International Law Degree
The following resource is for lawyers who obtained their law degrees or license outside of the United States and are seeking to get licensed in the United States.
Overview:
Obtaining a Master of Laws degree (LLM) from an American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school is a path to keep in mind. Most law schools offer a general LLM in American Law, where the core classes of the program are those tested on the bar exam. You can customize your program towards a concentration, e.g. international business law, human rights and environmental law. Many law schools also offer specialized LLM programs narrowly focused in a certain area, such as intellectual property, banking and financial law, tax law.
A few things to consider:
Before deciding whether the LLM is the route you want to follow, it is advisable to consider your long-term career and personal goals and how to best align them with the options available to you. It is important to note that if you are intent on practicing law in a specific state, you must review the bar eligibility requirements for that state. In particular, you want to ask these two questions:
- Does that state recognize a foreign law degree; and
- Does that state require you to be already licensed to practice in your home jurisdiction?
Stay up to date:
As these requirements tend to change, be sure to keep yourself up to date. The American Bar Association and the National Conference of Bar Examiners publish an annual comprehensive guide to bar admission. For example, Massachusetts did not allow foreign-trained lawyers to sit for the bar until the last decade or so. When brainstorming, be mindful to look at the eligibility and transferability requirements applicable to other states so that you do not unintentionally limit your opportunities.
LLM v. JD:
When confronted with the decision of either pursuing an LLM degree or a Juris Doctor (JD) degree, consider the following:
- The majority of the LLM programs are one year long, whereas JDs are three years long (if you enroll on a full-time basis). Depending on personal circumstances, a full-time LLM program may pose difficulties, so it is important to review the options for part-time enrollment and the class schedules well ahead of time.
- While both costly, the cost of a JD degree far exceeds the cost of an LLM degree. Nonetheless, you may be eligible for scholarships and financial aid for either program.
- From a career-building perspective, if you have previous experience, are currently working, or have an interest in a certain area of the law, pursuing a specialized LLM is advantageous. With a specialized LLM degree, your marketability increases, and you are better positioned to compete with JD graduates for the same job opportunity.
- If your intention is to pass the bar, the array of subject matter and depth of knowledge of law is wider for a JD student compared to an LLM student. Although students pursuing a general LLM will sit in JD classes and hence be in a position to get the same training as a JD student, note that the number of credits available to the LLM student is lower. As a result, an LLM may not prepare you as well as a JD to sit for the bar. This disadvantage is more noticeable for students pursuing a specialized LLM because the number of bar-related classes they can take while in the program is lower than the general LLM students. In most cases, the specialized LLM classes are also more condensed.
Bar Preparation:
When contemplating on how to prepare for the bar, time is of the essence for LLM students. Since most LLM students enroll on a full-time basis, they only have one academic year before they graduate (as opposed to JD students who have three). As a result, becoming familiar with the structure of the bar exam and studying towards it early on is highly recommended. The following are strategies that have proved successful:
- For LLM students who have available time to do so, it is advisable to sit in lectures of the classes that are tested in the bar exam even if they have not signed up for them. In most cases, if you have obtained prior approval from the graduate program director and the professor teaching the class, you can passively attend some classes and benefit from more in-depth discussions of certain topics (as opposed to a more abridged treatment of the same topic if you are studying it via a more condensed LLM-oriented class).
- Closely related to the point above, if you can enroll in a JD class rather than a condensed LLM-oriented class on the same subject, the JD class will prepare you better for the bar exam in that subject matter.
- Review outlines (your own or commercial outlines) during the academic year and start practicing multiple choice questions to become familiar with the structure of the questions and what the examiners are looking for. Most law school libraries have abundant resources on the bar exam and preparation for it. In addition, private bar course preparation companies provide study books with comprehensive outlines and practice questions on the bar subjects, free of charge to students, at the beginning of each academic year.
- When choosing a bar preparation company, be mindful to choose one that offers plenty of study resources (outlines, bar notes, flashcards, video lectures, MBE, MEE and MPT practice tests) and grading for the written portion so that you can receive personalized feedback on your written practice tests.
- It may be helpful to also purchase an additional bar preparation package directed at LLM students. Some companies refer to it as “The Fundamentals” package because it covers the MBE subjects and it becomes available to study before the rest of the bar preparation course, allowing you to start diving more in depth into the core subjects. You can practice your multiple-choice questions, as well as submit essays to be graded. Not all companies offer this, so you may want to keep that in mind when choosing the bar preparation course.
Conclusion:
Bar preparation begins long before the bar prep course goes live, some two months before the exam. Rather, your bar preparation starts from your first class in your LLM program. Starting early will put you in the best position to succeed on the exam.
Like all advice, we recommend taking the above suggestions and applying them as you deem best for your personal situation. Always remember to show compassion to yourself and give yourself another chance if you do not succeed at first try. Being in a foreign country away from home, studying in foreign language and having to endure hardships of different kinds are considerable pressures that the JD students do not ordinarily have. The AABA is always here to guide and help you throughout the process. Please feel free to connect with our members for support whenever you need it!
Like all advice, we recommend taking the above suggestions and applying them as you deem best for your personal situation. Always remember to show compassion to yourself and give yourself another chance if you do not succeed at first try. Being in a foreign country away from home, studying in foreign language and having to endure hardships of different kinds are considerable pressures that the JD students do not ordinarily have. The AABA is always here to guide and help you throughout the process. Please feel free to connect with our members for support whenever you need it!
