Osgoode Hall Law School has its first endowed Chair in business law.
Yesterday, staff, faculty and students joined Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Patrick Monahan and representatives from the Toronto law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP for the official announcement of the creation of the Osler Chair in Business Law. The announcement took place in the Osgoode Hall mixing area. The creation of the Chair is the result of a long relationship between two Canadian leaders in business law.
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Above: Standing with the ceremonial cheque for $1 million are, from left to right foreground, Osgoode Associate Dean Janet Walker; Osgoode Professor Emeritus Peter Hogg; Purdy Crawford, counsel, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Osgoode Dean Patrick Monahan; Tim Kennish, co-Chair, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; and Donald Ross, partner, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
The Chair is the first to be endowed at Osgoode and is made possible by Osler’s $1 million donation, the largest gift Osgoode has received from a law firm. Supplemented by matching income from York University and the law school, it will create a $2 million endowment that Osgoode will use to create an additional faculty position for a nationally recognized scholar in the field of corporate and commercial law.
“We are delighted that one of the best business law firms in the country has shown its support for Osgoode’s scholarship and teaching in business law,” Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Patrick Monahan said. “We offer the widest range of courses in business law of any law school in Canada. The Osler Chair allows us to build on our considerable faculty strength in business law education which we have consistently identified as a priority for faculty recruitment to meet the needs of students.”
Establishing a Chair in Business Law at Osgoode continues Osler’s long-standing commitment to supporting legal education and professional development.
“We are extremely pleased to present this donation to Osgoode Hall Law School,” said Tim Kennish (LLB ‘64), co-Chair of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. “This is our opportunity to give something back to Osgoode.”
“We see this donation as a way to recognize the contribution Osgoode graduates have made to the firm as well as an investment in the lawyers who will be joining Osler in the future,” said Kennish. “Enhancing Osgoode’s teaching and research in business law is not only good for the school and its students, but for our firm, the legal profession, and the business community in Canada.”