Dear all,
I am so happy that i am accepted to UCHastings' LLM program with a scholarship of $10000.
But there is little information on this school in China,
so i need your help.
Is Hastings a famous school in US and what are the prospects for career.
Thanks very much.

for sure is a good school, and is within the UC system, which is the best public system worldwide...that said, Hastings doesn't match Berkeley or Stanford (just to stay around SF). Besides, it depends what are you going to study there...I'm pretty sure you can sit and take the CA bar exam once your LL.M is over. Hope it helped and congrats for you admission

Thanks Stagista, your advice is more than helpful.
But im wondering if im eligible to sit for CA bar after graduation. I've taken four years study of law in civil law jurisdiction and hold a bachelor degree without practice experience.

You need to go through a process and seek CA bar's approval whether you're eligible to sit for CA bar exam or not.

http://calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Outside-Ed-Qualif.pdf

As a summary, you basically need to make an evaluation of your legal studies [in China?] through independent organization such as www.wes.org. I have no affiliation with this firm but i have experience using their service. After that, you need to submit the evaluation report to CA bar and seek for the approval whether you're foreign legal education is "substantially" equivalent to a JD in US, if approved, you may sit for the bar exam after getting your LLM:

http://calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Outside-Ed-Guidelines.pdf

Did you apply another schools in CA?

Regards
maurice

What specialization is the strongest at this school?

for sure is a good school, and is within the UC system, which is the best public system worldwide...that said, Hastings doesn't match Berkeley or Stanford (just to stay around SF). Besides, it depends what are you going to study there...I'm pretty sure you can sit and take the CA bar exam once your LL.M is over. Hope it helped and congrats for you admission

regarding the CA bar exam, if you do get the chance to sit at it, how hard is it? (considering I too studied and practiced law in a civil law system) are we talking months and months of full time study?

Natalie: congrats on the scolarship and good luck with your decision.

Thank u all.
It is said that CA bar exam is more difficult than that in NY,
and the qualification review is troublesome, right?
So im hesitating if i should accept it.
Besides, im worrying the job market in san fan will be extremly competitive for me since there are many asians there.

i've read in other posts that the market, in all the US, for LLM grads, is extremely competitive and right now there is little chance to get a long time job in a decent law firm. A friend of mine also mentioned that due to the economic situation, there was an estimated 10% lay-off rate for working attorneys. I have no data to back that up, but well... its info that floats on the net...

thanks

What specialization at Hastings is the best?

Baby_Luck, as an LLM Program attracting international students, Hastings specializes in international human rights law, international business law, intellectual property law, alternative dispute resolution (negotiation, mediation and arbitration) and taxation.

Thanks.
I just wondered which one is the best..... I mean GWU is famous for the IP LLM program, GTU is famous for the Taxation and Securities programs.... etc.

Baby_Luck, these programs would all give a solid legal education. There is a certain subjectivity if one were to choose which among the law programs is the best. What may be the best for one may not be the best for another. Rankings by one group would be disputed by another, etc. All these schools award an LLM, with all rights and privileges appurtenant thereto, regardless of school attended. The LLM specializations are a recent introduction; for many years, all law schools merely offered a general LLM degree.

It would be more appropriate to determine which law program fits the career objectives of the LLM student. As far as I know, the Georgetown Law Center LLM would be a good qualification to have, as would an LLM qualification from the University of California would be a good credential for natalie y_c_c. In addition, the $10,000 scholarship awarded to natalie y_c_c presents an attractive incentive to attend Hastings. It's all a matter of personal preference. At the end of the day, it's how we use the degree qualification to achieve our career objectives.

Thanks. I actually asked the question for myself---not for natalie---because I was curious. (I know a person who recommended one of the UCH programs as one of the best in the US.... and I was just curious what other folks, folk here for example, think about the programs at UCH.) When i asked the question, I did not mean to give advice or seek one for natalie y_c_c.

Thanks for your answer.

As earlier posted, It's all a matter of personal preference. There are a number of good programs not just in the United States, but in other parts of the world. It would be extremely difficult to pinpoint absolutely the best program in the U.S., as this is on a person-to-person, case-to-case basis. A scholarship award certainly helps in deciding whether to attend a particular school. But this much can be said - the University of California is the finest state university in the United States. It has some of the best law programs available in the country. This is without distinction as to campus (UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Hastings, etc.).

OpinioJuris, thanks.

Natalie I am in!!!!!!