Night court

Dean of Law Kim Brooks: "We want to de-mystify some of these issues and connect them with what we experience in our day-to-day lives.”(Nick Pearce Photo)

Always wanted to know what it’s like to go to law school?

Starting Thursday evenings, January 20, come and find out at a series of engaging public lectures that will give you a taste of what a legal education is all about.

There’s no cost to attend – and better still, no tests to write – just come with a curious ear to listen to fascinating lectures from some of the law school’s most talented faculty.

Following the model of the very popular Mini Med School at Dalhousie, Mini Law School will take a look at contemporary issues in law and how they affect our lives and society.

“We all interact with aspects of law every day, and yet understanding the way it operates and is administered is something of a mystery for many of us,” says Dean Kim Brooks. “We want to de-mystify some of these issues and connect them with what we experience in our day-to-day lives.”

So will it really be like going to law school? “Well, not exactly!” says Dean Brooks with a smile. “But if you’re interested in the law and increasing your understanding of it, this series will certainly give you an insider’s look at what it’s like to think about law in the context of a legal education.”

In the first of the series, Professor Archie Kaiser will look at dilemmas in Canadian sentencing law. “What we see on the news tends to be the ‘bottom line’ of the judge’s sentence,” explains Prof. Kaiser. “What we don’t often have access to are the full reasons given by the court, and this can be really frustrating for members of the public who may perceive a sentence as being ‘too lenient’. But sentencing isn’t as easy as you might think. You can’t just say ‘lock them up and throw away the key’—among other things, you have to consider the protection of society and how that is best achieved, the pain of victims, the rehabilitation and reintegration of most offenders, and the messages that the sentence sends. In my lecture, I’ll review the context and the basic law on sentencing and then present some fairly typical scenarios to get participants thinking about what would be an appropriate sentence, given the law and our legal system, and we’ll work through how a decision must be rationalized before it’s handed down.”

See? It’s going to be a fascinating series you won’t want to miss.

Upcoming sessions

Watch for upcoming topics in this series, including: wills (Feb 3), the treatment and protection (or lack of it) of animals in law (Feb 17), understanding the work of the Indian Residential Schools’ Truth and Reconciliation Commission (March 3), and the basics of copyright law and Canada’s copyright reform (March 31).

One important note: There will be time for questions and answers at the end of each lecture, though the general nature of each topic means it is not the place to look for individual legal advice.

Mini Law School, hosted by the Schulich School of Law, takes place on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. starting Thursday, January 20 in Room 105, Weldon Law Building. (Please note: Attendees may be requested to show picture ID to enter the building after hours.)

LINK: Schulich School of Law