Master of Laws, LL.M.

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The Law Center offers an advanced program of study leading to the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.). This degree requires full-time attendance for two semesters in residence and the successful completion of a minimum of 26 credit hours of study.

The LL.M. degree in Comparative Law is open to American and international students with either Civilian or Anglo-American training who seek a firm foundation in the American common law and civil law in English taught from the unique perspective that only a truly comparativist institution can offer.

Scholarships

Admission to the LL.M. program is highly competitive. Candidates may be eligible for a “full scholarship” (tuition and nonresident fee waiver) or a “partial scholarship” (nonresident fee waiver only). LL.M. applicants also have the opportunity to be considered for the following endowed scholarships: the A.N. Yiannopoulos Scholarship and the Robert Lee Tullis Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Civil Law.

Every LL.M. program candidate is responsible for paying the mandatory student fees regardless of their scholarship award. A limited number of scholarships are available each year and all scholarship decisions are made by the LL.M. Program Committee.

Required Courses

All LL.M. program candidates must attend a special 2-week orientation program held at the Law Center shortly before the start of the fall semester. The orientation will help students adapt to the language and study of law at an American law school, as well as provide opportunities for course selection, completion of enrollment and administrative requirements, and other activities to orient students to life as a U.S. law student.

In the fall semester, LL.M. students take Introduction to United States Law, a comparative study of the institutions and concepts of Anglo-American and Louisiana laws (with an overview of the evolution of the common law compared to the civil law), and Legal Research and Writing I, a practical skills component to help them prepare for professional legal writing. The LSU Law Center, furthermore, offers candidates a full range of law courses, seminars, and skills development classes, especially in the business, transactional, corporate, intellectual property, energy, and commercial law areas that are often important to international lawyers.

Classes are also available in: civil and international law; labor and employment law; environmental law; science and public health; constitutional and administrative law; family law; torts; admiralty and insurance; professional responsibility and the practice of law and procedure (including international criminal law and white-collar crime); and other areas. Courses are to be picked among upperclass and first-year classes offered in the J.D. curriculum.

Academic Legal Research and Writing (Optional)

Candidates may complete an academic legal writing project, either as an independent supervised research project or as a seminar paper. They will then attend the Legal Research Workshop in the spring semester and regularly meet with Law Center faculty members and instructors for assistance and feedback on their writing.

Every student receives instruction in print and computer-based legal research to learn how to conduct both practical and academic research. Free unlimited access is provided to Westlaw, LexisNexis, HeinOnline, and other legal databases. The Law Center complex is equipped with the latest in computer technology, and provides free WiFi access to all students. Our Law Library is considered one of the best in the country; it contains the full complement of state, federal, and international legal materials, as well as resources that are not available elsewhere, including original source materials.

Admission Requirements

Each fall a new entering LL.M. class enrolls at the LSU Law Center; we do not offer spring admissions and it is currently not possible to participate in our program on a part-time basis.

The LL.M. Program is highly selective in nature. Only candidates who have exhibited exceptional ability in the past, and whose record as a whole promises high potential for the future, will be considered for admission to the program. Applicants must have completed a Juris Doctor from an ABA-approved law school, or its equivalent from an approved foreign law school. Applicants are also expected to show that they are sufficiently proficient in English to pursue graduate legal studies in the U.S. The LL.M. Program Committee makes admissions decisions.

The Law Center’s LL.M. Office of Admissions is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except during University holidays. Information concerning the various aspects of admission may be obtained during business hours, by phone: (225) 578-7831, email: llmadmissions@lsu.edu, or at https://www.law.lsu.edu/llm/.

LL.M. Application Procedures

Admission Application

LL.M. applicants must apply to the LSU Law Center and submit all materials through the Law School Admission Council (www.lsac.org). LSU Law only accept applications submitted through LSAC.

Applications received on or before February 28 will receive priority consideration. Applications submitted after February 28 will be evaluated on a space available basis. However, note that all LL.M. application materials must be submitted by March 31 (final deadline for international applicants who require a student visa). After March 31, we may accept late applications from U.S. permanent residents and U.S. citizens. However, we urge late applicants to call (or email) and speak with someone from our office to inquire if an application is still possible.

