Bachelor of Laws specialisations

Commercial Law is the area which deals with all legal matters connected with commercial business transactions including business structures, issue of shares, contracts, sale of property, loans, taxation, insurance and related matters. Law graduates interested in these fields are most likely to find employment in law firms, share brokers, accountancy firms, insurance companies, banks, government or private businesses.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Company Law
• Commercial Law I: Sales and Consumer Law
• Commercial Law II: Personal Property Security & Credit
• Insurance Law
• Law of Agency
• Competition Law
• Conflict of Laws
• European Union Law
• Insolvency Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Selected Issues in Taxation

Commercial Litigation is concerned with the settlement of commercial disputes.

In addition to the Commercial Law options, those wishing to specialise in this area would choose options from:

• Evidence
• Trial Advocacy
• Civil Litigation

Community Law is concerned with advising people who cannot afford to engage a lawyer from a law firm or who are otherwise disadvantaged. Law graduates who are interested in this kind of work are most likely to find employment in community law centres or with activist groups.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Family Law
• Commercial Law I: Sales and Consumer Law
• Commercial Law II: Personal Property Security & Credit
• Insolvency Law
• Insurance Law
• Landlord and Tenant
• Immigration and Refugee Law
• Employment Law

Criminal Justice is concerned primarily with the functioning of the criminal justice system. Law graduates interested in this field might find employment in legal practice, the Crown Law Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Probation Service, community law centres or the Police.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Issues in Policing, Prosecution and Alternatives to Prosecution
• Sentencing Theory and Practice
• The Principles of Evidence 
• NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 
• Trial Advocacy

Students should consider appropriate courses from the Bachelor of Criminal Justice.

Introduction to Criminal Justice (CRJU 101) can be taken as part of the non-law courses for the LLB and other BCJ courses may be cross-credited to the LLB. Discuss with the School of Law’s Academic Manager.

Employment and Industrial Law deals with employment contracts, health and safety, taxation and social security. Law graduates interested in these fields might find employment in commercial organisations, accountancy firms, community law centres and other advisory agencies, employers’ organisations, employment advocates or trade unions.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Employment Law
• Immigrations and Refugee Law
• Selected Issues in Taxation

General Practice is conducted mainly by small to medium-sized law firms. They deal with a wide range of business including property law, family law, commercial and consumer law, criminal law, trusts, wills and estates. Law graduates interested in General Practice are most likely to find employment with law firms throughout New Zealand.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Child and Family Law
• Relationship Property and Family Finance
• Company Law
• Commercial Law I: Sales and Consumer Law
• Commercial Law II: Personal Property Security & Credit
• Landlord and Tenant
• Insolvency Law
• Insurance Law
• Employment Law
• Selected Issues in Taxation

Information, Media and Technology Law is concerned with the regulation and the dissemination and ownership of all kinds of information. Law graduates interested in these fields might find employment with law firms, patent attorneys or as in-house counsel in radio, television or technology firms.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Intellectual Property Law
• Competition Law
• Media Law
• NZ Bill of Rights

Economic integration, international IP, investment protection are only some of the keywords of International Economic Law. This broad field covers all aspects of law, private and public, necessary to do business internationally.

Students with an interest in International Economic Law are recommended to take the following courses:

Law courses

• Principles of Public International Law
• World Trade Law
• Problems in International and Regional Trade
• International Investment Law and Arbitration
• European Union Law
• European Business Law
• European Public Law
• Private International Law
• Research project on an International Economic Law topic
• Moot Court Competition on WTO Law

Economics courses

• Introduction to Microeconomics
• International Trade 
• Industrial Organisation – this course requires ECON 207 as a pre-requisite

Management courses

• International Business
• Chinese Business Practices and Culture

The above courses are particularly interesting for students doing a double degree LLB/BCom.

International Law is largely conducted government-to-government and concerns the relationship of nations to each other. International Law also affects large parts of domestic law ranging from areas as diverse as criminal law and environmental law but is essentially the concern of the state. Law graduates in this field are most likely to find employment in central government (particularly – but not exclusively – in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) or international and nongovernmental organisations.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• European Union Law
• European Public Law
• International Human Rights
• Principles of Public International Law
• International Environmental Law
• Law of the Sea
• World Trade Law
• Antarctic Legal Studies

Māori Land and Resource Law is an area of growing importance which deals with claims under the Treaty of Waitangi and the application of natural resource law to Māori resources. Law graduates in this field are most likely to find employment in private practice, iwi organisations, or central and local government.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Indigenous Peoples’ Law in New Zealand
• Environmental Law, Policy and Society
• Environmental Law, Conservation and the Public Interest
• Judicial Review
• International Environmental Law
• International Human Rights
• Resource Management Act 1991: Selected Issues

Property and Resource Management Law deals with matters relating to the creation, ownership, possession and transfer of both tangible and intangible property. Law graduates interested in these fields might find employment with law firms, central and local government, patent attorneys, property management and development companies, or engineering consultancies.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Landlord and Tenant
• Advanced Land Law
• Selected Issues in Taxation
• Intellectual Property Law
• Environmental Law, Policy and Society
• Environmental Law, Conservation and the Public Interest
• Judicial Review
• International Environmental Law
• Resource Management Act 1991: Selected Issues

Public Law is concerned with the organisation and functioning of the institutions of government and the relationship of those institutions to its citizens and other bodies. Law graduates in this field are likely to find employment in central and local government, as well as in private practice.

Those wishing to specialise in this area would consider options from:

• Judicial Review
• Legislation: Law-making for the Twenty-first Century
• Jurisprudence
• Indigenous Peoples’ Law in New Zealand
• NZ Bill of Rights
• International Human Rights
• European Union Law
• European Public Law
• Advanced Public Law

There are numerous other highly specialised areas of Law which practitioners may move into as they gain experience, including:

• Law and Sport
• Law and Medicine