Curriculum

Students must take at least 20 law credit hours to earn the LLM degree.

Required Courses:

During their time in residence, students enroll in two mandatory courses:

1. The Common Law Reasoning course, which focuses on the fundamental research, analysis, and drafting skills expected of U.S. trained lawyers
2. And, either 1) American Jurisprudence, American Legal Studies: Civil Procedure, or 2) American Legal Studies: Constitutional Law, which introduce students to the history and principal characteristics of the American public and private law systems.

With the exception of these courses, LLM students are completely integrated with American JD students.

Except for the mandatory courses, LLM students are free to design their own program of study from the Law School's many upper-level courses and seminars, including commercial and corporate, international, constitutional, and human rights law.

A written thesis is not required, but students with well-defined topics may pursue individual Graduate Research projects.  

In the past, law students have had the opportunity to take business classes taught by Kellogg School of Management professors. A varying number of these courses have been offered each academic year, and law students have received full course credit toward their law degree when taking them. Subject to course bidding procedures and course availability, law students may enroll in as many of these courses as they wish. Find more information about the Kellogg course offerings.

For further information on planning your curriculum, see Plan Your Academic Career.