Program Overview

Program Overview

The University of Calgary offers a Master of Laws (LLM) program, which is a thesis-based program. The program is designed for students who have demonstrated strong potential for advanced legal research and writing. Most students in the LLM program come from common-law legal systems. The program allows students to work with a supervising faculty member to produce a substantial piece of original legal scholarship.

Program Details

• The Faculty of Law has a wide range of research expertise, including natural resources, energy and environmental law, business and tax law, private law, administrative law and regulation, criminal law, Indigenous people and law, international law, human rights law, legal history and theory, and the law pertaining to privacy, security and technology.
• The LLM program was included in the LLM Guide's top 10 energy law programs worldwide (2019).
• The program earns this recognition for strengths in examining the relationship between society and the environment, in defining the interests we claim in the world around us, and in shaping the consequences of using those resources.

Completing the Program

• Core Courses: Graduate Seminar in Legal Research and Methodology and Graduate Seminar in Legal Theory.
• Thesis: Students will complete a substantial research thesis, approximately 100 to 125 pages, prepared under the supervision of a faculty member or other suitable person appointed by the Graduate Program Director.
• Additional Courses: Students are required to take two additional courses. Students in the NREEL specialization must take courses in the NREEL area.
• Residence: Two terms in residence, normally consecutive from September to April.

Specializations

• Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law
• Energy and Environmental Systems (Interdisciplinary)

Outcomes

The thesis-based program is for students passionate about research and writing in a focused area of law, and who may be interested in an academic or research career, although graduates also become in-house counsel and become employed in government, regulatory bodies and non-governmental organizations.

Admission Requirements

• GPA: A minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 point system, over the past two years of full-time study (a minimum of 10 full-course equivalents or 60 units) of the Law degree.
• Minimum Education: Ordinarily, a JD, LLB or equivalent degree in law.
• Work Samples: None
• Documents:
  • A C.V.
  • Writing Sample: Should be approximately 10-30 pages long. It must be your own original writing. It should be reasoned scholarly or professional work that serves to demonstrate to a committee of professors that you have a well-developed capacity for writing, analysis and research.
  • Transcripts from all post-secondary institutions that you have attended, including any that you may currently be attending.
• Reference Letters: Two
• Test Scores: None
• Supervision and Funding: Applicants must identify a potential supervisor in their application. The program endeavours, although not always successfully, to provide funding for thesis-based LLM students through fellowships and faculty research grants.

English Language Proficiency (ELP)

An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ibt) score of 97 (minimum of 25 on the reading and writing components).
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 7.0 (minimum of 6.0 in each section and a reading and writing band minimum of 7.0).
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 68, or higher (Academic version).
• Canadian Academic English Language test (CAEL) score of 70 (minimum score of 70 on writing and reading sections and 60 in all other sections).
• Academic Communication Certificate (ACC) score of A- in the Academic Writing and Composition course, a minimum grade of “A-” in the Research Writing and Form course, and a minimum grade of “B+” in all other courses.

Dates and Deadlines

For admission September 1:

• Application portal opens September 1.
• Application deadline: December 1.
• Deadline for submission of supporting documents and reference letters: December 15.

Supervisors

A list of potential supervisors is available, including:

1. Lyndsay Campbell
2. Gideon Christian
3. Greg Hagen
4. Lorian Hardcastle
5. Howard Kislowicz
6. Emily Laidlaw
7. Sharon Mascher
8. Michael Nesbitt
9. Evaristus Oshionebo
10. Bryce Tingle

Time Commitment

The program has a maximum time commitment of three years.

Fees and Funding

Information on fees and fee regulations, including program-specific fees and fees for JD courses, and for information on awards and financial assistance, can be found in the Graduate Calendar.