'A couple of generations ahead of popular demand': The First National Law Program at McGill University, 1918-1924

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
'A couple of generations ahead of popular demand': The First National Law Program at McGill University, 1918-1924
Abstract
The author explains that following the First World War, McGill University's Dean Robert Warden Lee (1868-1958) introduced some radical changes to the curriculum at the McGill Law Faculty. Three-year courses were instituted leading to either a civil law degree or a common law degree, and a four-year course in which both degrees could be obtained. The author notes that the program was extremely controversial, running into opposition within the part-time faculty the Montreal legal community and the bar societies of several provinces. Difficulties in obtaining professional accreditation for the common law graduates led to a decline in enrollment, and the common law option was discontinued in 1926. However, the author explains, Lee's vision of a law school of international importance where both great branches of the law were taught was ahead of its time. It was not until 1968 that Dean Maxwell Cohen (1910-1998) was able to introduce successfully a very similar concept in McGill's National Programme.
Publication
The Dalhousie Law Journal
Volume
Vol. 31
Issue
no. 1
Pages
181-210
Date
Spring 2008
Language
en
URL
Citation
Hobbins, A. J. “‘A Couple of Generations Ahead of Popular Demand’: The First National Law Program at McGill University, 1918-1924.” The Dalhousie Law Journal Vol. 31, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 181–210. http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=70083&local_base=GEN01-MCG02.
Find in a library
Permalink