Hi there,

I am presently looking into apply to the University of London's External LLM program, and was wondering if someone would be able to shed a bit of light on a few concerns/questions that I have.

I received my undergraduate degree from a recognized Canadian University, however I did not study law. As the U of L's LLM program is considered a "true" graduate program, a degree is req'd, however, not an LLB. Will this hinder my chances of finding employment within the Canadian market? Also, would the fact that the degree was obtianed via distance education decrease its value?

Any imput anyone may have on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

It rather depends on what the nature is of the employment you're hoping to find -- if you wish to become a lawyer in Canada then you'll have to pass the bar, take your articles, etc. The LLM won't particularly help you with this, but neither would it hinder you, you'd probably just be doing things the "wrong" way round.

Conversely if you're seeking employment in, say, maritime insurance, and your LLM is in marine law, then it would undoubtedly be of great value even though you're not going to be a lawyer.

So perhaps there are 2 questions -- are you intending on becoming a lawyer, and if yes then why have you chosen to do the specialised LLM first?

As for being DL *shrug* some people may look down on it initially, but it's a trivial sell -- DL degrees don't compete directly with FT ones since they're aimed at different people, you demonstrate/require/gain a different set of skills, demonstrate discipline/focus/self-motivation/etc, nobody's going to deride you for passing a graduate law degree whilst working full time!