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The Master of Lawsis an advanced academic degree, pursued by those either holding a basic

academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject.

In some jurisdictions the "Master of Laws" is the basic professional degree for admission intolegal practice. It is commonly abbreviatedLL.M, from theLatinLegum Magister(meaning

"master of laws").

Contents

1 Background on legal education in common law countries 2 International situation 3 Types of LL.M. degrees 4 Requirements

o 4.1 Australiao 4.2 Canadao 4.3 Chinao 4.4 Germanyo 4.5 Hong Kongo 4.6 Indiao 4.7 Pakistano 4.8 Irelando 4.9 Portugalo 4.10 South Africao 4.11 United Kingdomo 4.12 United States

4.12.1 Programs for foreign legal graduates 4.12.2 International law and other LL.M. programs

5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Background on legal education incommon lawcountries

To become alawyerand practice law in most states and countries, a person must first obtain a

law degree. While in most common law countries aBachelor of Laws(or LL.B.) is required, the

U.S. and Canada generally require a professional doctorate, orJuris Doctor,to practice law.

If a person wishes to gain specialized knowledge through research in a particular area of law, he

or she can continue his or her studies after an LL.B or J.D. in an LL.M. program. The wordlegumis the genitive plural form of the Latin word lexand means "of the laws". When used in

the plural, it signifies a specific body of laws, as opposed to the general collective conceptembodied in the wordjus, from which the words "juris" and "justice" derive.

The highest research degree in law is theS.J.D.(or J.S.D., depending on the institution), and it is

equivalent to the Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD or DPhil depending on the law school in

UK), Doctorat en Droit (in France), or the Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften (Dr.iur.) inGermany. There are also variant doctoral degrees, such as the D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Law)

degree bestowed byMcGill Universityin Canada. Most schools require an LL.M. before

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admission to a SJD or a PhD in law degree program. Like the PhD, the SJD degree generally

requires a dissertation that is graded (often by two graders), orally defended (by an exam known

as Viva Voce) and then often published as a book or series of articles.

The "Doctor of Laws" (LL.D.) degree in the United States of America is usually anhonorary

degree.

International situation

Historically, the LL.M. degree is an element particular to the education system of English

speaking countries, which is based on a distinction betweenBachelor'sandMaster'sdegrees.

Over the past years, however, specialized LL.M. programs have been introduced in many

European countries, even where theBologna processhas not yet been fully implemented.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Cyprus, Italy and Switzerland require a Master's with an additional

two to five years to become a lawyer.

As of 2014, Spain requires a master's degree in addition to a 4 years' degree to become a lawyer.

In Finland, an LL.M. is the standard graduate degree required to practice law.[1]

No other

qualifications are required.[2]

To be allowed to practice law in the Netherlands, one needs an LL.M. degree with a specific (set

of) course(s) in litigation law. The Dutch Order of Lawyers (NOVA) require these courses forevery potential candidate lawyer who wants to be conditionally written in the district court for

three years. After receiving all the diplomas prescribed by NOVA and under supervision of a

"patroon" (master), a lawyer is eligible to have his own practice and is unconditionally written in

a court for life but he/she will need to continually update his/her knowledge.

Types of LL.M. degrees

There are a wide range of LL.M. programs available worldwide, allowing students to focus on

almost any area of the law. Most universities offer only a small number of LL.M. programs. One

of the most popular LL.M. degrees in the United States istax law,sometimes referred to as anMLT (Master of Laws in Taxation).

Other developing areas arebankruptcy law,banking laworfinancial serviceslaw, and

environmental law.Some law schools allow LL.M. students to freely design their own programof study from the school's many upper-level courses and seminars, including commercial and

corporate, international, constitutional, and human rights law. In Europe, LL.M. programs in

European laware recently very popular, often referred to asLL.M. Eur(Master of EuropeanLaw). Other common programs includeenvironmental law,human rights law,commercial law,

intellectual property law,information technology law,estate planning (as a sub-specialty of tax),

international law,maritime law,law and economics,litigation and dispute resolution,

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