The University of British Columbia

Requirements for Graduation And Evaluation of Work (J.D. Program)

• J.D. Curriculum Diagram
• Required Courses
• Seminar or Directed Research
• Number of Credits: Full-Time Program
• Prerequisites
• Business Law Concentration
• Courses in Other Departments And Schools

Required Courses

All of the first-year courses are compulsory.   In the upper years, students must take five courses, one from each of the following lists:

• Public Regulation: LAW 200 Aboriginal Peoples and Canadian Law, LAW 210 Administrative Law, LAW 220 Taxation I.
• Private Regulation: LAW 230 Corporations I, LAW 240 Family Law, LAW 250 Trusts.
• Procedure: LAW 260 Advanced Criminal Procedure, LAW 270 Civil Procedure, LAW 280 Evidence.
• Law and Society Studies.  The contents of this list are determined based on available course offerings in a given year.
• Legal Research and Writing: LAW 379/380 Externship, LAW 390 Environmental Law Workshop (4 credits), LAW 430 Advanced Legal Research, LAW 472 The Allan McEachern Course in Trial Advocacy, LAW 473 Appellate Advocacy, LAW 474 Trial Advocacy, LAW 483 Competitive Moots and Advocacy A, LAW 484 Competitive Moots Advocacy and Client Counseling B, LAW 485 Client Counseling Competition (3 credits), LAW 486 Law Review, LAW 488/489 First Nations Legal Clinic, LAW 490 Clinical Criminal Law, and LAW 491 Law Students Legal Advice Program.

Students seeking exposure to a wide range of foundational legal topics are advised to consider taking all of the 200 level courses.

SEMINAR OR DIRECTED RESEARCH

A student must undertake, in either second or third year, at least one independent research project and submit a substantial paper embodying the results of this research. Taking a four-credit seminar will satisfy this obligation but students may also fulfill this obligation by completing a project, for at least four credits, of Directed Research.

Number of Credits: Full-Time Program

The Bachelor of Laws program requires a student to acquire a minimum of 92 credits in three Winter Sessions in the Faculty of Law.  First year consists of compulsory courses totaling 35 credits.  The second and third years (or upper years) consist of two Winter Sessions in each of which a minimum of 28 and a maximum of 34 credits shall be taken.  Each session consists of two consecutive terms in each of which a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18 credits shall be taken.

Prerequisites

A student may not enroll 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.

Courses in Other Departments And Schools

Students may, in their second and third years (which may include the Summer Sessions between First Year, Second Year and Third Year), undertake work in other departments and schools of the University for credit in the Faculty of Law. Such work may be credited for not more than six credits toward the second or third-year credit requirements, but shall not reduce the hours or credits in the Winter Sessions below the minimum requirements of 28 credits. Each student must receive advance permission to register in such courses from the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, whose approval will depend on the relevance of the proposed course or seminar to the study of law or to a career in law, and on the appropriateness of the proposed course or seminar in light of the student's course of study in the Faculty of Law.