Schulich School of Law – a Guide for Prospective Students

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The Schulich School of Law is one of the leading law schools in Atlantic Canada providing law students with exceptional legal education. In this overview, you will learn about special qualities, enrolment statistics, tuition fees, scholarship, and the curriculum of Schulich Law.

Learn about the 2-Year Graduate Entry LLB Degree.

Law School Summary

Below you will find a succinct summary of the best qualities of this legal institution.

Strengths of Dalhousie Law

The Schulich Law School is a jewel institution when it comes to the academic multitude of courses. Units can principally be grouped around the following five streamlines:

• Criminal Justice (includes practices on domestic and transnational levels);
• Business Law (its sub-units are also oriented around company and corporate jurisdictions);
• Marine & Environmental Law (expect nothing less than a strong sea legal teaching sphere as this is a maritime-based university)
• Law & Technology (this futuristic channel may also be enlarged to overarch other progressive modules, e.g. Law and Science); and
• Health Law & Policy (which seems to be neglected by other institutions when the comparison is drawn).

Another bonus at Dalhousie University is that one can work towards a combined Juris Doctor degree with a specialist Masters in Health Administration, Information, Business Administration, and Public Administration.

Special Qualities of Dalhousie Law

Richard Chapman Weldon, the inaugural Dean of the Schulich Law School set the tone of the Faculty – tutoring such individuals that would become community-giving lawyers. Unsurprisingly, the Dalhousie University Law has a well-developed pro-bono centre, together with an extending drift of academic standards. Dalhousie legal aid service is provided by the Faculty of Law to nearby community residents.

Historically, Dalhousie has attempted to shadow Harvard University at providing specialist legal education, even surpassing its curriculum variety at its date of creation.

This expansive-like mentality has resulted in an even more extended international exchange program with countries, such as Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, England, Italy, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the USA.

The Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies provides students with opportunities to publish academic work in areas of their interest.

Dalhousie Law Admissions

The deadline to submit the Dalhousie Law application package is November 30 at 11:59 pm of the preceding year. Whereas Entrance Scholarship applications can be received until 11:59 pm on January 15 of the intake year. Please note that no application review will be undertaken until all candidacy components are received. Other than that, the final offers will be sent out on June 30 of the intake year.

Undergraduate Degree

The JD program eligibility requires the successful completion of a three-year undergraduate degree. However, candidates with just two years of university studies also stand a chance of acceptance into the Schulich School of Law if they showcase notable extracurricular proactivity.

Transcripts

All post-secondary and exchange transcripts need to be submitted, although it is important to note that no grade point average is required to adjoin the latter.

LSAT

The Law School Admission Test also forms part of the admission criteria (40% of the weighting). The Admissions Committee will only consider one’s highest LSAT score, but only if the exam was sat prior to March 1. In case you might be wondering how this may translate numerically – an approximate score of 161-164 could secure you a place in the Schulich School of Law.

Personal Statement

The Schulich School of Law admission process also includes writing a personal statement acting as a convincing argumentation on why one wishes to pursue a law degree at Dalhousie University. There is no minimum word length and minority candidates are encouraged to describe any linguistic and communal ties they possess.

Letters of Reference

Applicants must not forget to submit one academic and one non-academic letter of reference as part of the admissions process.

International Students

Luckily for non-native English speakers – your LSAT comprehension will satisfy the English language testing requirements.

Enrolment Statistics of Schulich School of Law

In general, over 1,300 candidates tend to apply on annual basis, and around 170 are selected to be accepted in the approximately 500-member overall law students’ community.

Previously, on another occasion, 167 students were admitted from a pool of 1,300 applications. Thus, the Schulich School of Law acceptance rate is 12.84% in contrast to the standard rate of 13.07% (1,300 candidatures – 170 successful applications).

During the 2016 admission process, 55% of the admitted students were female, with the remaining being males.

The latest statistics indicate a 50/50 gender balance, as well as the average age of 25 for newly-admitted students, plus a 71% intake from outside of Nova Scotia.

Student Finance Information

Tuition at Schulich School of Law

In calculating the associated expenses for these three categories of students, we presumed that none of them would live on-campus accommodation and use a meal plan. As tuition fees are confirmed only for Year One, we have taken this quotation as a triple multiplier resulting in the final costs.

