Upon Law Rests Society

The Carleton Law Society (originally the Carleton University Legal Studies Society) is the original student society for the Department of Law & Legal Studies. Founded in 1967, it incorporates all levels of legal studies at Carleton and has a very prominent position within the Department. The Law Society works hard with its partners in the legal and academic community to create a unified, cooperative and productive organization. The Law Society represents students that have issues within the Department and works towards creating a bond between faculty and students. The Law Society holds events throughout the year that benefit students both academically and socially, to help familiarize them with legal studies and the Department of Law at Carleton.

Our Mission

The Law Society will attempt to create a unified legal studies society that will engage students within the Department of Law to become involved and further their legal knowledge. As a society we attempt to work with all organizations to further the study of law at Carleton. We would like to spread legal knowledge over campus, through academic and social events. The CLS Executive will also use its diverse knowledge to aid students that are having difficulty in classes. The Law Society, as a representative for the Department of Law & Legal Studies, strives to promote a legal understanding across campus.

History

The Law Society was re-created by former student (now a recent Osgoode Hall Law School graduate) and Law Society President Andrew Monkhouse after almost a decade of inactivity. Successive executive teams have continued to expand and develop the organization. The following is a message that was written by Peter Swan, two years after the Society (then still known as the Carleton University Legal Studies Society) returned to the Department of Law and at the time that the first issue of the Legal Studies Journal was published.

When I first came to Carleton in the late 1980s, I was struck by the sense of community among law majors. This in large part was due to the activities of what was then known as the Law Students Society. That society not only organized social activities but also actively in the promoted the idea of legal studies by publishing their own student journal in which they explored areas such as the latest trends in criminal justice and the emerging field of alternative dispute resolution. This activity continued late into the 1990s with the participation of students who were deciding to pursue legal studies as an academic career. Sadly the activities of the Law Student Society and its journal ceased almost a decade ago.

We are fortunate once again to have an active student society. The Legal Studies Society began its activities in the fall of 2005. Its activist executive has planned well for the continuity of the society by drawing on participation from all 4 undergraduate years. It has engaged in activities such as holding information sessions for students interested in applying to our MA Program in Legal Studies or in pursuing the new Co-op Option in our undergraduate program. It has also been actively involved in the national moot court competition at Osgoode Hall Law School.

The full message is available for viewing in Volume I, Issue I of the Legal Studies Journal which was published in March 2007. The Law Society was renamed in April, 2012 and continues to be one of the largest, most active and most important student societies at Carleton University.