Peter A. Allard School of Law


The Peter A. Allard School of Law is the law school of the University of British Columbia. The faculty offers the Juris Doctor degree. The faculty features courses on business law, tax law, environmental and natural resource law, indigenous law, Pacific Rim issues, and feminist legal theory.
It was renamed from the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in 2015 to honor a $30M gift from Peter Allard, an alumnus, which followed a 2011 gift from him of about $12M.

History

UBC offered lectures in law from 1920, but the university's faculty of law was established in 1945, and was served by George F. Curtis as the founding dean, until he retired in 1971. Because it lacked adequate infrastructure, the law school used army huts from World War II, until a permanent structure was built in 1951, which was named after Curtis; it was replaced by Allard Hall in 2009.
In recognition of a donation from UBC law alumnus Peter A. Allard, the law school was renamed the Peter A. Allard School of Law, on January 22, 2015; previously, it had been named University of British Columbia Faculty of Law. Allard is the son of one-time Edmonton Oilers co-owner, Dr. Charles "Chuck" Allard, who also brought the SCTV sketch comedy television series to Edmonton.
In 2016, the school was ranked among the 10 Best Law Schools in Canada by "Top Universities" and was fifth in Macleans 2013 rankings.

Academics

The school was ranked 3rd in Canada and 31st in the world in the 2016 QS World University Rankings of law schools. It was fifth among Canadian law schools in Maclean's 2013 rankings.

Allard Hall

The school is located at the University of British Columbia's campus near Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2011 it moved out of its former building, a brutalist-style building with malfunctioning heating and cooling and into a new building that had recently been completed. The building cost around $56M; the university used $21M of its own funds and the rest came from donations, including $12M from The Law Foundation of B.C. In 2011 shortly before students and faculty began moving in, Peter Allard, an alumnus, donated about $12 million to the school, with about $10M of it going to complete the capital campaign; the building was named after him.

Allard Prize for International Integrity

The Allard Prize was established in 2012 and was initially funded by part of the 2011 gift from Allard and further funded by a subsequent $30M donation by Allard in 2015. The Allard Prize became independent of the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia on June 21, 2019.
The first prize was awarded in 2013, and it is given biennially to an individual, movement or organization that has "demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in combating corruption, especially through promoting transparency, accountability and the Rule of Law". It is one of the world's largest prizes dedicated to the fight against corruption and protecting human rights.
The winner receives CAD$100,000 and an Allard Prize award which is an original work of art; Honourable Mention recipients receive an Allard Prize award and may be awarded a cash amount at the discretion of the Allard Prize Committee.
Many Allard Prize nominees and recipients have been, and continue to be, subjected to threats, violence, imprisonment and other attacks associated with their anti-corruption and human rights activities. One Honourable Mention recipient was nominated posthumously after being tortured and dying in a Russian prison.

Publications

UBC Law Review

The University of British Columbia Law Review is the school's official law review and is published by the UBC Law Review Society. Similar to the Harvard Law Review, the editorial process and business of the Society is run by Juris Doctor students, while manuscripts submitted to the journal are peer-reviewed by professors with specialized knowledge of the subject matter. It was first published in 1949 as a collection of legal essays entitled the UBC Legal Notes. In 1959, it officially became the UBC Law Review. It was incorporated as a non-profit society in 1966. The UBC Law Review is a top ranking scholarly publication in Canada and globally, alongside the University of Toronto Law Journal and McGill Law Journal.

Table of Statutory Limitations

First published in 1955 as a section of the UBC Law Review, the Table of Statutory Limitations has since matured into an annual compendium of legal limitation periods of various statutes. The TSL is published by students at the school.

Annual Review of Insolvency Law

The only Canadian peer-reviewed journal dedicated to insolvency and bankruptcy law. This annual publication offers articles by scholars and practitioners on personal and commercial insolvency law.

Canadian Journal of Family Law

First published in 1978, the Canadian Journal of Family Law is Canada's first family law journal. The journal is a biannual interdisciplinary journal that publishes both English and French academic articles on a broad range of issues related to family law. The journal is peer reviewed by an advisory board consisting of legal professionals and academics. It is produced by an editorial staff of students at the school.

Masks: The Online Journal of Law and Theatre

An interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal based at the school. The journal focuses on the intersections of Law and theatre.

UBC International Law Journal

The UBC International Law Journal is an online open access academic journal published by students at the school. The journal was initially created through the UBC International Law Society. The journal publishes exclusively student work, reviewed by students. The first issue was published in November 2008.

'''Legal Eye newspaper'''

The Legal Eye is a newspaper published monthly by students at the school. Started in September 2003, the Legal Eye serves as a forum for reporting on news about the Faculty, broader legal community, case commentary, the occasional recipe, book/restaurant/film reviews, event reviews, and for recognizing student activities and achievements.

Notable faculty