5. CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS
Upper-year law courses are single-term, 3-credit, courses. There are no full-year upper-year law courses, with the exception of LAW539 - Courts Clerkship.
To graduate, upper-year students must accumulate at least 60 credit hours after completing first-year courses. Assuming students wish to graduate within two years of completing first year, 30 credit hours must be taken in each of the second and third years of the program. However, the pace with which students proceed through the J.D. program is substantially within their control. So long as full-time J.D. students complete all requirements for their degree within four academic years after completion of the first year of their J.D. program, the number of credit hours they carry in each academic year is up to them. However, students electing to take the 60 credit hours over three or four years, after first year of studies, should advise the Vice Dean of their plans.
No minimum number of credit hours per year (or per term) must be carried. (Please note: check with funders as to their rules; for example, for student loan purposes, a student must be registered in full-time studies, defined as 9 credit hours per term). The maximum number of credit hours is 15 credits per term. This maximum may be exceeded only with the Vice Dean’s approval.
No year (2nd or 3rd) is attached to required upper-year courses. Hence, students may take any upper-year course any time after completion of first year. Students should familiarize themselves with the required courses, the written work requirement, and the variety of optional courses available each year, and ensure that they meet all requirements for graduation in accordance with the permissible time lines and their goals.
Note: The University Calendar directs that students may not repeat any course passed or courses for which they have received transfer credit except for reasons deemed sufficient, and verified in writing, by the Dean (or designate) of the Faculty in which they are enrolled. Contact the Vice Dean’s office for further information at vicedeanoflaw@ualberta.ca.
The Juris Doctor program is approved by the Canadian Common Law Program Approval Committee of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada as meeting the standards for knowledge and skills required for entry to bar admission programs in the Canadian common law jurisdictions. The Federation requires the Juris Doctor program to consist primarily of in-person instruction, defined expressly as "instruction that occus through synchronous, face-to-face interaction conducted with the instructor and students in the same physical location." Attendance is expected in all classes; instructors are not required to stream classes, nor provide class recordings.
LAW450 - Administrative Law
LAW451 - Corporations Law
LAW452 - Civil Procedure
LAW453 - Evidence
LAW456 - Professionalism & Ethics
One of LAW455 - Legal Seminar or LAW486 - Jurisprudence or LAW496 - Legal History
One course in Indigenous and Aboriginal Law selected from a roster of courses approved by the Indigenous and Aboriginal Law Committee
Students enrolling in LAW486 - Indigenous Law: Foundations and Methods and applying this section toward their Indigenous and Aboriginal Law course requirement may take an additional, different section of LAW455/486/496 to meet their LAW455/486/496 requirement without the approval of the Vice Dean.
The above requirements, in combination with the first-year requirements, enable the Faculty of Law's J.D. program to meet, and exceed, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada's "National Requirement" specifying the knowledge and skills that graduates of Canadian common law programs must demonstrate to qualify for entry to bar admission programs in the Canadian common law jurisdictions.
In either the second or third year of the J.D. program, a student is required to complete a written work assignment. A student may satisfy this requirement by one ot two ways: a) obtaining a minimum grade of "C" in LAW526 - Independent Research Paper with this course requiring the submission of a paper of 8,000 to 10,000 words in length; or b) submitting a paper in a course in which the paper requirement constitutes no less than 60% of the final grade. The student must obtain a minimum grade of "C" on the paper. This requirement is typically fulfilled by completion of the required LAW455, 486 or 496 course.
In general, once you have taken a section of a course, you may not take a second section of the same course (for example, you may not take LAW503 Employment Law twice).
EXCEPTIONS
LAW455/486/496 seminar courses *
* requires advance permission of Vice Dean. Permission will not be granted before March 28, 2025.
LAW486 - Indigenous Law: Foundations & Methods
LAW589/599 seminars
Failed courses
LAW598 - Moot Court Competition
Click here for more information on exceptions and approval for 2nd 455/486/496 sections.
