Gary Joseph   Mar | 2025

This article was originally published by Law360 (www.law360.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.

I can’t tell you how important the law library at Osgoode Hall (known as the Great Library) was to me for so many years of my career. First may I say that I am smitten with what I consider to be one of the most beautiful buildings in Toronto. If you have never attended, do so. It is home to the Court of Appeal, judges’ chambers and a law library among other facilities.

The law library is like a set out of a Hollywood movie. For those old enough, think how perfect it would be in the movie like The Paper Chase. Even the smell of the old textbooks in the library to me is intoxicating (reader: you probably think I am losing my mind). I loved sitting in the lovely old-world atmosphere and pouring through law books, reports and journals. In my early years at the bar, it made me feel like a real lawyer! Now I just feel like an old lawyer.

Today of course online reporting services and online research has almost (not entirely) made the library out of fashion, not cool and almost obsolete to some. As a result of my love of the library, every time I argue an appeal at Osgoode, I spend some time in that glorious facility. To the young members of the family law bar, I suggest that you are missing out on an experience that will make you truly feel more connected to the profession and the long tradition of our trade. Take a tour of the building offered I believe only in the summer.

Now let me shift gears somewhat and marvel at the effort many Ontario law libraries have made to stay relevant in this electronic age. In particular, and based on my experience only, I wish to give a shout-out to the Peel Law Library at the Courthouse in Brampton, the York Region Law Library at the Courthouse in Newmarket (known as the Joseph Vale Memorial Library) and the Terence V. Kelly Library at the Durham Courthouse. Each venue has moved with the times offering an array of up-to-date services to lawyers attending court and lawyers in the region generally. Go online and scan the many services available in each. I can also tell you that the staff at each of these facilities is excellent and always ready to help.

No, those libraries do not have that “intoxicating” smell of the Great Library nor the wonderful architecture, but you are denying yourself a valuable tool to better practice if you ignore what these modern libraries have to offer. I would be remiss not to mention that the Great Library also has a wealth of modern services available to make the life of a lawyer easier. Finally, I close by saying that I am sure that these are not the only law libraries in our province that have moved with the times. They are just the ones I am most familiar with.

Gary S. Joseph is counsel to the firm of MacDonald & Partners LLP. A certified specialist in family law, he has been reported in over 350 family law decisions at all court levels in Ontario and Alberta. He has also appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a past family law instructor for the Law Society Bar Admission Course and the winner of the 2021 OBA Award for Excellence in Family Law.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's firm, its clients, LexisNexis Canada, Law360 Canada, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

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