Course Descriptions
LAWS 2137 Regulation of Financial Institutions
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The seminar will introduce students to the legal and regulatory framework that governs Canadian financial institutions and will examine whether the current framework is appropriate in order to sustain the integrity and stability of our financial institutions and financial system. Specific topics that will be covered include: an overview of the Canadian financial system; goals of and philosophical approaches to regulation; examination of different types of financial institutions; the “four pillars” theory; constitutional division of powers and other jurisdictional issues; ownership restrictions; protection of depositors and financial consumers; the payments system; prudential standards; corporate governance issues; financial crises; and impact of globalization on financial institution regulation.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper 70%, class participation 15%, and class presentations 15%.
COREQUISITES: Business Associations
LAWS 2138 Securities Regulation
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will address the theoretical basis for and the role of securities regulation in regulating capital markets and protecting investors. It will provide students with a firm understanding of the basics of securities laws and policies and sufficient guidance to permit them to research certain complex aspects of the subject that cannot be covered in an introductory course. Specific topics which will be covered include: institutional and regulatory framework; theory of securities regulation; licensing of securities market professionals; regulation of primary market offerings; trading in the secondary markets, continuous market disclosure, including such topics as financial, insider trading and proxy solicitation regulations; regulation of market conduct, including the specifics of take-over bid and issuer bid legislation; and enforcement matters.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Based primarily on a problem-oriented written examination at the end of the course.
PREREQUISITES: Business Associations
LAWS 2144 Corporate/Securities Law Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Canadian Corporate/Securities Law Moot Court Competition is an annual Moot Court competition, sponsored by the Toronto law firm of Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg LLP, which focuses upon the fields of corporate and securities law in Canada. The competition is designed to provide students having an interest in these areas of legal practice with an opportunity to meet with judges, corporate and securities regulators, academic lawyers and legal practitioners to debate legal issues of current importance to the Canadian business community.Teams of mooters from a number of Canadian law schools will meet in late February or early March in Toronto to moot a problem. The competition requires collaborative work on a hypothetical problem in the area of corporate and securities law. It will require extensive research culminating in the preparation of a factum. It will also include a preparatory oral advocacy session and the eventual pleading of the problem before a board consisting of judges, corporate/securities regulators, academic lawyers and legal practitioners. This competition is open to both second and third year students. Participants will be selected on the basis of written applications; selection will be based upon a student's stated interest in participation, prior experience, oral advocacy skills and academic record. Please note students may take only one competitive moot during their degree.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Research, factum and oral advocacy. Participation in the competition satisfies the major paper writing requirement, if the student wishes to count the moot as a major paper.
PREREQUISITES: Business Associations
LAWS 2145 Sale of Goods
CREDIT HOURS: 2
This course is about commercial transactions involving the sale and supplyof goods. It deals with the law relating to the sale and supply of goodsand, in particular, involves a detailed study of the Sale of Goods Act.Topics to be covered include the definition of a sale, the classification of goods, the definition of property, the consequences of property passing, the rules for determining when property passes, the performance of the contract, and remedies for breach of contract. The course will also discuss consumer protection issues and the Vienna International Sales Convention.
NOTES: Students should note that this course constitutes only one of two parts of the subject area of Commercial Transactions, as listed on the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Recommended Courses. The other part of this subject area is taught in Commercial Law (B): Secured Transactions.
