LLM programs in general are geared towards foreign law graduates who want to learn the host country's law in one year. No difference for the Sorbonne LLM, which is only open to foreign law graduates. If you already possess a "maitrise en droit" it would be rather odd for you to re-study French law in an LLM program even if it were open to "native" students. If you only have a "license", that would not qualify you for any LLM program, because the license is not the law degree that allows you to take the Bar.

On the other hand, foreign law graduates can certainly apply directly into a specialized "DEA / DESS" programs, but there, such a student will have to pick up the fundamentals of French law on his own. Many foreign graduates go directly into a DEA/DESS program, but they lament the fact that given the workload of the regular program, they have no time to learn the basics, and they really don't have a grasp of basic French law (particularly public law). Students from countries based on the Napoleonic Code (the Latin American countries) might have an easier time picking up French law on their own than students from the common law countries.

So, for foreign law graduates, it all depends on your aim: is it to specialize, or is it to have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of French law?

so...now u kinf of lost me....
i`ve already study basic french law...i`m studying in a program that gives me a licence issued by sorbonne directly although i`m not attending the courses in france.. in order to continue in paris as i want i need to know how much it costs..
so if i already know the basics and want to go for a 2 years master i`m considered equal to french students and pay less than 6000??
i don`t care if i continue in paris II ..all that counts it`s to continue in paris...
and to go to the bar exam which degree do u need?
txs for all the info

so...now u kinf of lost me....
i`ve already study basic french law...i`m studying in a program that gives me a licence issued by sorbonne directly although i`m not attending the courses in france.. in order to continue in paris as i want i need to know how much it costs..
so if i already know the basics and want to go for a 2 years master i`m considered equal to french students and pay less than 6000??
i don`t care if i continue in paris II ..all that counts it`s to continue in paris...
and to go to the bar exam which degree do u need?
txs for all the info

Be aware that French students who want to take the bar exam have to register almost 1 year in advance, at the same time they enroll for their maîtrise or DESS/DEA. I should think the same rule applies to international students. So don't miss the deadline, their's no exception afterwards !

Pour les avocats inscrits aux barreaux étrangers, ils peuvent se profiter des régimes spéciales et plus faciles pour accéder aux barreaux français, notamment celles de « larticle 99 » pour les communautaires et de « larticle 100 » pour les non-communautaires. Voir, respectivement,

http://www.cnb.avocat.fr/VieProfessionAvocat/VPA_deveniravocat_lesresortissants_communautaires.php

http://www.cnb.avocat.fr/VieProfessionAvocat/VPA_deveniravocat_lesresortissants.php

merci beaucoup pour tout....
the pb i had with the bar exam is that we`ve been told there`s no matrise anymore and that u go directly into master....
in my country the uni is 4 years and although i`m having my licence from sorbonne this year i still have one year till i finish my uni also...
txs

Thanks a lot Tom for your information. I am actually fluent in French, being born and raised in France so it will not be too hard for me to seat in a french classroom. My field of interest in history covers the period of Early Modern Europe, not Modern history. Can i still apply to Sciences Po? I don't know if i could apply to the Master in "history and political theory." Do you know what is Sciences Po requirements? My plan is to apply to a university in France that will allow me to apply later for an internship at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. What university do you think will best help me get an internship and hopefully a job at UNESCO? Je vous remercie d'avance et a bientot!
ISA

Hi Isa,
if your purpose is to work for the UNESCO, I would definitely advise you to try Sciences Po.
It may not be the best choice with regards to history (it's clearly not it's speciality), but it's the place to be if you want to have this kind of career. Many Sciences Po students do their internships in ambassies, UNO, UNESCO etc... competition is tough but it's the place where you would have the best chances.
Good luck.

