Hello,

Columbia Law School offers the possibility for JD students to obtain a Master of Laws degree with these prestigious universities in England (Three-year program -two years at Columbia Law School, 3L year in London) : King's College London, University College London, the London School of Economics in London and SOAS university of London.

I would like to have some advice and also to know your experience with these law schools.

My goal is to become a lawyer and work in international arbitration or international business law.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Meghan

Hi Meghan 

Congratulations on being chosen to do a JD at Columbia. I know that Columbia Law School is really tough to get into. If you're considering to study in London I would suggest you to apply to study at LSE or UCL. These are the best schools in London when it comes to law. This was the short answer and now let me give you a more in depth answer. 

In the UK universities are divided into Russell Group (RG) member universities and non-RG universities. Russell Group is a group of British universities similar to the American Ivy League. Within the RG members there is a further division between the so called Golden triangle universities and the rest of the RG members. Ideally a student should try to climb this ladder and try to get an LLM or a PhD at one of the Golden Triangle universities. Golden Triangle members are: Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, LSE, King's and Imperial (imperial doesn't have a faculty of law) SOAS is not even a member of the RG let alone the golden triangle. I would advise you to avoid SOAS. 

That leaves us with three choices: KCL UCL and LSE. KCL would definitely come after UCL and LSE.   
LSE's law school is more competitive and ranks higher compared to the UCL's, but UCL has a significantly higher overall rating and an incredible history and much better campus.

At the end of the day the choice is yours but if you're planning to apply to LSE, don't forget to check out their guide for writing a personal statement. The will require very specific things. 

    

[Edited by potemkin on Nov 06, 2021]