I will likely be enrolling as a student in the University of Alabama distance LLM program in the Fall, 2009.  Would anyone with personal experience with the program please post your comments here.  THANK YOU!!!!!

I hope that you have started! I'm half way through and cannot tell you how wonderful the program has been. Everyone at the school is very helpful and the tech support is really great. I was worried about tech issues but have found that to be the easiest part. The classes are archived over the year and easily accessable whenever you have need. Generally the power points are available prior to class to allow for ease of notetaking. The one proivso is that you must keep up with the materials! The classes are taken one at a time so they go fast and cover an incredible amount of material. Also, start your outlines early!!! It's easy to get caught by the end of the class before you're prepared to take the exam.

You'll notice a drop off of students after first semester. It's a difficult program and some will wash out. Hopefully your program's most annoying student drops too!

The content is very thorough and the profs are great. When you have class with the prof who wrote the most respected textbook in the field it really helps your understanding. Also, the profs have been great about answering questions. The chat allows live contact with other students and has been really fun for me. Allows me to ask a questions without too much embarassment. As with every program there are those whose questions dominate the class but the profs are good at shutting that down or limiting it to after class.

As to the quality of the program. Another associate at my firm is getting an LLM from a university here in town. The depth of her knowledge is not as extensive as mine and I often find mistakes in her anaylsis of the tax questions presented to us by others in the firm. She may have an edge in hiring because of the local university but her lack of knowledge will give her away every time. Her classes are not as in depth as mine have been, which she has commented on when she's watched some of my classes. Also, the grade scale is substantially different for her program, allowing for a B average for work that would not meet muster at Alabama. Best part is that Alabama is substantially less expensive than this other program! A real bonus!

I work at a large firm by the way and have for several years. This should help my prospects for advancement and hopefully pull me up over other associates.

I hope that this has been helpful. It must be obvious that I really love the program and would do it again in a heartbeat.