A mon avis, choisir une école, quoiquelle soit renommée généralement, malgré le fait que le champ détude désiré ne soit pas le meilleur à cette école, juste pour améliorer la chance dobtenir un stage à lUNESCO, ne serait pas une bonne décision. Bien que je connaisse 4 personnes de Sciences Po actuellement stagiaires à lUNESCO, ils sont tous dorigine du Moyen Orient, avec une forte connaissance des langues de la région, car ils étaient choisis expressément pour leurs compétences linguistiques. Ben, cest les langues arabes aujourdhui, ça peut être les langues baltiques demain, qui sait. Donc, cest trop aléatoire en ce qui concerne les besoins de lUNESCO. De plus, on naurait pas eu des meilleures études en histoire à Sciences Po.

Hi Lisa

Sciences-Po Paris ( Institut d Etudes Politique de Paris) as a prestigious "Grande Ecole" is definitely the best choice for carreers in International Organizations, NGO...

Thank you all for your reply. I have been thinking of all what you said in regard of applying to Sciences Po in order to work for Unesco. lkjh, you said that to choose Sciences Po only to improve my chance of getting an internship at Unesco might not be a good decision. Now, i was thinking perhaps i don't need to apply to Sciences Po at all. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley and was a member of the Model United Nation Club for two years. I speak French, English and a little of Persian as well. Can anybody tell me where and how i could talk to someone about getting a job at Unesco and if a B.A. degree is enough to start a career in this organisation? I have looked at their website, but they lack information regarding requirements to get a job. I also don't want to send my resume yet and miss my opportunity if they later tell me that i need a higher level of education. Being in the United States for many years now, i have lost contact in France and i would appreciate if anyone could advise me where i could get answers to my questions. Merci d'avance!
Isa

I am sorry but not every student from the Sorbonne dreams of attending Sciences-Po Paris. This sounds like non sense, particularly that both schools are really different.

You should apply to Sciences-Po Paris (Institut d'Etude Politique de Paris) Master degree which is by far one of the most respected prestigious elite school in France, often refered to as the "French Harvard". (Sorbonne is just appealing for foreigners because of its famous name). Its Law program is excellent.
Most classes are taught in English and French.
Moreover Sciences-Po Paris has double diploma program with Columbia, Cornell and London School of Economics...
Be aware that every law student at the Sorbonne dreams of going to Sciences-Po Paris...

Sorbonne has also joint degree program JD/maîtrise with columbia and cornell and also llb/maîtrise with King's college. Actually, there is also a joint degree program after JD/maîtrise Paris I/Cornell/columbia called "dess droit de la globalisation économique" (taught both in english and french, directed by Horatia Muir Watt from Paris I and Marie-Anne Frison Roche from Sciences-Po) with sorbonne and sciences-po, so they work together!

I'm an American law student, and I'd like to work for an American law firm in Paris some day. I have a few questions, and I hope someone can answer them!
1) Do I need a law degree from a French school to practice in France, or is there some way to take the French bar without a French law degree? Do I need the French bar to work in an American firm's Paris office?
2) If I do want to get a French law degree after finishing law school in the US, which degree (LLM or DESS) can I get and which should I get?
3) Are there programs in the US that would allow me to work toward a French law degree? Someone mentioned in an earlier post that they were getting credit at the Sorbonne in the US, I believe.
4) What is the French bar exam like? Is it very difficult for a foreigner to take? Is it all essay questions?
5) Where can I get info about the French bar?

Any help is appreciated!

1) To practice as a lawyer in France, you must either have taken the French bar exam or be a qualified lawyer in another European country. To take the French bar exam, you need a French degree (Maîtrise or Master1, DEA, DESS or Master2) in Law from a French university.

2) DEA (Diplome d'Etudes d'Approfondies) or Master2 Recherche is mostly a research degree that people take to do a PhD (but not exclusively): it involves wirting a long dissertation
DESS (Diplome d'Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées) or Master2 Professionnel now is a taught degree that involves a mandatory internship.
If you want to practice, the best is the Master2 Professionnel

3) I don't know of any American degree that allows you to get credit for a French degree (except if you take a four-year long JD/Maitrise double degree).

