Professor George Edwards, the author of the book LL.M. Roadmap, lectured on how to avoid dysfunctional and deficient Master of Laws (LL.M.) programs at U.S. law schools. He spoke on strategies to help LL.M. programs meet the reasonable expectations and needs of LL.M. and J.D. students, law schools and other stakeholders. His lecture was in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 2013 at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and was part of AALS President Lauren Robel’s Presidential Workshop on Globalizing the Curriculum.
The President’s Workshop was designed around the AALS Annual Meeting theme, "Global Engagement and the Legal Academy", and the title of the Workshop is "Do Law Schools Need a Paradigm Shift?" The Workshop had over 200 attendees from law schools across the U.S. and overseas.
Professor Edwards identified the many stakeholders involved in international legal education, and identified specific U.S. law school policies and practices that threaten the ability of LL.M. programs to meet stakeholder needs. He identified to cash cow, diploma mill, bait & switch, and LL.M. creep characteristics of LL.M. programs, suggesting avoidance.
He proposed the possibility of the ABA or another entity accrediting LL.M. programs, developing an LL.M. program Code of Conduct, creating a national council or association of international LL.M. students in the U.S. (with local chapters at different schools and in different cities, states and regions), and other mechanisms to help ensure that reasonable expectations of all LL.M. program stakeholders are met.
The President’s Workshop was designed around the AALS Annual Meeting theme, "Global Engagement and the Legal Academy", and the title of the Workshop is "Do Law Schools Need a Paradigm Shift?" The Workshop had over 200 attendees from law schools across the U.S. and overseas.
Professor Edwards identified the many stakeholders involved in international legal education, and identified specific U.S. law school policies and practices that threaten the ability of LL.M. programs to meet stakeholder needs. He identified to cash cow, diploma mill, bait & switch, and LL.M. creep characteristics of LL.M. programs, suggesting avoidance.
He proposed the possibility of the ABA or another entity accrediting LL.M. programs, developing an LL.M. program Code of Conduct, creating a national council or association of international LL.M. students in the U.S. (with local chapters at different schools and in different cities, states and regions), and other mechanisms to help ensure that reasonable expectations of all LL.M. program stakeholders are met.
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