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:

The U.S. government sponsored the EducationUSA LGBT Virtual College & University Fair on 4 September 2013.

The Fair was hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, under the direction of Rosie Edmond & Jonathan Lembright (Regional Education Advising Coordinators – REACs of EducationUSA).

 Presenters in the 4-hour Fair talked about opportunities for LGBT students to come to the U.S. to study at colleges and universities. Topics included scholarships, professional associations, student programs and many other services available to LGBT students in and outside of US campuses.

The Fair’s opening remarks were made by Ambassador David Huebner, US Ambassador to New Zealand & Samoa (U.S. Embassy, Wellington). Closing  remarks were made by Consul General Patrick J. Linehan, who is U.S. Consul General at Osaka-Kobe (Japan).

LL.M. Roadmap author (George Edwards) presented on this topic:  Rights of LGBT International Students Enrolled in U.S. Colleges & Universities: International Human Rights Law, U.S. Federal Law, and State & Local Law Protections. (A handout of his presentation is attached below in this blog entry.) Many faculty and staff at other U.S. schools presented on a range of topics.

Discussion was lively throughout the Fair, with professors, staff, students, government officials from Portland to Perth to Penang, and many cities and countries in between. 

The fair was scheduled based on Tokyo time 8:00 a.m. to noon 4 September 2013. However, given the many time zones of

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).

Through the Fulbright program, the U.S. government funds overseas lawyers and others who want to come to the U.S. for short periods without earning a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. One Fulbright plan is under a special "U.S.-ASEAN Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program".

That program recently announced its first award recipients, with seven people from ASEAN countries coming to the U.S.  The Visiting Scholars’ areas of research include climate change, food security, public health, U.S.-ASEAN political relations, monetary policy, and law.

U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN David L. Carden said: “The scholars’ projects are great representations of ongoing areas of focus in ASEAN, and we wish them well in their research at universities in the United States.” 

The first 7 Visiting Scholars in this program coming to the U.S. are:

Postgrad Solutions offers scholarships (Bursaries) for LL.M. study in the U.S. or elsewhere around the globe.  Each scholarship is worth £500 (British pounds).

Students are eligible for the scholarship if they begin their LL.M. study at any point in 2013. Though the award recipients will not be announced until Autumn 2013, students who apply before the 18 August 2013 deadline are eligible, even if they began their LL.M. study as early as January 2013.

For more information about this bursary, please check the website of LLM Study at this link.

The picture of the Pound sign above appeared on the LLM Study website.