More great press for UDM Law.

One of our law schools was featured on Good Morning America on Memorial Day (Monday). Project SALUTE, a national project to train lawyers and law students to help veterans get the benefits they deserve was covered in a video news segment.

Watch it here.

Makes me proud of what our school is doing.

One down Eleven to go!

Wow. That pretty much sums it up in one word... wow. I have just finished my first week of my summer associate gig in NYC and it has been a great experience so far.

My week consisted mostly of computer training, office tours, meeting Associates, mentors, research training, blackberry training, and a few fantastic lunches. Each of the summer associates also received our first assignments which ranged from document review for litigation, assisting with 10-K filings (hello Biz-Org), researching for an article, writing memos, assisting with real estate deals, shadowing a partner for a half day, and much more.

It looks like it will be a very challenging but fun summer. There are a good number of social events set up including both Mets and Yankees games and a scavenger hunt in Central Park, all designed to help us meet as many Associates and Partners in the firm and get to know our fellow summer classmates.

Outside of work, I have been exposed to the joys of Manhattan commuting. I have a very short commute on one of the express subway lines from the Upper East Side down to mid-town but boy are those subway cars packed and warm! It may get a little unbearable later this summer. My apartment is good, but it's in an old building so that brings character and little quirks and annoyances, but overall it is good.

The restaurants nearby are great and there's even a reasonably priced grocery store a short walk away. Everything one needs (almost) is within a short walk.

Well, it is a beautiful sunny day outside and I have to figure out where to do my laundry. Take care!

NYCSA

Done 2nd year - weird!

As of Friday at 5:30pm when I uploaded my take-home exam I am officially finished 2nd year, Law II, 2L whatever you'd like to call it. It is definitely an odd feeling to be 2/3 of the way through this ordeal we call Law School.

Last year when I posted about being done (1st semester of 1st year) I felt exhausted and I couldn't believe how far my understanding had come.

At this point I still feel exhausted at the end of 2nd year, but the one difference is that I feel I had much more control over the whole experience. I have my plan, my system and I stick to it. It works for me and it seems to produce the results I want. Don't get me wrong my brain is still pretty tired but I have less worry about what comes next. Maybe I am just really happy I don't have to take summer school?!

For those unfamiliar with the JD/LLB program in order to complete all the required courses to complete both the US and Canadian law degrees in 3 years students take 2 summer classes in the summer between 1L and 2L. It's really not that bad, the classes are at night, 4 nights a week, but it is definitely manageable and it is possible to balance the school work with a research assistantship or other part-time job.

I must say it feels pretty good to be 2/3 of the way to becoming an American attorney and 1/2 way to being a Canadian Barrister/Solicitor (with articling in there, there is an extra year of course).

Watch for posts from students about summer jobs in NY and Toronto and we'll be welcoming a new contributor to post about summer school and the summer life in Detroit-Windsor.

We'll finally get a decision on our Canadian Moot problem!

Top court to rule on use of police sniffer dogs

This case was our Canadian Moot Problem last year (2007). There will be a decision today on the case by the SCC.

For those who don't know the ins and outs of the JD/LLB program we "Moot" twice in our first year legal writing and analysis class, called "Applied Lgeal Theory and Analysis" or ALTA for short.

As with nearly all North American law schools each first year JD/LLB writes arguments for and delivers oral arguments before a moot court regarding a current problem of law. The twist with the JD/LLB program is that we get to do it twice. Once in the U.S. and once in Canada.

Interestingly, the case linked above is the case we argued for our Canadian problem. A decision is expected today.

Employment Stats - sort of...

My apologies for taking so long to get back to our anonymous commenter. It is that time of the year, exams, papers and all that end of year stuff keeps stealing my time.

I will try to get some employment stats for the program itself, but it will take some asking around. In the meantime, here are some of the places where some graduates of the program are now, or are headed shortly. This does not include 2L summer jobs.

• Clerkship with the Ontario Court of Justice.
  
• Clerkship with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.
• Articling with Farris, Vaughan in Vancouver.
  
• Articling with McCarthy Tetrault on Bay Street (Toronto).
  
• Articling with Cassels Brock on Bay Street.
  
• Junior Associate with Paul Hastings in New York.
  
• Junior Associate with Miller Canfield in Detroit (and Windsor).
  
• Clerkship with the Federal Trial Court in Ottawa.
  
• Articling with Lerners in London.

