When the new crop of first-year students arrives at Queen’s Law this September, they’ll be introduced to an innovative new way of learning thanks in part to a generous $60,000 donation from Goodmans LLP.

All first-year students are enrolled in Introduction to Legal Skills (ILS), a robust overview of a lawyer’s essential “toolkit,” covering everything from legal research and writing to client management.

The ILS course is vastly different from the typical law school lecture, says Professor Mary-Jo Maur, Law’85, LLM’93, Director of ILS. “The course is taught in blended format, meaning that about half of the information is online, and the other half is delivered in plenary lectures and tutorials. In their small-group tutorials, students will engage in discussions of controversial issues and in role playing exercises related to the work they do online and to the lectures they attend.”

Goodmans LLP is supporting this course through several creative initiatives. First, the Goodmans LLP Foundational Legal Skills Fund will support the Faculty in bringing professionals to campus to lead the plenary sessions on a variety of topics unfamiliar to most first-year students. Such topics may include legal ethics, professionalism and negotiation. Goodmans lawyers will also be a virtual part of the course as well, through videotaped interviews with Maur on a variety of course-related subjects that are part of the online materials.

After the plenary sessions, Goodmans LLP will host a reception at the law school so students can continue their discussions on the topics that arose in class with the firm’s lawyers.

“With Goodmans’ participation, we’re introducing a new and very welcome element of interaction between our first-year students and practicing lawyers,” says Dean Bill Flanagan of the new elements added the course. “Proper skills fundamentals are essential for success in law, and having that instruction involve practicing legal professionals means that material will be developed in a way that demonstrates its relevance and importance.”

The second initiative is the expanded hiring of eight teaching assistants for the ILS course, drawn from the best upper-year students in the JD program. These Goodmans LLP Teaching Assistants in Legal Skills will assist in the weekly tutorials and guide their junior peers while developing their own lawyering and leadership skills. They may also assist the Faculty teaching the course by researching best practices and innovations in blended learning as well as grading assignment and assessing student participation.

Third, two texts essential for any law student – the McGill Guide and Legal Problem Solving – will be bought and kept in a dedicated section of the Reserve area of the Lederman Law Library. These additional 45 books will be added to the library’s collection to ensure that students always have ready access to theses indispensable resources.

Finally, there is the creation of the Goodmans LLP Scholarship in Legal Skills, which awards the highest-performing student in the ILS course. The value of this scholarship will be $2,500 per year.

“We are thrilled to support Queen’s Law in the launch of the Goodmans LLP Foundational Legal Skills Program and Fund,” says Dale Lastman, Chair of Goodmans LLP. “Queen’s Law has played a significant role in our law firm for many years. From our current Queen’s alumni to incoming summer students who are the future of our firm, we are proud of the relationship we have with the law school and look forward to strengthening these ties and collaborating together. We are pleased to support Queen’s Law students in ways that truly matter to them.”