Hi people,

Are there any universities which have a 2 year LLM program in the US? I heard that this kind of program accept non-law background student.
And what's the difference between the 1 year LLM and the 2 year LLM?

Thanks in advance!!

Honestly,

if you don't already have a legal background and want to do a 2 year program, you're much better off doing a 2 year JD from a place like northwestern. The LLM and JD are basically the same program except JDs are much more marketable.

Hi, Interalia

Thanks for your suggestion!!.

I'm a foreign student and I'm not planning to do a JD, cuz if I can do a 1 year LLM, I can save lots of time, now I wanna get a law degree as soon as possible, so 1 year LLM is the best choice for me, but I don't have a prior law degree, maybe I'm not eligible to do this, and this is what I'm worry about now..

It really depends on what you're aiming for.

If you just want a LLM for some legal knowledge to enhance your current non-legal career, there are some LLMs which do accept non-law graduates. I don't think there are many in the US, but there are certainly some in the UK, e.g. edinburgh, LSE etc, just check each individual website for the exact answer.

An LLM will not qualify you to practice law if that is your intention. This only exception to this rule are for graduates who already have a foreign degree in law who plan to sit for the New York bar exam. In the UK, only a one year graduate diploma or a 2 year graduate entry LLB will qualify a non law degree holder to practice law. In the US, the only way a non LLB holder can practise law is with a JD. So if you're studying with the intention of sitting for a bar exam, the LLM is basically useless.

Yeah, I'm quite clear on this. My intention is to be a lawyer, I'm a Chinese student by the way.

Situation here in China is a little bit different. None of degrees will qualify to practice law here. We got an National Legal Exam here(similar to the bar exam in the US)which is extraordinarily difficult. Everyone who wants to be a lawyer or a judge has to pass the exam, no matter which kind of degree you've got. Everybody is eligible for the exam. That means if you can pass the exam, you can be a lawyer even without a law degree. A strange system!!
So this is why I wanna choose the LLM, but not JD or LLB. Time is the point instead of the degree.

OK, I'm going to check these websites.
Thank you anyway!!.

I don't quite understand you.

Where do you intend to practise law? If you're intending to practise law in the US or the UK, then a LLM is worthless for that purpose. A LLM from any university will not qualify you to practise law in the uk. As I said before, ONLY a postgraduate diploma in law or a 2 year graduate entry LLB will. A LLM will only qualify you to practise law in the US, if you ALREADY have a law degree, even if it's a chinese law degree. You cannot practise law in the US with a LLM if you first degree was not in law.

If you want to practise law in china, I don't see how a LLM in the US or UK helps at all. Chinese Law is based on the civilian system not the common law. Studying the legal system in the US and UK will not help you because they run on a totally different system from china. So I don't see how a LLM will save you time for this purpose.