On 3 May 2013, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) adopted its Statement of Good Admission and Financial Aid Practices for LLM Programs.  According to the LSAC, the Statement of Good Practices is meant to focus on principles to guide LL.M. program admission and financial aid activities. The Statement is intended "to promote fairness and the highest standards of professional conduct for all participants". It focuses on LL.M. programs in the U.S., most of which are primarily for international students who have earned their first law degrees outside the U.S.

The Statement is not a set of "legislative" guidelines that are binding on schools or programs. The LSAC recognizes that not all admission or financial aid rules apply to all situations at all U.S. law schools. The LSAC Board of Trustees formally adopted the Statement on  3 May 2013.

The LLMRoadMap Blog will soon have further entries discussing the Statement and how its principles may or may not be implemented by LL.M. programs at U.S. law schools. At first glance, the Statement appears to adopt important considerations for U.S. law schools and LL.M. programs to incorporate into their practices. Congratulations to LSAC for developing LL.M. admission and financial aid guidelines.

A copy of the Statement can be found below.

Also below is a list of members of the Subcommittee that generated the Statement.

I was searching the web, looking for websites that LL.M. and J.D. students and applicants might use to gather information about U.S. law schools. LL.M. Roadmap always seeks to provide helpful information to law school applicants and law school students!

I came across a list of the "60 Essential Twitter Feeds for Law School Applicants", which appeared on the webpage of Onlinegollege.org.

Our website, www.LLMRoadMap.com, was on the list of "60 of the best Twitter feeds for aspiring law school students"! Check it out at this link!

Below is a reproduction of the list of 60 best law school Twitter feeds (in categories A - F). The seven categories are:  (A)  Top Law Schools; (B)  Best-Value Degrees; (C)  Online Law Degrees; (D)  LSAT Tips; (E)  Getting In; (F)  Legalese; (G)  A Day in the Life.

Check out the 60 essential Twitter links below!

Also, please follow @LLMRoadMap on Twitter!

LL.M. graduates from U.S. law schools may sit for the Bar Exam in some U.S. states, but not all.  Most graduates who sit for a Bar Exam prepare by taking a commercial Bar Exam Preparation (Bar Prep) course. Click here for  information about various Bar Prep courses and other Bar Prep resources.

There are many other commercial services available for LL.M. students and graduates, and the list in this posting is not an endorsement for (or against!) any of these services. Ask other LL.M. graduates, professors, and others for advice on choosing the Bar Prep course that suits your needs!

Some U.S. law schools offer LL.M. students special Bar Preparation classes and other resources. Before you enroll in your LL.M. program, ask your school if its LL.M. program will help you prepare for a U.S. Bar Exam, and how it will help you.

If you want to sit for the Bar in New York, California, or other states, please carefully explore all requirements! Each state has different Bar Exam rules!

Some states let you sit for the Bar Exam only if your school's LL.M. program meets very specific standards. If your school does not meet those standards, than you cannot sit for the Bar Exam. If you want to sit for a Bar Exam, you should explore requirements before you choose your LL.M. program.

A great place to check each state's requirements is the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2013, which is prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Good luck!

PS:  Please be certain to click here for more information!

Each year in May and June, LL.M. programs from around the U.S. graduate their students who have worked over the last year to earn their U.S. Master of Laws degrees. Each year U.S. law schools enroll approximately 6,000 LL.M. students, and many of those student will earn their degrees in May or june.

http://www.law.umn.edu/news/2012-llm-class-commencement-address.html
The "Graduation" or "Commencement" season is always a very joyful period...but only after many weeks and months of challenging classes, exams, theses, and other academic projects!

At the 150 U.S. law schools that have LL.M. programs for international students, LL.M. graduates participate in graduation ceremonies alongside recipients of other law degrees, including the J.D., S.J.D. / J.S.D., J.M. / M.J., or PhD in Law.  There are often Graduation parties, receptions, lunches, and other activities to celebrate.

LL.M. graduates don academic robes, and join in the celebration, that always have a solemn side, but also a fun side. 

Often the graduating LL.M. class will choose one member of the class to give an address to all classmates, family, friends, faculty, and others who attend. The chosen LL.M. graduate will usually only have several minutes to convey an important message to all who gather for the very important occasion.

Pictured above is Amr Jaghoub of Qatar who delivered the LL.M. Address at the University of Minnesota in 2012.


Pictured below is a mug that is a souvenir from the Harvard Law School LL.M. class of 2013.

If you enroll in a U.S. LL.M. program in the fall / autumn 2013, you too can graduate in May or June 2014!

Japan has announced scholarships for students to do short courses in the U.S.  This could be an excellent opportunity for Japanese law students and lawyers to come to the U.S. for Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees, or for other law study programs at U.S. law schools. Firm details of the program have not yet been provided.  But, the scheme appears to be geared towards helping Japanese graduates become more competitive internationally.

The New York Times reports that the Japanese education minister, Hakubun Shimomura, announced this scholarship scheme while in Washington, DC recently. The 5 May 2013 New York Times article was written by Miki Tanikawa, and is pasted below.

LL.M. Roadmap contains information about non-degree opportunities for international students in the U.S. Thus, a foreign lawyer, law professor, judge or other student could come to the U.S. for short periods to learn about law and gain practical experience. Some short term courses or opportunities can last just a few days or a week, or can last one or more months, but be less than the 10 months needed for most residential LL.M. programs in the U.S.

For LL.M. Roadmap information about short term law study in the U.S., click here.

For the New York Times article about the Japan scheme for short term law study in the U.S., click here (and see below).

For many years U.S. law schools have permitted international students to earn a Master of Laws *LL.M." degree in one year. If they wanted a J.D. degree, they had to study for a full 3 years, the same amount of time for non-international students.

Now, some law schools permit international students to earn a J.D. degree in only two years, instead of three. The Go LL.M. website describes some of these "accelerated" J.D. programs at schools such as the University of Arizona Law, Northwestern Law, and SUNY Buffalo Law School.

International students may have the option of earning a 1-year LL.M., a 2-year J.D. - - or maybe both!

The U.S. State Department hosts a series of programs that facilitate international students coming to the U.S. to study. Many thousands of international come to the U.S. each year.

In 2011 - 2012, international students who came to the U.S. contributed over $22 billion to the U.S. economy. This includes money students spend on tuition, housing, food, and other expenses in their local communities throughout the U.S.

The State Department collects information on the impact that international students have on the U.S. economy.