Thursday, February 9, 2006
Page 3
UCLA to Expand LL.M. Program to American Lawyers
By a MetNews Staff Writer
y a MetNews Staff Writer
UCLA School of Law is accepting applications for its Masters of Laws program for those with law degrees from U.S. schools, a school spokesperson said yesterday.
The application deadline for the fall 2006 semester is March 1, Philip Little told the MetNews. Previously, the LL.M. program accepted only graduates of international law schools.
“We currently have about 16-20 students and I think we’ll increase upward to 50 students for the LL.M. program,’’, Little said. “We’re opening the program up to graduates of American law schools.”
The program will allow students the opportunity to select a specific concentration.
Business Law (with tracks in Corporate Law, Bankruptcy, Securities Regulation and Tax Law), International and Comparative Law, Entertainment and Media Law are concentrations that already have designed curriculums. Students may also design their own concentration based on what is offered by the school’s faculty.
These areas include Public Interest Law and Policy, Environmental Law, Critical Race Studies and the Law, Native Nations (Tribal) Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation Law and Policy, and Real Estate Law, the spokesperson said.
“Over the last few years we’ve had interest from students from American law schools,’’ Little said. “We did it because we were getting interest from students of American law schools. We’re opening our program for those students to pursue a specific area. It’s more in-depth study into law. Someone with a juris doctorate can do some intense studies in law.”
Little said the program had been designed attorneys with degrees from other nations adapt quickly to the changes they will face.
“Someone from a foreign law school [generally] would come here for a year and help them focus on American jurisprudence,” Little said. Graduation from the LL.M. program will require satisfactory completion of 20 hours of class credit over a two-semester period.
The cost of the program is $35,000.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company