Application Fee

A non-refundable application fee of $50.00 (U.S. funds only) must be paid through the LSAC online payment service (waived for applications submitted on or before February 28).

Supporting Materials

Applications should be accompanied by the following supporting materials:

Personal Statement – Each applicant is required to submit a personal statement. The personal statement provides an opportunity for the applicant to present his or her personal and educational background.
Résumé/Curriculum Vitae – Each applicant must submit a résumé/curriculum vitae.
Letters of Recommendation – Three letters of recommendation are required. However, the Law Center will accept up to four. The letters should be from teachers, employers, or others who have detailed knowledge of the applicant’s academic ability and aptitude for graduate legal studies. We prefer to receive letters of recommendation through the LSAC Letters of Recommendation (LOR) Service. All letters must be in English. If this is not possible, applicants must submit a translated version and the original letter. We do not require that the translation be made and certified by an official translator. Applicants may translate the letter themselves, with the understanding that the original document will be sent to LSU Law.
English Language Proficiency Test Scores – Applicants whose native language is not English are generally expected to take the Test of Official English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS). We recommend that our applicants have a minimum score of 100 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), but we require a minimum score of 90. We also accept paper-based (minimum score of 600) and computer-based (minimum score of 250) TOEFL scores. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) may be accepted in place of the TOEFL. We recommend a score of 7.5 on the IELTS, but require a minimum of 7. Scores more than 5 years old at the time of application will not be considered for admission purposes. Applicants are advised to take the TOEFL or the IELTS in the year prior to the year in which admission is sought to the Law Center. In addition to the test score, a writing sample or an interview (via Skype or telephone) may be required by the LL.M. Program Committee. Note that native English speakers and applicants who earned a degree from a university that has English as the language of instruction are not required to take an English proficiency test.

Applicants who do not meet our TOEFL or IELTS requirements may consider taking an English as a Second Language (ESL) course to improve their language proficiency. Candidates who have excellent academic credentials, but need to improve their English proficiency may be offered conditional admissions if they register for an approved English as a Second Language (ESL) course such as the LSU’s English Language & Orientation Program (ELOP): http://www.outreach.lsu.edu/ELOP1. Note that LSU Law will only be able to remove the condition on admissions once the English language requirement is met.
Transcripts – Applicants must provide all undergraduate and graduate school transcripts reflecting a complete history of their academic performance. All copies of transcripts must be attached to their LSAC application. In addition, applicants must have all official transcripts sent by mail to the following address by August 1:

LL.M. Office of Admissions
LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center
W326, 1 East Campus Drive
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803

Official transcripts must be received in a sealed institution envelope from the issuing institution, with an institution stamp or seal across the sealed flap.

Immunization Policy

If accepted for admission, a student must submit proof of immunizations to LSU prior to registration. See Immunization Policy Statement 72 herein.

Requirements for Awarding of the Degree

To receive the LL.M. degree, a minimum of two semesters of full-time study is required, together with the attendance of the Orientation program. A longer period may be occasionally necessary due to the nature of the candidate’s particular program of study, prior legal training, the quality of performance at the Law Center, or other factors. The residency requirement may be extended to include an additional summer session.
Each candidate’s program of study is arranged on an individual basis between the candidate and the Assistant Dean for International Programs and is subject to the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
During residency, candidates must earn a minimum of 26 semester hours of credit.
The 26 semester hours are allotted as follows:
1. Two credit hours allotted for Introduction to United States Law, and two credit hours for Legal Research and Writing I (generally required for all LL.M. candidates).
2. The balance of the hours is allotted for regular courses, seminars, independent supervised research or any combination thereof.
Degrees are awarded by the faculty upon the favorable recommendation of the Assistant Dean for International Programs, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and the LL.M. Program Committee. To receive a favorable recommendation, the candidate’s work as a whole must exhibit sufficiently high quality and scholarly maturity. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.4 is required for regular courses and seminars.

LL.M. students who do not earn a grade average of 2.4 at the end of the fall semester will be notified of the extreme difficulty to raise their average to a 2.4 cumulative average in one semester. Any candidate who does not complete all program requirements by the end of the spring semester may not be eligible to fully participate in all graduation ceremonies.