Pericles Center for International Legal Education

Pericles' LL.M. (Master of Laws) program is an evening program in Global Business Law.

The program was developed in consultation with top international law firms in Moscow, and is designed to meet the needs of international practitioners. It is taught completely in English by Western professors. It is designed as a part time program for working lawyers, but can be taken full time by students who want to come to Russia to pursue this education.

It encompasses unique, region-specific qualities that balance the best of Anglo-American legal training with the needs of the Russian market. The program has a practical emphasis, with courses such as Legal Writing, Contract Drafting, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Negotiations, as well as other skills courses and doctrinal topics. It does not require a thesis, but instead has more course work and writing training than the average American LL.M. program.

Pericles' LL.M. graduates work in prestigious Western law firms, and international companies in Russia, North America and Western Europe. Most students are Russian native speakers, but Pericles students have come to study and practice from Europe, the United States and Africa. A Pericles diploma is well known and well respected by all the top international law firms in Moscow.

Program Main Features
+Two to three year evening program
+Small, selective program
+Classes sizes between 10-30 students
+Skills training and practitioner oriented
+36 credits, no thesis requirement
+Taught entirely in English by Western professors and practicing lawyers
+Program designed by Western law firms
+Option of Summer Study Abroad
+Possibility of Scholarships and student loans
+TOEFL & LSAT are not required

Read more about Pericles LL.M. program:
Pericles LL.M. Description
Graduation Requirements.

Pericles is a non-profit legal education center mandated to help lawyers from Russia and other countries obtain a top quality and reasonably priced, American style, legal education in Moscow, Russia. Pericles LL.M. (Master of Laws) program is an evening program in Global Business Law.

Founded and run by Americans, since 1997 Pericles Law Center has helped Russian students to complete the GMAT and TOEFL, to enter top LL.M. and MBA programs in the West and to succeed in the top multinational law firms and companies in Russia. In 1999, Pericles opened its law department offering skills courses for practicing lawyers, law students and paralegals. Regularly offered courses include legal writing, contract drafting, and business negotiations. Pericles also presents courses in-house writing and negotiations courses for various Moscow offices of foreign law firms.

Recognizing a need for more in-depth Western style legal education in Russia, in 2002 Pericles started the first American style LL.M. program in Russia, which, at the time was only the second American style LL.M. program offered outside the United States.

Part-Time: Pericles LL.M. (Master of Laws) Program in Global Business Law. Read more
Graduation Requirements

Part-time: Semester long courses in Legal English, Legal Writing and Language of Contracts, and a summer course in International Negotiations for Lawyers, are regularly available for those who do not want to commit to an entire LL.M. program in Russia. Read more
The current course schedule

The Pericles Faculty staff consists of fully qualified Western law professors. The Pericles LL.M. program is mandated to provide practical legal education. As such, most of our law professors have experience working in the international legal arena, in Russia and elsewhere.

In order to balance the program of study between the academic and the practical, and to provide both Western knowledge and Russian relevance, Pericles attempts to bring a mix of full time Western professors, expat practitioners from international law firms in Russia, visiting professors from the U.S. and Western European universities, and visiting practitioners from the West.

Pericles LL.M. (Master of Laws) being a second degree in law is open to those who have completed a law degree or are in their final semester of their first law degree. On rare occasions, business persons without law degrees but with strong legal backgrounds are accepted to the program.

The program is designed especially for foreign, particularly Russian and other continentally trained lawyers, who are interested in American and common law legal methods. Because the course requirements reflect this intent, this program is not appropriate for U.S. lawyers seeking a second degree in U.S. law.

You will need to submit the application package to be admitted into the LL.M. program. To see the list of items necessary to be submitted before you will be considered, please visit the LL.M.
Admissions Page

TOEFL and LSAT are NOT required.

The application package should be completed online, stating basic data on your career, academic qualifications, and references. The complete application requires scans of your academic transcripts, a personal statement, and an application fee receipt, which should be uploaded to your online application. After completing the application on line, applicants will be asked to take an entrance exam, which can be waived in certain circumstances. Selected applicants may be asked for an interview, either in person or via telephone.