Assessment Method: Written examination that may be open or closed-book
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week
LAWS 2153 Business and Environmental Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course examines the evolution of business responsibilities to prevent and remedy environmental harm in domestic and international law. First, the course will explore how environmental concerns, notably liability for contaminated sites and pollution, impact business transactions and operations. Consideration will be given to the role of government in regulating private sector business operations, the meaning of due diligence, and industry standards. Second, the course will explore international and transnational business and environment issues, such as transnational environmental liability, and the implications of investor-state dispute settlement for the ability of states to effectively regulate the environment. Finally, the course will consider how international normative shifts, most recently the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, are pushing businesses to pro-actively embrace international corporate social responsibility norms, and adopt business models and financing tools that enable them to contribute positively to long-term sustainability, rather than simply reacting to fear of liability.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major research paper, class participation, class presentation
COREQUISITES: Business Associations or Environmental Law I
LAWS 2159 Health Systems: Law and Policy
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Traditionally, health law scholarship has focused on the physician-patient relationship; however, increasingly, lawyers are turning their attention to larger system issues and the complex web of relationships between governments, private insurers, doctors and other health professionals, public and private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and patients. This course will focus on the structure and dynamics of Canada’s healthcare system. It will locate Canada’s system amongst the variety of approaches taken internationally to the financing and allocation of health insurance and health services and to the regulation of the quality of health services. Issues to be explored include what different theories of distributive justice demand in terms of access to healthcare, the extent of market failure in health insurance and health service markets, how to determine what services are publicly funded and means of review of these decisions, how to ensure the accountability of decision-makers, why the present system fails Aboriginal peoples, regulation of privately financed healthcare (in vitro services, drugs, medical equipment, home care, etc.), the shift from institutional care to care in the home, the need for reform of the medical malpractice system, managed care, and general issues of privatization, deregulation and reregulation.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major research paper (60%), policy formulation and reflection exercise (30%), general class participation (10%).
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2160 Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Placement
CREDIT HOURS: 6
The justices of the Supreme Court have agreed to have two students in each of the fall and winter terms and one student in the spring/summer to serve as student law clerks for 6 credit hours. Third year students with very good academic standing will be invited to apply for clerkship position. Students will take part in the work of the Court, assisting the judges with research and other tasks as requested. Those students who are placed with the Court in the fall and winter terms will be required to spend 18 hours per week on this court work. A student who is placed with the Court for the spring/summer clerkship will be expected to work for 6 weeks at 35 hours per week. In carrying out any task for the Court, students are strongly reminded that confidentiality is essential.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Based on satisfactory completion of assigned tasks, including assessment by the court of any written work. Evaluation will be on the basis of consultation between the faculty supervisor and supervising justices of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. This course does not fulfil the major paper requirement.
LAWS 2167 Health Law Placement
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This placement offers students a practice-based opportunity to work with and learn from health law practitioners. Students will assist in the work of Placement Organizations by conducting legal research, writing and other substantive tasks as requested. Students are required to spend an average of nine hours per week on placement work. Placement Supervisors will assign substantive work to students, monitor students’ fulfillment of the course requirements, and consult with the Faculty Supervisor in relation to student evaluation. Students will be evaluated based on their performance in the placement, including assessment of written work. This course does not fulfill the major paper requirement. One placement is offered per term with each of the following organizations: the Nova Scotia Health Authority, and the IWK Health Centre. Application and Selection: Interested students must apply to Health Justice Institute (dhji@dal.ca), in writing. The deadline for applications will be around the end of May/beginning of June in accordance with the registration date for placements in the upcoming academic year (both Fall and Winter terms). The exact deadline date will be sent out via email to all 2nd and 3rd year students. Applications shall consist of a written statement of the student’s interest and experience in health law, and a copy of the student’s law school transcript. The Faculty Supervisor will select students based on academic standing and demonstrated interest and experience in health law. Students enrolled in Health Law 2132.03 in the Fall term may apply for a placement in the Winter term of the same academic year. Please note these placements will be subject to requirements of adequate notice and availability.
NOTES: ENROLMENT: One placement per term with each organization.
PREREQUISITES: Health Law (
LAWS 2132.03)
LAWS 2168 Internet and Media Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course deals with the law that governs the dissemination of information and the regulation of information providers. In this course, “media” is defined broadly to include broadcasters, newspapers and magazines and the internet. Topics that will be addressed include: defamation; liability of service providers; privacy issues and publication bans; media regulation; copyright issues, and conducting business via the internet ("e-commerce"). The impact of the internet on the legal regulation relating to each of these topics will be explored throughout the course.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Final examination (100%)
LAWS 2169 Competition Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course deals with Canadian competition law and policy, and in particular, the provisions of the Competition Act and the role of competition policy institutions such as the Competition Bureau and Competition Tribunal in enforcing and interpreting the Act as it applies to (i) mergers; (ii) cartels and other horizontal agreements; and (iii) distribution, pricing and marketing practices. The course also considers and encourages discussion of comparative/international competition law (or antitrust law, as it is known in the U.S.) and critical perspectives. As modern competition law is reliant upon micro-economic analysis, to some degree, some knowledge of economics is useful, but not required.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper and class presentation/participation
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2.5 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2170 Information Technology Transactions
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will focus on practical and substantive issues relating to the development, negotiation, and drafting of commercial agreements involving information technology and intangible assets. Topics will include licensing, distribution, and marketing agreements, together with issues pertaining to the commercialization, financing and acquisition of intellectual property. Students are partly evaluated through role assignments in which they prepare, negotiate, and finalize technology agreements. ENROLMENT: Limited to 16 third year students
NOTES: This class does not meet the major paper requirement.
