Orientation

Welcome Class of 2026

We are so happy you have chosen the Schulich School of Law and we want to make sure you are prepared to succeed. Here is a list of student resources available to help you throughout your legal education.

Stay informed by keeping an eye on your Dal email for our weekly e-newsletter This Week@Weldon.

Financial Resources

Financial Aid

We are proud to offer one of the best law school financial aid programs in Canada. The Schulich School of Law has many named bursary and scholarship awards available. For more information, contact Tiffany Coolen-Jewers, our Administrative Officer.

Applications open on September 1st. Find out more details on Scholarships and Bursaries here.

Social and Professional Resources

Dalhousie Law Students’ Society

Every student enrolled in the JD Program is automatically a member of the Dalhousie Law Student’s Society (LSS). The LSS represents the student voice in all aspects of the law school including social, financial, athletic and academic areas. The LSS has a list of the variety of societies you can get involved in based on your personal interests. 

Career Development Office

Our Career Development Office (CDO) is here to help you advance your employment goals. They provide you with the tools for finding employment, such as for articling positions, summer jobs, clerkships or part-time work during law school. They are available year-round on a full-time basis to offer advice, direction and answer questions. To learn more, contact Shawn Swallow, Director of Career Services & Employer Relations.

Wellness Resources

Wellness is a continuous, individualized and intentional pursuit to achieve one's full potential. The Wellness@Weldon program is designed to promote access to Dalhousie University's Health Wellness services and provide unique resources and simple tools to support law students to develop skills that support overall well-being.

Dalhousie Supports and Services

• Accommodations & Accessibility 
• Athletics & Recreation 
• Counselling & Mental Health Services 
• Medical Services 
• Human Rights and Equity Services (HRES)
• Additional Resources

Additional Supports for Law Students 

Homewood Health

Homewood Health is the current employee and family assistance program for members of the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society and their practitioners are well versed in addressing the unique needs of legal professionals. This is exclusively for law students at Dalhousie University and is a resource in addition to the resources still available to you through the Dalhousie Health and Wellness Centre. If you choose to practice in Nova Scotia, your coverage will remain consistent through the Nova Scotia Lawyers Assistance Program, which is funded through your practicing fees.

Key benefits of the new Homewood Health Pathfinder platform include:

• Immediate PulseCheck that will triage you to direct services (coaching, crisis, or resources) based on your response
• Immediate access and availability to book telephone or video appointments online with trained professionals
• Access to professional biographies so you can choose the professional who is right for you (this includes the option to speak with a healer or Elder)
• Ability to receive text notifications and upload appointments to your calendar
• Personalized Dashboard
• Services cover:
  • Mental Health & Addiction
  • Family & Relationships
  • Legal
  • Financial
  • Health & Nutrition
  • Life Transition
  • Culture & Identity

You are welcome to view the demo at this link.  Homewood Pathfinder - LAWS - Wellness@Weldon (brightspace.com)  You must be a member of the Wellness@Weldon Brightspace page to view. 

To download the free Homewood app  Homewood Health on the App Store (apple.com)
To access the service, please visit Homeweb.ca
To learn more about Homewood Health, please visit their website. 

Student Support and Other Questions

Visit our Wellness@Weldon for a full list of upcoming wellness events and activities including intramurals. We've also compiled lists of our students' favourite self-care and relaxation activities.

Registration

You will receive an email with registration information from Student Service team. If you haven't, please contact law.jd.student@dal.ca

Schuch School of Law - First Year Registration Instructions 22/23 [139 KB]

Overview of Courses

Throughout the Fall 2023 Orientation, you will receive more detailed information about courses and what to expect in law school. Below is a brief summary of all mandatory first year courses.

LAWS 1008   Introduction to Legal Ethics and The Regulation of the Legal Profession (intensive schedule) 
 
This course has three objectives. First, it will start students on a journey of development of their ethical identity as lawyers. Second, it will introduce students to the core ethical values and principles governing Canadian lawyers. Third, it will provide an overview of the regulatory regime for the Canadian legal profession.

LAWS 1013 & 1023 Fundamentals of Public Law (full-year course)

This course provides students with an understanding of the constitutional and administrative structures of Canadian law and government. An emphasis is placed on developing the skills required of lawyers whose public law work may range from appearances before administrative tribunals, to giving advice on the formulation and articulation of policy. Primary among the emphasized skills is the ability to work with and interpret constitutional, statutory and regulatory texts. A perspective on the administrative model of decision making will also be developed. As a necessary background for the development of these skills and for the general study of law, this course introduces students to the Canadian governmental and constitutional system. Students will explore the legislative process, statutory interpretation, and the administrative system using human rights legislation as a model. Further, students will develop an understanding of the analytical framework of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, through the study of the interpretation and development of equality rights. 
 
