Hi,

Is anyone aware of the rules as to when one is permitted to embark upon a second LL.M.?

I am planning to start a commercial law LL.M. at Edinburgh University in September before doing my 2 year training period as an attorney in the UK. Would I thereafter be allowed to apply for an LL.M. at, e.g. Harvard, UPenn, Columbia etc.?

Thanks!

Of course you would.

Depending on your performance it might even increase your chances of being admitted to those universities!

Wrong. Already holding an LL.M will preclude you from pursuing an LL.M at several of the schools you mention.

Wrong. For sure holding an LL.M. at Edinburgh University will NOT preclude you for pursuing an LL.M. at the US law schools you mentioned. Of course that holding an LL.M. does not ensure you to be accepted at those law schools, but, as I said before, depending on your performance it might increase your chances of being admitted to those universities!

I expressly inquired about this very question, and the answer I was given is that pursuing a second LL.M, regardless of the area of concentration, is perceived as a duplicate degree for which there is a strong presumption that admission will not be offered. I believe Yale's web site contains an explicit reference to candidates already holding LL.M degrees, or it did a while back when I inquired.

My advice is to contact the institutions in which you are interested in the U.S. BEFORE you pursue your first LL.M. You may be precluding yourself in the future. Or, you may not be, but go to the source to obtain the information.

I expressly inquired about this very question, and the answer I was given is that pursuing a second LL.M, regardless of the area of concentration, is perceived as a duplicate degree for which there is a strong presumption that admission will not be offered. I believe Yale's web site contains an explicit reference to candidates already holding LL.M degrees, or it did a while back when I inquired.

My advice is to contact the institutions in which you are interested in the U.S. BEFORE you pursue your first LL.M. You may be precluding yourself in the future. Or, you may not be, but go to the source to obtain the information.

Exactly, its only in relation with US universities, so if you do an LLM in Edinburgh you wont have any problem. And even if you do your LLM in the US you still may have chances... I now people that were admitted to Harvard after doing an LLM in the US.