Loyola Law School Los Angeles

Loyola Law School's LLM Program is designed for foreign law graduates and for experienced foreign and American lawyers. Our school offers a different type of LLM programs.

LLM in American Law

This program is designed for students who received their law degree from a school in a foreign country. The program is fully customizable and students will have the option to select courses that are more closely related to their interests and goals. Our Faculty Director, Professor Aaron Ghirardelli, will guide students through the selection of courses and the designing of the LLM curriculum. The General LLM program is usually chosen by students interested in becoming eligible to take the California or New York Bar Exam or by students having an interest in areas of law that are not currently covered by one of our specializations.

LLM Specializations

Loyola Law School also offers specializations in several areas of law. Enrolling in a specialization is the perfect choice for students particularly interested in a particular area of law. The curriculum of each specialization has been carefully tailored to equip graduates with a comprehensive understanding of the specialized topic.

• Civil Litigation and Advocacy
• Criminal Justice
• Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
• Entertainment & New Media Law
• Intellectual Property
• International Business Law

Bar Track LLM

The Bar Track LLM is designed for students interested in completing an LLM degree as a way to become eligible to sit for the Bar exam in California and/or New York. Loyola has one of the highest bar passage rates in California and its faculty has extensive experience in training students for the bar exam. Our Bar Track LLM takes advantage of this experience and offers to our students a unique course of  study, created by keeping in mind the specific challenges that foreign law graduates face when preparing for the bar exam. Please note that the Bar Track Program is only available to students who start in the Fall term. 

• One-on-one counseling with our LLM Director to design a course of study that will maximize your chances of passing the bar exam.
• Fall workshop for foreign law graduates on the structure of the bar exam in California and New York.
• Spring bar writing course specifically designed for foreign law graduates.

If you would like to find out more about Bar Eligibility, whether you should take the Bar Exam, which Bar Exam should you take and much more, schedule a Skype call with our Faculty Director, Professor Aaron Ghirardelli. Professor Ghirardelli is an LLM graduate himself and he is licensed in California, New York and Italy.

Doctor of Juridical Science - JSD

The degree of Juridicae Scientiae Doctor (Doctor of Juridical Science- JSD) is the highest degree offered by Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. It is designed for graduates, both American and foreign, who are interested in becoming law professors, scholars, jurists or public intellectuals, or in deepening their scholarship to continue in these fields. Students must spend a minimum of three years, of which two are in residence, and a maximum of five years in the program to complete the degree. 

 For more information, please view our unofficial guide to the JSD Program summarizing how the JSD program is structured, as well as useful tips on how to prepare a dissertation proposal and how to select a professor to supervise your dissertation.

With a campus situated in the heart of the vivacious City of Angels, LLM students enjoy all the benefits this fast-paced center of culture, sports, entertainment and commerce has to offer.

FALL 2021 APPLICATION IS OPEN

Application Deadline: March 1, 2021

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, with a campus designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, is ideally positioned in downtown Los Angeles, California - a legal, tech, media, fashion and financial capital. We are the closest ABA-accredited law school to Los Angeles' primary courthouse and law firm scene, yet only 30 minutes away from beautiful beaches, like Malibu, Venice Beach, and Santa Monica.

WHY LOYOLA?

• Highly customizable curriculum allows you to choose courses that meet your interests and goals, including first-year JD courses that many other schools do not offer to international students;
• Externship opportunities help our students gain practical experience in law firms, companies, and public interest organizations;
• Moot court and experiential learning programs allow students to practice lawyering skills by assisting clients in a wide-range of cases;
• A network of more than 17,000 alumni and our Career Development Center help students obtain valuable working experience after the program and during the Optional Practical Training Period;
• Los Angeles is the capital of entertainment and technology! Our campus is located in downtown Los Angeles, close to top law firms and courthouses and only 30 minutes away from Silicon Beach.
• At Loyola students are offered a one-on-one mentoring service by our Faculty Director, Professor Aaron Ghirardelli, a former LLM student himself. Our faculty and staff, including our Career Development and Externship offices, provide full support to our students.

  Website: http://lls.edu/llm
  E-mail: amlaw@lls.edu
  Online Office Hours: http://calendly.com/loyola-llm
  Program Events: lls.edu/visit

Loyola Law School students benefit greatly from the faculty's vast experience and their accessibility. There are 75 full-time professors, including two former U.S. Supreme Court clerks, several former federal prosecutors, and many alumni from the largest national and international law firms. Their areas of expertise cover more than 120 legal specialties ranging from accounting, administrative law, and admiralty law to white collar crime, wine law, and youth education law, to name just a few. Students have a multitude of opportunities to interact with their professors in class and during office hours and special events. Students are even invited to join the professors at their faculty workshops.

