The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB(Hons)) degrees are both four-year professional programmes.
Gain an understanding of society through a legal framework
You will get an excellent grounding in skills such as analysing, decision making, negotiation, researching and forming legal and other arguments. You will also develop skills in the precise use of language, both spoken and written.
This will set you up for employment in many different fields.
First-year Law and admission into the Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
In your first year, you must take the following 100-level Law paper: LAWS 101 The Legal System. Along with the LAWS 101 paper you will need to take an additional 4 to 6 non-Law papers at 100-level.
Admission into the Bachelor of Laws is based on the strength of a student's university academic record, with a focus on the mark achieved for the LAWS 101 The Legal Systems paper.
Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB(Hons))
You may be invited into Honours as a result of exceptional performance in your second-year Law papers. There are also opportunities to apply for Honours at the end of your third year (and possibly your fourth year if you have a substantial part of your degree to complete).
The LLB(Hons) involves additional supervised research and the completion of a dissertation.
Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (LLB(Hons))
Double degrees
Many Law students do two degrees, which typically takes about five years. Your first and second years will be the same as those doing only a Law degree, with one exception. Your other degree will have its own requirements – pre-requisites that you can or must complete in your first year in order to proceed with your major.
If you choose to do a double degree with your LLB, it is important that you discuss this with the Faculty's course advisers and with the course advisers for the other degree that you are taking.
See what our students say about doing double degrees:
- Yasmin Olsen (LLB, BA)
- Ella Thompson (LLB, BSc)
- Jordan Grimmer (LLB, BA)
- Rebecca Hunt (LLB, BCom)
- Peter Wigglesworth (LLB, BA)
- Harriet McCartin (LLB, BCom)
- Sara Lomaloma (LLB, BA)
- Henry Fitz-Gerald (LLB, BCom)
Otago Law Career events
Meet our fantastic Law lecturers. Hear about studying Law at Otago, the structure of the Otago Law degree, and potential career opportunities.
These career opportunities are not limited to legal practice but range widely from business, through government departments to working for international organisations. Practical examples of how the law is taught will be a major feature of the session.
The Law Career event is open to year 12 and 13 students. Parents are also invited to attend.