Business Law

Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law’s business law programme is one of the strongest in Canada. Our commitment to business law teaching and scholarship, our innovative Business Law Specialization, and our unrivalled visiting professor and business law speakers series, have ensured Dalhousie’s place as a national leader in business law education.

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Business Law Forum

Thanks to a generous gift from the firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, the Schulich School of law is able each year to present the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Business Law Forum, bringing scholars and business leaders to the law school  to stimulate debate and enrich understanding of business law issues. Recent Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Business Law Forum speakers include:

Professor Mark Roe (Harvard Law School)
Prof. Merritt Fox (Columbia University)
Prof.  David Gantz (University of Arizona)
Ms. Barbara Stymiest (then CEO, Toronto Stock Exchange)

Torys Visiting Professor in Business Law

A pre-eminent business law scholar has visited Dalhousie each year to teach a course in his or her area of specialty through our Torys Visiting Professor in  Business Law Programme, generously sponsored by the Torys law firm. Our recent Torys Visiting Professors have included:

Professor Reinier Kraakman (Harvard Law School)
Prof.  Roberta Romano (Yale Law School)
Prof. Stephen Zamora (University of Houston)                  
Prof. Paul Mahoney (University of Virginia)     

In 2007-08 the course was replaced by a special guest lecture.  The guest lecture for 2007/08 was Professor Ronald Gibson, the Meyers Professor of Law and Business from Stanford Law School.

Ronald G. Smith Lecture in Business Law  

Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law has hosted some of the world’s leading business, finance and legal scholars who have visited the law school to deliver our annual Ronald G. Smith Lecture in Business Law. Recent speakers in this series have included:

Dr. Robert J. Shiller (Yale University)
Dr. Myron S. Scholes (Co-recipient of 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics) 
Prof. Brian Cheffins (University of Cambridge)
Prof. William Bratton (Georgetown University)     

L-R Dean Phillip Saunders, Dr. Robert J. Shiller, Professor Dawn Russell

   Business Law Specialization (LL.B. Business Law Certificate)   

Until recently, law schools did not offer students the opportunity to "major" or concentrate their studies in a particular field of law. At the Schulich School of Law, we have recognized the value, in a competitive environment, of permitting our students to specialize.  LL.B. students who wish to specialize in business law may do so by following a prescribed series of courses.  Upon successful completion of these courses as part of their LL.B. studies, including achieving certain minimum grades, students will have the specialization recognized on their academic transcript.  Few Canadian law schools offer the rich array of business law courses available at the Schulich School of Law that make such a specialization possible.

Specialization Certificate Requirements

To specialize in Business Law, an LL.B. student must take:

1. Business Associations, Taxation 1, Commercial Law A: Sale of Goods, and Commercial Law B: Secured Transactions
2. Classes totaling at least three credit hours, chosen from the following list:
   • Securities Regulation
   • Taxation of Corporations
   • Other Classes specifically designated for this purpose from time to time
3. Additional classes chosen from the following list (at least one of which must be a major paper class or equivalent) which, together with all classes taken to satisfy requirements (A) and (B) above, total at least 23 credit hours.  (Note: The following courses are not offered every year.  Please be sure to verify current course offerings.)
   
• Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law
• Business and Environment
• Canadian Corporate/Securities Law Moot
• Competition Law
• Corporate Finance
• Corporate Transactions
• Creditors' and Debtors' Rights
• Current Issues in Corporate Law
• Employment Law
• Energy Law
• Information Technology Transactions
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property
• Intellectual Property II
• International Trade Law
• Internet and Media Law
• Labour Law 1
• Labour Law-Administration of the Collective Agreement
• Law of International Trade and Shipping
• Legal Accounting
• Mergers, Acquisitions and Other Changes of Corporate Control
• Oil and Gas Law
• Pension Law
• Property Rights in Investment Securities
• Real Estate Transactions
• Taxation II
• Taxation III
• Approved Directed Research Projects (DRPs), and other classes specifically designated from time to time

All classes counted toward satisfaction of the Business Law Specialization requirements must be completed with no grade below C, and an overall weighted average of at least B in courses counted toward the Business Law Specialization.