Regular Program
The Juris Doctor program requires a student to acquire a minimum of 92 credits in three Winter Sessions in the Allard School of Law. First year consists of compulsory courses totaling 32 credits. The second and third years (or upper years) consist of two Winter Sessions totaling 60 credits. Each Winter Session consists of two consecutive terms. Students may not enrol in more than 17 credits per term or 34 credits per Winter Session.
Juris Doctor – program entry September 2023 or later
In the first year, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- Law 200 (Indigenous Settlor Legal Relations)
- Law 202 (Advocacy)
- Law 211 (Contracts)
- Law 221 (Criminal Law and Procedure)
- Law 231 (Property Law)
- Law 241 (Tort Law)
- Law 271 (Introduction to Public Law and the Charter)
- Law 281 (Legal Research & Writing)
- Law 291 (Aboriginal and Treaty Rights)
In the upper years, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- LAW 304 (Transnational Law)
- LAW 347 (Federalism)
- LAW 372 (Administrative Law)
- LAW 300 (Jurisprudence and Critical Perspectives)
- LAW 468 (Ethics and Professionalism)
A student may not enrol in a course for which another subject is a prerequisite, unless the required course was taken and passed earlier. In special circumstances the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Faculty member teaching the subject, may waive this stipulation.
Seminar or Directed Research:
A student must undertake, in either the second or third year, at least one independent research project and submit a substantial paper (or series of papers) embodying the results of this research. This obligation usually will be satisfied within a 3 credit seminar but students may fulfill this obligation by completing a project, for at least 3 credits, under LAW 493, 494, 495, or 496 (Directed Research).
Experiential Learning Credit Requirement:
Students are required to complete one experiential course or program before graduation. This experiential requirement is met through successfully completing:
- a for-credit clinical program;
- a for-credit competitive moot; or
- one of the courses approved by the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and the Faculty’s Curriculum Committee as having a substantial experiential component and listed on the Faculty’s Degree Requirements website.
The Experiential Learning Credit does not change the number of credits required for the J.D. degree.
Maximum Credits for Experiential Learning:
Students are limited to a total of 20 credits of clinical offerings, competitive mooting, and Law 486 Law Review Credit. Students may not take more than two clinical offerings during their Juris Doctor program.
Juris Doctor – program entry September 2020 or later
In the first year, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- Law 200 (Indigenous Settlor Legal Relations)
- Law 211 (Contracts)
- Law 221 (Criminal Law and Procedure)
- Law 231 (Property Law)
- Law 241 (Tort Law)
- Law 261 (Transnational Law)
- Law 271 (Introduction to Public Law and the Charter)
- Law 281 (Legal Research & Writing)
- Law 291 (Aboriginal and Treaty Rights)
In the upper years, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- LAW 347 (Federalism)
- LAW 372 (Administrative Law)
- LAW 300 (Jurisprudence and Critical Perspectives)
- LAW 468 (Ethics and Professionalism)
A student may not enrol in a course for which another subject is a prerequisite, unless the required course was taken and passed earlier. In special circumstances the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Faculty member teaching the subject, may waive this stipulation.
Seminar or Directed Research:
A student must undertake, in either the second or third year, at least one independent research project and submit a substantial paper (or series of papers) embodying the results of this research. This obligation usually will be satisfied within a 3 credit seminar but students may fulfill this obligation by completing a project, for at least 3 credits, under LAW 493, 494, 495, or 496 (Directed Research).
Experiential Learning Credit Requirement:
Students are required to complete one experiential course or program before graduation. This experiential requirement is met through successfully completing:
- a for-credit clinical program;
- a for-credit competitive moot; or
- one of the courses approved by the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and the Faculty’s Curriculum Committee as having a substantial experiential component and listed on the Faculty’s Degree Requirements website.
The Experiential Learning Credit does not change the number of credits required for the J.D. degree.
Maximum Credits for Experiential Learning:
Students are limited to a total of 20 credits of clinical offerings, competitive mooting, and Law 486 Law Review Credit. Students may not take more than two clinical offerings during their Juris Doctor program.
