Bachelors in Law
Law with NOVA School of Law is more than a Bachelor’s Degree, it's learning how to shape the world.
Studying Law at NOVA School of Law is learning to change the world. It is accepting the challenge of making a difference in society and to those around us. For NOVA School of Law, teaching is preparing agents of change to be active, global, conscientious and humanistic lawyers. In today’s world it is no longer enough to be competent and able to foresee, understand and mediate interests and disputes. It is crucial to have the ability to consider what is best for an ideal future for partners, clients, and for citizens.
At NOVA School of Law we prepare those of you who want not only to be competent lawyers, but who want to stand out in the crowd and to make a difference, in Portugal and in the world. Someone who believes that each of us has the potential to promote a fairer society and who does not cease in their responsibility towards this end.
We do not regard our students as empty vessels, but rather, we enhance their individual qualities, open doors and broaden their horizons. Through constant, tireless and individual effort, everyone – professors, staff and students alike – questions what is within and beyond. We look for new realities, we go beyond boundaries and borders. This is the commitment of NOVA, which evolves and adapts in response to the changes and demands of society, of markets and of consequent student needs.
Choosing NOVA School of Law is to venture into a NEW way of learning to think about Law.
We are a team who believes that the proximity between student and teacher is essential for effective learning.
We create, right from the start of the degree, the development of a critical and creative spirit, promoting dialogued classes and specialised monitoring of study, promoting an approach to law that anticipates problems, and where that is not possible, of solving them in innovative ways.
We strive for constant pedagogical innovation, and firmly believe that a jurist in the contemporary world must be able to manage multidiscipliniarity arising from a global and digital world undergoing deep transformation. We fundamentally question the type of Law we have and need to have.
International and technological training is imperative.
We build on sound knowledge, intensifying it with best practice, as we believe in the dialogue between these two realities. And we encourage the development of humanistic jurists, capable of personalised and individualised views, aware of their transformative role in the construction of a more humane, contemporary society, capable of responding positively to the challenges that arise.
Scientific Commission 1st Cycle
President: Jorge Morais Carvalho | Board Members: Assunção Cristas (1st year) | Vítor Neves (2nd year) | Rita Calçada Pires (3rd year) | Frederico de Lacerda da Costa Pinto (4th year)
Career paths and Employability
Given the solid training in the legal area, graduates will naturally find placement in areas directly related to law, whether in the fields of magistracy, academia, arbitration and mediation, or consultancy in legal or tax areas.
The breadth of knowledge that the law degree encompasses, and the multidisciplinary nature of training at NOVA, places college graduates at the forefront of professions, not only of those directly associated with law, but of those for which law training is an important complement, such as careers in international organisations and NGOs, diplomacy, business management, communication consultancy and journalism.
The law degree is highly relevant for those wishing to pursue a career in government or public administration, appealing particularly to students looking for careers in the field of Security and Defense.
In order to deepen students’ curricular experience, strategies have been developed that include curricular internships, internships and international experiences, agreements with recruiting entities and employability fairs that facilitate the transition to and contact with the labour market in each of the areas of professional development mentioned above.
“Morais Leitão has always taken on a number of students from NOVA School of Law, relying on the many alumni, including lawyer-interns, associates and partners. At NOVA, we especially value multidiscipliniarity and the combination of a solid theoretical background with a pragmatic approach focused on problem solving,” Morais Leitão.
“When we recruit students from NOVA School of Law, they have acquired technical skills in their basic training, and developed behavioural skills such as communication and relationship skills, initiative, autonomy and a sense of responsibility,” PWC | Human Capital.
