I graduated from a Tier 4 US law school in the top 10%/law review/multiple publications. I have some good work experience and would like to pursue an LL.M. to teach/research. Do I have any chance at getting in to a top school? Any recommendations as to where I might apply and have a chance of acceptance? If folks wouldn't mind posting their numbers, acceptances, rejections, I'd greatly appreciate it. Any advice would be helpful

Hi there! According to what you posted, you seem to want to pursue an LL.M. degree at a top school. Then I suggest you visit top 20 Law schools' websites to check whether they provide such programs. Please be aware that most LL.M. programs are designed for foreign-trained students only, which you may not meet the requirement. Nevertheless, If you are really interested in a specific program, then you may call them to get the first-hand information. Good Luck!

Oh, by the way, there is another degree particularly designed for those interesting in doing researches. It is SJD, the abbreviation of "The Doctor of Juridical Science," sometimes it is also called JSD. Since you already had a JD degree and seem to be interested in doing researches, I think this research-oriented degree is more suitable for your case than LL.M. Though normally students studying in this program are foreigners who plan to teach Law at their home countries, it does not strictly limit its places to international students. There are some American Law graduates attend this program after their JD. You may take this into account. Best regards,

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the advice. A growing number of US law professors have LL.M. degrees and it is becoming a necessity if you didn't attend a Top 10 school for your J.D. to get one before attaining a job as a professor. I think an S.J.D. is really further than anyone is expected to go, but an LL.M. would be helpful

Anyone in my position? Can anyone advise where I might get accepted based on my stats in the original post?

Hi. I am in the same position as you are. I also attended a Tier 4 U.S. law school (top 10%) and I want to teach. I applied to several programs that are geared to people with those credentials. The schools I focused on were Georgetown, Columbia, NYU, and Harvard. Other top-tier schools such as UPenn, Yale, Duke and Stanford also offer LL.M. programs but they are open primarily if not exclusively to foreign-trained lawyers. I think Georgetown and NYU might be the most popular programs for U.S. trained lawyers like ourselves who want to add to their credentials in order to teach. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Matt887,

Thanks for sharing your info. Have you heard from any of those schools? If so, what was the result? If not, would you mind posting when you do?

Thanks!

bump

Hi bostonesq,
I am not sure whether the information in your former post is true. After checking faculties profiles in some top schools' websites, I found that not many of them have LL.M. degrees. Instead, most of them have lots of work experience. Also, those who have LL.M. degrees are most Tax faculties and received their LL.M. (in Tax) from NYU or Georgetown. I didn't mean to offend you but doubt your information reasonably since the LL.M. program is primarily designed for international students, especially the curriculum. I can't see anything helpful for you to take classes introducing the American legal systems. Besides, the student body of most LL.M. classes is a mixture of JD and LL.M students. I am afraid that the contents of these classes won't give you any advantage.

Kind regards,

I agree with bostonesq. The trend is going towards those who have an LLM degree. If you look at the profiles of law professors around the country, especially those who were recently hired, you will see that many have LLMs. Another important piece is that you should have an article or book published. All law schools look at candidates with the potential to publish as this a a requirement of the job. You may wish to check out this website for the American Association of Law Schools: http://www.aals.org.

Bostonesq you are on the right track. The strategy now is to find the right program "fit."

Best of luck!

Bostonesq, I also agree with you. As I stated, I am in the same position as you are. I asked current professors for their advice. I think they (since they are on the hiring committees and know what credentials they look for in candidates) would have the best insight. I was told repeatedly that I should get an LL.M. to better position myself. They perhaps would not have said that had I gone to a top tier school. But I didn't.

Hey Bostonesq,

You may want to diversify your search to include some foreign universities. I am similarly placed with you, top 10%, low-tier (I think 4th tier), no pubs, but several awards, and I have been accepted at the University of London, Queen Mary. Only took them 4 weeks to get back to me. The four campuses that compose the UoL are still accepting apps, some up until September. The programs are diverse, and all are top-ranked in the UK. On this side of the Pond, I didn't get in to Boalt, and am still waiting on NYU. Trust me, though, I understand your plight. "Purging the resume", I think, is what they call it. Hope this helps.

Rane, that's a great thought, studying abroad. But is there any financial aid for doing so? I would never be able to afford to study in London without some form of financial assistance.

Keyif,

Respectfully, I disagree. Like matt887, I'm an alum of an American law school and I have spoken with multiple professors about pursuing an LL.M to advance my prospects of becoming a law professor. I've been repeatedly advised that the the trend is for law profs to get an LL.M., particularly for those of us who did not go to a top tier American law school and instead went to a lower tier American law school. Having said that, I didn't post to create controversy, I just wanted to get an idea of where I might get accepted.

Anyone have any advice? Tier 4, top 10%, law journal, multiple publications, good work experience. Who might accept me?

Thanks Rane. Did you apply anywhere else in the UK? What about your (my) prospects at LSE or Oxbridge?

Hi,
Thanks for all of you guys discussing this topic and sharing your views with me. It's quite good though we may have different viewpoints. Conditions may differ from people to people. As a foreigner I may face diffeent environment from you. I appreciate all of your views and start to amend mine. Thank you and wish all of us good luck in our future learning.

I think the safest bet for you would be Yale Law School LL.M. program. Approximately 10 American J.D.'s are accepted annually so it's extremely competitive, but nearly all of them find jobs in law teaching afterwards. I suggest you apply. I can't evaluate your chances of getting accepted as I don't have a clue what they're looking for in American applicants. Perhaps you could contact one of the current American students in Yale LL.M. program?

From what I hear, Tmalmine is correct. Yale is the best bet. As pointed out, however, it's extremely competitive. I applied and did not get into Yale or Harvard. You may have better fortune than I did. I could not begin to tell you what they are looking for other than apparently it was not me. I had better luck with Columbia and Georgetown and I'm still waiting to hear from NYU. Bostonesq, I'm not sure where you went to law school, but if you want more advice, you might also want to see whether any alum from your school is now teaching and ask that person what steps she or he took. That is one of the things I did, and found the conversation helpful. I found the alum with the assistance of our career services director, who generates reports about where former students are working. The alum was more than willing to share her experience, which included obtaining an LLM from NYU. One more thought, just to clarify my earlier statements, I do not believe an LL.M. is a panacea for those of us who attended tier 4 law schools and want to enter academia. While everyone I spoke with recommended that I obtain an LL.M. to enter academia, unless perhaps the degree comes from Yale or Harvard, that does not mean that one will obtain a teaching job right away. It may or may not take more than one try. In fact, I recently spoke with someone who is now pursuing an LLM and is thinking about doing a JSD or a fellowship next year to get more publications and to help build his credentials a bit more. That is not to say that you could not do it with just the LL.M. and one or more published articles. My ealier comments were just to let you know that I have looked into this issue and was advised repeatedly that at a minimum, I should obtain an LLM from the best school I could get into if I plan to be at all competitive. I hope this helps.