Juris Doctor – program entry September 2018 or September 2019 or earlier
In the first year, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- Law 201 (Constitutional Law)
- Law 211 (Contracts)
- Law 221 (Criminal Law and Procedure)
- Law 231 (Property Law)
- Law 241 (Tort Law)
- Law 251 (Public Law)
- Law 261 (Transnational Law)
- Law 281 (Legal Research & Writing)
In the upper years, students must take the following compulsory courses:
- LAW 372 (Administrative Law)
- LAW 459 (Business Organizations) - this course is not compulsory for students who commenced their Juris Doctor degree in September 2018 or later
- LAW 300 (Jurisprudence and Critical Perspectives)
- LAW 468 (Ethics and Professionalism)
A student may not enrol in a course for which another subject is a prerequisite, unless the required course was taken and passed earlier. In special circumstances the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Faculty member teaching the subject, may waive this stipulation.
Seminar or Directed Research:
A student must undertake, in either the second or third year, at least one independent research project and submit a substantial paper (or series of papers) embodying the results of this research. This obligation usually will be satisfied within a 3 credit seminar but students may fulfill this obligation by completing a project, for at least 3 credits, under LAW 493, 494, 495, or 496 (Directed Research).
Experiential Learning Credit Requirement:
Beginning with the entering class of 2018, students are required to complete one experiential course or program before graduation. This experiential requirement is met through successfully completing:
- a for-credit clinical program;
- a for-credit competitive moot; or
- one of the courses approved by the Associate Dean Academic and the Faculty’s Curriculum Committee as having a substantial experiential component and listed on the Faculty’s Degree Requirements website.
The Experiential Learning Credit does not change the number of credits required for the J.D. degree.
Maximum Credits for Experiential Learning:
Commencing for students entering second-year Law in September 2017, students are limited to a total of 20 credits of clinical offerings, competitive mooting, and Law 486 Law Review Credit. Students may not take more than two clinical offerings during their Juris Doctor program.
Business Law Concentration
During the Juris Doctor program, students may undertake a range of courses (outlined below) that emphasize areas of law which are essential to the practice of business law. This cluster of courses constitutes the "Business Law Concentration." It is an optional program signaling that students have completed legal studies providing them with a solid theoretical, doctrinal, and practical education in business law.
Business Law Concentration Requirements To complete a Business Law Concentration, students must complete 6 mandatory courses and an additional 6 credits from a list of optional courses, as designated by the Director of the Centre for Business Law and listed on the Faculty's website:
- Six mandatory courses:
- LAW 407 Taxation
- LAW 437 Commercial Transactions
- LAW 438 Secured Transactions
- LAW 459 Business Organizations
- LAW 463 Securities Regulation
- LAW 466 Business Law Capstone
The Business Law Capstone is designed to draw together all the elements of the business law curriculum, in a practical manner. In order to undertake this course, students must have completed at least five courses from the Business Law Concentration, including Business Organizations (Law 459), Taxation (Law 407), Securities Regulation (Law 463) and other courses from the Concentration comprising at least 6 credits. This course is required for completion of the optional Business Law Concentration.
The Business Law Concentration constitutes approximately 50% of the total upper-year requirements to fulfill the J.D. Program and will be awarded if students complete and pass six mandatory courses in the Concentration and other courses in the Concentration comprising at least six credits.
Other Courses for Credit in the Juris Doctor Program
Students may, in their second and third years (which may include the Summer Sessions between first year, second year, and third year), take courses in other departments and schools of the University for credit in the law school. Such courses may be credited for not more than 6 credits toward the second or third-year credit requirements, but shall not reduce the hours or credits in the winter sessions below the minimum requirement of 30 credits. Each student must receive advance permission to register in such courses from the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, who will base their judgement on the relevance of the proposed course or seminar to the study of law or to a career in law and of the appropriateness of the proposed course or seminar in the light of the student's course of study in the law school. More information, including how to apply for permission to take a non-Law course can be found on the Allard Law website.
Part-Time Students
Ordinarily, part-time students must complete not less than 50% of the normal course load in each academic year. In first year, 50% of the normal course load is 16 credits. In the upper years, 50% of the normal course load is 14 to 17 credits.