Take Specialized Courses
With more than 200 upper-level course offerings, you can explore practically any area of law, and you can craft an individualized course of study. You will also benefit from being a fully integrated member of the Law School student body, taking classes with American and international students who are pursuing a JD degree.
Develop Expertise
If you have a passion to dig deeper into a particular area of law or legal issue, you may be eligible to participate in an independent study alongside one of our renowned faculty members. You will work one-on-one with the faculty member to develop an original work of publishable quality that will showcase your developed expertise in a legal subject.
Prepare for the Bar Exam
If completing an LLM is a necessary step toward reaching your goal of becoming a licensed attorney, you also have the opportunity to take courses focused on the subjects tested on the bar examination. In addition to helping you prepare for the bar exam, many of these courses provide a strong foundation of knowledge for the practice of law in the United States.
Degree Requirements
The LLM program in American Legal Studies requires completion of 24 credits, which may be taken full time in one academic year or part time in two academic years. Full-time students must finish their LLM degree in two semesters and take 12 to 15 credits each semester. Part-time students must finish their LLM degree in four semesters at most, taking two to three courses each semester.
To give our LLM candidates a foundation in American law, you are required to take a 2-credit course on the U.S. legal system and a graded Legal Writing and Research course. The goal of this course is to familiarize you with the structure of U.S. legal documents and teach you how to communicate effectively in the professional language used by American lawyers.
LLM candidates must achieve a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.2 out of a possible 4.0 to receive the LLM degree.
Learn from the Best
Accomplished Faculty
Our faculty consists of nationally and internationally recognized scholars. Faculty members have clerked for U.S. Supreme Court justices, chaired major American Bar Association and law reform committees, received awards for scholarship and leadership in legal education as well as community leadership, and been politically active in their communities.