 
LAWS 1014 & 1024   Legal Research and Writing (full-year course)

This course has three objectives. The first is to introduce students to the process of legal research and to provide a basic understanding of primary legal materials and secondary sources of legal information in both print and digital form. The second is to provide students with the basic skills of legal writing and legal citation. The third objective is to introduce students to the technique of applying legal authorities to the solution of legal problems. This course is conducted by lectures, research assignments based on hypothetical fact situations and assigned readings.

LAWS 1019 & 1029 Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Context (intensive schedule)

This course provides an introduction to both Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Law, and the historical and contemporary context that is fundamental to understanding these areas of law. Aboriginal law refers to “settler law”, that is, the law made by Canadian legislatures and courts that applies to Aboriginal peoples, and embodies all situations where the Aboriginal status of an individual or group may impact the legal outcome, or the process leading to a legal outcome. Indigenous laws and legal traditions (e.g. Mi’kmaq law) comprise the legal orders of specific indigenous communities. Indigenous societies used these laws to govern themselves prior to contact with Europeans and many continue to do so today. Along with the common law and civil law traditions, Indigenous legal orders are, therefore, among Canada’s distinctive founding legal traditions.

LAWS 1017 & 1027 African Nova Scotian Legal History, Issues and Critical Race Theory (intensive schedule)

This course introduces African Nova Scotian legal history and its shaping of contemporary African Nova Scotian legal issues; and critical race theory, which provides a lens through which to analyze race as a social construct that has infused the foundations and ongoing application of Canadian law. Key course objectives are: (1) to enhance critical thinking; (2) to understand the law’s role in constituting African Nova Scotians as a distinct people; (3) to understand the central legal issues impacting African Nova Scotians, and by extension people of African descent; (4) to understand critical race theory and its basic tenets, including the role that law and legal education play in creating and reinscribing anti-Black racism; (5) to raise awareness about the law’s role in establishing and perpetuating of other forms of racism in Canada; and (6) to develop cultural competency skills within the context of professional obligations. 
 

LAWS 1110 & 1120 Contracts and Judicial Decision-Making (full-year course)

This course has two primary objectives: the first is to provide an understanding of the process of development of the common law through judicial decisions; the second is to provide a basic knowledge of the doctrines and precepts of the law governing the making and performance of contracts. As a means of attaining the first objective, the “case method” of teaching is used to enable students to acquire a lawyer-like understanding of such concepts as “stare decisis”, the use of precedent, and the technique of distinguishing. A critical evaluation of judicial law-making is undertaken through an examination of the developing phenomenon of legislative intervention in the field of contract law. In order to fulfill the second objective, substantive rules of contract law are examined. 
 
LAWS 1111 & 1121   Criminal Justice-The Individual and the State (full-year course)

Relationships among the state, individuals, and communities are considered in the context of Canadian criminal law. The legal rights provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, selected topics in criminal procedure and the principles of substantive criminal law will be the main focus of this course. The latter concentrates on elements of offences, justifications, excuses, non-exculpatory defenses, inchoate crimes and secondary liability for offences. Teaching is conducted by lecture and discussion of assigned materials including the Criminal Code (which is also used to illustrate methods and problems of statutory interpretation) and a volume of cases and materials.

LAWS 1112 & 1122   Law in its National and International Context (intensive schedule)

This intensive course is designed to provide students with some of the fundamental elements for understanding contemporary law. There are three modules. The first module, The Historical and Philosophical Contexts, explains how law is a complex and socially constructed phenomenon embedded in larger political, economic, cultural, and racial dynamics.  

The second module, Canadian Legal Systems, introduces students to the primary sources of law, the polyjural nature of the Canadian Legal System, and some of the basic skills of thinking like a lawyer, including statutory interpretation and the common law method. The third module, the International Contexts, introduces students to some of the core norms and institutions of international law and explores their relevance to the contemporary Canadian legal system.

LAWS 1115 & 1125   Property in its Historical Context (full-year course)

The purpose of this course is two-fold: first, to provide a basic understanding of property concepts and principles in both real and personal property; second, to provide a sense of the historical development of the law of property. This course introduces the student to the concept of property, its evolution, types and fundamental principles. It illustrates ideas such as possession and ownership by reference to the law of finders and bailment and to various transactions in which land or goods are the common denominators. It also introduces the doctrine of aboriginal title and explores the principles of real property, including tenure, estates, future interests, matrimonial property, private and public controls on land use, and the registry system. 
 
LAWS 1116 & 1126   Tort Law and Damage Compensation (full-year course)

The major objective of this course is to provide a basic understanding of the manner in which losses from injuries to personal, proprietary and economic interests are distributed through tort law. Attention will also be given to other methods of compensating for such losses, and to the relative merits of tort law vis-à-vis these alternative schemes. Materials to be studied include cases, appropriate legislation and doctrinal writings related to the problems of tort law and damage compensation in a diverse society.