UB to Offer New Post-Graduate Law Program

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Law School is offering a new General Master's of Laws (LL.M.) program. This post-professional degree program, open to students who have completed their first professional degrees in law, initially will admit international students who hold a first degree in law from a university in their own country.

The new general LL.M. is designed to offer a variety of options for graduate legal study and research. Although other programs will be phased in gradually, the Law School is launching the new LL.M. in Fall 2004 with a program that will provide lawyers from other countries an overview of the American legal system, as well as an opportunity to specialize in a specific subject area, such as finance transactions, intellectual property, family law, labor law, legal history, corporations, tax, or law and society.

Students enrolled in the program must complete at least 24 credit hours of coursework and will have the opportunity to choose among 50 courses and 40 seminars, allowing them to tailor their LL.M. degree to meet their individual career objectives.

All students will participate in the year-long LL.M. Colloquium designed to provide students trained in other legal systems with an overview of the American legal system and institutions of law and government; the analysis and interpretation of legal materials as commonly practiced in classroom settings; legal research methods and resources; skills and conventions involved in writing legal scholarship; preparation for satisfying the LL.M. writing requirement, and exposure to American legal practice, including visits to private law firms, public-interest and government law practices, federal and state courts, and meetings with federal officials.

The UB Law School offers one of the broadest curriculums in interdisciplinary legal studies in the nation, especially in instruction about law in its social context. It offers nearly a dozen study concentrations, including affordable housing and community development, civil litigation, criminal law, environmental law, family law, finance transactions, health law, international law, labor and employment law, law and social justice, and technology and intellectual property law.

In addition, it offers nationally recognized clinical opportunities in areas that include affordable housing, community economic development, education law, environment and development, family violence, health-related legal concerns of the elderly and securities law.

Prior to their enrollment, international LL.M. students will have the option of participating in English for Law Study Program (ELSP) offered by UB's English Language Institute in cooperation with the Law School. This unique summer program prepares international LL.M. students for the linguistic, academic and social challenges for study in U.S. law schools.

For more information on the LL.M. program, go to http://www.law.buffalo.edu/llmgeneral, or contact Johanna Oreskovic, director of post-professional education in the UB Law School, at 716-645-2527 or email joresk@buffalo.edu.