LLM

Robson Hall, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada
Phone: 204.474.9775 | Website: law.robsonhall.ca

Introduction

Welcome to the Graduate Program at Robson Hall Law School. Established in 1914, the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba offers an intellectually stimulating environment to domestic and international students seeking a graduate education in law. We are committed to fostering theoretical, doctrinal, and interdisciplinary scholarship of national and international significance.

Our Master of Laws degree or LLM Program is an advanced, thesis-based, research-intensive program that attracts students from across Canada and around the world. The degree is designed for completion within one year, and during that year students work closely with excellent, dedicated professors with a diverse range of research interests. A dynamic intellectual environment is fostered by workshops, seminars, and roundtables that graduate students are encouraged to attend.

We pride ourselves on our ability to offer individualized, careful supervision for each of our graduate students. We are also very proud that 100 percent of our graduate students receive fellowship funding. In addition to fellowships and support for conference travel, we offer graduate students their own private study room, the David T. Sgayias Centre, and full access to the fully-networked E.K. Williams Law Library, both located on the Research and Graduate Studies floor of the Law School.

Our graduate student body is small yet culturally and academically diverse. Students from North America, Central America, Africa, and Asia have graduated from our LLM program and have found intellectually stimulating careers in teaching, research, policy, and practice. (See Featured LLM Graduates.)

All of these students have felt welcomed in Winnipeg, Manitoba's capital city. Winnipeg is one of the most culturally diverse cities in Canada. Our city boasts vibrant First Nations, Métis, francophone, and multicultural communities, with nearly 100 languages represented. In addition to wonderful arts, culture, and music scenes, Winnipeg is home to sports teams and many other entertainment activities that take place in all four of its contrasting seasons. Reasonably priced housing, on and off campus, makes Robson Hall Law School one of the most affordable law schools in Canada.

As the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, it is my job to ensure that your graduate education at Robson Hall is the best it can be. My office is committed to supporting self-directed learning, fostering the timely completion of your LLM, and providing exceptional administrative and academic services. We look forward to meeting you!

Dr. Jennifer L. Schulz
Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies)
Executive Director, Legal Research Institute
Phone: 204.474.7958
E-mail: j_schulz@umanitoba.ca

LLM Programs/Areas of Specialization

The Master of Laws (LLM) Program at Robson Hall, University of Manitoba is a thesis-based program that permits students to develop an in-depth, critical understanding of a particular area of law. Students may pursue legal research on any topic and from any perspective that interests them. Please see our Faculty Supervisors for an indication of the areas of law in which we have supervisory expertise.

Admissions

Admission to the program requires at least a B average (3.0 CGPA) in the last two previous years of full-time university study (60 credit hours) and possession of a common law or civil law degree (or equivalent). Applicants whose first language is not English must demonstrate a minimum TOEFL® score of 600 (written), 250 (computer-based), or 100 iBT (Internet-based test).

Deadlines

For international students, no applications for admission will be considered after March 15 of the year for which admission is sought.

For Canadian applicants, the final deadline is June 15 of the year in which admission is sought.

Applicants Must:

1. complete the Application Form provided by the Faculty of Graduate Studies;
2. provide a concise thesis-statement defining the area of legal study to be pursued;
3. submit a recent curriculum vitae or résumé; and
4. submit an additional recommendation letter (in addition to the two required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies).

Applicants are strongly advised to provide additional materials demonstrating research potential (i.e., copies of publications and other written works).

All application materials must be sent directly to:

Faculty of Graduate Studies
University of Manitoba
500 E. University Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Canada

Given the competitive quality of the LLM program, satisfaction of the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission to the program, and completion of an LLM does not entitle the degree holder to practice law in Canada.

Contact Information

Once you are admitted, you will be registered as a student in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Manitoba. You will need to familiarize yourself with the Academic Guide: Faculty of Graduate Studies, Regulations, Policies and Procedure found at the Faculty of Graduate Studies website. The Faculty of Graduate Studies is your source of information on accommodations, deadlines, funding, and graduate student services.

International students are encouraged to contact the International Centre for Students.

The Graduate Students' Association represents the rights and interests of all graduate students. They also offer some financial support—including funding to participate in conferences—to graduate students.

Questions?

For information about the University of Manitoba's LLM program, please visit the Graduate Studies website, or contact:

Dr. Jennifer L. Schulz
Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Robson Hall
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Canada

Phone: 204.474.9775
Fax: 204.474.7580
E-mail: maria_tepper@umanitoba.ca

For questions about admissions issues, fellowship administration, or financial aid, please contact:

Ms. Marie Jivan
Student Services Coordinator
Phone: 204.480.1485
E-mail: marie_jivan@umanitoba.ca

All other questions specific to the Faculty of Law may be directed to:

Ms. Maria Tepper
Administrative Assistant (Graduate Studies)
Phone: 204.474.9775
E-mail: maria_tepper@umanitoba.ca

You must keep the law faculty and the Faculty of Graduate Studies informed and up to date on all your contact information, including your home address, your address during your studies here, your e-mail address, and your telephone number.

Tuition

• Canadian students pay approximately $4,000.
• International students pay approximately $8,000.

Residency

You must be in attendance at the University of Manitoba on a full-time basis for one academic year, September to May, in the year of your admission. All coursework must be completed during this period. In rare cases, with your supervisor's approval and with the approval of the Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies), you may receive an extension to complete your thesis.

