Bachelor of Laws (Honours)

Summary

Gives high-achieving LLB students the opportunity to dig deeper into an area of law and to hone their research and dissertation writing skills.

Programme overview

Students who have completed LLB Part I & II of the LLB programme and have a weighted law GPA (LawHons GPA) of 6.00 (B+) and above are eligible to apply and be admitted into the LLB(Hons) programme.

Students who have graduated with the LLB degree cannot be admitted into LLB(Hons).

Programme structure

The LLB(Hons) is made up of 540 points and involves a student completing the LLB programme and an additional 20-point honours seminar course (usually as part of their Part III year) and a 40-point dissertation in the semester immediately following the completion of LLB Part IV.

It will take a minimum of nine semesters to complete all of the requirements for the LLB(Hons) degree, unless a student is completing a conjoint degree. In that case it will take a minimum of 11 semesters.

The number of semesters required can be reduced by one if the dissertation is completed through Summer School immediately following their Part IV year.

Where could this programme take you?

A Law degree will arm you with many transferable skills, including knowledge of the law and its implications, a sense of justice and public responsibility, analytical, research and communication skills, and an ability to work under pressure. A degree from the University of Auckland Law School is well-respected. In any given year, about half our graduates take up positions in New Zealand law firms, while the other half begin their careers in other professional organisations. These include accounting and consulting; business and industry; national and local government; teaching, research and journalism; and international, environmental and other non-governmental areas. Our graduates can be found practising law in New Zealand and worldwide – many of our former students work for leading law firms in London, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other major cities. Some of our top students go on to study our LLM, MTaxS and PhD degrees. Auckland Law School offers the most extensive postgraduate programme in the country. Our students regularly win scholarships and prizes to continue their studies overseas. Some of our recent graduates are now pursuing higher degrees at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and other top overseas universities.

Jobs related to this programme

Academia – lecturing, research

Government – policy work, resource management, parliamentary drafting

Judiciary

Law reform

Mediation

Private companies – in-house legal counsel, tax, property, management consultant, regulation, compliance, human resources

Private practice – barrister, solicitor

Public service – prosecution, defence

Further study options

Graduate Certificate in Law

Graduate Diploma in Law

Postgraduate Certificate in Law

Master of Laws

Master of Taxation Studies

Doctor of Philosophy