Bond Canadian Law Program
Educating Tomorrow's Global Legal Professionals
Bond is Australia's largest Law School for Canadian Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Laws candidates.
The Bond Law experience goes far beyond traditional theoretical learning. Our state-of-the-art Legal Skills Centre has purpose-built facilities where you will apply your learning in practice.
Bond has strong links with Canada and has been training Canadian lawyers for over 20 years. There are currently over 150 Canadian students studying law at Bond University and an active Canadian Law Students' Association. There is a rapidly expanding group of Bond Law Canadian alumni working as partners and senior practitioners in Canada and worldwide.
Bond has three intakes per year, January, May and September. Students can apply anytime, and an admissions test such as the LSAT is not required. If you have questions about application dates or would like to apply, please refer to the contact details below.
Law at Bond
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Which Bond law program is right for me?
Bond's Law programs are designed to equip you for a career in the legal profession, business, industry or government. The combination of excellent teaching, small classes, international perspective and extensive legal skills program provides an exciting learning experience that both challenges you academically and prepares you practically for a legal career.
The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and the Juris Doctor (JD) are both professionally recognised degrees. Entry into the JD is restricted to graduate students while the LLB is only available to students who have not yet completed a Bachelor's degree. Canadians who possess a prior degree in any discipline can only enrol in the JD.
The compulsory law units for the two Bond degrees are the same:
- The LLB comprises 32 subjects in total, including 17 compulsory law subjects, 7 law electives, 3 University core subjects and 5 general electives; and
- The JD comprises 24 subjects in total, including 17 compulsory law subjects and 7 law electives.
Canadian students wishing to undertake further studies should consider enrolling in the Master of Laws. Elective subjects from the Bond JD may be applied as advanced standing and assist students to fast-track their LLM studies.
For students who wish to remain in Australia and practice law, you can enrol in the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP).
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Canadian law classes
The Bond Faculty of Law presently offers four Canadian law subjects:
- Foundations of Canadian Law
- Canadian Criminal Law
- Canadian Constitutional Law
- Canadian Administrative Law
In addition, students can undertake a complimentary online course offered each semester on Canadian Professional Responsibility taught by a Canadian law academic which aims to assist Canadian students with their preparation for the NCA exams.
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Canadian law professors
The Bond Law School employs Canadian lawyers/professors to teach the Canadian law classes at Bond. Currently fulfilling that role is Assistant Professor Lisa Bonin. Prior to joining Bond, she practiced as a litigator at a leading national law firm in Toronto. In addition to being licensed in Ontario, Lisa is admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales in addition to practising in Queensland. Lisa holds an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, a BA from the University of Toronto and is now completing her Doctor of Legal Science (SJD).
From time to time, we also host distinguished Canadian legal professionals and academics to guest lecture and co-teach in our Canadian course offerings.
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Legal skills training
An Integrated Skills and Professional program is embedded in a Bond Law degree and focuses on core legal skills essential to the practice of law. These include legal research and analysis, legal writing and drafting, negotiation, and oral communication and presentation.
The Legal Skills Centre is a landmark industry training facility and is the first of it kind to integrate the full complement of legal-based training facilities. With purpose built suits designed to teach negotiation, client interviewing, mediation and simulate a law office experience for our students.
The centrepiece is a full-scale court comprising an courtroom setting equipped with evidence management systems, video conferencing facilities and video streaming that replicates the very latest technology used in the High Court of Australia.
Described by the Honourable Justice Kirby as "the finest moot court in any Australian institution", this showcase facility will ensure all Bond law graduates are fully conversant with the emerging technologies and systems used in today's courtrooms. An additional medium-sized moot court and a smaller moot court are also available for practice, preparation and presentations.
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Visiting Canadian judges and lawyers
The Faculty of Law has welcomed a number of distinguished Canadian legal professionals and academics to guest lecture and co-teach in our Canadian course offerings, including:
Mark Arnold Partner, Gardiner Miller Arnold LLP, Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto Paul Larsh
Crown Counsel, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General (retired) The Honourable Wally Oppal QC Former Attorney General of British Columbia, and former Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia -
Scholarships
For Juris Doctor students who are not Australian citizens there are currently no scholarships available. For LLB students, there is the International Student Excellence Scholarship which provides up to 50% awards.
For more information please visit our scholarships page.
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Entry Requirements
In general, applications are open all year round for any of our upcoming semester intakes (January, May or September) – you can apply at any time. All applications are assessed individually and upon merit, and there are no limits or quotas on how many students we accept. We will review your academic history and performance, looking for your GPA as well as grade progression and consistency. The application also requires you to submit a resume and personal statement. For both the LLB and the JD we generally require students to have a minimum cumulative grade/average of 70% (B- to B average). This can be expressed as a percentage or as a GPA such as 2.7-2.9/4.0, 3.0/4.33 etc.
