pre-Law Advisors) conference. There were a number of seminars about the LSAT. One adviser commented that she encouraged law school applicants to treat LSAT preparation (she meant “Formal LSAT preparation”) as a process of improving the skills that are necessary for success in law school and beyond. Both the LSAT and law school are about reading and reasoning.

What Can You Expect From LSAT Preparation Books, Courses and Tutors?

A good LSAT preparation program is dependent on the quality of the LSAT teacher. It will will start from your current  level of reading. A good LSAT preparation program CANNOT improve your general reading skills but it CAN improve your ability to better apply your existing reading and reasoning skills to LSAT questions and answer choices.

The LSAT Reading Comprehension section is not emphasized in most LSAT prep courses and books. This is underscored by the fact that there are few LSAT reading comprehension books. You are likely to find that practicing LSAT reading comprehension questions will improve your performance. This is also a fertile area for Pre-LSAT “Informal LSAT preparation”.

A good LSAT preparation program should teach you to simplify  LSAT passages and arguments. A good LSAT program should heighten your sensitivity to the LSAT language. Furthermore, by learning how LSAT questions are designed, you will learn to focus better on what you read.

How Long Should “Formal LSAT preparation” Be?

One of the most common questions I get is “how long should one prepare for the LSAT”. In terms of formal LSAT preparation, I would suggest a period ranging from six to twelve weeks (you can always add if necessary). I do not recommend that you start your “Formal LSAT preparation” too early. At the beginning (this is the truth) LSAT preparation is interesting. You will get your best improvements while the preparation is interesting. At a certain point LSAT questions  become tedious. The tedium will cause  mistakes that could be avoided. To put it another way: you want to peak at the right time. Remember that you can always add to your “Formal LSAT preparation” if necessary. You cannot subtract once you have started.When is the best time to take the LSAT? The answer is June or October.

It is essential that your “Formal LSAT preparation” includes the taking of lots and lots of actual LSAT tests.  Most of these actual LSAT tests be reserved for “Formal LSAT preparation”.

Remember that improvement implies that you are starting your “Formal LSAT preparation” from a specific level of reading and reasoning skills. What about improving your level of reading and reasoning prior to “Formal LSAT preparation”?

“Informal LSAT Preparation” – Pre-LSAT Prep

Since the LSAT is about the application of reading and reasoning skills,  taking steps to improve your general reading and reasoning skills will raise the level from which you will improve. LSAT preparation is not a short-term task.

How can you improve your level of reading and reasoning?

1. Reading Improvement – In order to improve your reading you need to: read, read a lot, read the right kind of material and read material that is challenging. Here are some suggestions for how to do this. Why not devote one hour a day to reading (just cut down on the computer time). For the “right kind of material” I  suggest reading “op-ed” pieces from newspapers (New York Times, Herald Tribune). I recommend the Economist Magazine (you can get a student subscription).  You will find that this is reasonably challenging.
2. Reasoning Improvement – Much of the LSAT Logical Reasoning section consists of questions that require you to analyze arguments. LSAT describes the task as evaluating “how the argument goes” – that is how the premises relate to the conclusion. A course in “critical thinking” might be of help here. Most schools offer one. Reading “op-ed” pieces will improve your  skills at recognizing good and bad reasoning. When it comes to LSAT Logic Games, a course in formal logic would help you understand some specific reasoning patterns that have appeared on the LSAT.

I have noticed that students who take English and philosophy come to “Formal LSAT preparati”on with a competitive advantage. This is because they have (without knowing it) been involved in a lengthy period of “Informal LSAT preparation” which is Pre-LSAT prep.

Copyright ©  2011 John Richardson. All Rights Reserved.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with John Richardson, who teaches LSAT prep in Toronto, about doing a blog post for our sites on why most LSAT prep courses—and their marketing material—tend to underemphasize reading comprehension.

Things have been a little busy lately, but sometimes delay is a good thing.  In this case, it allowed me to have lunch with Elise Jaffe, a former law firm colleague who is now the pre-law advisor at Hunter College in New York City.  Elise and John are always insightful and, while this post is my view, it owes a lot to those conversations.

There are several reasons why reading comp seems to be the forgotten stepchild in LSAT prep courses and marketing.  Some of them are merely commercial; others are inherent in the relatively short-term nature of LSAT prep, which is to say that most programs don’t address reading comprehension very well because—within the structure of most LSAT prep programs—it’s harder to address.  In combination with the limited objectives of most LSAT programs, the result is that reading comprehension feels like an afterthought.

