Hi All,

I am an articling student who recently graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. I have applied to LSE (and only LSE thus far) for an LL.M. specializing in Human Rights.

Would somebody who is currently pursuing an LL.M. at LSE care to comment on whether they are liking their experience?

I would like to study outside of Canada, are there any other schools I should consider for the area that I am interested in.

Finally and perphaps most importantly, what are the post-LL.M. options avaliable to LSE students. Are they successful in securing internships, or jobs at NGO's or the UN etc?

Any info or advise regarding my questions or in general would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

any advise at all guys?

I can't give you any advice on LSE, but I can suggest some other universities that offer good human rights LLMs. I am currently attending the University of Nottingham doing a Masters in International Human Rights Law. The law school here has several specialisations to choose from so there is quite a bit of flexibility as to courses. They have a Human RIghts Law Centre on site that is doing some really exciting research and there are lots of opportunities to get involved, either researching for a professor, working on projects for the law centre, helping organize a student conference, or getting an internship for the summer. So far I've found that to be a great part of the experience here, being able to gain some practical knowledge alongside my academic work.

You could also look at Galway in Ireland, which has a very well regarded human rights program, the University of Kent, although that is a more general international law program.

There are probably a lot more programs out there, I know there are some good ones in the Netherlands also. Good luck.

Let me give you as thorough and as helpful an answer as I can muster. I applied to the LLM program at LSE for 2006-2007; I declined for several reasons, one of which being the opportunity to intern at an international tribunal. I re-instated my application at LSE for 2007-2008, and was re-accepted. I am also a fellow Canadian who went to law school in Canada, though not Osgoode.

While I've been at this particular tribunal, I've met quite a number of people who did an LL.M. or other graduate work at LSE. Does this mean a master's at LSE is good at opening professional doors? Maybe. The problem is that basically every single one of these people are doing entry-level stuff (e.g. internships), which is the same stuff I'm doing with only an LL.B. Of course these "jobs" are either unpaid or very underemunerated. So that begs the question - if I was able to land this entry level position without an LL.M., why would I need to spend so much money on another year of school, seeing as it doesn't appear to have advanced the interests of my colleagues one lick (vis-a-vis me, at least). While I am still contemplating doing an LLM at LSE this fall (I have also applied several other places, but no answers yet), I will confess I have felt a bit jaded by the whole idea and have heard quite a few people say that the LLM is really just a money spinner for the universities.

Please don't read this as advice to not attend the LSE; just trying to give you as full a picture as I can. Like I said, you still may find me there next fall, though that is looking increasingly doubtful.

Hiya Amsterdammer,

I'm presently studying the LLM in Human Rights Law at LSE, having turned down an offer to go to Cambridge. So... was it a good choice?

1) Professor Conor Gearty is amazing. Simply brilliant. If you decide to come, do as many of his units as you can. I saw him speak in Melbourne, Australia, and that made me decide to come to London.

2) The quality of supervision is average at best. You need to be self-motivated, which is fine. Don't expect any Oxford style 1 on 1 tutes - although some of the courses (such as Law and Social Theory, Crim Procedure and Evidence etc) are small classes with 6-8 people attending. The corporate courses are much more heavily enrolled.

3) Work out why you want to do the LLM. I agree, the difference it makes is pretty minimal once you have international experience. For me, it was a great chance to reflect and write a dissertation before I go to the bar (and a welcome break from working :)). I was lucky enough to get a scholarship, so that helped too.

4) There is no question that Oxbridge has more prestige. The real question is how important this is to you. For Human Rights, the LSE is fantastic, and well recognised by people in the field. In Australia, recently a number of people who have received prestigious scholarships have decided to go to LSE over Oxbridge. The other thing to add is that the LSE has an amazingly vibrant international community, with probably a broader range of people than you'd find at Oxbridge.

5) London is a crazy, expensive place. There are lots of opportunities if you take advantage of them (volunteer work - Liberty, Pen, etc), and it's an exciting place to be. I must admit, sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have gone to a more traditional place, but at the end of the day I don't regret it.

Good luck with your decision!

I'm in a similar-ish dilemma insofar as I've got an offer from Cambridge and one from LSE - but different in the sense that the offer from Cambridge is not for the LLM!

I've heard a lot about Conor Gearty, and am glad to hear his lectures are as interesting has his articles are (I've read quite a bit of him this last year). I hope other academics at LSE live up to their names - specifically Christopher Greenwood, who I've also read a lot of this year. Are there any other academics that have particularly stood out for you during your time at LSE (either personally or through word of mouth)? I'm looking at the public international and social theory area (which I guess both have a strong human rights element to them).

Also, what was your experience of class sizes? One thing that has annoyed me at times at King's has been the size of the classes. Entering a room unable to tell whether it is a lecture or seminar can be very disheartening. I would have thought by the LLM the class sizes might be lower and the seminars more intense as a result (but obviously, like you say, not one-on-one a la Oxbridge). Are the public international classes very popular and as a result very large?

LSE is obviously very good, and CG especially so. But if your interest is in freedom of speech/press, and you want smallish classes and close contact with your teachers, you might conside the LLM Media Law at City University in London, taught by Ian Loveland (me) and as Visiting Profs - Gavin Phillipson, Helen Fenwick and Ian Cram.