BARBRI's LL.M. Preview will help you prepare to enter your LL.M. program in the 2014 autumn semester. 

During the weeks and months before your LL.M. classes begin, BARBRI's special LL.M. Preview gives you tools you need for success in your LL.M. classroom. It will help as you adjust to your new degree program, and as you prepare yourself for taking a bar exam or getting a job post-LL.M.

Get a head start before classes begin!

At LL.M. Preview, you will learn basics in U.S. law school learning styles, the Socratic Method, and the U.S. legal system, and learn fundamentals in key areas of U.S. law and practice.

You will  learn tips on how best to present yourself to the employment marketplace as you prepare to apply for internships or part-time jobs while you are enrolled in your LL.M., or as you prepare for full-time legal positions in the U.S. or elsewhere post-LL.M. You will learn about U.S.-style resume and cover letter writing,  so you can arrive at your LL.M. program a step ahead in your quest for internships, part-time jobs, or post-LL.M. employment.

At LL.M. Preview you will gain insights into qualification for U.S. legal practice, including bar exams in states that permit LL.M. graduates to join their bars and practice law.

LL.M. Preview is offered live in Los Angeles and New York in August 2014. Components of LL.M. Preview will also be available online, so you can begin preparing for your LL.M. before you leave your home country! 

At LL.M. Preview, you will meet LL.M. students from many different U.S. law schools in different parts of the country. You can establish strong friendships and professional bonds with LL.M. colleagues that will serve you well as you tackle issues at your different law schools, and as you complete your degrees and return to homelands, go elsewhere, or stay in the U.S.

Jump start your LL.M. degree program. Arrive at your LL.M. program fully prepared!


Check here for additional information about and to sign up for BARBRI LL.M. Preview.


PS:  Your BARBRI LL.M. Preview instructors will be from well-known law schools and LL.M. programs from around the country. Instructors will also include individuals closely associated with national and global LL.M. undertakings, such as the author of LL.M. Roadmap.

A reporter recently asked me what’s the “easiest” U.S. bar exam for non-U.S. trained lawyers who receive a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from a U.S. law school.

My answer was easy:  I said “It depends”.

I said that 30 U.S. jurisdictions permit non-U.S.-trained LL.M. graduates to sit for their bar examination. Some let them join the bar without sitting for the exam. But each of these states has a different set of requirements.

A general information source for U.S. bar admission requirements is the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2014, published by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBEX) and the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. For details about each jurisdiction’s requirements, you should contact the bar admissions authority of that particular jurisdiction. Contact information is published in the Comprehensive Guide.

The Comprehensive Guide identifies 30 U.S. jurisdictions that permit non-U.S.-Trained law graduates to become members of their bar. Explore the rules of each jurisdiction carefully to determine whether you qualify. Then, pick and choose among the ones for 

The chart below offers a Timeline and Steps for your LL.M. degree at a U.S. law school. It details pre-application information gathering, submitting high quality LL.M. applications per the deadlines, being successful in school, graduating with your LL.M. degree, and personal and career success after.

The Timeline and Steps are general in nature. Most overseas students joining U.S. law school programs will follow most of these steps. However, your own path to success may differ slightly from the paths of other students. 

Each LL.M. student has his or her own goals, motivations, strengths, needs and expectations. No one school is ideal for all students. Students necessarily will be spread out among the 150 U.S. law schools in the U.S. that offer LL.M. programs.

The goal is for you to make important decisions about what your goals are, sort out how to achieve your goals, and then follow your path towards achieving those goals.

The Timeline and Steps below will help guide you on your path to success! Indeed, the Timeline and Steps are your Roadmap to LL.M. success!

Good luck!

The LL.M. Roadmap author gave a presentation at the BARBRI LL.M. PREVIEW on the topic of LL.M. Survival and Empowerment.

The question is how you as an international student may get the best out of your LL.M. program year? The lecture provides tips and hints on how you achieve maximum benefits from your LL.M. program. How can you achieve your academic, personal, and career goals?

Listed below are some LL.M. Survival and Empowerment lecture suggestions. For more survival & empowerment tips, check out LL.M. Roadmap.

