Schulich School of Law

Part‑Time Applicants

We offer an option to complete the JD part-time, taken over a maximum of seven years instead of the full-time, three-year program.  While we recommend the first year be completed full-time, it can be taken over two.  The subsequent requirements for the degree must be completed within the remaining time.   

In addition to the required documents for the application, candidates interested in pursuing a part-time JD should submit a brief written statement outlining their reasons for seeking admission to the part-time program and indicating whether they wish to complete first year on a full-time or half-time basis.  The Admissions Committee will give special consideration to factors such as family responsibilities, financial hardship, employment commitments, and health problems. 

Students already accepted into the full-time JD who wish to enter the part-time program should contact law.admissions@dal.ca for details.

If a candidate is interested in the part-time program, you should contact the law society of any province where they might want to practice law to confirm that a part-time JD from Dalhousie meets individual law society requirements.

The faculty encourages part-time students, wherever possible, to do their first year on a full-time basis.

Options for completing the JD part-time

If you are interested in the part-time program, you should contact the law society of any province where you might want to practice law to confirm that a part-time JD from Dalhousie meets individual law society requirements.

The faculty encourages part-time students, wherever possible, to do their first year on a full-time basis. Part-time students take courses at the regularly scheduled time with full-time students - no evening classes are offered.

Option 1: Full-time first year

As a part-time student, you can take your first-year program on a full-time basis, then apply to be admitted to the part-time program for the remainder of your JD studies.

After first year, students in the part-time program are required to complete a minimum of 58 hours over a maximum of six academic years, with a minimum class load of eight hours in each academic year. Part-time students must complete at least one optional class involving a major written paper in each 29-hour block over the period of part-time study.

Students who enter the program after completing their first and second years on a full-time basis are required to complete their minimum of 29 hours over a maximum of three academic years, with a minimum class load of eight hours in each academic year.

Option 2: Half-time first year

As a part-time student, you can take your first-year Part-time students who choose to do first year on a half-time basis are required to complete 17 hours of the first-year program in their first year, completing Contracts and Judicial Decision-Making (5), Tort Law and Damage Compensation (5), African Nova Scotian Legal History: Issues and Critical Race Theory (2), Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Context (2), and Law in its National and International Context (3)

The remaining 19 hours of the first-year program consisting of Property in its Historical Perspective (5), Criminal Justice: the Individual and the State (5), Fundamentals of Public Law (5), Legal Research and Writing (3), and Introduction to Legal Ethics and the Regulation of the Legal Profession (1) must be completed in the second year.