LAWS 2171 Sopinka /McKelvey Cup Trial Advocacy Course
CREDIT HOURS: 2
This course is open to 16 students from second or third year selected through a trial advocacy exercise. Starting in September, students will learn the fundamentals of trial technique: exhibits introduction, objections, direct and cross examinations, legal arguments, and jury addresses. Each student will participate in a complete trial. The top four students will be selected to represent the law school in February at the McKelvey Cup, a regional competition between Dalhousie, Universite de Moncton and University of New Brunswick. The two person winning team from the McKelvey Cup will represent the region in March at the national Sopinka Cup Trial Advocacy Competition. Students who participate in the Fall portion of the course receive two credits; students who go on to compete in the McKelvey Cup receive one more credit for a total of three. If the team is selected for the Sopinka Cup, no extra credit will be received. The course does not count as a major paper, and students who participate in the competitive moot portion of the course are ineligible to take part in a further competitive moot at the law school.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Class participation and performance in trial advocacy exercises
EXCLUSIONS: Students taking this course cannot take Criminal Trial Practice
LAWS 2172 Advanced Legal Research
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course builds on the research and writing skills acquired in the first-year mandatory legal research and writing course. Canadian primary and secondary sources will be explored in depth, and students will also be introduced to the legal materials of international jurisdictions such as Great Britain, the United States and the European Union. There will be an opportunity to acquire advanced legal research techniques using print resources and electronic legal databases. Students will become skilled in evaluating legal materials and practise legal writing skills while doing exhaustive legal research in a chosen area of law.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Writing and research assignments, and class participation.
LAWS 2175 Family Law Placement (Supreme Court (Family Division))
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Two students will assist Judges of the Supreme Court (Family Division) each term, providing research and undertaking other tasks as directed by the supervising Judge. Students will be expected to spend nine hours per week working at the Court and upon the tasks assigned by the Court. Only third year students with good academic standing and a demonstrated interest in family law will be accepted. This course cannot be used to fulfil the major paper requirement. SUPERVISORS: Justice J. Williams, R. Thompson
NOTES: Assessment Method: Based on satisfactory completion of assigned tasks, including an assessment of written work such as memoranda provide to the Court
PREREQUISITES: Family Law
LAWS 2177 Labour Arbitration Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 2
The Matthews Dinsdale & Clarke National Labour Arbitration Competition—the “Labour Arbitration Moot”—brings together eight law schools in Toronto during a weekend in late January or early February. Work for the moot begins around mid-October. The moot is based on a problem setting out two grievances based on an agreed statement of facts. The team is charged with researching the underlying legal issues, identifying relevant cases, and preparing and delivering two rounds of oral argument: one on the union side and the other on employer side. There is no written component, though teams must prepare a book of authorities to support their arguments in each round. As well as developing advocacy skills and providing insight into a core part of labour law practice, the moot offers an unparalleled opportunity to interact with labour law practitioners, arbitrators, and law students from across the country with an interest in labour and employment law issues.
NOTES: Restrictions: Due to competition rules, registration is limited to second year students. Note students may take only one competitive moot during their degree.
