Currently, the Faculty of Law of McGill University is inviting applications for the following positions:

• Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law and Public Policy
• Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism
• Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy
• Academic Positions, tenure track

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Young academics or students completing their doctoral studies may wish to find out more about our Wainwright and Boulton Fellowships.

Other job postings

Administrative job postings can be found on the McGill Human Resources web site.

Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law and Public Policy (Tier 1)

Applications are currently invited for a nomination to a Tier 1 SSHRC Canada Research Chair (http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/) in Ethics, Law and Public Policy.  The successful applicant will work with faculty and staff to submit a CRC application for the 2012 competition with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2012 or later. The appointment is expected to be at the rank of Full Professor with tenure. The Chair will be tenable for seven years and is renewable.

Nominees will be world-renowned scholars with teaching and research expertise on the ethical and philosophical foundations of public policy, as well as on the ethical and legal issues that arise in decision-making and implementation in the public policy domain. Building on its existing strengths, the Faculty is particularly interested in candidates who wish to explore ethical and legal dimensions of public policy development in the area of health, innovation and sustainable development, cultural and social diversity and dispute resolution. 

The Chair holder will be expected to take a leading role in the Faculty’s research programs at the interface of ethics, law and public policy, including the design of democratic decision-making institutions and ethical regulation of the professions.  The creation of this Chair expands the Faculty’s opportunities to explore the demands of justice and human rights with respect to the provision of public goods, and to analyze the social determinants and constraints that shape the design of effective public policies and programs.  The mission of the Chair highlights the close connection between law and humanities, capturing within its gaze key contemporary issues such as:  institutional design and the optimal mix of public institutions, indirect governance strategies, public-private partnerships and market-based vehicles; the ethics of democratic decision-making and the trade-offs imposed by resource constraints; and the ethical coordination and integration of public participation, expertise, and efficiency. The holder of the Chair will be comfortable in an interdisciplinary setting, and able to move beyond the strict contours of law and policy’s domains of knowledge.

The Faculty of Law's research programs, pedagogical initiatives and academic priorities all reflect a central commitment to legal traditions, comparative law and internationalization of law. Our undergraduate curriculum represents an international benchmark for contemporary legal education and leads to the joint award of the Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degrees. The core of the undergraduate curriculum is taught transsystemically, across borders shaped by legal traditions and systems, notably those of the common and civil law. Our graduate program is comprised of research degrees at the Master's and Doctoral levels, as well as a non-thesis LL.M.

The Faculty maintains a research environment marked by a strong sense of collegiality through which ongoing intellectual and professional development of all professors is encouraged. In addition, the Faculty is home to a vibrant transdisciplinary research community of Institutes and Centres. Given the bilingual environment of McGill's Faculty of Law, the holder of the Chair will be expected to evaluate written and oral work presented in both English and French.

How to apply

Applications – including a detailed cover letter, a curriculum vitae, up to three samples of published research and the names and addresses of three referees – are encouraged prior to February 29, 2012, when consideration of files will begin.

Applications should be addressed to Professor Rod Macdonald, Chair, Staff Appointments Committee, Faculty of Law, McGill University. The Committee prefers applications to be sent by email to staffappointments.law@mcgill.ca;

Alternatively they may be mailed to:

Staff Appointments Committee
c/o Dean's Office
Faculty of Law
McGill University
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism

Applications are currently invited for the Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism tenable in the Faculty of Law, McGill University

The Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism, endowed in 2011, was made possible by a generous $3 million bequest from McGill Law graduate and former member of the Faculty Advisory Board, Peter R. D. MacKell, Q.C., BCL'51.

The Faculty of Law of McGill University now invites applications from scholars with an outstanding research and teaching record for the newly established Peter MacKell Chair in Federalism. The position is tenured and the Chair is fully endowed.

The Chair is an opportunity for a scholar with a strong interdisciplinary background in law, political theory and public policy to make an innovative scholarly contribution to the theory and comparative practice of federalism, understood broadly as a mode of governance and a technique of social organization.

The compass of the Chair embraces not only state-federalism, but inter-state federalism, federalism in non-state normative orders, and federalism within NGOs, QUANGOs, corporations and labour organizations. The chairholder will be expected to take a leading role in the faculty's research programs relating to all aspects of the federal idea, and more generally to the place of federalism as a mode of social structuring for the global legal order.

The Faculty's research programs, pedagogical initiatives and academic priorities all reflect a central commitment to legal traditions, comparative law and internationalization of law. In conjunction with this central theme, the Faculty has identified four overall areas of academic priorities: Transsystemic Legal Education; Trade, Mobility and Enterprise; Public Policy and Private Resources; Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

The Faculty maintains a research environment marked by a strong sense of collegiality through which ongoing intellectual and professional development of all professors is encouraged. In addition, the Faculty is home to a vibrant transdisciplinary research community of Institutes and Centres.

Given the bilingual environment of McGill's Faculty of Law, the Peter Mackell Professor in Federalism will be expected to evaluate written and oral work presented in both English and French.

Our undergraduate curriculum represents an international benchmark for contemporary legal education and leads to the joint award of the Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degrees. The core of the undergraduate curriculum is taught transsystemically, across borders shaped by legal traditions and systems, notably those of the common and civil law. Our graduate program is comprised of research degrees at the Master's and Doctoral levels, as well as a non-thesis LL.M.