To be considered for admission, an applicant must already have one degree in law.  For more information about applicant qualifications, click here.

The Admissions Committee considers all aspects of an applicant’s qualifications. Important factors include the student's English proficiency (if international), and academic performance in the first degree of law (no minimum GPA preferred).

Fall 2021 Term
Priority deadline is March 1, 2021
Classes begin mid-August, 2021

Candidates can apply directly to Loyola by completing the LLM Application form online.  The application form asks applicants to complete and upload a personal statement, résumé, copy of TOEFL/IELTS score, and unofficial transcripts online.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our team at amlaw@lls.edu. 

The 2020 - 2021 tuition is $59,990 plus the general student fee. Students should also budget $18,000 - $25,000 in addition to tuition cost for living expenses and books. For a more detailed list of fees and other expenses, please review our Tuition and Fees page and our Cost of Attendance page.

Tuition for the LLM program is a flat fee and allows students to take up to 26 units during their program. 

Tuition is charged in two separate installments, at the beginning of each semester. Loyola Law School also offers a payment plan option, where students can pay for their tuition in monthly installments. Please be aware that the payment plan option does not change visa requirements and, therefore, students will have to prove at the time of visa application the availability of sufficient funds (through personal assets or other forms) to cover the full tuition and living expenses.

Each and every student is considered for scholarship during the admission process and no separate application is required for this. Loyola Law School values academic excellence and may award a merit-based scholarship of up to $30,000.

In addition to Loyola’s scholarship, students are encouraged to seek outside scholarship opportunities. Many international institutions and programs offer merit-based scholarship to students interested in pursuing a graduate degree in the United States.  Fore more information, please click here. 

Tuition is charged in two separate installments, at the beginning of each semester. Loyola Law School also offers a payment plan option, where students can pay for their tuition in monthly installments. Please be aware that the payment plan option does not change visa requirements and, therefore, students will have to prove at the time of visa application the availability of sufficient funds (through personal assets or other forms) to cover the full tuition and living expenses.

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles is located in downtown Los Angeles, California, in the neighborhood known as "Koreatown." The campus occupies an entire city block. A series of contemporary buildings surround a central courtyard making the campus feel both intimate and open. Designed by award-winning architect Frank Gehry, the campus has been the subject of much architectural acclaim, locally and internationally.

Because the law school is centrally located within the city of Los Angeles, the campus is accessible from anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area by car or by public transportation. Being downtown is extremely advantageous for Loyola students, because of the convenient access to federal and state courts and to the central offices of many major law firms. Downtown also provides a variety of leisure activities to balance a student's schedule. Of course, the beaches and mountains of Southern California offer many relaxation opportunities.

Loyola does not offer on-campus housing.  However, we do offer a housing guide and the housing classifieds for registered students. Students in need of housing should research accommodations one to two months before the program start date. 

Because Loyola is centrally located, students have the opportunity to live in the heart of downtown or in the various suburbs of Los Angeles. Although Loyola does not offer on-campus student housing, the majority of our students live in downtown Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and the Miracle Mile area. You should make the decision as to where you would like to live depending on your budget and commute times. As with any large city, rental prices vary depending on location, size, and amenities.  Please see our Housing Guide for more detailed information.

Loyola also has housing classifieds meant for students who either have a place and are looking for roommates or are looking for a place to live or share. This site is only accessible for students who have submitted their seat deposit. 

Our students give life to a multidimensional community— an eclectic mix of backgrounds, interests, cultures and points of view. Students come to Loyola from every region of the world with a wealth of legal experience and a drive to learn more about the American legal system or specialize in a particular area of law. Creative and committed, students bring together a multitude of perspectives, dreams, ideas and ambitious goals that inspire and invigorate Loyola life.

So many things to do!

Life at Loyola is extremely exciting and there are so many things to do on campus. Students can enroll in one of the many students' groups focusing on several areas of interest, from the Business Law Society, to our Entertainment & Sports Law Society or our Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Start-Ups Club.

For a complete list of students' organizations, click here.

Start your LLM at Loyola early in the summer with this unique program, free to all of our admitted students. Designed specifically for our international students, the Summer Institute is an intensive program offered from mid-July to mid-August. This program teaches students how to write objective legal memoranda and case briefs. Students will gain an introduction to other fundamental lawyering skills such as legal reasoning and legal research. Additionally, students will work one-on-one with professors, collaborate with peers, and learn in a small class setting. 

The Summer Institute program is the perfect way to acquire the skills you need to successfully complete your LLM.