The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) was established by Act 27 of 2005 of the Kerala State Legislature. By the same Act, the National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) established by the Bar Council of Kerala Trust in 2002 merged with the NUALS. The University is recognized by the University Grants Commission under section 2(f) and section 12B of the UGC Act. It is also a member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

Admission to NUALS is extremely competitive.Students are granted admission on the basis of rank after writing the prestigious Common Law Admission Test . A total of more than 50000 write the test for admission to a mere 80 seats making the exam one of the toughest in India.The NUALS Campus is situated in Kochi – the industrial capital of Kerala and the seat of the Kerala High Court – in a 10 acre in the Kinfra Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery.  The NUALS campus provides adequate academic infrastructure – dedicated internet access, Wi-Fi Connectivity, on-line legal resources including Hein online, Westlaw India and Manupatra, a computer lab, besides a good collection of standard books and reports, both foreign and Indian.

The Campus Committee Recruitment Cell is the officially recognised body responsible for facilitating and streamlining the recruitment process. It is a body constituted and administered by members of the graduating batch.The Recruitment Programme at NUALS is organized to assist in the creation of a platform for organizations from the legal fraternity to interact with our students for the purpose of placements. The recruiters are required to inform the Recruitment Committee about their visit to the Campus. Facility for telephonic interview or video conferencing will be provided in cases where direct interview is not possible. Committee for Campus Recruitment (CCR) would also provide with LCD / Over Head projectors in case a recruiter wishes to give a Pre-Placement Talk.