It is an authoritative and lively history of the Law Society of Upper Canada and of Ontario's lawyers, from the founding of the Society by ten lawyers in 1797, to the crises which shook the society and the legal profession in the mid-1990s.

Osgoode Hall is a national monument and one of Canada's architectural treasures. Of the many public buildings erected in pre-Confederation Canada, it best encapsulates the diverse stylistic forces that shaped public buildings of its era. The gated lawns, the grandly Venetian rotunda, the ornate courtroom, the portrait-lined walls, and the stained-glass windows evoke a venerable dignity to which few Canadian institutions can aspire. It has been the seat of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1832 and of several of the Superior Courts of the province for almost as long. It has become a symbol of the legal tradition, not only in Ontario, but throughout Canada and beyond.

The Federal Court of Canada, which existed from 1875 to 1971 under the name Exchequer Court of Canada, occupies a special place in the court structure of Canada. It was founded principally to adjudicate legal disputes in which the Canadian government was involved; since its change of name in 1971 it has become primarily an administrative appeal court dealing with the review of decisions made by federal administrative tribunals in addition to its existing jurisdictions, admiralty, intellectual property, tax, and other areas. As a federal court within the nation, its very existence has provoked discussion and debate as the various provincial court systems claim a position of primacy within our society for the adjudication of legal disputes. Central to this history of the Court is an examination of the judges who have sat on its bench. Bushnell investigates who the judges have been and examines their work, with particular focus on the judges' views of the proper approach to decision-making. His study contains a wealth of information, much of which may not be widely known in the profession. As such, The Federal Court of Canada constitutes a rich source both for those with a legal background and for those with an interest in the working and history of legal institutions.

"Backhouse presents detailed narratives of six court cases, each giving evidence of blatant racism created and enforced through law."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes section "Book reviews."

As the leading legal historian of his generation in Canada and professor at McGill University for over three decades, Blaine Baker (1952–2018) was known for his unique personality, teaching style, intellectual cosmopolitanism, and deep commitment to the place of Canadian legal history in the curriculum of law faculties. Law, Life, and the Teaching of Legal History examines important themes in Canadian legal history through the prism of Baker’s career. Essays discuss Baker’s own research, his influence within McGill’s law faculty, his complex personality, and the relationship between the private and the public in the life of a university intellectual at the turn of the twenty-first century. Inspired by topics Baker took up in his own writing, contributors use Baker’s broad interests in legal culture to reflect on fundamental themes across Canadian legal history, including legal education, gender and race, technology, nation building and national identity, criminal law and marginalized populations, and constitutionalism. Law, Life, and the Teaching of Legal History offers a contemporary analysis of Canadian legal history and thoughtfully engages with what it means to honour one individual’s enduring legacy in the study of law.