Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.): Three years of
full-time study or up to six years half-time study beyond admission
to Law.
LL.B. Program
CourseDescriptions
Master of Laws (LL.M.): Primarily, this degree is based on research
and thesis. A candidate may be required to audit specific courses
in the Faculty of Law or any other faculty. This program must be arranged
with the Faculties of Law and Graduate Studies.
Graduate Program
Manitoba's first lawyers came to the province as fully qualified members
of the legal profession. They were admitted to practice straightaway
upon proving their qualifications. The study of law in Manitoba in its
earliest form consisted of five years of apprenticeship (three in the
case of university graduates) under articles of clerkship to a practising
lawyer. At the end of the period of articles, each student had to pass
an examination prescribed by the Bar Society. The University of Manitoba
first became involved in legal education in 1885 when it established
a three-year course of studies leading to the LL.B. degree. This course
did not include instruction; it simply prescribed a reading program,
with three annual examinations, which articled law students couId follow
concurrently with the course prescribed by the Law Society. For the
next quarter century roughly, the pattern of legal education in Manitoba
changed very little. Small alterations were made from time to time,
but the basic method of education continued to be apprenticeship supplemented
by private study. In the years 1911-12 the Law Society was prompted
by the Law Students Association to provide a short series of lectures.
In 1913, H. A. Robson, then Manitoba's Public Utilities Commissioner
and a former judge of the Court of King's Bench, organized a considerably
improved course of lectures and began to lay the plans for the establishment
in the following year of a permanent law school modeled after the Osgoode
Hall Law School of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
The Manitoba Law School was jointly sponsored by The University of
Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba; both bodies took part in the
planning from the beginning. In the summer of 1914 they entered into
an agreement, subsequently endorsed by legislation, which provided for
the creation of the School, offering a three-year course consisting
of lectures and apprenticeship leading to both an LL.B. degree and a
call to the Bar and admission to practice. Expenses of the School were
shared equally by the two parent bodies, and its operations were supervised
by a jointly appointed Board of Trustees. This arrangement between The
University of Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba continued until
1966 when the Law School became the Faculty of Law of The University
of Manitoba.
For most of its fifty-two years of existence the Manitoba Law School
was an individualistic institution. In its early years it was an undisputed
leader on this continent; it was a pacesetter in raising the pre-law
qualifications to the present common requirement of at least two years
university study, in adopting the three-year course of full-time study
recommended by the Canadian Bar Association, and in reestablishing,
after an unsuccessful trial period of the three-year course of full-time
study, the combined lecture and apprenticeship program on an expanded
four-year basis. Interestingly, when the Law School expanded its course
of study to four years in 1927, it was still operating on a full-time
study system. In its later years the Law School continued to operate
on a combined lecture and apprenticeship system, until it was the only
such law school in Canada, while law schools in other jurisdictions
reconverted to a three-year course of full-time study. There is no dearth
of written comment in praise, justification, and criticism of the School,
particularly in connection with its later years when it resisted the
general trend in other jurisdictions to reconvert to the three-year,
full-time course of study.
In 1962 a series of events commenced which led to the adoption by
the Law Society of Manitoba and The University of Manitoba and their
Board of Trustees of the Manitoba Law School of a scheme whereby the
Law School would reconvert to a three-year course of full-time study
and whereby the Manitoba Law School would be phased out of existence
by the summer of 1966, its place to be taken by a faculty of law of
The University of Manitoba.
The Faculty of Law presently offers programs of study leading to two
degrees, the LL.B. and the LL.M. The latter degree program was brought
into existence in 1949 by the Manitoba Law School; it was substantially
revamped by the Faculty of Law in 1968.
There are truly countless Manitobans who have contributed to legal
education in Manitoba over the years. Two names stand out, namely H.
A. Robson and E. K. Williams. These men were the only two chairmen of
the Board of Trustees of the Manitoba Law School, and their contribution
has been suitably enshrined in the names of the new building housing
the Faculty of Law and of the Faculty's new library.
Legal education in Canada is divided into two phases: the academic
study of law at one of the university law schools and practical training
under the auspices of a provincial law society for those who wish to
be admitted to practice and called to a Bar. As there is a reciprocal
recognition of university law degrees between the common law provinces
(all provinces except Quebec), the academic study can be taken in any
one of these provinces.
A sound education in law provides a good foundation for a great variety
of careers. In the past most law graduates have entered the private
practice of law to concentrate on various types of legal work: real
estate transactions, commercial contracts, company law, famiIy law,
taxation, etc. Contrary to popular belief only a few lawyers concentrate
on court work and only a few of them specialize in criminal cases. While
the tendency to specialize in the practice of law is becoming more prevalent,
most lawyers continue to be general practitioners prepared to perform
most types of legal work according to the needs of their clients.
Besides the private practice of law, some law graduates join the legal
departments which many corporations find it expedient to maintain; others
enter the employ of various government departments to serve in a variety
of capacities. A few utilize their study of law in pursuit of nonlegal
vocations, such as business, journalism, social work, law enforcement,
etc. At The University of Manitoba consideration is given to the fact
that while most students take law to become practising lawyers, some
are taking law as an additional discipline to enhance their opportunities
in fields other than the practice of law; thus, while the emphasis is
on the academic study of substantive law, the study is carried on in
a practical context.
In addition to lectures and seminars, students are given an opportunity
to develop, under supervision, some of the research, writing, and forensic
skills which will prove useful in the practice of law. In first year,
students are acquainted with the various resource materials available
in a law library, and they follow a program designed to develop legal
research and writing techniques. In second and third years, students
participate in moot courts, fictitious trials and appeals, which provide
practice in research, examination of witnesses, and courtroom argument.
The Faculty
of Law is justifiably proud of its advocacy program, which progressively
builds upon skills learned in each year of law school. In first year,
all students prepare and present an oral motion. In second year all
students prepare and present a trial and then take the matter on to
appeal. In the appeal the students must write an appeal factum and then
present oral argument before a panel consisting of a lawyer, articling
student and third year student. In third year we build upon these skills
through a number of optional courses, which include advanced advocacy
and the intensive courses in administrative law, family law or criminal
law.
Photo: Another Manitoba win in the Western Canada Moot
Trial Competition (which we have won in 13 out of 31 competitions)
Links:
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Tourism Winnipeg
Photo: The skyscrapers at the famous Winnipeg intersection,
Portage and Main.
