Business Law Concentration
Our Business Law concentration allows students to benefit from a rich curriculum, scholarly workshops in the field, and a robust faculty complement.
As an LLM student in this concentration, you'll gain nuanced understanding of key debates in Canadian and international business law while developing critical thinking and practical skills in drafting, deal structuring, negotiation, and problem-solving. Through our renowned strengths in corporate law and law and economics, you can pursue in-depth research from diverse topical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives, bridging theoretical knowledge with real-world business legal practice.
The University of Toronto Faculty of Law is home to several internationally renowned Business Law scholars as well as the faculty’s Investor Protection Clinic. With numerous faculty specializing in Business Law (and related areas), you'll enjoy small class sizes, frequent instructor interaction, and engagement with students with shared interests across the Faculty’s JD and graduate programs.
Our downtown Toronto location in Canada's financial core brings leading practitioners and business leaders directly into our classrooms. These experts contribute their experience as advocates, negotiators, drafters, and policy-makers, offering valuable insights from both business and legal practice while introducing you to diverse career opportunities.
Admission requirements for the Business Law concentration are the same as for the general LLM program. Students who wish to be considered for admission to the Business Law concentration are encouraged to demonstrate their interest in and suitability for the concentration in their personal statement. Applicants to the thesis LLM program with a Business Law concentration, are expected to be pursuing a thesis in Business Law or a related area.
Admission to the program is competitive and not everyone who applies to the concentration will be admitted. If you are not accepted into the Business Law concentration, you may still be accepted into the LLM program.
For more information about our program and admission process (including how to apply), please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
The Business Law concentration is available to students in both the thesis and coursework LLM streams.
Coursework-only option (24 course credits):
Students in the coursework-only stream, with a concentration in Business Law, must complete:
- LLM Seminar I (Fall, 1 credit).
- LLM Seminar II (Winter, 1 credit).
- An approved Research Methods Course (Fall or Winter, 2 or 3 credits) offered either at the Faculty of Law or another Faculty/Department at the University.
- An approved course in the foundations of legal thought (Fall or Winter, 2 or 3 credits).
- At least 8 credits of courses from an approved list of Business Law courses.
- Additional courses, either within or outside of the list of Business Law courses, to bring them to 24 total credits.
- A writing requirement, by choosing one of the options below:
- Designating a three (3) or four (4) credit course from the approved list of Business Law courses, as a writing requirement course and producing one piece of writing that is at least 5,000 words (or approximately 20 pages). Only courses requiring a written assignment of at least 5,000 words will qualify as a designated writing requirement course.
- Completing a two (2) or three (3) credit directed research project on a topic related to Business Law, requiring a written assignment of 7,000 and 10,500 words, respectively.
- Completing a two (2) or three (3) credit capstone project on a topic related to Business Law, requiring a written assignment of 7,000 to 10,500 words, respectively. Capstone projects may take a variety of forms other than a paper or essay, subject to the approval of the faculty supervisor and Associate Dean, Graduate Programs.
Thesis option (24 course credits):
Students in the thesis stream, with a concentration in Business Law, must complete:
- LLM Seminar I (Fall, 1 credit).
- LLM Seminar II (Winter, 1 credit).
- An approved Research Methods Course (Fall or Winter, 2 or 3 credits) offered either at the Faculty of Law or another Faculty/Department at the University.
- An approved course in the foundations of legal thought (Fall or Winter, 2 or 3 credits).
- At least 8 credits of courses from an approved list of Business Law courses.
- Write a thesis worth 6 credit hours; that is, approximately 17,500 to 20,000 words, in the area of Business Law. Students can choose to write a slightly longer thesis for 1 additional credit, or a slightly shorter thesis for 1 less credit.
- Additional courses, either within or outside of the list of Business Law courses, to bring them to 24 total credits.
Your course selection will be reviewed in order to ensure that an appropriate number of credits are devoted to Business Law.
- Art of the Deal
- Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law
- Business Organizations
- Canadian Income Tax Law
- Competition Law and Intellectual Property
- Competition Policy
- Contested Corporate Transactions - Mergers and Acquisitions
- Corporate Income Taxation
- Corporate Theory
- Financial Crimes and Corporate Compliance
- Financing the Small Technology Firm
- Good Faith in Contract Law
- Intellectual Property, Technology Licensing, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity in the Innovative Economy
- International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration
- International Taxation
- International Trade Regulation
- Law and Policy of Public-Private Partnerships
- Secured Transactions
- Securities Regulation
- The Life Cycle of a Startup
- Transnational Business and Human Right
- US Business Organizations
- US Taxation of Individuals and Businesses
The LLM does not qualify foreign-trained candidates to practice law in Ontario.
View our NCA-related offerings or contact the National Committee on Accreditation for information on practicing law in Ontario.