KEY POINTS:
Dozens of students approached New Zealand's newest law school seeking entry before it had even been given the official sign off because of rumours it was in the pipeline.
Auckland University of Technology vice chancellor Derek McCormack said Tertiary Education Commission approval for the new school - the country's sixth law school - was only given this week, delayed by a briefing to the incoming Government.
Mr McCormack said the approval was so late that applications for AUT's other limited-entry courses had already closed.
But special arrangements were being made for the new school, which will specialise in commercial law and is expected to offer first-year classes for up to 100 students from next year.
He said University of Auckland lecturers apparently told first-year students who might not get into its shrunken second-year intake, to take a look at AUT. "[That] was interesting because we didn't know that we would be offering a degree at that point."
The new four-year degree was also approved by the New Zealand Council of Legal Education and the New Zealand Vice Chancellors' Committee on University Academic Programmes.
AUT's dean of law is Professor Ian Eagles, formerly at the University of Auckland.
Mr McCormack said Auckland's large population had been under served in law education places compared to other major centres.
During consultation, the AUT proposal faced strong opposition from NZ Law Students' Association, which said law students' interests were already well served by the five existing law schools.