And there's many more. I just don't remember all of them off the top of my head. What I do know is that nearly every member of the 3L class has a job waiting for them after graduation.

I hope that helps.

RW

Necessity of a car?

It was asked, in the comments, whether it was necessary to have a car to travel back and forth [across the border]?

• While having your own car certainly makes things easier in terms of coming and going across the border, it is not by any means a necessity. Most people arrange themselves into carpool groups in order to save on gas and the tunnel/bridge tolls when crossing the border. This is exceedingly easy, since every 1st year JD/LLB has the same schedule.
  

How do most students travel between the two schools?

• Most students go the carpool route with classmates. Although it is also possible to take the Windsor Transit Tunnel Bus, which operates connecting downtown Windsor and downtown Detroit through the tunnel and has stops within walking distance of UDM Law.
  

How is the transportation system in Windsor?

• It is certainly no TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) and it has its share of issues, but by and large the Windsor bus system covers a good portion of the city and is convenient enough for a number of law students to use it daily. I can't speak from extensive ridership knowledge, but I have been a patron at least a few times and my experience was good.
  

I hope that helps.

Today was the Annual G. Mennen Williams Moot Court Competition at UDM, it is the competition in which all 1Ls at UDM participate as the major project of 2nd semester ALTA (Applied Legal Theory and Analysis), and the JD/LLB's of 2010 had an outstanding showing! Of the 34 quarterfinalists (out of nearly 270 contestants) 9 are JD/LLB students. More than 25% - Not too bad at all!

RW

More Job News For the JD-LLB Class of 2009

I am pleased to report that 2 more of our JD/LLB compatriots have landed summer jobs (a few weeks back now) with:

• Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP - Ottawa
  
• McKenzie Lake - London, ON

There's more to come soon! Lots of interviews are happening.

RW

Interesting Article/Book detailing the differences in US & Canadian criminal justice systems.

Law Times - ONLINE: EXCLUSIVE: U.S. prosecutors hold all the power

Interesting and worth a read.

RW

Windsor 2nd year PC Candidate

Montrose candidate replaced by PCs

Interesting news, a current Windsor Law 2nd year student is the PC Alberta candidate for the Alberta Provincial riding of Calgary-Montrose.

He might have to ask Premier Stelmach for time off to write exams?

RW

Employment stats for the Class of 2009

Here are the current employment stats for the class of 2009 as of Feb 1, 2008.

Eight students in the JD/LLB class of 2009 have summer (2L) jobs at the following firms:

• McCarthy Tetrault - Toronto (2)
• Torys - Toronto (1)
  
• Boutique IP Litigation Firm - Ottawa (1)
• Thatcher Proffit & Wood - NYC (1)
• Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker - NYC (2)
• Shearman & Sterling - NYC (1)

Many more members of the class have had good results in interviews and are pursuing London, Ottawa, and other Toronto opportunities.

Windsor Law #6 out of 14!

Click here to see the Canadian Lawyer magazine ranking of the 14 Common Law Schools in Canada.

Not so bad, and a big jump from the #13 spot in the Maclean's article.

RW

Law School Musical

A response to the Maclean's Law School rankings.

Law Times - New law school rankings ‘incomplete’

So you know by now that Windsor placed 14th out of 16 in the Canadian Common Law School rankings Maclean's just published.

Here is an interesting response to the article, challenging it to be more broad in its scope of evaluation.

Check out the article above.

There's an election going on!

If you've been able to lift your eyes from your books, you may already know there is an election happening in Ontario. If you didn't notice, don't worry, I think most of Ontario hasn't noticed either.

As conscientious law students, I would suggest that it is our duty to make sure we exercise our democratic right to vote. Therefore I admonish all of you (who are eligible) to vote in the October 10th election!

For information on how you can get on the electoral list (if you want to vote locally), or how you can vote through an absentee ballot take a look at the Elections Ontario website: Elections Ontario Home Page

Also, you will note that there is a referendum question on the ballot this year. We get to vote on whether we would like to see a change to the way we elect the Provincial Legislature here in Ontario.

So get informed and take a few minutes to get on the electoral list, or request an absentee ballot from your home-riding, it won't take much time to do so.

Another Law Student Blog...

There are a few other law students out there blogging about their experiences taming the monster that is the law. Here is one I enjoy reading every so often.

Lisa Hutch - The TRIALS

Lisa is going into her second year at the U of Saskatchewan Faculty of Law. She's a good writer and frequently updates her blog.