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Study Cycle |
Degree | A3ES Decision | Number of Years | Publication of the A3ES Decision | DGES Registration Number | Publication in Diário da República |
| Law | Bachelor | accredited | 6 | 13-11-2014 |
R/A -Ef 3195/2011/AL03 |
Curricular Plan
1º ano
B
P
1º Ano
B
P
2º ano
B
P
2º ano
B
P
3º ano
B
P
3º ano
B
P
4º ano
B
P
4º ano
B
P
Coordinators
Testimonials
Francisco Pedro Balsemão
CEO Impresa
“My five years of bachelors have shaped my personality and made me who I am today. In the early days at NOVA School of Law, the enthusiasm for the new school was something that imbued us all, teachers and students alike: the proximity to the most reputable teachers, the pragmatism and multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum, etc. In academic terms, I have no doubt that although I am doing something apparently unrelated to my university education, that the course at NOVA School of Law was the best choice I could have made, because it structured my thinking in an exemplary way and had numerous practical applications. The best I got from NOVA School of Law, – the importance of teamwork, resilience, etc. – has accompanied me and, I am sure, will continue to accompany me, in my personal and professional life.”
Rute Alves
Senior Associate, PLMJ
“The knowledge and experiences we acquired during college years stays with us for the rest of our lives. I am aware of this fact daily. NOVA School of Law was the institute I chose, which shaped me and influenced the way I still see law in my professional life: with a practical, critical sense and always with an awareness of its interdiscipliniarity. As a lawyer, I know only too well the importance that clients attach to a lawyer who is not only a lawyer, but who is also knowledgeable in the industry, and who is a partner in the search for innovative solutions. At NOVA, these characteristics are instilled in us from early on. The proximity between teachers and students allows for the creation of synergies that make NOVA an open, innovative community, with attentive, interested students, aware of the role of lawyers as partners in business, social and scientific projects. If today I had to choose again, I would not hesitate”
Gonçalo Silva
Former intern at the Portugal Mission to the United Nations and the EU Delegation in Portugal
“NOVA School of Law didn’t just give me a quality degree; it gave me an attitude towards life. An attitude towards building solutions, innovating and confronting the world with courage. Having interned with the United Nations after completing my degree was the beginning of a path where – I believe – the “NOVA School of Law attitude” has enabled me to make a difference, to add value and perhaps, to change the world a little more for the better.”
Mateus Carvalho
Consultant at FUTURA in the area of data protection and cybersecurity
“At NOVA School of Law I found the teaching of human law innovative and linked to reality. Along with the rigor and mastery of knowledge, I learned to truly think about the Law in a creative and integrated way at international level, something that helped me a lot in the chapter following my degree, in the area of European Union Law – an internship at the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
Diogo Rainha
Trainee Lawyer, Cuatrecasas
“The importance of the practical component of the Bachelor’s degree helped me to select from among the many potentialities of the area. It is true that in this new stage of my professional life I encounter challenges every day, but the background I have gained from NOVA School of Law gives me the confidence to embrace all projects in my professional life.”
Juliana Senra
Master Student Sociology of Law at Lund University
“After graduating from NOVA School of Law, which opened the doors to internationalism for myself and for many of my colleagues, I chose the master’s degree in Sociology of Law at Lund University in Sweden, where the methods and theories of social sciences are used to analyse and criticise the Law in the light of current issues. This master’s degree has enabled me to pursue an academic path and a more practical career.”
Matilde Lopes Alves
Student LL.M Competition Law at Queen Mary University of London
“NOVA School of Law was my home for four years and I was lucky to have the support and availability of teachers. At NOVA, I grew as a person and graduated as a lawyer. After this stage, I embarked on a new adventure, this time in London, where I started an LL.M in Competition Law at Queen Mary University of London. Today I know that the solid training that NOVA gave me prepared me for this challenge that I am now facing and I am fully aware of the doors that NOVA opens.”
Ana Machado
Forensic Master Student and Arbitration at NOVA School of Law
“My degree experience at NOVA School of Law proved to be fundamental for my growth, not only as a lawyer, but as a citizen. Putting our intellectual and practical capacities in constant challenge, this institute prepares jurists to face the future. Choosing the Master’s degree at NOVA was easy, as I knew I would be challenged and would continue to persevere in improving and deepening my skills and competences as a law student. Guided by professors who are aware of reality and who believe in integrated training in an environment of proximity quite evident in the academic community, this Faculty easily became a space where I felt at home.”