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Admission Guidelines for the LLM Degree
Each year the College of Law admits about 15 students to pursue studies leading to the LLM degree.
The program is specifically designed for:
(1) foreign-trained jurists who seek a comparative introduction to and specific training in United States law and legal institutions and
(2) foreign-trained jurists or graduates of JD programs here in the United States who wish to deepen their understanding of international and comparative law, including the law pertaining to international business transactions.
The LLM program is deliberately kept small so that each student can receive substantial attention from the faculty. Therefore, admission is competitive.
To be admitted, all applicants must present evidence of high academic potential, such as high rank in class in their previous law studies; strong recommendations, especially from law professors who supervised their work in classes or seminars; and challenging professional work experience. To assess these credentials, academic references are heavily relied upon. Because U.S. JD-holders and all other applicants with native or near-native fluency in English in the program are required to produce a publishable paper, such applicants should be sure to show evidence of ability to carry out complex research and writing projects.
Educational Requirements to Apply to the Program
U.S. law graduates who apply for this graduate degree must have obtained a JD degree from a law school that is a member of the Association of American Law Schools or approved by the American Bar Association.
Foreign law graduates must have completed the basic course of university studies that qualifies the candidate to sit for the bar examination (e.g., the French maîtrise, the German "first state bar examination"). If the home country bar exam does not require a specific degree, applicants should either be experienced members of the bar or have completed at least the first university degree in law.
All applicants must present evidence (university transcripts and letters of recommendation) that they are serious students with a solid record of academic and professional achievement. In evaluating foreign transcripts, we rely heavily on recommendation letters, especially from academics, that explain in detail the basis for their recommendation.
English Requirements
Applicants who have not completed a bachelor's degree at an accredited university in the U.S. or an equivalent degree at an accredited English-language university in Australia, Canada (excluding Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom must also have achieved a score of at least 580 (paper)/237 (computer)/92 (Internet) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Students with less than a 600/250/100 TOEFL may be required to take English classes upon matriculation. The University's TOEFL code is 6681. For more information, visit: www.ets.org/toefl. In lieu of the TOEFL, we will also accept IELTS scores of 7.0 or better, as long as there is no subscore below 6.0.
UI Law Graduates
UI law students seeking the LLM degree may do so by successfully completing 114 semester hours of academic credit over four years; 24 of these 114 hours must be concentrated in the area of international and comparative law and at least 4 of these 24 hours must be taken after admission into the LLM degree program. To qualify as part of the 24 credit hours required for the LLM degree, the credits must be graded and the student must have obtained a 2.00 or better. For more information please see the academic requirements page.
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