Lahore University of Management Sciences

Undergraduate Programmes

BA-LL.B

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Frequently Asked Questions

The B.A.-LL.B is a 5-year joint degree program, the first two years of which are devoted to foundational courses in the social sciences and humanities (B.A.), and the final three years of which comprise the LL.B curriculum.

The B.A.-LL.B is structured as a 5-year joint degree program. Presently, there is no room for lateral entry into the LL.B curriculum. Therefore, the admission requirements for the B.A.-LL.B are the same as those for all undergraduate programs at LUMS. For further information on the admission requirements and procedures, please visit the Admissions page on the LUMS website.

No. Presently, lateral entry into the LL.B curriculum is not permitted. All students are required to complete the 5-year B.A.-LL.B curriculum at LUMS, regardless of whether they already have a B.A. qualification from another institution. However, a student who is currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at another accredited university may be able to transfer into the B.A.-LL.B Program at LUMS, provided that he/she fulfills the criteria at LUMS for transfer students and has been admitted by LUMS Admissions as a transfer student. Please refer to the Admissions page on the LUMS website for further information concerning transfer students.

You may or may not opt for the B.A.-LL.B Program at the time of admission. You are allowed to change your choice of major at a later date, provided that you declare your major within the stipulated deadline. Presently, the policy is that if you wish to enroll in the LL.B, you must declare LL.B as your major by the end of your freshman year. This will help in ensuring that a place is reserved for you in the LL.B Program.

There is no clear-cut answer to this question. Generally, it is very difficult to switch your major once you have declared it. This is because of several reasons. Firstly, all undergraduate programs at LUMS are capped, which means that there is an upper ceiling in terms of the number of students who can enroll in a particular program. Secondly, once the deadline has passed, you will require special permission from the concerned program in order to make a switch. Even in a case where such permission is granted, you may only be able to carry over a certain percentage of your total academic units, which may mean that you will require extra time to eventually obtain your degree.


Therefore, we usually advise that you talk to as many faculty members as possible during your freshman year in order to identify your main area of interest so that you can make an informed decision regarding your major. Only in exceptional cases will the Department of Law & Policy consider a switch from another major to the LL.B, for instance where a course has not reached the limit of its cap. Of course, if a student wishes to transfer out of the LL.B major, he/she is welcome to do so at his/her own risk and expense.

Yes. The cap on enrolment in the LL.B is 50 students.

The criteria for enrolment in the LL.B are the same for most other undergraduate majors at LUMS. The student should be of good academic standing, i.e., he/she should have a reasonably good GPA, and should have successfully completed the prerequisites. In particular, students must have completed the two pre-law courses, namely (i) Introduction to Legal Reasoning, and (ii) Pakistani Legal System. Note, however, that these are not the only prerequisites for the LL.B. Please refer to the B.A.-LL.B Curriculum for further information on LL.B prerequisites.

The LL.B Program being offered by the Department of Law & Policy at LUMS is the only one of its kind in the country, with a permanent full time research-oriented faculty and a path-breaking curriculum that goes much beyond the core courses specified by the Pakistan Bar Council. Socially relevant and cutting-edge subject areas that have hitherto not received any significant place in the core study of law in Pakistan, such as Human Rights Law and Legal Ethics, form an integral part of the core curriculum of our LL.B Program. In addition, we aim to give our students a competitive edge in the market through rigorous clinical training by offering compulsory subjects such as Legal Research & Writing, Pleadings & Conveyancing, Advocacy & Negotiations, and Moot Courts, amongst others. Finally, our wide range of elective courses in the final year of the LL.B will provide students the opportunity to specialize in particular areas of interest.


Another hallmark of our LL.B Program is the pedagogy adopted by the Law Faculty, which involves unique and innovative teaching methodologies, including the Socratic method, group discussions, moots, directed studies, seminars, visiting lecturers, negotiation exercises, class presentations, and class participation and role playing. The in-house development of course syllabi, which are composed of materials from multiple jurisdictions and sources, is yet another unique feature of our LL.B Program. Therefore, since the LL.B Program at LUMS has as its pivotal focus Pakistani law, it is not based on a “foreign” curriculum and hence, caters to local realities. At the same time, it is not entirely “local” in its content – the comparative approach ensures an international dimension.


You will find detailed information on the objectives of the B.A.-LL.B Program in the section on the “Vision Statement”.

Yes. In the final year of the LL.B, students will be required to take five electives. The Law & Policy Faculty envisions the ability to offer a range of advanced electives sufficient to enable students to pursue an area of sub-disciplinary specialization. Elective offerings will include (a) interdisciplinary courses such as Law and Regulation, Law and Public Policy, Law and Development, Law & Gender, Law & Society, Law and Economics, etc.; (b) advanced courses in specialized streams such as corporate laws, constitutional and administrative laws, regulatory laws, human rights laws, etc.; and (c) additional specialized courses such as environmental law, intellectual property law, banking laws, NGO laws, etc.

As far as the B.A.-LL.B Program is concerned, even if you were to fulfill the requisite academic units for a minor subject other than your LL.B major, this will not show up on your transcript. This is because the LL.B is already part of a 5-year joint degree professional program.

Generally, the answer is no. The structure of the LL.B Curriculum is fairly rigorous and circumscribed, and the workload is substantial. Therefore, we advise students not to register for non-law courses while they are enrolled in the LL.B Program. Nevertheless, in exceptional circumstances, law students take non-law courses in the summer quarters in order to earn academic units that they may require for graduation. Another possibility for students to gain exposure to more advanced interdisciplinary areas is to enroll in elective subjects in the final year of the LL.B, subject to availability, which are cross-listed with other departments and programs, such as the Department of Economics and the Department of Social Sciences.

Yes. Apart from the clinical dimension of the LL.B curriculum, students are encouraged, with the help and guidance of the Law Faculty, to take up internships over the summer breaks in order to explore the legal market and embark upon the process of identifying potential employers for future careers.


Further, activities such as Guest Lecture Series and Distinguished Lecturer Series are planned throughout the academic year. These provide a forum to Pakistan’s preeminent legal and socio-legal scholars, including lawyers, judges, public figures, government officials, civil society leaders, policy makers and regulators, business professionals and other prominent individuals, to address and engage the law and policy students at LUMS. The main objectives for academic lectures and other similar extracurricular activities are to provide the law and policy students with insight into the justice system, to inspire them in their study of law and policy, and to develop meaningful linkages with the market.


For more detail on summer placements and career opportunities in general, please visit the section on “Future Prospects”.

The Pakistan Bar Council.

Yes. The B.A.-LL.B Program is already known to and recognized by many regional and international universities as a qualitatively novel and unique law program in Pakistan. LUMS Law Graduates will, therefore, be eligible to apply for Graduate Programs around the world. It is worth mentioning here that some of our existing Law Faculty members have been teaching law-oriented courses as part of other programs prior to the launch of the Law & Policy Program. Many students taught by these faculty members in the past have gone on to study law in prestigious universities around the world.


You can obtain further information on our institutional linkages in the section on “Partnerships and Collaborations”, though the recognition of our Program is certainly not limited to these institutions.

Please refer to the section on “Future Prospects” for detailed information on career counseling and career opportunities.

Using a good law firm in Pakistan as a benchmark, the average starting salary for a LUMS Law Graduate is likely to be in the range of Rs. 25,000 – 30,000 per month.