Cheating charges hit law studentsU of T probes claims that marks were inflated to land summer jobsTracey Tyler
LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

RON DANIELS

One of Canada's most prestigious law schools is embroiled in a cheating scandal involving as many as 30 first-year students suspected of lying about their marks to get a job.

The University of Toronto Faculty of Law is investigating allegations that students provided inflated accounts of their first-term test scores to several law firms while applying for summer employment.

``We're shell-shocked,'' said Ron Daniels, dean of law at U of T. ``We're just absolutely devastated by these allegations, which are so fundamentally at odds with the core values and aspirations of this faculty.''

``In truth, we're just reeling from what we've uncovered,'' he said in an interview yesterday.

``We have a very serious problem.''

Toronto law firms this week are seeing a parade of law students arriving for summer job interviews.

U of T has 170 first-year law students.

In light of the U of T probe, some law students have already hired lawyers.

Daniels said the investigation involves first-term test results that are never included in official transcripts because the law school has long believed they offer only a preliminary glimpse into a student's reasoning and writing abilities.

``We have repeatedly strained to emphasize to our students and the legal profession that we believe these are a very, very early indicator of a student's progress and one might not treat them as terribly dispositive,'' he said.

The confidentiality obviously provides avenues for students to lie, but this is the first time the university has known it to happen, said Daniels. ``I think this is really unprecedented.''

Daniels said the discrepancies came to light a few weeks ago when some first-year students came forward and voiced concerns, but faculty members needed something more concrete beyond ``rumours and innuendo.''

`We're shell-shocked. We're just absolutely devastated by these allegations, which are so fundamentally at odds with the core values and aspirations of this faculty. In truth, we're just reeling from what we've uncovered. We have a very serious problem.'
- Ron Daniels, dean of law at U of T

About 10 days ago, the law school circulated a computer bulletin reminding first-year students of the need to give law firms an accurate report of their grades and that failure to do so could constitute an offence under the university's academic code and result in severe sanctions, he added.

Students were also warned that it could create problems for their entry into the legal profession, given ``the premium it places on honesty and integrity,'' Daniels said.

The Law Society of Upper Canada requires lawyers to be of ``good character'' in order to be allowed to practise.

As more concrete details about the problem emerged, the university began working with the law firms to find out what grades had been provided and began comparing them to the actual grades the students achieved, Daniels said.

The law school announced in the past week that it will launch proceedings against several students under the university's code of behaviour on academic matters, he said.

At first, students will be invited to meet with a faculty representative to discuss the situation and whether an ``administrative error'' could be responsible for the inflated grades.

Other meetings could follow, Daniels said.

The cases could end up before a university-appointed committee, which could take action ranging from dismissing the allegation to ordering a student's expulsion.

``It's premature to speculate where this will take us,'' he said. ``We are at the first stages of our investigation.'' The law school is operating on the presumption of innocence, Daniels noted.

Students are being approached on a confidential basis and invited to meetings, starting next week. Law firms haven't been told of the results of the investigation, he added. Instead, the school has sent a general notice to students, asking those who have misrepresented their marks to withdraw their job applications.

Meanwhile, the law school has decided to issue a special transcript of the first-term test results in order to protect the reputation of students who weren't involved in the incident and allow them to prove the validity of their scores.

Daniels said he doesn't understand how students couldn't have understood ``the imperative for honesty'' given the faculty's commitment to high professional standards and the ``ideals of public service.''

But he doesn't think the incident says anything about the profession or the perceptions of would-be lawyers.

``This is about lying,'' Daniels said. ``This is about lying to advance one's own self-interest.''

Courtesy of the Toronto Star
February 20, 2001