I’ll talk about a little theory below.  The practical payoff is simple, though: Read—a lot—before you begin your intensive LSAT prep.  The more of a reader you are, the easier you’ll find reading comprehension especially, and logical reasoning to a lesser (but still significant) extent.

As Elise and John, in their own way, noted to me, taking a too-narrow view of the LSAT (which, I’ll add, is in the commercial interest of most LSAT prep programs) is positively damaging to performance.  Elise emphasizes that in one very important way, LSAT prep isn’t a short-horizon task.  It may be that you only “prepare for the LSAT” for a relatively short time but you start from somewhere; that is, you rely on a long personal development of reading and analytical skills.  To help develop those skills, Elise recommends to her students that, throughout their college careers, they become regular readers of the New York Times (relatively inexpensive with student rates) and at least one other respected news source, targeting op-ed pages in particular if they don’t have time to read the entire publication.  One of my first posts on this blog contained similar advice.

John’s R.E.A.D. principle is in a similar vein.  It’s a great “back-to-basics” reminder that what the LSAT, in its essence, is asking you to do is to understand and analyze the information it presents.  No one starts doing that from a blank slate.  Any taker relies on a better or worse history of doing exactly that, understanding and analyzing information as it’s presented.

I’m not recommending extending dedicated LSAT prep time—I think that too long spent preparing is just as unhelpful as too short a time, as I’ve said several times on this blog.  What’s important is the preparation you do before you start “preparing” for the LSAT.

A great LSAT prep program can maximize your reading ability but can’t create it from scratch (or nearly scratch).  Knowing and using the right techniques for you are important to maximizing your LSAT performance—but they’re not alchemy.  LSAT books that purport to teach you “how to read for the LSAT” are more harmful than beneficial—that’s another reason why I continue to believe that the best decisions I made in my own LSAT prep were to take all those books to the dumpster and to ignore all those programs and tutors that held out the possibility of great results (“crushing the LSAT,” “beating the LSAT,” etc.) without any pedagogically sound plan as to how to get to those results.

The basic fact is this. Takers of the LSAT have been reading (more or less well and more or less heavily) for a long time.  For example, although I didn’t start my LSAT prep anywhere near the 180 score I got on my only LSAT, I had the advantage that I was a heavy reader (and I had no idea what the LSAT books were trying to tell me about reading—they had nothing to do with how I read or should read, and I was pretty convinced that I was already a better reader than the books’ authors).  I didn’t read quite the way the LSAT wanted me to but I read a lot.  So, what I needed to do was to change the way I processed and analyzed information.  But I didn’t need to learn how to read, understand or process information at a reasonably high level.

When prospective clients take a diagnostic (or show me their actual LSAT after having taken another program), I worry more about the ultimate cap on their scores if reading comprehension is weak.  I’m upfront about that with them.  I think that’s my duty.  The bottom line is that I’m not qualified—nor, to my knowledge, is any other LSAT instructor—to teach remedial reading.  I can help tweak reading habits but 10 weeks—or, for that matter, 6 months—isn’t enough time to completely rebuild reading habits.  I can teach more efficient reading, better analysis of arguments and various other techniques specifically to maximize how any individual is already reading—but I can’t teach someone how to read.  And any LSAT book or instructor who tells you it or he can (especially in a few weeks) is either badly deceived, less than truthful or a severely underpaid sorcerer.

Even in making adjustments to how you read, the longer you have and the more dedicated you are, the better off you’ll be.  That’s the function of the pre-program that I offer to my clients.  The objective of that program is to get clients in the habit of reading in the way that the LSAT wants them to read without using up LSAT questions doing it, and giving ourselves more time to get it right.  Some of my clients are doing the pre-program (at no additional charge) for over a year—it’s just a few hours a week but it pays considerable dividends.

I don’t know of any other LSAT prep company that offers a similar program.  Why?  Well, it’s time and effort, for one.  And most LSAT prep programs are volume-based, so it’s not worth their effort.  But since the issue with those whose reading comprehension is weaker is more one of reading generally—and less one of 8 or 10 or 26 weeks of LSAT prep—these programs don’t emphasize reading comprehension.

They can’t, really.  And to the extent that mass-market LSAT prep intends to get its students a marginal improvement on a base score, they don’t have to—they can get enough small improvements through marginal moves.  Still, they should make the limitations of what they’re doing clear, in my opinion.  If what you want—and you should—is your best LSAT score, you should start preparing for the LSAT long before you start preparing for it, either in a dedicated pre-program like the one I offer clients or in a self-designed program.  If you do that, your LSAT-specific work will have greater impact.

