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Specialize in Law & Technology

We offer one of the strongest law and technology programs in the country. With ubiquitous computing and online connectivity, advances in biotechnology, big data storage and search, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain, questions of law, technology, policy, ethics, and society are of increasing importance and public concern. Our program is designed to prepare law students for technologies of today and tomorrow, with a variety of courses engaging with and thinking critically about issues and problems at the intersections of law, technology, and society.

The program is anchored by the Law & Technology Institute (LATI), which was founded to promote scholarly legal research and advance knowledge in technology law.

The Law & Technology Institute was among the first such research centers in the country; our flagship publication is the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology (CJLT). The CJLT is Canada’s leading technology law journal, with significant impact, currency, and citation scores ranking it eighth over all among Canadian law journals, and third overall internationally among all science and technology law journals outside the United States.

Students interested in registering for the Law & Technology Certificate must download and complete the and submit it to lawandtech@dal.ca as early as possible, ideally at the start of second year.

Specialization Requirements

JD students are able to earn a Certificate in Law & Technology. The specialization will be recognized on their transcript. To specialize, a student must take:

:

• LAWS 2178 – Intellectual Property Law I

and one of the following:

• LAWS 2019 – Law and Technology, or
• LAWS 2168/3 – Internet and Media Law, or 
• LAWS 2220/4 – Privacy Law

:

All electives offered as part of the Law & Technology Certificate build on the knowledge and skills acquired in the required courses. Please note not all courses are offered every year. Students must complete a minimum of three courses; either two from Basket 1 and one from Basket 2, or vice-versa. 

Basket One - Law and Technology

• LAWS 2019.03 – Law and Technology (If not completed as required course)
• LAWS 2168.03 – Internet and Media Law
• LAWS 2170.03 – Information Technology Transactions
• LAWS 2220.03 – Privacy Law
• LAWS 2230.03 – Science and the Law
• LAWS 2382.04 – Technological Competencies in Lawyering
• LAWS 2380.02 & LAWS 2381.02 – Law & Technology Legal Writing and Editorial Assistantship
• LAWS 2069 – Approved Directed Research Papers 

Basket Two - Intellectual Property Law

• LAWS 2028.03 – Copyright Law
• LAWS 2203.03 – Intellectual Property II
• LAWS 2217.03 – Intellectual Property Commercialization Placement
• LAWS 2222.03 – Patent Law
• LAWS 2273.03 – Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot
• Laws 2230.09 – Technology & Innovation Law: Clinical Advocacy (If not counted under Basket One)
• LAWS 2394.03 – Intellectual Property and Digital Innovation
• Approved Directed Research Papers

Other major paper courses may also serve as electives towards the specialization, if the paper topic is approved by the Director of the Law & Technology Institute, who oversees the Law & Technology Specialization program.

Note: Subject to exceptional circumstances and approval of the Associate Dean (Academic) and the relevant certificate directors, students may graduate with a maximum of two certificates.

Credits from a maximum of two individual course may be counted toward two different certificates.

For example:

• Credits earned in LAWS 2127/2128 Mental Disability Law: Criminal may count toward both the Health Law Certificate and the Criminal Justice Certificate.
• Credits earned in LAWS 2221 Public Health Law, where a student writes a paper related to the health challenges experienced by Indigenous people(s), may count toward both the Health Law Certificate and the Aboriginal and Indigenous Law Certificate.