Academic Program
Our classrooms integrate extraordinary legal scholarship with hands-on experiential learning opportunities.
JD program overview
Below is an overview of the first-year (1L) and upper-years (2L, 3L) of the program. Complete program requirements are outlined in the JD Handbook of Academic Policies.
First-year program
First-year (1L) will offer a high degree of contact between your peers and professors. It includes a mandatory preparatory course:
Legal Methods
There are also six substantive law courses:
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law
- Legal Process
- Property
- Legal Research and Writing
Collectively, these courses provide a rigorous legal foundation and introduce you to a wide range of views and a diversity of perspectives on law and legal reasoning.
Upper-year program
Your upper years of law school will be rich and varied with more than 180 courses to choose from. The breadth and depth of our curriculum allows you to tailor your studies to your individual needs and career ambitions.
You are encouraged to pursue your own interests and to undertake advanced work, including independent study under the supervision of a professor.
Upper-year requirements
There are some important requirements in your upper years. After acquiring a solid foundation in your first year, the Faculty wants you to explore the vast possibilities opened by legal study during your final four terms. The seven upper-year requirements are as follows:
Writing and Directed Research
In your upper years, you have many opportunities to develop your legal research and writing skills. These include:
Learn more about the opportunities available to you as a JD student at U of T Law
After a substantive first-year, you’ll have numerous courses to choose from to tailor your JD degree to your aspirations and goals.
We bridge classroom learning with practical hands-on training allowing you to experience the law in action.
Combine your JD degree with a second, graduate-level degree in another discipline that complements your JD.
Studying for a term or year abroad will shape you and how you see and relate to the world.
Be bold in your ambitions.
For detailed information about first-year and upper-year JD program requirements you must refer to the JD Handbook of Academic Policies.