Newly endowed awards will recognize the academic achievements of U of T Law students

Dec 5, 2024

Portrait of Bourgoyne — *Supplied photo by Calvin Thomas courtesy of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP*.

A first-of-its-kind gift made by Terry Burgoyne (LLB 1981), a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, will endow new academic awards recognizing student achievement in U of T’s juris doctor (JD) program.

The Burgoyne Award of Excellence will be the faculty’s largest recognition program, awarded to JD students across all three years, as nominated by their professors for scholarly excellence. Up to twenty inaugural awardees, each receiving a $1,000 prize, will be named later this academic year.

“Supporting our extraordinary students is always one of the faculty’s top priorities. This includes our robust financial aid program, fellowship opportunities and academic prizes,” says University Professor and Dean Jutta Brunnée, James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair. “It is wonderful that Terry has chosen to endow these new academic awards, which will honour our most exceptional law students every year.”

A mentor to U of T students for many years, Burgoyne, a partner and general counsel emeritus with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, says his gift is a meaningful way to stay engaged with the law school and student awardees while bolstering the faculty’s academic prizes.

“There’s a lot of depth to the law students at U of T because of its high admission standards,” says Burgoyne, himself a Dean’s list student over all three years. “Professors have been looking for ways to help build résumés for their students and distinguish a student who did the best in a particular class.”

“The hope is that these awards will acquire a certain stature over time and be recognized.”

From rural Nova Scotia to Toronto

Burgoyne, who grew up in rural Nova Scotia and attended Dalhousie University for his undergraduate studies, says he never met a lawyer prior to attending U of T. He says his decision to come to the “big unknown city” of Toronto was daunting yet serendipitous – a choice that changed the trajectory of his life and career.

“My best friend at Dalhousie was applying to law school. We took the LSAT together and applied to the same schools. In those days, [schools] could not send off acceptances before February 1. On February 3, I got my U of T acceptance, but I had not heard from Dalhousie Law School, so I said, ‘Okay, that made my decision easy.’”

By the time his Dalhousie acceptance letter arrived – postmarked February 1 – it was early March. At the time, Burgoyne lived only two blocks away from Dalhousie’s law school.

Gratitude is one of the reasons I’ve wanted to give back. Law school had such a profound positive impact on my own life.

“I often joke that I’m the Canada Post scholar at U of T Law,” he says. “Had it arrived, it would have been the easier choice to stay [in Nova Scotia]. But I would not have ended up at Osler; Toronto firms did not recruit outside of Ontario in those days,” he says. “I feel lucky in many ways that I picked the right law school for me, the right career and the right firm. These decisions were made with very little information at the time.”

Gratitude is one of the reasons I’ve wanted to give back. Law school had such a profound positive impact on my own life.

Burgoyne, who spent his 43-year career at Osler, including six years as managing partner, says he started out as a typical business lawyer, in areas including banking, insolvency, mergers and acquisition and public finance. But as the world became more complicated, Burgoyne says practice became more specialized.

“Towards the end of my career, I specialized in private or negotiated mergers and acquisitions, as opposed to takeover bids and public mergers and acquisitions,” says Burgoyne. “Law is a tough career sometimes. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a very rewarding career. I’m glad I stuck with it.”

Words of encouragement

He hopes the Burgoyne Award of Excellence will provide awardees with extra validation and encouragement as they pursue their studies.

“Keep at it. You can find your niche because not everyone is going to be good at everything. If you find the class that you love and you put a lot of effort into it, there’s a reward for that,” he says.

“Gratitude is one of the reasons I’ve wanted to give back. Law school had such a profound positive impact on my own life.”