1.         Embrace the Socratic Method [link to section on Socratic Method – in section on success in the LL.M. classroom]. This method of U.S. law school instruction may intimidate international LL.M. students, but it presents an opportunity for you to gain an edge in thinking on your feet, analyzing complex issues quickly, and arriving at sound solutions. Leap at the opportunity to practice your lawyerly abilities!

 You will learn how to think quickly and arrive at reasonable conclusions. U.S.-trained lawyers are expected to possess this skill!

You can get practice at the Socratic Method from taking courses like BARBRI’s LL.M. Preview.

2.         Take advantage of opportunities to gain legal skills. Sometimes this means engaging in non-credit activities outside the classroom. This may interfere with some of your study or leisure time, but it is a worthy investment.

Your U.S. law school should have opportunities for you to do clinical work with real clients, pro bono work research, internships, or other work outside the classroom. You can learn a great deal from hands-on exposure to the law. See # 4 below.

3.         Understand who is who at your law school. What is the difference between the following officials at your U.S. law school:

BARBRI is launching a new website dedicated to LL.M. students and LL.M. services.

Masters of Laws (LL.M.) students who come to the U.S. from around the globe will be able to avail themselves of various BARBRI LL.M. services, including:

--LL.M. Preview (Helps you prepare for your LL.M. before classes begin)

--Extended Bar Review for New York Bar Exam (providing resources over time to prepare you for the Bar Exam)

--General Bar Review Courses and Services (provided for various states in with foreign attorneys / LL.M. graduates may sit for the bar)

The BARBRI website has a section titled "Take a U.S. Bar Exam:  Find Out How".  This page provides information about sitting for the bar exam in New York and California. But it also provides information about bar exams in the U.S. generally.

Here  is the link to the main BARBRI LL.M. website:   LLM.BarBri.com

Good luck!

PS:  The LL.M. Roadmap author participated as a lecturer in BARBRI LL.M. Preview's inaugural program in New York in August 2013, and provided some content for the website. For your information, highlights and testimonials from LL.M. student participants in LL.M. Preview appear here.

PPS:  Be certain to pay attention to deadlines for registering for bar exams, submitting credential verification documents, and taking other steps you may need to take in order to sit for a bar exam!

Non-US students joining an American LL.M. program can gain an edge as you transition to a new legal environment at a U.S. law school.  A special 6-day LL.M. Preview course in New York will help prepare you for the rigors of your U.S. LL.M. program.

LL.M. Preview offers you an overview of the U.S. Constitution and legal system, coaching in American law teaching methodology, and training in legal analysis and writing skills.  

Gain insight into what American law firms look for in foreign candidates, how to present your credentials, and how to build a professional network that can help you achieve your career goals. Learn post-LL.M. career strategies whether you want to work for a U.S. law firm, a multi-national corporation, a governmental ministry, a law faculty, an inter-governmental organization such as the United Nations, or other entity in the U.S. or elsewhere.

Classroom simulations allow you to learn-by-doing in a safe, supportive environment. Learn effective LL.M. student survival and success strategies for you to use inside and outside your LL.M. classrooms, and receive many tips on LL.M. student empowerment.

Learn from speakers associated with some of the most prestigious institutions and firms in the country including:

• Catholic University, Columbus School of Law
  
• Columbia University Law School
  
• Fordham University Law School
  
• LinkedIn
  
• LL.M. Roadmap*
  
• Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
  

The 6-day LL.M. Preview course is offered by BARBRI, the leading Bar Exam preparation company in the U.S.  BARBRI as prepared over 1 million students to sit for the bar exam across the U.S.

Dates for 2013 LL.M. Preview are 5 - 10 August in New York. 

For more information and to enroll in LL.M. Preview, please visit the LL.M. Preview website here.

Or send an e-mail here: LLM@BarBri.com

A program for the LL.M. Preview appears below.

*Professor George Edwards, author of LL.M. Roadmap, will present on “LL.M. Student Survival & Empowerment”.  This session will focus on, inter alia, ensuring that your law school meets your reasonable expectations regarding your academic, personal and career expectations.  Professor Edwards has long advocated for rights of international LL.M. students in U.S. schools, and is exploring a proposed United Nations Declaration on the Rights of International Students. See, for example, the following:

• The Need for a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of international Students

                    Below is a copy of the program of LL.M. Preview (5 - 10 August 2013, in New York)!