The University of Alberta Faculty of Law is the graduate

school of law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Established as an undergraduate faculty in 1912 it is the third oldest law school in Canada, and often considered the oldest law school in Western Canada. The school offers a three-year

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

(J.D.) program, as well as the graduate degrees of

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LL.M.) and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

institution, the Faculty is known for its Centre for Constitutional Studies, Health Law Institute, rigorous curriculum and collegial atmosphere. The Faculty of Law is widely respected for the breadth and depth of instruction it provides in the fundamentals of

Canadian law The legal system of Canada is Legal pluralism, pluralist: its foundations lie in the English common law system (inherited from its period as a colony of the British Empire), the Napoleonic Code, French civil law system (inherited from its New Fra ...

. 92-95% of students at the Faculty of Law find an articling position or pursue graduate studies and the school is ranked second nationally for 'elite firm hiring'. The Chief Justice of Canada, The Right Honourable

Beverley McLachlin Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...

; and the Chief Justice of Alberta, The Honourable Madame

Catherine Fraser Catherine Anne Fraser (born August 4, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and judge who was the chief justice of Alberta from 1992 until July 30, 2022. As chief justice of Alberta, Fraser was also chief justice of the Court of Appeal for the Northwest T ...

, are both graduates of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law.

Academics

Admissions Statistics

The entrance average is traditionally around 3.9/165 (GPA/

LSAT The Law School Admission Test (LSAT; ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension as well as logical and verbal reas ...

). The male-female ratio is approximately 49:51. The average age of admitted students is 25 years of age. In 2017, 17% of applicants successfully gained admissions to the University of Alberta Faculty of Law (185/1060). For purposes of grouping, the law school looks primarily at your last two years of study or the equivalent thereof.

Joint Programs

JD/MBA: A 4-year joint-JD/

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

program is offered in cooperation with the

University of Alberta School of Business The Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1916, it is a research-intensive publicly funded institution and is consistently ranked in the top 50 publicly funded universities for resea ...

. DUAL JD: The University of Alberta Faculty of Law and the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School (Colorado, USA) offer a dual degree program that enables students to obtain an Alberta law degree and a Colorado law degree within four years. University of Alberta students take the first two years of their legal studies at the University of Alberta and the latter two at Boulder.

JD

Most students at the faculty are Juris Doctor candidates. This is a three-year program. Previously, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law has granted the

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

to graduating students, following the British naming tradition despite structurally being similar to the American graduate education structure. This ended in 2011.

Tuition

Tuition fees for entering

(JD) are set at C$15,995 for domestic students and C$29,727.80 for international students in 2017-2018.

Employment

The Faculty of Law is ranked #2 in Canada for "Elite Firm Hiring" by Maclean's (2014).

Facilities

Library

Th
John A. Weir Memorial Law Library
with approximately 390,000 volumes, is the second largest law library in Canada (after the

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall La ...

library).

Institutes and Centres of Excellence

Alberta Law Reform Institute
**The Alberta Law Reform Institute is the official law reform agency for the province of Alberta.
Centre for Constitutional Studies
**The Centre for Constitutional Studies is an academic centre of excellence dedicated to study of constitutional issues.
Health Law Institute
**Canada's preeminent Health Law research institute, home to leading health law scholars Gerald Robertson,

Timothy Caulfield Timothy Allen Caulfield (born 1963) is a Canadian professor of law at the University of Alberta, the research director of its Health Law Institute, and current Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. He specializes in legal, policy and et ...

, Erin Nelson and Peter Carver, among others. *

International Ombudsman Institute The International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), established in 1978, is the only global organisation for the cooperation of more than 200 independent Ombudsman institutions operating on a local, regional and national level from more than 100 countr ...

Student Legal Services of Edmonton

''Alberta Law Review''

*Founded in 1955, the ''

Alberta Law Review The ''Alberta Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed law review or legal journal, published quarterly by the Alberta Law Review Society. The Society is a non-profit organization consisting entirely of students from both the University of Alberta Universi ...

'' is the most widely read university-based law review in Canada, with over 2,500 subscribers.

Extracurricular

There are 28 clubs, groups and other student led organizations at the Faculty of Law, including Alberta Law Review, Canons of Construction (student newspaper), Environmental Law Association, Law & Business Association, the Law Students Association, OutLaw, and Women's Law Forum and others.

Student Legal Services

Each year approximately 250 law students from the Faculty of Law volunteer with Student Legal Services, a student-managed, non-profit society dedicated to helping low income individuals with legal issues in the Edmonton area. Student Legal Services was founded in 1969 and is one of the largest legal clinics in Canada.