That’s all in “LSAT mode.”  There’s a more important consideration.  As a lawyer, one of the two or three activities that will take up the largest proportion of your time will be—reading.  And you’ll need to be a very careful and efficient reader to be a first-rate lawyer.  While I am generally of the opinion that the LSAT has a single purpose—to help get your best law school admission with the most merit-based financial aid you can get—it’s important to keep the end goal in mind.  If you don’t like to read, you should think carefully about whether the law and being a lawyer are right for you.  And the most practice you get at analytical reading—of the type tested on the LSAT, among others—the better off you and your clients will be when you become a lawyer.

Note also that I came across an interesting tool to help you make your law school decision here. This  tool recognizes that rankings are one of a number of considerations when choosing a law school.

Lakehead University has won provincial approval to launch the law school it has long coveted, promising to gear its newest faculty to attract aboriginal students and focus on aboriginal law.

It is Ontario’s first new law school since 1969, and one of several recent efforts across Canada to craft programs and curricula around local cultural needs, from plans for an indigenous law degree at the University of Victoria to Cape Breton University’s newly minted chair in aboriginal business studies.

It is also Northern Ontario’s first law school, chosen to fill a regional need as well as a cultural gap. For years, Lakehead has argued the need to train local students close to home to maintain a strong pool of legal talent, drive economic expansion and serve aboriginal students, who already make up nearly 14 per cent of its student body.A first class of 55 law students will enroll in September, 2013, with priority going to Northern and aboriginal applicants. They will be able to take courses on aboriginal law, which can range from indigenous legal principles to treaty or land-claim law. They can also study a variety of legal issues common to rural and remote areas, and natural-resource laws relevant to the mining exploration efforts under way in the region’s “Ring of Fire.”

“We need better access to justice in the North,” Lakehead president Brian Stevenson said. “There was a very strong push on the university from the aboriginal community, as well as from the legal community.”

Currently, the region’s nearest options for legal education are to drive about 14 hours to Toronto or nine hours to Winnipeg. Northern firms have struggled to attract law graduates from southern schools and to lure back homegrown students who go south to study. That has left articling positions unfilled and spurred concern over who will replace retiring lawyers.

Dr. Stevenson is confident many graduates will stay and practise law in the North, trading on the specialized knowledge they gain, and cites the statistic that 60 per cent of Lakehead medical-school grads take a job nearby.

Terry Waboose agrees. The Deputy Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation thinks the region is “definitely under-serviced in terms of the legal profession – and it’s even more pronounced in first nations communities.”

A study of 2006 data by York University’s Michael Ornstein showed only 1 per cent of Ontario lawyers were aboriginal, though that number had nearly doubled since 2001.

By giving Lakehead the green light, Ontario ends the moratorium on new law schools it imposed in 2008 after being flooded with proposals. The province has promised a more controlled strategy for the way schools grow, but felt Lakehead is addressing a clear need.

“I kind of felt sorry for Lakehead when the moratorium came out,” said John Milloy, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. “It was, by all accounts, the most well-developed proposal … but it just ran into interest coming from so many quarters that we needed that breathing space to sort some of this out.”

The province has promised $1.5-million to help Lakehead refurbish a historic local high school it took over in 2008, which will house the new law school. Lakehead also expects to receive an estimated $800,000 a year in new operating funds.

The University of Victoria, already a leader in indigenous legal education, hopes to offer a Bachelor of Indigenous Laws before long. UVic’s mantra is that all lawyers, aboriginal or not, must understand aboriginal legal issues better.

“It would probably be hard for a lawyer to work in British Columbia without touching first nations issues,” said John Borrows, who spent a decade as UVic’s chair in Aboriginal Justice and Governance. “It’s a way of thinking more generally about law, to see how the common law, civil law and indigenous legal traditions interact.”

That approach is becoming more widespread, said Larry Chartrand, an associate professor who teaches an indigenous law course at the University of Ottawa. Most of his students are not aboriginal, partly because “there’s not a lot of aboriginal students who get into law school.”

Cape Breton University’s history of consulting with local aboriginal leaders on their pressing needs led the school to create a first-of-its-kind research chair in Aboriginal Business Studies last year. CBU has more aboriginal students than any university in Atlantic Canada, but few study business.

“Our goal is to double the numbers, then double the numbers, then double the numbers,” said Kevin Brown, the inaugural chair. “This is the beginning of it, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”