Blog
Katharine Byrick can think of few practice areas more dynamic than mental health law. “It’s an area of the law that is constantly changing and evolving,” says Byrick, the co-program director of the Osgoode Certificate in Mental Health Law. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, one in five… Click to Continue Reading.
Program SpotlightOsgoode’s Certificate in Mental Health Law keeps professionals up to speed in a dynamic field
On June 27, 2025, people gathered online from all over the world to take part in a one-day symposium on Legal Education and the Human Lawyer, co-sponsored by OsgoodePD, the Association of Law Teachers, and The Law Teacher journal. The symposium focused on what is unique and important about human… Click to Continue Reading.
Last week, we were pleased to welcome a group of law students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong for our 20-day Summer Study Abroad Program at Osgoode Professional Development. The students arrived on Thursday and were welcomed with a lunch on Friday, where Meghan Thomas and Victoria Watkins introduced… Click to Continue Reading.
When Jay Chalke got his first taste of ombudsing back in the mid-1980s, there weren’t many places a fledgling professional like him could turn for advice about what the job would entail. The Office of the Ontario Ombudsman was barely a decade old when Chalke – a fresh call to… Click to Continue Reading.
Program SpotlightJay Chalke helps ombuds and the ombuds-curious get to grips with the role
There’s no such thing as a “typical” OsgoodePD student, especially among those without a formal legal background. In fact, roughly one-third of our students across programs do not hold a law degree. That’s by design. A core part of OsgoodePD’s mission is to bring together professionals from a wide range… Click to Continue Reading.
The front lines of constitutional law are not found in any of the country’s courtrooms. They’re out on patrol with police officers and at the desks of investigators like Dave Cobey, the co-program chair of OsgoodePD’s third annual Charter Essentials for Investigators: Practical Guidance in Detention, Investigation, Arrest and Search.… Click to Continue Reading.
It’s difficult to write a one-size-fits-all blog post for internationally trained lawyers, because “internationally trained lawyer” is such a broad category. And actually, that’s one of the most important insights we can offer when it comes to preparing your application. Having a law degree is just one part of your… Click to Continue Reading.
Applying to a graduate law program as a non-legal professional might feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. The Admissions Committee regularly reviews applications from professionals across a wide range of industries and backgrounds. What we’re looking for is how you’ve encountered legal concepts in your work and how… Click to Continue Reading.
On May 28, 2025, Osgoode’s Internationally Trained Lawyers Day (OITLD) welcomed a packed room of internationally trained lawyers, students, and mentors for a full day of learning, community, and career-building insight. The day began with a series of online-accessible morning panels led by representatives from the National Committee on Accreditation… Click to Continue Reading.
Professor Hassan Ahmad can think of few better indicators of society’s increasing complexity than the growth of the administrative state. “1825 looked very different to 2025 and administrative law is a response to that diversity and fragmentation in decision making,” says Professor Ahmad, who teaches courses to students enrolled in Osgoode’s… Click to Continue Reading.
Instructor ProfileHassan Ahmad sees society’s increasing complexity reflected in administrative law
One of the foundational messages of the Certificate in Law Teaching is that law teachers should strive to create a “community of inquiry” – a learning community with a shared intellectual purpose, guided by an expert, engaged in activities in support of that purpose. The inaugural offering of the Certificate… Click to Continue Reading.