Coursework

Your LLM program consists of three courses and a written thesis. The program is designed for completion in one calendar year.

The Graduate Legal Research and Theory course offered in the fall term is a mandatory course. You must also successfully complete two additional courses relevant to your research area. One of these course may be taken outside the Faculty of Law. Course selection must be approved by your supervisor. A grade of B or better is required in all three courses.

• Law Course Descriptions

Course descriptions for other faculties are found on the University of Manitoba's website.

Ideally, two of the three courses should be completed in the fall term, leaving more time in the winter term for thesis work. In any event, all coursework requirements must be complete by the end of April, and the thesis must be complete by the end of August.

Thesis

In addition to your coursework, you must complete a thesis of 90–120 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font. Your citations must comply with the McGill Guide for Uniform Legal Citation unless your supervisor approves a social sciences citation style. Your supervisor is responsible for approving all aspects of your thesis including research, scope, direction, and content.

The deadline for completion of your thesis is the end of August. In order to complete your thesis on time, it is essential that you make steady progress on it throughout the year. You should arrange regular meetings with your supervisor to finalize your topic, discuss your progress, and write your outline or thesis proposal. Please note that if your research involves interviews, strict rules govern research methodologies that implicate human subjects. It is your responsibility, in conjunction with your supervisor, to ensure that these ethical rules are adhered to.

By early December your research should be well advanced and your proposal should be submitted to your supervisor. At that point, you and supervisor can set a schedule for chapter completion in the new year. Thus, in January, you should begin to complete draft chapters of your thesis and submit them to your supervisor for comments. Your entire thesis should be complete by July 1. This deadline is important because your supervisor and an external reviewer (see below) both need time to review your thesis and make suggestions for change, and then you will need time to implement those changes. The process of review and revision takes more time than you might expect. It also takes place during the summer when professors and reviewers typically take their holidays. Therefore, in order to ensure completion of the review and revision process by August 31, your thesis must be ready by July 1. Students who hand their completed draft in after July 1 are advised that we cannot ensure that the review and revision process will be complete before August 31, in which case graduation in October also cannot be guaranteed.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies sets the requirements for format, binding, and the number of copies of your thesis that must be submitted (two). You must also submit three copies of your thesis to the Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies), one of which will be given to your supervisor.

Students are responsible for meeting all deadlines and for fulfilling all requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Law LLM Program.

Supervisor

As a graduate student, your supervisor is the central person in your life. Your supervisor is responsible for directing and approving all aspects of your LLM program, courses, and thesis. You should be in close and regular touch with your supervisor from the start, to the end, of your program.

You have been assigned a faculty supervisor with expertise in your chosen area of study. Your supervisor is responsible for directing all aspects of your thesis work. This includes regular consultation on thesis design, research and content, advice on course selection, and approval of the thesis. Supervisors must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Faculty of Law. A lawyer not on the Faculty of Law who has strong academic qualifications, national reputation, and publications or other established credentials in a particular field of study, may be appointed supervisor, consequent on appointment as an adjunct to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

You should look to your supervisor for academic guidance throughout the year. It is each student's obligation to maintain close and regular contact with his or her supervisor. You should discuss your supervisor's expectations in this regard at the beginning of the year. You should report on your progress throughout the year. By doing so, your supervisor will be aware of when he or she will need to allocate time to review your work and as a result you will not generally experience undue delays in getting comments and feedback.

Please see Guidelines for Students and Supervisors (PDF).

External Reader/Reviewer

On July 1, when your thesis is complete to the satisfaction of your supervisor, it will be sent for review to a professor outside the Faculty of Law who has scholarly expertise in your research area. This external reader or reviewer will be selected by your supervisor, in consultation with you, and will be approved by the Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies). After evaluating your thesis, the external reader will submit a written report. The external reviewer may approve the thesis as is, recommend revisions, or reject the thesis. When the report is received, you will discuss it with your supervisor before proceeding with revisions.

Important Dates

Fellowships and Funding

Robson Hall Fellowships

Robson Hall endeavours to support 100 percent of its LLM candidates with fellowships. There is no separate application process for fellowships or funding. All applicants to the LLM program are automatically considered for fellowships upon receipt of completed applications, including supporting materials.

Robson Hall Faculty of Law offers the following LLM fellowships:

• Asper Fellowship in International Business and Trade Law
• Desautels Graduate Research Fellowship in Private Enterprise and the Law
• Dickson Graduate Fellowship (aboriginal, constitutional, or human rights)
• Freedman Graduate Fellowship
• Kristjansson Graduate Fellowship
• Sgayias Graduate Fellowship
• Social Justice and Human Rights Fellowship

There are no teaching assistantships available within the Faculty of Law since the Faculty does not use teaching assistants in its undergraduate program.

University of Manitoba Fellowships

The University of Manitoba offers the University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF) for which there is no separate application process. All applicants to the LLM program are automatically considered for the UMGF.

Travel Grants

The Faculty has limited funds available to sponsor graduate student travel when the student has been invited to present her or his work at a conference. Applications are available from Ms. Maria Tepper:

Phone: 204.474.9775
E-mail: maria_tepper@umanitoba.ca

Library and Photocopying

When you are registered you will obtain a University of Manitoba ID card that also functions as your library card. You have full, university-wide library access, in addition to full access to our fully networked Law Library. The Law School will also issue you a code to permit you access to the graduate student photocopier in room 462. Please see Ms. Maria Tepper to obtain your photocopying code.

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