If you don't meet this requirement, you may still be considered for admission to the program if other elements of your application are strong (eg. resume, references). We recommend everybody to apply regardless of your perceived eligibility and our assessment process will determine your eligibility. Should you not be directly qualified for entry to the LLB or JD, we also offer short pathway programs (1 or 2 semesters) to help you upgrade your results and become qualified.
No LSAT is required. Even if you have a score it will not be reviewed.
The National Committee on Accreditation & Bar admissions process in Canada
The following information is a representation of the policies and procedures of the National Committee of Accreditation (NCA), as part of the Federation of the Law Societies of Canada (FLSC), and is subject to change by the NCA at any time. While Bond aims to ensure accuracy of this information at all times, it is the responsibility of the reader to ensure they review the information located on the NCA website.
To practice law in Canada, you need to be admitted to the Bar in your Province. A Bond University law degree is eligible for admission to the Bar, but before you can be admitted, here are the steps to complete:
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Step 1
Your first step is to obtain a Certificate of Qualification from the National Committee on Accreditation (the ‘NCA’) of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. This certificate will state that you have the education and training equivalent to that of a law graduate from an accredited Canadian law school. At the completion of your program, your transcripts will need to be submitted directly to the NCA and you will submit an online application and provide some other supporting documents (including transcripts from any other universities attended).
The NCA will require you to sit for a minimum of five courses in Canadian law, either completing those courses at a Canadian University, or undertaking self-study “Challenge Exams” in each course. The Challenge Exams are by far the most popular option with Bond graduates.
Current graduates have been prescribed five exams only, but future graduates may be prescribed more. The five exams are Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Foundations of Canadian Law and Canadian Professional Conduct. The exams are offered four times per year – January, April, August and October.
Bond University offers four of the Canadian Law classes (Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Foundations of Canadian Law) as electives so you will take exams for these classes twice – once at Bond and then again at the NCA. The fifth class (Canadian Professional Conduct) is also provided by Bond, but it's a seminar and not a graded class. This is complimentary for Bond students.
An Applicant whose application is assessed by the NCA on or after 1 January 2022. will be required to complete a course in legal research and writing offered by a Canadian Common Law Program, approved by the NCA, or complete the NCA legal research and writing module with the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education.
Once you have the NCA Certificate of Qualification, you are in the same position as graduates from Canadian law schools. So the next steps from this point forward are the same for all law school graduates in Canada.
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Step 2
You will next complete your Articles at a law firm which will continue for ten months. In most Provinces, you will register with the Law Society as an Articling Student which your law firm will participate in and sign off on the number of hours you complete. At any time during the Articling Period, you can take the Barrister & Solicitor exam which is an open book, all day exam. Once the required number of hours of Articling is completed and the exam has been taken, you will pay your licensing fee and be admitted to the Bar (with a ceremony) and can then practice law.
There is a new option that is similar to Australia where you can enrol at Ryerson University to complete a Professional Legal Training (PLT) program combined with an internship at a law firm, after which you can be admitted to the Bar. This program is called the LPP – Law Practice Program.
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Latest news from the NCA
The NCA requires that a law degree must include no less than one (1) year (at Bond this means two (2) semesters) of in-person instruction. The remaining duration of the law degree must include at least one (1) year of interactive online instruction that meets the NCA criteria. Interactive learning is defined by the NCA in Clause 7.2. Semester 1 (January) 2020 was delivered ‘in person’ to all students. Semester 2 (May) 2020 was delivered in ‘interactive online mode’ to all students. From Semester 3 (September) 2020 to date, subjects are delivered ‘in person’ to some students and in ‘interactive online’ mode to other students, depending upon their location.
Law Broadcast
Learn everything you need to know about studying law at Bond. Hear from our International Regional Managers, Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, Kathy Atkins, and Bond academics.
Study in Australia – Live from Bond | Law
Tuition fees
As a not-for-profit organisation, 100% of your Bond University tuition fees are re-invested in creating an elite five-star educational experience.
This is why we are able to provide world-class facilities, state-of-the-art learning resources and, most importantly, smaller classes that give you one-on-one access to Australia’s leading academics and corporate achievers.
When considering the fees associated with your studies, keep in mind that Bond’s fast-tracked schedule means you’ll finish your degree sooner and be out in the workforce up to a year earlier than if you went to another university.
All fees are listed on each individual program page.
Please visit the Bachelor of Laws, Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice program pages for fee related information.
Being in the midst of the Gold Coast, there are a wide range of living options, and you are sure to find a location and lifestyle balance to suit you. Find out more about living expenses.
There are a number of financing options available to you to assist with covering the costs of studying at Bond. These include Canadian Government loans and lines of credit. Find more information on our Canada page.