Daniel Jutras named Dean of Law at McGill

Expert in civil and comparative law to serve as Dean of Law for six-year term

The Faculty of Law at McGill University is pleased to announce that Professor Daniel Jutras has been named Dean of Law, effective immediately, for a six-year term ending in 2016.

McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum said the appointment of Jutras, as an expert in civil and comparative law, underlines the university's prominence in Quebec, Canada and the world.

"Daniel Jutras is truly the best person to ensure the Faculty of Law program remains on the cutting edge of legal education, and we are thrilled he has accepted and embraced this opportunity," she said.

Professor Jutras has served as Interim Dean since July 1, 2009. In this role, he has consistently demonstrated his dedication, vision and leadership – just as he has for the last 25 years as a respected teacher and scholar at the Faculty.

Dean Daniel Jutras first joined the Faculty of Law in 1985, after earning law degrees at Université de Montréal and Harvard. He became Associate Professor in 1991, and was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 2001. Dean Jutras served two terms as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law before becoming Director of McGill University’s Institute of Comparative Law. His teaching and research interests are in civil law and comparative law, with a focus on the law of obligations and civil procedure.

From 2002 to 2004, Professor Jutras took a leave from the Faculty to become principal secretary to the Chief Justice of Canada, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, in the position of Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Canada. From 2005 to 2009, he also acted as counsel with the national law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais.

Dean Daniel Jutras said he looked forward to the challenges of his new role: "At McGill, creativity and innovation have defined the education we offer students for decades – offering a program that is unique in its conception of legal education, as well as adaptive to the changes in our modern world."

"The challenge of the next decade will be to respond to transformations in the role of jurists as professionals and as social actors, while maintaining McGill’s commitment to first-class pedagogy," added Jutras. "To me, the answer lies in McGill’s distinctive character among the pre-eminent law faculties of the world."

McGill’s dual-degree program is one-of-a-kind in that its students study in both French and English, and learn to critically integrate the insights of civil law and common law within an innovative comparative curriculum.

Please join us in wishing Dean Jutras success in his term. To reach the Dean's office, please email dean.law [at] mcgill.ca

Photo credit: Claudio Calligaris.