Law Show

Since 1995, law students have presented a large scale variety show with all proceeds going to charity. The show features an entertaining law-themed play written by students interspersed with dancing, singing, and videos. Prior to 2008, the show was formatted as a variety hour-style show, but since it has taken the form of a play which spoofs a famous movie or television show. The show is usually held on the final weekend of January. *Law Show 2008: It's a Wonderful Law *Law Show 2009: The League of Extraordinary Lawyers *Law Show 2010: Where in the Law is Carmen Sandiego? *Law Show 2011: Draculaw *Law Show 2012: The Wizard of Laws *Law Show 2013: Charlie and the Law Factory *Law Show 2014: Alawddin *Law Show 2015: Harry Lawter *Law Show 2016: Ferris Buellaw's Day Off *Law Show 2017: Alice in Wonderlaw *Law Show 2018: Monsters LLP *Law Show 2019: Neverlaw: The Peter Pan Story *Law Show 2020: Shrek: Law & Ogre *Law Show 2021: Scooby-Doo: Long Paw of the Law *Law Show 2023: Mean Lawyers

Alumni

*The Right Honourable Madame

, Former

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...

*The Honourable Mr. W.A. Stevenson, former

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

*The Honourable Mr.

Ronald Martland Ronald Martland, (February 10, 1907 – November 20, 1997) was a Canadian lawyer and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was the second Albertan appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, taking the place of Justice Nolan, who di ...

, former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada *The Honourable Madame

, Chief Justice of Alberta *The Honourable Mr. William A. McGillivray, former Chief Justice of Alberta *The Honourable Mr.

Allan Wachowich The Honourable Allan H.J. Wachowich (born March 8, 1935) is the former Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. Early life Born Allan Harvey Joseph Wachowich to Polish-Ukrainian parents Philip and Nancy. His family was one of the f ...

, former Chief Justice of the

Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the superior court of the Canadian province of Alberta. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary wa ...

* Edward R. Wachowich - Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta (deceased 2012) *The Honourable Mr.

Ron Stevens Ronald Gordon "Ron" Stevens, Q.C. (September 17, 1949 – May 13, 2014) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore as a Progressive Conservative until ...

, former Deputy Premier of Alberta and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations; Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta *The Honourable Mr. L. S. Tony Mandamin, first

Aboriginal Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and '' Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider the ...

Judge appointed to the

Federal Court of Canada The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. ...

*The Honourable

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding ...

, former

Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...

*The Honourable Mr. David Hancock, former

, Alberta Minister of Human Services and Government House Leader *The Honourable

Ron Ghitter Ronald D. Ghitter (born August 22, 1935) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from August 30, 1971 to March 13, 1979 sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus. Ghitte ...

, former Senator and Alberta MLA *

Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, then s ...

, former President of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

*Chief

Wilton Littlechild J. Wilton Littlechild (born 1944), known as Willie Littlechild, is a Canadian lawyer and Cree chief who was Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations and a member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament. A Canadian Indian ...

, first

Treaty Indian In Canada, a treaty Indian is an Indian who belongs to a band that is party to one of the eleven Numbered Treaties signed by Canada with various First Nations between 1871 and 1922.http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/dict/po ...

in Canada to serve as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

; elected Regional Chief of Albertahttp://ainc-inac.gc.ca/aiarch/mr/nr/m-a2009/bio000000348-eng.asp *

Daryl Katz Daryl Allan Katz (born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Katz is founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately-owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainmen ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of The

Katz Group The Katz Group of Companies is a Canadian privately-owned enterprise, with Samantha operations. In sports and entertainment and real estate development. Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of the Katz Group, owns the National Hockey Lea ...

and owner of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

* David McLean, CEO of The McLean Group; Chairman,

Canadian National Railway Company The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

* Ron Cummings, retired litigator known for liability cases *

Violet King Henry Violet Pauline King Henry (October 18, 1929 – March 30, 1982) was the first black woman lawyer in Canada, the first black person to graduate law in Alberta and the first black person to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. She was also the first wom ...

, the first black woman lawyer in Canada. * Patrick Peacock, President of the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in Canadian French, French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annu ...

, 1988–89; President of the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

, 1985–86 and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, 1985. *

Steve Blackman Steve Blackman (born September 28, 1963) is an American martial arts instructor, bail bondsman, and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 2002, where he was a fr ...

, Emmy-nominated writer and founder of Law Show. Over a dozen graduates of the Faculty of Law have become

Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, and two have won the

Vinerian Scholarship The Vinerian Scholarship is a scholarship given to the University of Oxford student who "gives the best performance in the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law". Currently, £2,500 is given to the winner of the scholarship, with an a ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Frank MacInnis, who graduated with an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1971, donated $2.5 million to the law school in 2006.U of A Faculty of Law receives unprecedented $2.5 million donation - ExpressNews - University of Alberta
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References

External links

Official website

Canons of Construction - University of Alberta Faculty of Law Student Newspaper

Faculty Profiles

{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Alberta Faculty Of Law Brutalist architecture in Canada Alberta Law, University of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Alberta Law, University of Alberta law 1912 establishments in Alberta