hey guys, i need help on this. i've a bsc in business & management studies from UK, and i'm planning to do a masters.

came across a couple of master programs by monash for non-law graduates... e.g. master of elaw, master of business law, master of intellectual property law.

i'm keen in doing them b'cos of interest. however, i've no idea how can it help in my career... and how come nobody is really talking abt monash law programs? can somebody enlighten me please?

thanks. =))

Hi Zees,

I am a JD graduate from University of Queensland and have previously completed 1 of elective at Monash University within the Masters you are talking about - i think i might be able to help.

Basically, those Masters courses are conducted for lawyers and non-lawyers. The non-lawyers will undertake the courses within the Master of Intellectual Property Law while the lawyers will take them under Master of Laws (Intellectual Property Law).

Although the Masters for Non-Law Graduates are worthwhile to be embarked upon, I personally feel that they do not really 'add-value' to your career. This is because job positions which require legal expertise will usually hire a lawyer while jobs that don't require legal expertise will not need you to have a law masters for non-grads. With that said, i think it would be worthwhile if you are intending to use it for self-advancement and/or to evaluate if you want to complete a law degree in the future. Also, as the classes are combined with lawyers, you might be slightly disadvantaged in terms of not having the appropriate background knowledge - thus you will have to work doubly hard.

You might also want to consider those masters for non-law graduates offered by Melbourne University as well. I did 1 elective with them as well while i was in Melbourne. The academic standard and professional services (e.g. student welfare) at Melbourne University is definitely much higher.

If finance/time is not a real issue for you, I would advise you to consider doing the Monash or Melbourne JD. This will enable you to practise law - somewhat like the 1-year Graduate Law studies offered by some Universities in UK but this is 2.5 to 3 years in duration (depending on your enrolment load).

Let me know if you need further advice on this :)

Regards
Greg

Some of the non-law masters will lead to admission to a specific professional organisation. For example a Masters degree in Intellectual Property Law will allow you to complete the compulsory subjects to qualify as a patent/trademarks attorney, from which point you can practice fully qualified in that area (there may be one or two more subjects you need to do to qualify, depending on your subject choices).

So there are clear career paths and opportunities for some of them.

Go to the ILF in Frankfurt-Germany mate!!

They have a unique multi-contextual LL.M in Finance for Lawyers and Business Guys!!!!

Take a look...

I am from Argentina and will apply!!

Bye

Hi Zees,

Although the Masters for Non-Law Graduates are worthwhile to be embarked upon, I personally feel that they do not really 'add-value' to your career. This is because job positions which require legal expertise will usually hire a lawyer while jobs that don't require legal expertise will not need you to have a law masters for non-grads. With that said, i think it would be worthwhile if you are intending to use it for self-advancement and/or to evaluate if you want to complete a law degree in the future. Also, as the classes are combined with lawyers, you might be slightly disadvantaged in terms of not having the appropriate background knowledge - thus you will have to work doubly hard.
Regards
Greg