I have a law degree from Vietnam, and I am residing in Virginia. I am interested in LLM programs in two locations:

1. LLM @ Scalia Law School. Scalia Law says that its General LLM can fulfill the CA Bar Exam Material. The tuition is about $25k.
2. LLM @ any law schools in New York. SUNY Buffalo may be my target because its tuition is affordable (about $25k).

LLM @ CA is too expensive.

So what option do you prefer? Is CA or NY Bar Exam more difficult?

Thank you

Hello Tran,

For the CA bar you need to do an LL.M in California because one requirement is to complete ethics class in Californian law and — to my knowledge — only Californian Law Schools offer that. So if you plan to do an LLM outside California and then pass the CA bar you will need to take an additional ethics class in California (or maybe fulfill this requirement with an online program - please keep me posted if you find that).

For the NY bar you only need to do an LL.M. in an ABA Law School, this law school no need to be based in NY.

You should also keep in mind that in the U.S.A. the law school ranking is important and many Law Schools provide Scholarship (especially if they are not ranked in the top14). So if your first concern is the total cost, your second concern should be the ranking. For example Scalia Law School (George Masson) is ranked 41 and SUNY Buffalo is ranked 106. But you can find better ranked law school with lower or similar costs, as for example Iowa (ranked 27; tuition $27,5k). An other law school can be very generous: for example many students got a 50% scholarship from USC (ranked 19; tuition $64k; after scholarship $32), but it's based in California and the living cost are expensive.

So, if you should use between Scalia Law and SUNY I recommend you Scalia only because the ranking is better (41 vs. 107).

Useful ranking:
- US News: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
- Above the Law: https://abovethelaw.com/law-school-rankings/top-law-schools/

The ethics requirement is specifically a class on Professional Responsibility, that is California focused:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Requirements/Education/Legal-Education/Foreign-Education/Foreign-Law-Degree

One of the four courses must be Professional Responsibility that covers the California Rules of Professional Conduct, relevant sections of the California Business and Professions Code, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and leading federal and state case law on the subject...

While I have not had direct experience with this, I understand that LLM students from non-California schools have been able to use online Professional Responsibility courses focused on the CA rules to satisfy this requirement. I would suggest that you email or phone the CA bar authorities to confirm that this path is still available.

I'd recommend always chosing an ABA accredited school (regardless of location) over a regionally accredited one.