From the desk of Dean Mark Walters:

Dear alumni and friends of Queen’s Law,

The law building is very quiet as I write this – “Exam In Session” signs cover the doors and snow falls on campus. It is that time of year.

Seeing our students hard at work in the Learning Commons – once the library’s magazine stacks – brings to mind how much remains the same, and how much has changed, for law students since I graduated as part of the class of Law’89.

With that in mind, I’d like to share some of the year’s accomplishments for Queen’s Law as we prepare to turn the page on 2019.

A strong financial position despite cutbacks

I’m proud to report that the Faculty of Law is on fundamentally sound footing, even following a reduction in tuition by the provincial government at the beginning of the year. Belts are being tightened, and alumni support is (as always) appreciated in trying times – particularly in support of our student bursaries, and the law clinics, which have also been affected by related cuts. But the school’s solid foundations have allowed us to weather this storm well.  

New, and growing, online programs

One of the reasons for our solid financial position is the continued success of our undergraduate Certificate in Law program (takelaw.ca), growing interest in the Graduate Diploma in Legal Services Management (lawmanagement.ca), a set of courses that provides legal professionals with crucial practice skills, and the upcoming launch of the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law (immigrationdiploma.ca), which will make us Canada’s sole English-language trainer for immigration consultants in 2021.

The Graduate Diploma in Legal Services Management is of particular interest to Queen’s Law grads. It has developed into a “mini-MBA” with training specifically for lawyers in financial literacy, the business of law, human capital management, project management, and the future of the legal profession. We are seeing interest not only from young legal professionals who want to hit the ground running, but also small to medium firms that want to maximize efficiency and profitability, and larger firms who want to find new, innovative ways to train associates for peak performance.

Growing diversity and reconciliation at Queen’s Law

The legal profession should reflect the population it serves – which means we must train lawyers that reflect that population. I’m pleased to report that the 1L class of Law’22 is the most diverse class to enter Queen’s Law since we began tracking this data.

39% of our incoming students identify as racialized, confirming what we already knew about Queen’s Law being a vibrant community of diverse legal scholars united in their passion for the law.

 

Honouring the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee is also a priority at Queen’s Law, and we have recently reported the creation of the Maracle Indigenous Knowledge Fund, thanks to a generous contribution from David Sharpe, Law’95. We will be working with Indigenous scholar Mark Dockstator, the Director of this new initiative, on an ambitious project to integrate Aboriginal knowledge and wisdom into the academic environment and develop connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars.

This accompanies other advances in Indigenous recognition and reconciliation in the faculty, including the recent installation of a quote by Senator Murray Sinclair in the atrium, a gift from the class of Law’18, as well as a series of permanent plaques in Anishinaabemowin, English and Mohawk for the words that our lasting public art in the atrium.

Growing faculty – and faculty accomplishments

Recent years have seen our faculty numbers grow with noted national and international scholars, including two named Professorships – the Allgood Professorship in Business Law, held by professor Mohamed Khimji, and the Sigurdson Professorship in Corporate Law and Finance, held by professor Robert Yalden.

We have seen tremendous success not only in research grant awards (over $1 million in grants for faculty research in 2019), but our faculty have been active in all areas, including the creation and hosting of various conferences and colloquia at Queen’s, and the publication of several books (Noah Weisbord’s The Crime of Aggression has topped some Amazon sales charts).

Experiential learning continues to thrive – in downtown Kingston, and overseas

Now celebrating five years in its co-located space in downtown Kingston, the Queen’s Law Clinics continue to grow. We’ve recently welcomed Tomi Adebiyi to her new role as the Director of our Business Law Clinic, and all five clinics (Business Law, Elder Law, Prison Law, Family Law and Queen’s Legal Aid) continue to serve the community with pro bono services.

We’re grateful to Cunningham Swan for their recent support of our clinics, especially in the context of government cutbacks – their meaningful and generous contributions will help the Clinics continue to provide essential services to some of the area’s most vulnerable residents.

Overseas, our Castle program at the Bader International Study Centre continues to offer innovative programming through our International Business Law and Public International Law programs. An international legal conference in May 2019, put together by professors Nicolas Lamp and Ardi Imseis, met with wide acclaim and also served as a fitting event for outgoing Dean Bill Flanagan’s final visit to the Castle in that role.

A fund in Bill’s name – the Bill Flanagan International Studies Award – has raised over $550,000 to create an endowment to help worthy students pursue overseas opportunities. Once again, I’m humbled by the generosity of our alumni in supporting these worthy causes.

Final thoughts

During my first six months as Dean of Law at Queen’s, I have come to appreciate in a new way something that I have always known—something that drew me back to Queen’s this year—and that is that the strength and vibrancy of the law school community is the result of dedicated and committed people. I am so fortunate to work with so many individuals—faculty, staff, students, and alumni—who share a sense that our law school serves a really important function. We all see the importance of the value of legality as human good in a troubled world, and that the role of the law school is to help ensure that our future leaders embrace and internalize that value. 

 

Mark Walters
Dean of Law
Queen's University