Prerequisite courses for a course must be successfully taken before the course in question is taken. Prerequisites are not co-requisites. In special circumstances a prerequisite may be waived with the consent of the instructor AND the Vice Dean.
Co-requisite courses for a course may be taken at the same time as the course in question. In special circumstances a co-requisite may be waived with the consent of the instructor AND the Vice Dean.
The choices that you make in connection with courses, exchanges and the number of credits that you take in an academic year can affect your eligibility for academic distinctions that are awarded by the Faculty of Law. You may wish to review the criteria for the academic distinctions that are set out below. If you have any questions, please contact Gloria Strathern, Prizes & Awards Coordinator: lawaward@ualberta.ca
MEDALS (top 3 ranked students over 3 years)
Must complete degree in 3 years
Minimum of 45 graded* U of A Faculty of Law credits required in upper years
Students who have an incomplete status on one or more courses before the May LFC grades approval meeting are not eligible
Out of Faculty U of A courses are not included in the calculation of the GPA
Not available to transfer students
Name of award (medal) appears on transcript
DEAN’S LIST (top 10% of class by year; minimum GPA of 3.5)
Minimum of 27 credits in U of A Faculty of Law courses Fall/Winter term and Spring/Summer term immediately preceding
Minimum of 18 graded U of A Faculty of Law credits required
Students who have an incomplete status on one or more courses before the May LFC grades approval meeting are not eligible
Out of Faculty U of A courses are not included in the calculation of the GPA
Not available to students who have gone on visiting/exchange
Students visiting/on exchange to the U of A Faculty of Law do not qualify
Faculty of Law Prizes & Awards Committee has discretion when making assessment
Appears on student’s transcript
FIRST CLASS STANDING (GPA of 3.5 or greater in the year)
Requirement of a “normal full course load” has been interpreted to mean 24 credits in the Fall/Winter terms
Not available to students who have gone on visiting/exchange
Approved out of Faculty U of A courses are included in the calculation of the GPA
No restriction on number of pass/fail courses
Appears on student’s transcript
Rounding rules are applied
DEGREE WITH DISTINCTION (GPA of 3.5 or greater in the last two years)
Requirement of 60 credits completed in the last two academic years of the degree
Courses may be taken Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer. (Cumulative assessment: student is not required to maintain a 3.5 average in both years)
Visiting/exchange credits are allowed to a maximum of 15 credits
Approved out of Faculty U of A courses are included in the calculation of the GPA
No restriction on number of pass/fail courses
MBA/JD students eligible based on JD grades only
Appears on student’s transcript and on their parchment
Rounding rules are applied
ELIGIBILITY FOR PRIZES AND AWARDS
Only full-time students (24 credits per academic year Fall/Winter term) are eligible
Exceptions may be made for course-based prizes
* The following courses are graded on a pass/fail (credit/no credit) basis, and no letter grades are assigned:
LAW401 - Foundations to Law
LAW538 - Alberta Law Review
LAW539 - Courts Clerkship
LAW589 - Academic Supervised Internship
LAW589 - Advanced Civil Procedure
[Note: LAW599 Advanced Civil Procedure receives letter grade]
LAW589 - Alberta Utilities Commission Internship
LAW589 - Early Career Lawyering
LAW589 - Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
[seminar segment receives letter grade]
LAW589 - Gladue Seminar & Externship
LAW589 - Human Rights Commission Internship
LAW589 - JAG Internship
LAW589 - Low Income Individuals & the Law Clinic I & II
[seminar segment receives letter grade]
LAW589 - Mental Health & the Law Clinic
[seminar segment receives letter grade]
LAW589 - Oceans Law (Spring intensive course)
[Note: LAW599 Oceans Law & Policy receives letter grade]
LAW589 - Prison Law
LAW589 - Public Interest Litigation Internship
LAW589 - Public Prosecution Service of Canada Internship
LAW589 - Wahkohtowin Principles & Practice (Summer intensive course)
LAW589 - Wrongful Convictions