Nigerian Law School

The Nigerian Law School is a educational institution set up by the Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria. Until the school was established, legal practitioners in Nigeria had received the requisite training in England and had been called to the English Bar.

Curriculum

The Law School offers course in criminal and civil litigation, property and corporate law, as well as a course in ethics. Over 70,000 students have graduated from the Nigerian Law School. Anyone who has obtained a University degree in law and wants to practice as lawyers in Nigeria must attend the Nigerian Law School. The Council of Legal Education gives certificates to students who pass the Bar Part II examinations, and these students are then called to the Bar.

Locations

The Lagos Campus was set up in 1962, moving to its current location in 1969. The law school headquarters was relocated to the town of Bwari near Abuja in 1997. At the time of the move, hostels and the main auditorium were still under construction. The town had no hospital, no telephone and banking services, and the school was constructing its own borehole to provide potable water. The Augustine Nnamani Campus is located in Agbani, Enugu State. A fourth campus is located in Bagauda, Kano State. There are two additional campuses now which brings it to a total of 6 campuses. One in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State and the sixth in Yola, Adamawa State.

Law school

A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.

Law degrees

Brazil

In Brazil, law is studied as an undergraduate program. Students who succesfully complete such programs are awarded a Bachelor of Law and are allowed to take the bar examination, which is held twice a year on a nation-wide basis. Candidates who pass the examination are then allowed to work as attorneys.

Canada

The oldest civil law faculty in Canada offering law degrees was established in 1848 at McGill University in Montreal, and the oldest common law faculty in Canada offering law degrees was established in 1883 at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The typical law degree required to practice law in Canada is now the Juris Doctor, which requires previous university coursework and is similar to the first law degree in the United States. There is some scholarly content in the coursework (such as an academic research paper required in most schools). The programs consist of three years, and have similar content in their mandatory first year courses. Beyond first year and the minimum requirements for graduation, course selection is elective with various concentrations such as business law, international law, natural resources law, criminal law, Aboriginal law, etc. Some schools, however, have not switched from LL.B. to the J.D. – one notable university that still awards the LL.B is McGill University.