Mandatory Courses
Of the 60 units required in upper years, only Civil Procedure, Administrative Law, Business Organizations and the second Constitutional Law course, focusing on the division of powers, are mandatory. This provides students with the necessary flexibility to decide their program based on their needs and interests, while gaining a solid common law training.
Major Paper Requirement
The Major Paper Requirement is designed to provide each student with an opportunity to demonstrate legal research and writing skills in the context of an extended piece of written analysis. Major papers, typically ranging in length from five thousand to ten thousand words, will either present an original thesis, reform proposal, or critique regarding a particular legal issue, or will synthesize cases, legislation and commentary in some field of law for the purpose of clarification or evaluation. The major paper will represent not less than 50 per cent of the grade assigned in the course for which it is written, and must be enrolled with the Common Law Student Centre of the Faculty.
Please consult the Major Paper enrollment form.
Major Paper Definition
- A major paper should:
- present an original thesis, reform proposal or critique regarding a particular legal issue or area of law so as to provide a reader familiar with the issues with valuable knowledge or insights; or
- synthesize the existing literature (cases, legislation and commentary) relating to a particular area of law in order to either clarify a difficult area, speculate as to the application to new issues, or evaluate the existing law.
- The presentation should be clear and finished.
- The paper should comprise 5,000 to 10,000 words (approximately 20 to 40 typed, double-spaced pages, excluding footnotes and bibliography). A professor may authorise an exception to the length of a paper when its originality and importance warrant it.
- A major paper should count for not less than 50% of the grade assigned in the course/seminar for which the paper is written. Students must select at least one course (during their second or third year) in which the method of evaluation is a major paper.
- You must enroll one major paper with the Common Law Student Centre.
- To satisfy the major paper requirement, the student must receive a passing grade on the major paper itself. It is not sufficient to pass the course for which the major paper is written.
Oral Advocacy Requirement
The Oral Advocacy Requirement ensures that each student has had training and experience in making oral representations on behalf of a client in one of a range of settings. The requirement may be fulfilled in a variety of ways, including a basic moot court course where appellate advocacy skills are demonstrated and applied. Participation in moot court competitions with other law schools will also satisfy the oral advocacy requirement. Alternatively, intensive practical seminar courses in trial advocacy or interviewing, counseling and negotiation can satisfy this requirement. Student involvement in course work associated with the Community Legal Clinic is a further way to satisfy the oral advocacy requirement. In this context, students will have had specific responsibility for making representations, possibly including court appearances, in relation to designated client files.
List of approved courses for fulfilling the requirement - English Program (these courses may not all be offered every year):
- CML2101 Appellate Advocacy
- CML2320 Mediation Theory and Practice
- CML2321 Alternative Dispute Resolution Processes
- CML3119 Studies in Oral Advocacy
- CML3120 Moot Court Competition
- CML3121 Gale Cup Moot
- CML3125 National Aboriginal Law Moot: Kawaskimhon "Speaking With Knowledge"
- CML3127 Wilson Moot Competition
- CML3128 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
- CML3132 Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot
- CML3139 WTO/ELSA WTO Law Moot
- CML3140 Canadian Corporate/Securities Competition
- CML3142 Intellectual property Law Moot
- CML3154 Trial Advocacy
- CML3158 Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy
- CML3165 Arnup Cup
- CML3180 Environmental Law Clinic
- CML3234 Labour Law II
- CML3248 Introduction Legal Aid Clinic Course
- CML3250 Advanced Clinical Course in Community Law
- CML3313 Interviewing & Counseling
- CML3315 Negotiation
- CML3317 Corporate Immigration Advocacy
- CML3366 Family Conflicts Resolution: Collaborative Family Law
- CML3385 International Trade and Investment Law Practicum
- CML3388 Intellectual Property Litigation
- CML3391 Dispute Resolution in Family Law
- CML3449 Clinical Legal Aid II
- CML3450 Clinical Legal Aid III
- CML3524 Tribunal-école Moncton-Ottawa
- CML3922 Tribunal-école international Philip C. Jessup / Philip C. Jessup International Moot
- CML3923 Coupe Laskin / Laskin Moot
- CML4100 Dispute Resolution Practicum
- CML4116 Advanced Refugee Law
- CML4305 Advocacy Before International Tribunals