LL.M. Degree
The University of Pittsburgh's Master of Laws (LL.M.) Program for Foreign Law Graduates provides lawyers who have obtained their law degree outside the United States with an opportunity to study common law in a United States context. Students pursue their goals with the help of a close-knit community of intelligent and energetic scholars who are at the forefront of domestic and international legal research and scholarship.
 |
|
|
|
 |
Because interaction with U.S. lawyers is integral to understanding U.S. law, the program allows students to study the U.S. legal system and institutions along with American students who are enrolled in the University's Juris Doctor (J.D.) program. This permits students to participate in the full social and intellectual life of the law school, establishing relationships that extend beyond the classroom.
One of the unique academic benefits of our LL.M. program is that we have our own professional writing specialist who works with LLMs, individually reviewing their written work and teaching them how to produce English that is clear and effective. We also work very hard to place LL.M. students in post graduation internships that match their professional interests and needs. Past LL.M. internship placements have included: The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Alcoa, H.J. Heinz Co., private law firms, and professional organizations.
Unlike many other LL.M. programs, the University of Pittsburgh intentionally limits the size of its class in order to offer each student a personalized course of study and experiences. Students benefit from inclusion in the entire Law School community, but with the advantage of a separate small community of global scholars dealing with common experiences. Special opportunities are arranged for the LL.M. class to visit important legal institutions in order to see the practical side of the laws they study.
Keeping the class small allows faculty members to deal with student needs on an individual basis. The required LL.M. courses (Introduction to American Law, U.S. Legal Research & Writing, and the Spring Colloquium) also are kept small enough to allow for substantial discussion and comparison with home legal systems by each student, and personal feedback on both written and oral presentations.
At the same time, a class of about fifteen LL.M. students is large enough to have a significant impact as they join their American colleagues in other classes, providing an important contribution to the life of the entire Law School. In an age when revenue generation is encouraged, and numbers often rule, we are pleased that the University of Pittsburgh School of Law has seen fit to focus on quality rather than quantity in this program.ll.m._application_2013-2014.pdf