Scholarships

Students are indeed encouraged to apply for academic support at the Schulich School of Law. In fact, if one is keen on securing an Entrance Scholarship, they stand a reasonable chance of 60% of securing either a scholarship or a bursary under the $2-million CDN budget of the Law School. Non-renewable and continuous scholarships can be presented on the basis of financial need, academic and/or extracurricular performance, community engagement, ‘diversity, dedication to anti-racism, and interest in policy’ as determined by Dalhousie Law itself.

Students can apply for the following academic financial awards:

• The one-off payable Schulich Entrance Scholarship worth $14,000 CDN;
• The renewable Scotiabank Scholarship for Legal Studies targets minority students to offer them $30,000 CDN ($10,000 CDN per annum);
• The J Gerald Godsoe Scholarship of $15,000 renewable on every 12 months of the course, which is accessible to landed immigrants as well;
• The Schulich Entrance Scholarships fund for three students worth $52,500 CDN per student for the full duration of the JD program;
• The Arthur Allister MacBain Memorial Scholarship of $60,000 CDN for the full length of the standard three-year course; and finally
• The Law Foundation of Nova Scotia Scholarships of $64,500 per student (four awards) covers expenses for the full three-year law course.

The Curriculum at Dalhousie Law School

The curriculum at the Schulich Law is extremely varied and the syllabus summary below overviews it conveniently.

First-year

These next nine modules are the mandatory academic hurdles that entry-level students will have to take:

• Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Context;
• Contracts and Judicial Decision-making;
• Criminal Justice: The Individual and the State;
• Fundamentals of Public Law;
• Introduction to Legal Ethics and The Regulation of the Legal Profession;
• Legal Research and Writing;
• Orientation to Law;
• Property in its Historical Context; and
• Tort Law and Damage Compensation.

No elective modules are offered during Year One of the curriculum but the number of mandatory modules compensates for that. Students will not be disadvantaged on the academic side in any case.

Second-year

Year Two of the course is more modest when it comes to compulsory modules – just the following three are mandatorily integrated into the syllabus:

• Civil Procedure;
• Compulsory Moot; and
• Constitutional Law.

As electives are available for both upper years of the JD program, these will be listed under the next sub-section – before that, we have one more thing to clarify.

During Years Two and Three, the Dal Law has navigated students to seek to complete between 29 and 31 credit hours annually. According to the Law School, this would be levelled at between 12 and 17 termly credits, in addition to a minimum of one major paper course.

Third-year

Much to the satisfaction of students, there is just a single compulsory unit during the final year of the course:

• The Legal Profession and Professional Responsibility.

Finally, what is left to be summarised are the optional upper-year modules. In principle, a full list of the 171 units can be found on the Dal Law website, yet we have shortened that to some of the most intriguing modules:

• Aboriginal Peoples and the Law;
• Administrative Law;
• Alternative Dispute Resolution;
• Bankruptcy and Insolvency;
• Civil Procedure;
• Competition Law;
• Constitutional Law;
• Construction Law;
• Copyright Law;
• Corporate Finance;
• Corporate Transactions;
• Criminal Procedure;
• Education Law;
• Employment Law;
• Energy Law;
• Environmental Law;
• Equity and Trusts;
• Estate Planning;
• European Union Law EUCE Visiting Professorship;
• Family Law;
• Health Law;
• Human Rights and Law Protection in Canada;
• Immigration and Refugee Law;
• Insurance Law;
• Intellectual Property Law;
• International Commercial Arbitration;
• International Criminal Law;
• International Law;
• Internet and Media Law;
• Issues in Criminalization and Imprisonment;
• Labour Law;
• Law and Technology;
• Maritime Law;
• Mergers, Acquisitions and Other Changes of Corporate Control;
• Oil and Gas Law;
• Patent Law;
• Planning Law;
• Privacy Law;
• Real Estate Transactions;
• Refugee Law and the Criminal Asylum Seeker;
• Science and the Law;
• Taxation;
• Torts; and
• Wills & Estates.

More About Dalhousie Law School

The Schulich School of Law is one of the oldest and most prestigious Canadian common law schools. It is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has a vibrant collegial and close-knit faculty. Its traditions in higher legal education date back to the year 1883 and since 2009.

Its Law School has been named after its generous donator – the philanthropist Seymour Schulich. Currently, the Schulich Law School fluctuates between third and sixth in the Canadian law schools’ rankings.

Dalhousie Law’s history is full of achievements. It produced a reputable law alumni network, namely the 11th, 16th, and 18th Prime Ministers of Canada, several Justices of the Supreme Court, International Court justices, businessmen, governors, provincial premiers, and other political personnel.

By Georgi Minchev