Take a gander.

What next for this blog?

Well, I am not sure I ended up posting one tip every day... but there were a number of tips. I hope they helped.

I have never, by any means made any suggestions that I had all the answers or that all of my postings were my original thoughts/tips/ideas. So, because ideas matter and because the only way to find the truth is to hear all sides of the story, I have invited a few additional upper year students in the JD/LLB program to contribute to the blog.

I hope that over the course of this year, we'll be able to cover a number of different topics and get multiple points of view on these topics.

Possible blog-postings in the next few months:

• Hear from 3rd year students about their summer experiences working in law firms across the US and Canada this summer.
  
• Dispatches from the frontlines of the Toronto OCI process.
  
• Learn about the infamous East meets West....
  
• Find out where JD/LLB's will be articling or beginning as new associates next year.
  
• Hear about the search for articles.
  
• Inside information on the interview process.
  
• Law Review, just what does it mean to be "on Law Review"?
  
• Volunteering for CLA.
  
• What do we do for fun?
  
• Is Moot Court really moot?
  
• Working in the center of the universe.
• Life as a OneL.
  
• AND MORE!
  

If there is a topic you'd like to see covered, please let us know what it is by leaving a comment. We aim to please our readers.

More Border News: Lineups grow at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

globeandmail.com: Lineups grow at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

Still, it doesn't seem to mean regular, significant delays for the tunnel, but it certainly stinks when you are cutting it too close.

TIP A DAY #14:

• Leave at least an hour to cross the border to get to class. You just don't want to risk it. If you get to UDM/UW early then you now have some extra time to read, review your notes, print some documents or get a coffee. But at least you're not late.

Ontario's cross-border business at risk: study

CTV.ca | Ontario's cross-border business at risk: study

Interesting article. Some of this is what we in the JD/LLB program see every day. The comments on the article seem a little out there, but the article is interesting.

You can also take a look at the study itself here.

What to do this weekend!

Hey all,

When you're new in town sometimes you don't hear about all the things that are happening around town.

This weekend there is an Indy Car Race, the Belle Island Grand Prix and if I was to be in town, that's where I would be all weekend, sitting in the sun with a nice cold beer, watching the cars go fast.

If you want info on the race check out the website here. I believe you can order tickets there too, or just get info. I think the best deal is the general admission. Pack a cooler, your shades and the sunscreen and you're "off to the races!"

Have a great Labour Day and get ready to meet all the incoming LLBs! The rest of your first year class!

What to do on the weekends.

TIP A DAY #13:

• This weekend, for some of you will be the first weekend in Windsor. For some of you it will be your 2nd, 3rd or 4th weekend in Windsor, for another group of you it will be your first weekend in the "401 Club" driving back to Toronto (its OK too). Go to the zoo, if you are zoo people, go if you're not... it will be fun. But, that only takes care of an afternoon.
• Here are my suggestions for weekend activities in Windsor:
  
• Take in a tasting/tour at one of the many local wineries. This is a wonderful way to learn a little, taste some decent wine and see a little bit of the countryside outside Windsor. Information can be found on the South Western Ontario Vintners Association website. Most of the tours are only $5 or so, and you get 6 small tastings, along with a souvenir glass. Also, most wineries offer tastings apart from the tours, so you don't have to tour every winery.
  
• See if there is a festival in town, often Windsor has various festivals along the waterfront.
  
• Check out Greektown in Detroit. Lots of greek restaurants, some nice bars, a casino and a nice little "main street" area of sorts, usually pretty busy on a weekend night.
  
• Go to a Tigers baseball game, a Lions football game, or a Redwings hockey game. Great entertainment and despite the size of the city tickets are usually available.
  
• Go to a college football game, Michigan State or Michigan games are an amazing experience, but both are hard tickets to get.
  
• Take a tour of the Walkerville Brewing Company or the Canadian Club Distillery. Probably free samples.
  
• Go to Point Pelee National Park. Awesome for bird watching and the annual Monarch Butterfly migration, strange I know, but it is something to see, and close by too.
  
• Go to Pelee Island on the ferry boat. Canada's southernmost island (I think)
• Go to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. THE BEST amusement park for roller coasters in North America. The best.
  
• Hang out at home and do your readings?!?!? Sometimes it has to be done.
  

Anyhow, those are my suggestions, there are many fun things to do around here, ask any and all upper years or classmates who are locals.

Enjoy!