How to apply

Applications – including a detailed cover letter, a curriculum vitae, up to three samples of published research and the names and addresses of three referees – are encouraged prior to January 31, 2012, when consideration of files will begin.

Applications should be addressed to Professor Rod Macdonald, Chair, Staff Appointments Committee, Faculty of Law, McGill University. Applications should preferably be sent by email to staffappointments.law@mcgill.ca;

Alternatively they may be mailed to:

Staff Appointments Committee
c/o Dean's Office
Faculty of Law
McGill University
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

The Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy

Applications are currently invited for The Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy tenable jointly in the Faculty of Arts (www.mcgill.ca/arts) and in the Faculty of Law (www.mcgill.ca/law), McGill University. The appointment is expected to be at the rank of Full Professor. The Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy was created through a generous gift from the McConnell Foundation.

The Faculties of Arts and of Law seek applications from scholars of international renown with impeccable academic credentials in Arts and in Law, and demonstrated interdisciplinary expertise. The purpose of the Chair is to contribute to the teaching and supervision of undergraduate and graduate students in the two faculties. The holder of the Chair will also be expected to assume leadership within a new Civil Society Program at McGill University, develop new research directions in civil society and foster research grant applications to sustain the Program.

The Civil Society Program will rest on a broad meaning of civil society as an analytic term for the social sciences and humanities. Moving beyond the now-standard opposition of civil society to the State, the Program will explore both formal non-governmental structures and organizations (the "community sector"), and informal associations, practices, beliefs and values that mediate between the self and the State. The Program will study the role of individuals and non-governmental institutional forms, groups, communities and organizations in the development of legal and public policy. It will explore innovative, pluralistic and adaptive approaches to governance in meeting local and global challenges posed by health, environment, personal and economic well-being, social diversity and equity in a context of declining public resources.

The Civil Society Program will draw on McGill University's identity as a socially important institution in public life in Canada and a respected voice internationally. McGill's embrace of the advantages of study in Montreal - bilingualism, bicultural and bijural institutions, a cosmopolitan urban setting - are understood as central to the success of this venture. It will focus on Canada as a laboratory for study and public action, and recognize that Canada represents, at its best, a model setting for teaching, research and public outreach on matters relating to civil society in the international community.

Applicants shall provide a letter of intent, a summary of research interests (including proposed research program), complete curriculum vitae, copies of three representative publications, and the names of at least three references to the Staff Appointments Committee by October 15, 2011. However, applications will be accepted until an incumbent for the Chair is found. Email applications are preferred (staffappointments.law@mcgill.ca) but hard copy applications can also be mailed to:

Staff Appointments Committee
c/o Dean's Office
Faculty of Law
McGill University
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1W9

McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

Academic Positions, tenure track

McGill University's Faculty of Law invites applications from candidates with a strong commitment to innovation and excellence in teaching and research, and who will make a creative contribution to the governance of the Faculty and the University.

The Faculty of Law Faculty anticipates hiring for several entry-level and lateral appointment academic positions. These positions will start either July 1, 2012 or January 1, 2013.

The Faculty's research programs, pedagogical initiatives and academic priorities all reflect a central commitment to legal traditions, comparative law and internationalization of law. In conjunction with this central theme, the Faculty has identified four overall areas of academic priorities: Transsystemic Legal Education; Trade, Mobility and Enterprise; Public Policy and Private Resources; Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

The Faculty is particularly interested in candidates with experience and expertise in the following priority areas: Ethics, Law and Policy; Comparative Law and Legal Cultures; Law and Humanities; Law and Language; Public law, Public Policy and Governance; Criminal law and Criminology; Air and Space Law; Domestic and International Corporate, Commercial and Trade Law; Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Negotiation; Civil Litigation and Evidence.

Candidates must envisage teaching and research in several substantive fields of law and we encourage diverse approaches to law, legal research and legal education. Given the competitive nature of the applicant pool, candidates without a doctoral degree are unlikely to be considered. In addition, the bilingual environment of our Faculty requires that successful candidates be able to evaluate written and oral work presented in both English and French.

Our undergraduate curriculum represents an international benchmark for contemporary legal education and leads to the joint award of the Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degrees. The core of the undergraduate curriculum is taught transsystemically, across borders shaped by legal traditions and systems, notably those of the common and civil law. Our graduate program is comprised of research degrees at the Master's and Doctoral levels, as well as a non-thesis LL.M.

The Faculty maintains a research environment marked by a strong sense of collegiality through which ongoing intellectual and professional development of all professors is encouraged. In addition, the Faculty is home to a vibrant trans-disciplinary research community of Institutes and Centres.

How to apply

Applications – including a detailed cover letter, a curriculum vitae, up to three samples of published research and the names and addresses of three referees – are encouraged prior to January 31, 2012, when consideration of files will begin.

Applications should be addressed to Professor Rod Macdonald, Chair, Staff Appointments Committee, Faculty of Law, McGill University. Applications should preferably be sent by email to staffappointments.law@mcgill.ca;

Alternatively they may be mailed to:

Staff Appointments Committee
c/o Dean's Office
Faculty of Law
McGill University
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.