University of California Hastings Law (San Francisco)

UC Hastings offers a one-academic-year LLM degree program in United States Legal Studies for students who are licensed to practice law and/or have a law degree from outside the United States. Our LLM program offers students approximately 130 courses, including 50 small seminars. Few other US law schools offer as wide a selection of courses open to LLM and JD candidates alike. Our LLM candidates receive one-on-one academic counseling and choose courses based on their personal interests. In addition, our LLM program offers specialization in the following areas:

• Criminal Law

• Dispute Resolution and Legal Process

• Environmental Law

• Health Law and Policy

• International Business and Trade

• International Law and Human Rights

• Taxation

• Science, Technology, and Intellectual Property

For additional information, please visit www.uchastings.edu/llm or contact us by e-mail at llm@uchastings.edu.

The University of California Hastings College of the Law, located in the heart of San Francisco, California, was established in 1878 as the first law department of the University of California system. For more than 125 years, UC Hastings has educated prominent leaders in the judiciary and the bar, in government and business, and in education.

LLM students at UC Hastings have come to UC Hastings from over 40 countries, and have a wide variety of experience both abroad and in the United States.The LLM class is a close-knit group who find social and academic support within their small group while creating lasting friendships with their Juris Doctor peers. Taking all but two of their classes alongside the Juris Doctor candidates, LLM students are able to choose from approximately 130 courses. LLM candidates may also elect to specialize in one of eight areas, receiving both an LLM degree and a Certificate of Specialization upon graduation.

UC Hastings prides itself on its international legal programs and its innovative programs in clinical legal education. UC Hastings is home to several nationally acclaimed legal centers such as the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, and the Center for WorkLife Law.

At UC Hastings, LLM students will have ready access to some of the leading law professors in the United States. Our faculty prides itself on its teaching and scholarship.

More than 20 of the leading law textbooks used by most law schools in the United States are authored by UC Hastings faculty. Our professors include leading figures in a wide range of fields. Most have clerked for US Supreme Court justices or other prominent federal or state judges. Many have worked as prosecutors or practiced with top national and international law firms. Several have served in the federal government, and many have studied or taught in other countries and draw upon their international experience in their classes and writing. Numerous faculty members are regular commentators on legal developments on television or the Internet or in the print media.

Our LLM program requires applicants to have received (or expect to have received prior to enrollment at UC Hastings) a degree from a recognized law faculty outside of the United States that would qualify them for the practice of law in that country or be admitted to law practice in a jurisdiction outside the United States. The International Committee at UC Hastings seeks candidates with a solid academic record, strong recommendations, and interesting law-related professional experience.

If English is not your primary language, you must have a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS score or the equivalent. Generally, you are expected to have a TOEFL score of 600 PBT or 90 iBT or an IELTS score of 7.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis from September 1 through June 15. The priority deadline for admissions, financial aid and scholarships is March 1. Enrollment is limited to the fall semester, which begins in August.

Please visit our website to learn further application requirements as well as the application submission procedure.

Please visit our webpage for more information on tuition, fees, and scholarships for the UC Hastings LL.M. Program.

UC Hastings is located in the center of San Francisco, one of the most beautiful, vibrant, and innovative cities in the nation. UC Hastings is walking distance from San Francisco City Hall and all levels of the local, state, and federal courts (other than the US Supreme Court). This proximity gives UC Hastings students the opportunity to experience the law in the forums where it is practiced and determined, and provides a level of relevancy to their education that is unparalleled in most law schools.

UC Hastings is also just a short walk from the San Francisco Opera, the Asian Art Museum, and Davies Symphony Hall. Using the city's extensive public transportation system, students can easily access a variety of San Francisco's most popular tourist attractions, such as Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

With the premier LLM program in San Francisco, one of the largest alumni networks in the United States, access to our award-winning faculty, and all of San Francisco's amenities, UC Hastings provides a unique and powerful learning experience to its LLM students.

UC Hastings is one of a limited number of urban law schools with housing devoted exclusively to its students. UC Hastings' housing department also offers resources to assist our students in finding off-campus housing. For more information, please visit our on-campus housing website.

The diversity and variety of student clubs and organizations that thrive at UC Hastings are reflective of the intellectual energy, passion, and sense of community that defines student life on our campus. In addition to playing an active role in the everyday functioning of the law school, as well as representing the school with distinction at conferences, seminars, competitions, and other events across the world, our students are founders of and active participants in more than 60 organizations. Addressing everything from specific legal specialties to diverse political, ethnic, and cultural issues and interests, these organizations enable our students to forge lifelong connections with one another, pursue their extracurricular interests, and gain invaluable leadership skills.

The Global Programs Office offers a welcoming environment and provides academic advising tailored to each student's professional and personal interests. The Global Programs Office also organizes social activities for LLM students, foreign exchange students, and visiting foreign scholars. A number of activities are also co-sponsored by the Office of Student Services allowing our LLM students and JD students to socialize outside of the classroom setting.

The UC Hastings Summer Legal Institute offers intensive law courses in a variety of subjects. For more information, please visit http://uchastings.edu/about/admin-offices/records/SLI/.