Master of Legal Studies

Our MLS is designed for professionals from non-legal backgrounds who require some knowledge of legal matters. Professionals such as accountants and auditors, architects and town planners, business development managers, compliance managers, engineers, IT professionals, police and public sector staff have greatly benefitted from this programme. Our programme provides flexible legal study for both full-time and part-time students. You can study while you work to keep up the momentum or go full-time to get to the next level even faster. Entry to the MLS is available throughout the year providing the flexibility you need to accelerate your career. The MLS permits cross-disciplinary study in the form of one or two masters courses (up to 30-points) from another faculty at the University of Auckland. It also provides skills in legal research methodology for those without advanced skills in this area. With over 30 taught courses to choose from you can concentrate your study in particular areas of specialisation or study a broad range of legal subjects. The MLS can be undertaken through coursework or a combination of coursework and research. This programme allows you to study specific areas of law. The programme offers courses that provide detailed analyses of particular areas of law, as well as courses that are more policy-oriented. Each course contains a significant research component, usually in the form of a 12,500-word research essay for 30-point courses. This programme allows you to study specific areas of law via coursework as well as conduct in-depth study in an area of personal interest to enhance employment opportunities. Specialisation is optional but you can choose to have your LLM awarded in one of our six specialisation areas: , , , , Litigation and Dispute Resolution or . You must complete a minimum of 90 points (made up of approved taught courses, a dissertation, thesis or research portfolio) in one of the six specialisations for the degree to be conferred with an endorsement in that particular area.

The MLS programme offers two study pathways depending on the length of your undergraduate degree. It can be undertaken by coursework or a combination of coursework and research.

1. The 120-point MLS option is available to professionals with a four-year degree
There are two ways to structure this degree

1. Taught masters (MLS 120 by coursework)
120 points of taught courses.
To be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or four part-time semesters (2 years).
OR
2. Combination of taught and research masters (MLS 120 by 90-point thesis)
30 points of taught courses and a 90-point minor thesis (30,000 words).
To be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or four part-time semesters (2 years).

2. The 180-point MLS option is available to professionals with a three-year degree
There are two ways to structure this degree:

1. Taught masters (MLS 180 by coursework)
180 points of taught courses.
To be completed in three full-time semesters (1.5 years) or six part-time semesters (3 years).
OR
2. Combination of taught and research masters (MLS 180 by 90-point thesis)
90 points of taught courses and a 90-point minor thesis (30,000 words).
To be completed in three full-time semesters (1.5 years) or six part-time semesters (3 years).

Flexible study
We understand that personal, family and work commitments are important factors when deciding whether to study, so we offer options to fit with your lifestyle:

• Full-semester courses taught in the early evening once a week
• Half-semester courses taught for six weeks of the semester in the early evening once a week
• Intensively-taught courses over three to five days (usually incorporating a weekend break, ie Weds, Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tue)
• Independent research programmes.