The first students to study law at the University of Melbourne enrolled in a two year, part-time course. They received a certificate rather than a degree. Lectures were held three times a week, in the evenings.
From 1861 students had the option of studying for the degree of LLB (Bachelor of Laws). The degree course added arts subjects to the law subjects studied by both the certificate and degree students. The shorter certificate course, undertaken mainly by articled clerks, remained more popular than the degree course until the early 1900s.
The first students to complete the degree course included John Madden (subsequently Warden of the Senate and Chancellor of the University of Melbourne), Robert Craig (who later headed Victoria's Teachers' Training College), Archibald Gilchrist and John Thomas Smith. They graduated in 1865.
The degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) was offered from 1864, and from 1881 the University awarded the degree of Master of Laws (LLM) to honours graduates in law, after five years, without further study. From 1883 to 1895, the LLB was a two-year graduate course, available only to students who had completed the BA course. This attempt at broadening the academic base of the LLB ended when changes in the rules for admission to practise made the graduate course unattractive to students, and it became an undergraduate course once again.
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