The journal was established in 1935[1] "under the insistent prompting of Dean W.P.M.

[2] Kennedy viewed it as a means to pursue his view of legal scholarship as a form of social science, as opposed to a way to meet the needs of legal practitioners.

[3] Donna Greschner describes the review under Kennedy's leadership as an "explicitly academic journal jointly published by faculty and students".

[4] The journal was the second law review based at a Canadian university.

[5] As of its establishment, the University of Toronto Law Journal was released annually each February.