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1950 - “Fair Barristers”
Janet Boland and Judy LaMarsh graduate. The presence of women in a graduating class was frequently commented upon by the press, setting them aside for special comment. Women in the Law School were the exception rather than the rule. Roy McMurtry ’58 remembered that there were only seven women in his graduating class.
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Judy LaMarsh ‘50 (1924-1980)
Judy LaMarsh was born in Chatham, Ontario, and grew up in Niagara Falls. Talented and outspoken, she was a true original. LaMarsh enlisted in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during WWII , serving as a translator in Intelligence with Japanese-Canadian soldiers. After the war, she attended the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. LaMarsh was called to the Bar in 1950 and joined her father’s law practice. She would eventually leave the practice to become a Liberal MP in 1960. In 1963, she became the first Ontario female lawyer and the second woman to ever serve in the federal Cabinet. As the Minister of Health and Welfare, LaMarsh pushed for the adoption of the Canada Pension Plan and Medicare. She also served as the Secretary of State during Canada’s Centennial in 1967. LaMarsh left politics in 1968, to become a journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a lecturer at Osgoode Hall Law School. She helped to establish the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada and advocated for women’s rights for the rest of her life. She was once quoted as saying: “There are hundreds of women, from every walk of life, who would go into politics with some party encouragement.” The Liberal Party created a fund in LaMarsh’s name to provide financial support to female federal Liberal candidates.
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1949 - The Great Divorce
The Law Society’s Committee on Legal Education releases its majority report, recommending that office-based training be improved and that the benchers closely supervise the Law School. Blind-sided by the Society’s decision, Cecil Wright, Bora Laskin, and John Willis leave Osgoode Hall Law School to take up positions at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. Anglophile Charles E. Smalley-Baker is appointed Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and he begins to undertake a campaign to improve the low student morale.
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1948 - A Mad Rush
Students scramble to find articling positions. Some firms take on extra students but have little for them to do, while others that are short on juniors or support staff use them as cheap labor. Some students and firms resort to sham articles. This article from The Globe and Mail shows the overcrowding in Convocation Hall.
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1948 - Here Comes Trouble
John Falconbridge announces his retirement. The brilliant and intimidating Cecil Wright is appointed Dean. Wright expects to make Osgoode Hall a full-time law school or complete arrangements to move the law program to the University of Toronto. He begins to expand the staff, the curriculum, and the school year. The law program is expanded to four years. The Obiter Dicta gets a face-lift that lasts well into the 1950s, although advertisements for Jersey Milk chocolate bars, suits, and dance halls remain.
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Laura Legge ’48 (1923-2010)
Laura Legge was the first woman to be elected as a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and went on to become its first female Treasurer. A strong advocate for the traditional rights and duties of the legal profession, Legge led several legal and community services. She was also a role model and mentor to many young female lawyers. During her lifetime, Legge received several awards, including an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society and the Alumni Award of Excellence from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1997. In 2007, the Law Society created the Laura Legge Award to honour her many contributions to the profession. It is awarded to women who exemplify leadership in the profession.
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