JD program concentrations
The vast majority of our students choose whichever courses interest them most. Some students wish to “specialize.” To that end, we offer four voluntary Concentrations:
Students may complete only one Concentration. There is one exception: if students choose Access to Justice in French, they may also choose a second Concentration.
If you are interested in taking a Concentration, you must choose the appropriate courses when registering for your second and third years of the JD program. You do not have to declare your Concentration until the final term of third year – so you can change your mind, or not choose a Concentration at all; Concentrations are totally optional.
Access to Justice in French Concentration
Manitoba and Canada are home to significant francophone communities, whose members are, in many circumstances, entitled to legal services in French. Choosing this Concentration will equip you to meet the needs of these communities and the growing demand for legal services in French. Recent funding from Justice Canada’s Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Fund has enabled the Faculty of Law to offer nearly 40 credits of bilingual core and optional courses that will prepare you to practice law in both official languages.
Learn more about the Concentration in Access to Justice in French
Criminal Law & Justice Concentration
This Concentration will differentiate you by demonstrating your knowledge in critical and Indigenous perspectives and issues in Criminal Law & Justice, beyond the mandatory JD curriculum. This Concentration will assist law students who intend to go on to serve as prosecutors or defense lawyers with expertise and skills that are relevant to the challenges of applying criminal statutes, prosecuting or defending accused persons, all the while being apprised of the legal and EDI considerations that are relevant when the accused is an Indigenous, Black, or racialized person.
Students choosing the Criminal Law & Justice Concentration must take a minimum of three credit hours (one course) from this list:
- LAW 3338 Sentencing
- LAW 3272 Criminal Justice, Family Law and Indigeneity
- LAW 3590 Charter Issues in Criminal Law
Students must also take a minimum of 12 credit hours (four courses) from the list below. Courses are currently offered, or generally offered on a two-year cycle:
- LAW 3030 Independent Research Paper (Criminal Law topic)
- LAW 3272 Criminal Justice, Family Law and Indigeneity
- LAW 3284 International Criminal Justice
- LAW 3338 Sentencing
- LAW 3352 Sexual Expression, Conduct and Work in Canada
- LAW 3532 Intensive Criminal Law
- LAW 3590 Charter Issues in Criminal Law
- LAW 3828 Preventing Wrongful Convictions
Law and Society Concentration
Law and Society explores how legal and social systems are interconnected, how people live, and how law is woven into communities. The objective of the Law & Society Concentration is for students to better understand how law impacts and reflects society and how socio-cultural and historical factors impact law.
This Concentration will support you in your commitment to the comprehensive practice of law within the context of sociological scholarship and access to justice. It will be useful for students who wish to practice law in public defender offices, legal aid offices, lower courts, administrative agencies, work with juries or police, or who wish to work as prosecutors, researchers, academics and professors.
Students in the Law & Society Concentration must take any five courses (equivalent to 15 credit hours) from the following list. These courses are currently offered, or are generally offered on a two-year cycle:
- LAW 3070 Gender and the Law
- LAW 3090 Children, Youth, and the Law
- LAW 3120 Philanthropy and the Law
- LAW 3170 Dispute Resolution
- LAW 3282 Indigenous Peoples, Oral History, and the Law
- LAW 3286 Law and Religion
- LAW 3336 Law and Popular Culture
- LAW 3346 Access to Justice
- LAW 3352 Sexual Expression, Conduct and Work in Canada
- LAW 3362 Animals and the Law
- LAW 3364 Law and Resistance
- LAW 3380 Issues in Law and Bioethics
- LAW 3410 Canadian Legal History
- LAW 3980 Race, Racism and the Law
- LAW 3980 Disability and the Law
Private Enterprise & the Law Concentration
This Concentration is intended to support small and medium enterprises, family businesses and Indigenous economic development, and contribute to their success provincially and regionally. Law students who intend to serve such businesses as counsel will need expertise and skills that are relevant to the challenges and opportunities such economic entities and their stakeholders face.
Students choosing the Private Enterprise & the Law Concentration must take a minimum of 12 credit hours (any 4 courses) from the list below. Courses are generally offered on a two-year cycle:
- LAW 2400 Wills and Succession
- LAW 2490 Trusts
- LAW 2640 Family Law
- LAW 3012 International Business Law
- LAW 3014 International Trade Law
- LAW 3016 Corporations Law II
- LAW 3022 Insurance Law
- LAW 3050 Commercial Law
- LAW 3274 Advanced Family Law
- LAW 3330 Employment Law
- LAW 3342 Agency and Partnerships
- LAW 3348 Bankruptcy and Insolvency
- LAW 3394 Internet and E-Commerce Law
- LAW 3450 Remedies
- LAW 3510 Corporate Taxation
- LAW 3770 Labour Management Relations
Students must also take a minimum of three credit hours (one course) from the list below. If one of the four courses listed below is taken to satisfy the Indigenous course requirement, another must be taken to satisfy the Private Enterprise & the Law Concentration requirement:
- LAW 3030 Independent Research Paper (Private Enterprise and the Law topic)
- LAW 3278 Indigenous Economic Development and the Law
- LAW 3282 Indigenous Peoples, Oral History and the Law
- LAW 3310 Aboriginal Peoples and the Law
Connect with us about the program
Contact us
Faculty of Law
224 Dysart Road
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada