Jinyan Li

Jinyan Li understands what it’s like to be an international student. In 1985, she moved to Canada from her native China to study law at Queen’s University. “I could read and speak ‘ordinary’ English, but not legal English. I knew words like ‘property’ and ‘contract,’ but I didn’t understand the meaning in the legal context,” says Li. That’s the biggest challenge for international students. You think you know, but you actually don’t.”

She more than excelled at the legal comprehension, going on to a career that’s included consulting work in Canada for the Auditor General, the Department of Justice, and the Canada Revenue Agency and, internationally, with the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

She also has a long history of teaching at universities in Canada, the United States, Australia, and China. Today, she shares from her years of broad-ranging experience with students taking taxation and business law courses at OsgoodePD.

“When you start out teaching, you try to impart the knowledge. But, later on, there are some things beyond knowledge. Beyond what people can read, lifetime experiences. That’s the wisdom part of teaching,” she says. “Those things you can’t read. Nobody has written about it.”

The structure of some courses, which take place starting on Thursday evening and running all day Friday and Saturday, enables many students to travel to the downtown Toronto campus to attend in person.

For those that can’t, OsgoodePD offers distance-learning options. In many cases, the distance learners are able to gather in groups, meeting in central locations with state-of-the-art IT in place. “In a way, it was like they are in the classroom. They can interject and ask questions, and we are able to ask them questions,” says Li.

Li often finds herself absorbed in the information shared by her co-instructor, Scott Wilkie, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. “He is probably the most knowledgeable person [in tax law]. He brings so much of his personal, digested views. It’s illuminating. Students have said to me listening to him is like listening to Einstein.”

The students, many of whom she remains in contact with (“I keep writing references for them when they’re looking for jobs,” she says with a laugh), are equally impressed with Li. In 2014 she was honoured with OsgoodePD’s Award for Teaching Excellence.