COREQUISITES: LAWS 2014, Labour Law
LAWS 2178 Intellectual Property Law I
CREDIT HOURS: 4
This class provides students with an introduction to the legal regimes governing the protection of intellectual property. The class studies the rules laid down in the Canadian statutes and case law, in the specific areas of copyright, patents, plant breeders' rights, trademark law, and passing off, in the light of the relevant international conventions. The course explores the distinction between intellectual (e.g. copyright law) and industrial protection (e.g. patent, trademark and passing off), the main rationales behind each regime (e.g. utilitarian principles, law & economics, labour theory, natural rights theory, social justice theory), the criteria for protection of each regime (e.g. requirements for validity, like originality, novelty, inventiveness, & utility, or distinctiveness) and the formal requirements for obtaining protection (e.g. automatic protection or registration), the scope of protection (exclusive rights & exceptions), as well as the most common modes of exercise (e.g. individual or collective licensing) and enforcement of the rights (e.g. injunctive relief, damages, seizures). At the end of the course, the class is invited to reflect on the issue of the protection of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and the difficulty of the existing intellectual property framework to guarantee it effective protection.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Combination of assignments (30%) and final examination (70%)
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.
LAWS 2180 Directed Research Project
CREDIT HOURS: 2
Major projects requiring the production of media contributions (that is to radio, television, newspapers or magazines) may be accepted for academic credit at the Schulich School of Law. It is recognized that such endeavours deserve recognition both as legitimate academic exercises and as contributions to the public service mission of students and faculty. These projects may satisfy a major paper or examination component, as arranged between the professor and student. A high level of professional involvement is expected from the time the project is conceptualized until completion. Students and faculty should employ the guidelines for Directed Research papers (DRPs) in planning and evaluating such projects, with appropriate changes. Proposals for Directed Research Projects must be approved by the Studies Committee. Some limitations may be imposed upon the student's right to appeal a grade with which he or she is dissatisfied, given that this mode of evaluation does not fit within the usual Law School grading patterns. Although the Faculty encourages such innovative undertakings, the professor and student will be responsible to ensure that the academic standards of the Law School are maintained.
LAWS 2182 Mergers, Acquisitions and Other Changes of Corporate Control
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will consider the implications of various types of corporate control transactions, including hostile take-over bids, proxy contests, statutory arrangements, and “going private transactions”/business combinations. These subjects will be examined from a perspective that not only integrates corporate and securities law but is also informed by financial economics and public policy scholarship. Readings for the course will include cases from Canadian and other jurisdictions (especially the U.S.), statutory and other regulatory sources as well as scholarly articles.
NOTES: assessment Method: Final examination, class participation and one or more assignments.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 hours a week
COREQUISITES: Securities Regulation
PREREQUISITES: Business Associations
LAWS 2186 Directed Study Project
CREDIT HOURS: 1
Major projects requiring the production of media contributions (that is to radio, television, newspapers or magazines) may be accepted for academic credit at the Schulich School of Law. It is recognized that such endeavours deserve recognition both as legitimate academic exercises and as contributions to the public service mission of students and faculty. These projects may satisfy a major paper or examination component, as arranged between the professor and student. A high level of professional involvement is expected from the time the project is conceptualized until completion. Students and faculty should employ the guidelines for Directed Research papers (DRPs) in planning and evaluating such projects, with appropriate changes. Proposals for Directed Research Projects must be approved by the Studies Committee. Some limitations may be imposed upon the student's right to appeal a grade with which he or she is dissatisfied, given that this mode of evaluation does not fit within the usual Law School grading patterns. Although the Faculty encourages such innovative undertakings, the professor and student will be responsible to ensure that the academic standards of the Law School are maintained.
LAWS 2188 Restorative Justice: Theory and Practice
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar will introduce students to the theory and practice of restorative justice. Students will become familiar with the principles of restorative justice as compared with other theories of justice. Restorative Justice practices will be examined including an exploration of the role of victims, offenders, communities and facilitators. There will be particular emphasis on emerging restorative justice conferencing techniques. A number of “restorative” process models will be considered. Restorative justice has played a role at various points in the criminal justice system, including its use for crime prevention, diversion by police, prosecutors and in sentencing and corrections. Consideration will also be given to application beyond the criminal context, for example, in the areas of tort law, family law, environmental law and in dealing with large scale historical, social and political practices.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper, presentations and Class participation
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits