Hi! I want to do a LLM in Corporate and Finance Law at a university in UK next year. I found LSE, Kings and Queen Mary all have the same LLM. Which is better? (ie by its teaching, job market etc) Are there any otehr UK universities which offer the same qualification? Then again what are the asian universities which offer LLMs of the same standard ( such as NUS or CUHK) Thanks!

Hi

LSE is ranked as one of the top Unis in the World, specially in what regards Economics. Kings is also ranked pretty good and has a very good reputation in big Lawfirms. Queens is good, but not that good.

For my money, first try LSE, then KCL and last Queen.

Regards

Hi! Thanks. I am hoping to apply to all three and see what happens.

LSE is best known in N. American. KCL is best known if you want to work in Europe. UCL is best known if you want to work in the UK.

This is the crude ranking system that seems to have appeared over the years.

Personally, take no notice of it and go to the one that offers the best teaching for your subject.

LSE is is the best u got there. Dont even need to chose, the ranking, research and reputation worldwide LSE is much further than the other 2.

I'd not say that LSE is the best LLM you could apply to. LSE is just a very well-advertised brand, such as, for instance, the Bocconi University in Italy. A brand, otherwise, is not, automatically, a synonymous of good education.

Hi,
I'm Japanese.
Most Japanese lawyers choose UCL and KCL rather than LSE.
LSE is really famous for economics and politics, but less than UCL and KCL for law, at least among Japanese lawyers.

Of course, LSE is fascinating University, so there is no problem to choose LSE.

Hi,
This post might not help you in deciding whether to go for an LLM at LSE or QMUL or KCL but will answer the most important question which you should consider before you opt for an LLM and i.e. is there any point in doing LLM here in UK.
Talking from experience, I don’t think UK LLMs are any good (this is excluding Oxford and Cambridge). There is no tutorial system like US where you get one on one or at least a small group interaction with the professor. In UK it is completely lecture based LLM and you are tested on a 3 hour exam at the end. In addition to the exams there is an option of doing a dissertation (you can choose between 3 course and a dissertation or 4 courses with no dissertation). Most of the institutions like LSE, Kings, UCL, QMUL don’t have term paper system and therefore you end up reading just the class material and no research done otherwise.
About the market, I would say it’s not the right time to be in here for an LLM. Market is not doing well and all Training contracts are full till 2010. If you do your LLM in 2008-09 there is a possibility that you have to wait for another 2 years to start working for any law firm in UK as they have a training contract system. However, if you have 2-3 years of work experience beforehand you might be able to qualify for the Associate post directly. The chances of getting that place are as slim as it would have been without an LLM. However, last year when the market was at boom, most of the people who applied for a job in UK got one. So it’s the probability question tagged with luck. That’s all.
As the previous posts have pointed out, brand names work very well and LSE has a great reputation. If I have to choose among the options given, I would place my money on LSE but in UK or at least in London most of the commercial laws are taught by the same professors. LLM program till last year i.e. 2007 was a combined course between Kings, UCL, QMUL, SOAS etc. but from the year 2008 these colleges have started their own LLM courses. This is the result of ever increasing number of LLM students in London and now these institutions instead of sharing the profits want a cut of their own. Most of the professors at London teach courses at all three locations (LSE, Kings, and UCL) and also Oxford, Cambridge. (obviously not everyone)
Education is the third largest industry in UK, first being the finance and second Defence. When I say industry, I mean it is an industry. If you haven’t noticed, applying to UK educational institutions is very easy as they have agents across the world to apply for you and no charge is placed on their services. They are paid out of your fee by the institutions. However, this is not the case with US, where you apply directly and get through on your own merit instead of the agent. (Only 4 institutions in UK don’t fall into this category – LSE, Kings, Oxford, Cambridge)
I hope, I have clarified some issues but as I have already pointed out it is a question of being at the right place at the right time. So you can choose any option and get the best result out of it.

Best of Luck

Hi

Just to add to what Akum said above, the law firms in UK don't really consider the LLM to be important from a hiring perspective. They are more concerned with your LLB and with your work experience. If you've done your LLB degree outside UK then it's your work experience which matters and not the LLM. Plus your work experience needs to be specialized rather than general. As Akum said, the market in UK is down this year but one can never predict the next 12 months or what will happen when the 2008-2009 class graduates from the LLM. You need to be prepared for not getting a job for more than a year after passing out from the LLM.

Do the LLM for the right reasons and not just from the perspective of getting a job. I want to study further so I'm opting to do the LLM after 10 years of work ex in India. If I get a job great otherwise I'll come back to my own country and find a job easily.