Tuition is priced in Russian rubles, but currently amounts to approximately $9,600 for the entire program. Tuition costs are subject to change from time to time.

Courses are tuition funded, but student loans, tuition grants are available on a competitive basis, considering needs, academic qualifications, and the total amount of money that we have available at the time. The terms of these tuition grants vary according to your circumstances and the requirements of the grantor, and may require that students maintain high grades. Most of the time, grantees must reapply each fall semester.

At the moment, approximately 40% of our students are receiving full or partial tuition grants. The average amount of the tuition grant is about 30% Students who are employed are not eligible for more than a 50% grant.

Tuition grants will not cover the following expenses:
1.) LL.M. Application fee.
2.) Cost of textbooks (Most first semester courses don't use published textbooks so this is not an immediate issue)
3.) Administrative fee.
4.) Annual IT access fee.
5.) Any living, accommodation or transportation expenses in Moscow during your study.

Please check the information on the web site: http://www.pericles.ru/able/llmfinance.htm

How to reach us:
Pericles Reception, 3rd Floor, Room 310, 1st Miusskaya Street #22 building 3, Moscow 125047. Office Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00-21:00 and Saturday 10:00-17:00.
(behind Mendeleevskaya metro and near Lessnaya Ulitsa--entrance in the yard)
Phone: (495) 649-2273
Email: info@pericles.ru
See the map link http://www.pericles.ru/able/contacts.htm

As Pericles LL.M. is a part time, evening program, students are encouraged to come and study Russian language during the day at a state institution that supports the visa and has dormitories, while studying law with Pericles in the evening. We would be happy to suggest such institutions.

Our students are successful because they are extremely bright, completely bilingual and highly motivated, and because, during more than fifteen years of experience in the Russian market we have developed a highly efficient and effective method of educating Russian and continentally trained students in Anglo-American legal methods.

Although located in Russia, Pericles' English language library includes a large number business and law texts, legal fiction and non-fiction books that students are encouraged to check out free of charge and watch/read at home to improve their professional and language skills.

Pericles' professors make extensive use of our course management system to augment classes with readings and discussion materials. LL.M. students have full free-of-charge access to Lexis and Westlaw legal databases, as well as to Hein-On-Line, a library resource for antique texts on law and international relations. Pericles is also a CALI (Computer Assisted Legal Instruction) member school, giving students access to numerous instructional exercises and pod-cast lectures from top U.S. and European professors. LL.M. students can use these materials from their home computers, and the databases are available to other Pericles students in the Pericles library.

Pericles' popular and free "Speakers Nights," practically every Friday include numerous activities for improving English skills and legal knowledge, as well as getting to know the international business community in Moscow.

Pericles provides students with regular job openings and scholarships listings, and sponsors regular seminars on interviewing, writing CVs and searching for jobs.

Pericles has also entered into agreements with four U.S. law schools to allow students to take summer courses globally for LL.M. credit.

Pericles LL.M. students may take 'summer study' abroad courses at partner law schools Duke, and the University of San Diego. Selected Pericles students receive substantial discounts on these programs.

Pericles LL.M. students are also encouraged to try summer programs on the campus of Fordham University in New York and Widener University in Delaware. While these courses are not offered at discounts and therefore cost more than courses on Pericles campus, we highly recommend taking a course in the U.S. to get a firsthand look at the U.S. courts and at U.S. legal practice.

For those who are uncertain that their English ability is high enough to be admitted to or successfully complete the LL.M. program, we recommend Legal English. This course is designed to enhance speaking and writing abilities of law students, practicing lawyers, and other legal professionals.

If you wish to take this course your English should be upper-intermediate, as this course is also used to help give you the necessary English practice to allow you to study in advanced level courses. The results of your Pericles LL.M. entrance exam, as well as your personal statement will decide whether or not you will be required to take Legal English before taking courses in Pericles LL.M. Program.