You may have visited a website or attended an event at UVic Law and overheard or read some of our unique lingo. We use a lot of acronyms, initialisms, and short phrases to say things that, well, someone outside of UVic Law may have never heard before. I have decided to define some of these for those of you who may be trying to decipher what we are saying.
Generally heard about the building:
Fraser Hall/Fraser High: UVic Law is generally contained within the four walls of the Fraser Building. The nickname comes from the small size of the Faculty and the amount of time students spend together.
1L (or 2L, 3L, 4L): This refers to the year in law school a student is. A first-year student is a 1L.
JD: The Juris Doctor Program is referred to as the JD program.
JID: This refers to our joint degree program in Canadian Common Law (JD) and Indigenous Legal Orders (JID). Also known as JD/JID.
V#: This is your UVic student number. If you did undergrad with us, you will use your old V#. It’s a good idea to use this in all communications with UVic offices. It’s easier to look you up. 😊
Offices and places:
The SUB: The Student Union Building
SAFA: Student Awards and Financial Aid, or the financial aid office for UVic as a whole.
OREM: Office of the Registrar & Enrolment Management
CAL: Centre for Accessible Learning, which supports our students with disabilities and chronic health conditions
LCO: Law Careers Office
CARSA: The Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities, also known as the campus gym.
Fel’s: Felicita’s Campus Pub, or the pub in the SUB.
A few law-specific terms:
Amicus: The Amicus Program is a unique UVic Law student support initiative that includes four overlapping components in the program: academic support, student support, counselling support and academic concessions and accommodation support.
OCEAN: The Official Career, Events, and Advising Network, used by the Law Careers Office to manage and facilitate employment opportunities, networking events, advising appointments, and more. This platform is also used by Law Financial Aid for bursary applications.
Legal Process: Law 106: Legal Process is a two-week course all incoming students at UVic Law start their law school career with.
LLP: Law, Legislation & Policy is a course all 1Ls in both the JD and the JD/JID programs take.
Research units and centres:
ELC: Environmental Law Centre Clinic
ILRU: Indigenous Law Research Unit
Other clinics (The Law Centre and Business Law Clinic) don’t usually use short phrases or abbreviations, but they are nonetheless important experiential learning programs that are offered at UVic Law.
Clubs:
LSS: The Law Students’ Society, the representative student body association at UVic Law.
BLSA: Black Law Students’ Association
ILSA: Indigenous Law Students’ Association
MELSA: Middle Eastern Law Student Association
ULMSA: Muslim Students Association
SALSA: South Asian Law Student’s Association
HARD Law: UVic Law Students for Harm Reduction and Decriminalization
There are many, many active clubs at UVic Law. Here is a more extensive page, including contact information for each club.
What in the tort is a moot?
Truthfully, you will learn all sorts of new words when you go to any law school, including UVic. Some of these words are unique to law, and we have a habit of acting like everyone knows them before they come to us. So, before you get here to absorb all of the new words, concepts, and ideas, a “tort” is a branch of law that deals allows people who have been injured – or whose property has been damaged – by the wrongdoing of others to receive compensation from the wrongdoers. It’s essentially what all playground threats of “I’ll sue you if you…!” would be if they actually went to court. A “moot” on the other hand, is a simulated court hearing or trial. Typically, a moot is a competitive opportunity for law students.
We’ll see you at Fraser Hall!