Law Schools Expand LL.M. Programs

Across the country, many law schools have witnessed considerable growth in their LL.M. programs. Applicants with law degrees from abroad, especially from Asian countries, are flocking to university campuses to study topics that will prepare them for an international practice abroad and often for a job with an American firm's foreign office. At home, more J.D.s and even experienced lawyers enroll in specialized LL.M. programs. At NYU, for example, 3,000 applicants compete for 425 places in the LL.M. program. To meet the demand of Asian students, NYU has just announced its plan to send faculty to National Singapore University in 2007 to open an "NYU at NSU" LL.M. program.

Despite the daunting costs of tuition (often well above $30,000 per year) and living expenses (another $20,000), pressure from abroad and at home increases for a prestigious LL.M. degree. At UCLA, for example, the number of students climbed from a mere dozen a few years ago to over 50 this year. Across town, USC has witnessed its LL.M. enrollment soar in five years from less than 15 to 90 foreign students, with a considerable number sponsored by their government or employer. Meanwhile, Loyola Law School has just this year initiated an LL.M. program at the University of Bologna in Italy, where it has been running a program abroad for its students. Thirty students from many countries are enrolled in the program this fall. At the same time, Loyola's popular LL.M. in taxation has grown in variety and nearly doubled in size in the last few years.

What forces are driving this trend? One is the lure of a prestigious degree to enhance a resume. Would-be law professors usually need an LL.M. as part of their credentials to teach law. Another consideration is the promise of a competitive edge in the job market and being up-to-date in the latest issues in intellectual property or biotechnology. According to Prof. Jennifer Kowal of Loyola Law School, it's not unusual these days for a "disgruntled litigator" to refashion himself as a tax specialist by getting an LL.M. in taxation. Indeed, the profile of the domestic LL.M. student has changed fairly dramatically in the past ten years as both recent J.D. holders and more experienced practitioners seek to give clients the benefit of specialized, up-to-date legal knowledge.

The forces explaining high enrollment by foreign students have been globalization, international trade, and the growth of law firms and multinational law offices abroad. Take Japan, for example. The Harvard Law Bulletin recently reported a sea change in Japanese legal education linked, in the words of Japanese law expert Professor J. Mark Ramseyer, to "an explosion of New York-style mega-firms" in Tokyo. Multinational law firms are calling for lawyers trained in international aspects of banking, intellectual property, and environmental regulation. And to meet the requirements of practicing law in foreign offices of U.S. law firms, there's another benefit to an LL.M. degree: in many states, foreign lawyers with an LL.M. may qualify to sit for the bar examination.

Money drives this trend as well. For the law schools, LL.M. programs can be very lucrative as compared to J.D. programs, principally because the program costs are lower. Moreover, there's no adverse consequence to admitting less than sterling students in terms of the school's ranking with U.S. News and World Report. For the graduate, an LL.M. degree can open doors to positions with high salaries (ranging from $80,000 to over $145,000, depending on the lawyer's experience and background), although law schools caution that there is no guarantee of a job. The chat rooms at websites such as llm-guide.com are full of job stories both enticing and disappointing for LL.M. seekers.

The types of programs encompass as many specializations as there are courses in the particular school. For instance, St. John's University boasts of the only LL.M. in Bankruptcy Law, Southwestern prides itself as offering the only LL.M. in Media and Entertainment law, while other schools offer concentrations in global technology, securities, finance, environmental law, admiralty, health law, corporate finance, and comparative law. Those schools that limit their LL.M. programs to foreign students, like USC, offer introductory courses on the American legal system and even a summer program to develop skills in legal English.

What qualities do schools look for in an applicant? Generally they want their LL.M. students to be highly focused on their goals, even "driven," in the words of one admissions official. Of course, a good performance record in law school, strong recommendations, and the critically important personal statement carry considerable weight. Foreign students, moreover, are generally expected to show a grade of 590 or higher on the standardized test of English (the TOEFL).

The big question for LL.M. applicants is whether a fourth year of law school is worth the expense and hard work. Will the degree holder have a sufficient competitive edge over J.D. applicants? As partners at well-established firms suggest, "it depends." For one thing, a mediocre performance at a mediocre law school may not always be papered over with an LL.M. from a more prestigious school, cautions Mark McGrath, former LL.M. manager at Boston University School of Law and author of an article on LL.M. programs in the Student Lawyer. Law firms look for potential and some may prefer bright J.D. graduates unless they have a clear need for a specialist.

As McGrath and others advise, law school graduates should investigate carefully before leaping into an LL.M. program. Questions to ask include to what extent prior graduates get jobs in their chosen specialty, whether a career counselor is dedicated to LL.M. students, and whether the school sponsors or participates in any LL.M. job fairs. Add to those the critical question of the average salary range of graduates and the degree to which faculty members advise or work closely with their students. In short, the LL.M. is not necessarily the answer to a job search, and would-be applicants must examine the terrain as well as their own finances before making such a career decision.

As far as international LL.M. students go, different considerations apply. For one thing, some of them come to the programs with their tuition paid and their jobs overseas intact. Others who come without employment prospects will be cautioned that it's very hard to find a job in the U.S. market. But as noted above, some will return to countries where lawyers are much in demand and law firms are booming.

What seems clear is that competition for LL.M. degrees will continue to grow and that international pressure for law schools to "go global" will continue.

This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Copyright 2006 Daily Journal Corp. By Judith Koffler, former Accepted.com editor.

Robbie Walker, who has helped applicants from around the world gain acceptance to top LLM programs, is available to help you with your LL.M personal statement. For information and prices, please view Accepted's law school personal statement editing and consulting.

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