I'm probably going to King's for the LLM in International Finance course and a friend of mine who did his LLM there a few years ago said that the professors teaching the modules I've chosen (International Finance I, II and III, Legal issues in Corporate Finance and Regulation of Mergers and Acquisitions) are excellent.

All the best to everyone.

Cheers
Prash

Hi Prash,

Please keep in mind that UK LLM Forms have this requirement for you to choose some course at the beginning. But this is only for the purpose of processing your application.. However, in practice.. everyone gets an option to choose the courses after attending the initial course lectures.. so you might be in one of the biggest class (sometimes 150 students) in the LLM course. Secondly, previously (i.e. because ur friend did LLM when all colleges other than LSE had a combined LLM course) because of combined LLM course there were very good prof. for these corses but now they are permanent faculty for one college.. So if u r in the impression that u might get the same Prof. in Kings then please check again. Mostly, these colleges have a list of permanent faculty on their website. So for starters you can check that.. and if cant find them then check the list of visiting faculty.

Anyway.. Best of Luck for the LLM.

Hi Prash,

Please keep in mind that UK LLM Forms have this requirement for you to choose some course at the beginning. But this is only for the purpose of processing your application.. However, in practice.. everyone gets an option to choose the courses after attending the initial course lectures.. so you might be in one of the biggest class (sometimes 150 students) in the LLM course. Secondly, previously (i.e. because ur friend did LLM when all colleges other than LSE had a combined LLM course) because of combined LLM course there were very good prof. for these corses but now they are permanent faculty for one college.. So if u r in the impression that u might get the same Prof. in Kings then please check again. Mostly, these colleges have a list of permanent faculty on their website. So for starters you can check that.. and if cant find them then check the list of visiting faculty.

Anyway.. Best of Luck for the LLM.

Hi Nadija

All the points made by everyone are relevant. However I think that you should be careful of being overly influenced by them.

All the institutions i.e KCL, LSE, QM are excellent. However you have missed one institution that supersedes all of them and that is UCL. I am an english student completing the final year of my LLB degree in Cambridge and here in the UK, UCL consistently outranks all of them(LSE,KCL,QM) with the exception of Cambridge. The UCL law school according to the Sunday Times guide, a very respected piece of literature in England, is ranked as the second best in the UK behind only Cambridge. This also shows that one should not just assume that OXBRIDGE are automatically the best. Oxford was only placed 4th.

Another factor that you should be aware of is the international reputation of the universities. Again all of the institutions are excellent however, UCL ranked the highest. As proof I direct you to the website below. Furthermore in America, as I am sure that you aware, they have the IVY league system. Well, the UK equivalent to that is called the Russell Group of Universities. UCL is within the Russell Group. It is called the 'G5' sub-group of 'super-elite' universities. The other institutions are Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and Imperial.

One final point, doing the LLM can only help your job prospects. Indeed it very competitive to secure a training contract (TC) in the UK and UK law firms do not require you to have one however, it may well give you the edge over someone who does not have one. It also demonstrates a whole host of relevant qualities in person who is an applicant for a TC such as, maturity of intellect, work ethic, commitment, discipline ect.

Finally if you are someone who capable of doing an LLM you should have confidence in your ability to secure a TC.

Hope this helps
Matthew

HI THERE,

I got offers from kcl and qmul. I would like to work in the golf (i am lebanese , french educated, mastres in arbitration from paris 1 -pantheon sorbonne); which one has better reputation? i mean to find a better job quicker?

thk you

Hi,
Reputation wise KCL is better but Course content as well as Teaching method is good at QMUL .. and for the Job.. I think both of them stand at the same level just that you should have good credentials. You would surely be looking for a job before you finish your LLM so ur Undergrad degree and grades in it would make a lot of difference. LLM is just an addition and sometimes works in your favour when two candidates score the same but one's got an LLM degree.

I hope this helps.

LSE is BY FAR the best from these!!! it has incredible teaching for by the best names in the game. UCL is not bad but does not come close. there are lots of uni's like UCL, LSE is unique, not just because of advertising (as one person above points out), but because of the quality of its research in all the social sciences! I have been to both and this is my opinion. Also you may want to consult the latest rankings for Law Schools in the UK which were just released few days ago by the Independent newspaper (also available on their website). It places LSE's department of law as 2nd in the UK. The USA has a much better funded and organised system of education then here, but the main UK uni's which can give them a run for their money are Oxford, Cambridge and the LSE.

Hi! Pras, Akum, Crickett0 and all,
Thank you for your replies. Your thoughts have given me lot of insight and a lot to think about. Yes, I was planning on obtaining a training contract and still has faith in it. On the other hand I have found out that LLM at NUS is cheaper and is of good quality. Since I am an asian student I can apply for that too.