FACULTY OF LAW
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor was established in 1967, and the first entering class was admitted in September, 1968. Mark R. MacGuigan was its first dean, succeeded by Walter Tarnopolsky, John McLaren, Ron Ianni, Julio Menezes, Neil Gold, Jeff Berryman, Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré and Brian Mazer, each of whom left their personal mark on the Faculty , contributing to the development of a responsive curriculum and meaningful scholarship. On the 1st of July, 2000, Bruce P. Elman was appointed Dean of Law. The Faculty's commitment to community service has created a unique, socially responsive, and responsible institution dedicated to learning. The Faculty has adopted two institutional themes: Access to Justice and Canada-US Legal Issues.
The Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law building at Sunset Avenue and University Avenue, was opened by then Governor General Roland Michener in 1970, and contains lecture theatres, class and seminar rooms, faculty offices, and facilities which house the 313,565 volumes of The Paul Martin Law Library, The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice,a variety of student organizations, the Legal Profession Research Program, the Canadian-American Research Centre for Law and Policy, the University of Windsor Mediation Services and the student-run Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues.
The student body has grown from thirty to approximately 500 since 1968, with a Faculty of 31 to 35 scholar-teachers.
At Windsor, law is viewed as a process aimed at the achievement of social ends and justice. Education in the law assists students to understand how legally educated and trained persons may gainfully contribute to the creation and maintenance of the best possible social order.
The Law Faculty has developed a varied, yet purposive program of study in which law is seen as part of complex and dynamic social processes: law touches all aspects of human endeavour and is, in turn, fashioned by it. Law's connection with the humanities and social sciences is inescapable both in study and in action. Critical theory, social science research methods, and sound intellectual analysis combine to inform the student of law about underlying, fundamental values and beliefs. The resources and insights of the humanities and social sciences permit our students an opportunity to understand that law study is inextricably related to social, political, practical, and theoretical issues. In large measure, law is about getting things done; it is practical in its orientation. At Windsor, theory and practice are not polar extremes along a continuum which separate the practitioner from the academic; practice is seen as the implementation of theory and theory as the positing of, among other things, action.
Recognizing that the discipline of law is complex, our aim is to assist students to acquire intellectual skills and habits of mind suited to law practice and a myriad other careers. They are asked to reflect critically upon the legal system, the legal profession, and the law itself. In doing so, they challenge the assumptions which underlie the status quo and propose options which might better serve the public interest. Since law is tied to all aspects of human relations, law study can and must focus beyond legal doctrine.
Because the environment of the law is rich, supported by community projects, scholarly endeavour, and personal interests, those who participate in its program may pursue a directed, yet personally oriented path for personal and professional development.
The Faculty recognizes the need to be responsive to the challenges of the future and remains flexible about scholarly and curricular endeavour. Its commitment to serve the public need is firm. We at Windsor are proud of our accomplishments in our first thirty years. But we will never rest on our achievements, rather we will build upon them.
The Paul Martin Law Library
The Paul Martin Law Library, with its collection of over 330,000 volumes (including a large microform collection and an audio and video-tape collection), satisfies all student research needs encountered in the study of Canadian law. A rich source of materials is also available for historical and comparative law purposes, dealing with the law of other common law countries, as well as some aspects of select civilian and socialist legal systems.
In addition to exhaustive coverage of Canadian primary legal materials, the library includes good collections of material from Great Britain, certain Commonwealth countries, and the United States. The library's collection of secondary materials, which is drawn largely from the legal literature of the same countries, is also very good.
Use of the Q/L Canadian legal database system is taught by Law Library staff. In addition, training in other computer systems is available: Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw, eCarswell, and other smaller systems, as well as a collection of legal CD-ROM resources.
A well-qualified library staff maintains a program to develop and assist in utilizing this strong, well-balanced collection.
In addition to the facilities of the Paul Martin Law Library, students and faculty have easy access to the Leddy Library of the University of Windsor, with its collection of approximately one and a half million volumes and, in connection with certain courses of study, to other more specialized libraries both in Windsor and Detroit.
ADMISSIONS POLICY
For information concerning the current admissions policy and procedures of the Faculty of Law, contact:
Applicant Services (Law Division)
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
N9B 3P4
Phone: 519-253-3000 Ext 6459, 6460, 6461 or 6462
Fax: 519-971-3653
Email: lawadmit@uwindsor.ca