4) The bar exam consists of 3 5-hour written examinations and afterwards 5 oral exams. It is, I believe, very difficult for a foreigner because even French students don't get it easily and also because it only involves essay questions (multiple choice questions are very unusual in France).

5) To be able to take the test, you need to sign up for a mandatory preparation course at the university where you will take the exam (universities are in charge of setting up the examination and grading it). So I guess the best info you could get would be from the university where you want to take it.

Hi,

How well do you have to speak French to get in to the LLM at Sorbonne? (Preferably, which level of the common european standard).
I am currently attending a cours, and would really like to be accepted for the LLM.
Also, which rules do apply for lawyers from other european countries wanting to work as a lawyer in France? I understood that they do not need to take the bar exam, but are there any other exams or prerequisits? Where can I find information on this?

There is an exception for foreign trained lawyers to practice in France. You would not need a French degree but you ll have to take a test similar to the Bar Exam. You ll need to master French Law pretty well.

As for working in France just as an American Lawyer, maybe you may work as a legal consultant if someone wants to hire you with this status (I would not recomend it though) but I would expect that you'll have some difficulties getting your working visa.

http://www.cnb.avocat.fr/VieProfessionAvocat/VPA_deveniravocat_lesresortissants.php

Does anyone know why there's such a discrepancy between Assas and Sorbonne in terms of tuition for the LL.M.? As I understand it, tuition at Assas is around 2,100 euros whereas at Sorbonne it is 6,000 euros.

Also, does anyone know the practical differences between the LL.M. program at Assas and the LL.M. program at Sorbonne? The Sorbonne program seems very well organized and appears to include a 3-month placement component. It is difficult to find comparable information on the LL.M. program at Assas, though I understand the university has an exceptional reputation. As between the two, is one more difficult to get into?

Hi there,

Im an alumnus of the LL.M. at La Sorbonne.

First of all some general remarks:
1) Paris I and Paris II are the most reputed law faculties in France, with the people from Paris I saying Paris I is better than Paris II and vice versa.
2) The LL.M. is a programm specially designed for foreigners and therefore easier to get into than the DESS programms (where the number of non-French people is really limited at Paris I or Paris II).
3) the LL.M. is in French and they require a test certifying your level of French (its necessary to speak it well...)

I was personally quite satisfied with the programm. Its a small group (a maximum of tweny students each year). So you get to know the teachers and fellow students really well. In my year (2004-2005), the student body was really diverse and of a high level (the two US students were from NYU and Berkeley). I have the impression that they are becoming more and more selective (the number of applications rise every year). The People of my LL.M. are doing well I have the impression: some of us work at big law firms (Linklaters, Gide, Willkie...), others work as in-house lawyers (Maersk shipping,...) or are doing other things (conseil de la concurrence, PhD's, diplomate...)

The internship is a really interesting aspect of the LL.M., even though I had some trouble finding one (in the end the people from the programm helped me though and I found a stage in a French firm with a strong reputation in international arbitration). Places where people went on stage included: Clifford Chance, Willkie, Shearman&Sterling, ICC, UNESCO...

If you want to stay in Paris and you are already a member of a foreign bar, you can take some kind of special bar exam (a few people of my year took it and passed) which allows you to become a member of the Paris bar. The programm does prepare you in that way that it gives you an overview of
French law.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any more questions, just shoot...

Just to clarify some incorrect facts...l'ecole normale superieure de cachan does have a law economics and management department . Sure it doesnt offer an LLM degree because it is meant to train futur professors in the field by preparing for the Agregation. Students from the Ecole Normale Superieure are selected to be the top intellectuals/ researchers/ professors in the country. Not so much at Sciences po paris...
And, instead of paying you get paid for studying at the ENS (1200 euros/month) as you get the civil servant status.

Paris 1 and Paris 2 are equally good. Seems like paris 2 is better at corporate law and paris 1 at international law.

Either way, if you want to study law, don't get into sciences po.