Louisiana State University (LSU) - Paul M. Hebert Law Center

LL.M. Wine & Cheese Reception, Sept. 2017

LSU Law’s LL.M. Program is designed for foreign law graduates who seek a firm foundation in the American common law taught from the unique perspective that only a truly comparativist institution can offer. Our program is also open to American law graduates who are interested in the civil law. 

The LL.M. in Comparative Law requires two semesters in residence (August to May) and a minimum of 26 credit hours of study. Students have great flexibility to tailor their course work to match their individual interests and have the freedom to explore a wide variety of courses to suit their professional plans. LSU Law offers a full range of law courses, seminars, and skills development classes, especially in business, transactional, corporate, commercial, and energy law. 

Orientation 
Prior to the beginning of the fall semester, our LL.M. students participate in a two-week orientation program. This orientation will help you adjust to the language and study of law at a United States law school, as well as provide opportunities for course selection, completion of enrollment and administrative requirements, and other activities to accustom you to life as a U.S. law student.

Orientation also includes a trip to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans, located in the historic French Quarter, and to the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.
 

Learning through Practice

There are a number of experiential opportunities at the Law Center that provide students with the opportunity to earn credit while learning through practice. The Law Center offers a range of experiential courses through clinics, externships, and skills courses.

The Law Clinic offers students the opportunity to practice law and represent indigent clients in the community. Under close faculty supervision, students practice law by representing real clients with important legal issues or serve as mediators in real cases of controversy. Students practice in local courts, before administrative agencies, and other venues. 

There are also numerous externship opportunities, including the Judicial Externship Program, which places students as judicial “law clerks” in state and federal courts; the Governmental Externship, which places students with the Attorney General’s Office and other state and local agencies; and the Public Interest/Nonprofit Externship, which places students with local agencies serving marginalized populations and the legal interests of the poor. 

In addition, the Law Center offers a wide range of skills courses in which students learn essential lawyering and practice skills through simulation and forensic exercises.

Career Services

LSU Law has a Career Services office on site, staffed by dedicated career counselors. Counselors are available to meet with students on a one-on-one basis to discuss areas of interest and career goals. The Career Services office sponsors a wide variety of career-related programs throughout the school year. These programs are designed to promote early student self-assessment, pique students’ interest in specialized areas of legal practice, and encourage students to think about job opportunities as they develop a postgraduation employment plan.

LL.M. trip to New Orleans: Louisiana Supreme Court & French Quarter

Best Value American LL.M. Program

•    On average, the cost of tuition and fees paid by our LL.M. candidates is below $10,000 for the entire year. This makes our LL.M. program one of the most affordable in the United States.

•    While the average passage rate of foreign-educated test-takers on the New York Bar Exam is less than 50 percent, in the past seven years, our LL.M. passage rate has been 100 percent. Our passage rate for the Louisiana Bar Exam is also 100 percent. 

FALL 2018 APPLICATION OPEN

Located in the capital city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Law Center is a national and international hub for teaching, research, and public service in all aspects of the law. We offer a firm foundation in American law and boast the only law school in the nation that has a fully integrated common law and civil law legal education. When combined with a comparative law focus, we offer a truly global legal education. 

LSU Law gives students a rigorous yet personal legal education—LL.M. graduates leave LSU with the skills needed in today’s competitive legal market. Add Louisiana’s unique and vibrant culture to the strong academic curriculum of the Law Center and you get a program that can’t be beat!

WHY CHOSE LSU LAW? 

•    Top 10 worldwide LL.M. program for Energy Law for 2017 (LLM Guide) 
•    One of the best value American law programs 
•    Flexibility to tailor your course work to match your professional plans 
•    A personable, small-group learning environment 
•    Generous merit-based scholarship opportunities 
•    Affordable housing and low cost of living

Website: https://www.law.lsu.edu/llm/
Email: llmadmissions@lsu.edu
Phone: 225-578-7831
 

LSU Law Center building

Applicants must have completed a JD from an ABA-approved law school, or its equivalent from a foreign law school. 

Applicants must have a TOEFL score of at least 100 or an IELTS score of 7.5. 
 

Conditional Acceptance with an Approved English as a Second Language (ESL) Course

Applicants who do not meet our TOEFL or IELTS requirements should consider taking an English as a Second Language (ESL) course to improve their language proficiency.

If you have excellent academic credentials, but need to improve your English proficiency, you may be given conditional acceptance if you register for an approved English as a Second Language (ESL) course such as the LSU’s English Language & Orientation Program (ELOP). Note that LSU Law will only be able to remove the condition on admission once you meet our English Language requirement.

ELOP Offers Eight-Week English Courses

Louisiana State University offers an ESL course on campus through the ELOP. The program specifically offers TOEFL preparation and practice.

The ELOP English classes are designed for students who seek English language training for academic, professional, and personal goals. Students are tested upon arrival and placed in levels according to ability, ranging from elementary to advanced. For more information about the ELOP, please visit their website: http://www.outreach.lsu.edu/ELOP1.

Depending on your level of language proficiency, you may need to participate in more than one term (more than eight weeks).

at Prof. Moréteau's (Director of LL.M. Program) annual Jambalaya Party

We are now accepting applications for the 2018-2019 academic year. The deadline to submit completed applications is March 31, 2018. 

Students interested in applying to LSU Law should visit the following link for more information about admission requirements. 

For questions, please feel welcome to contact LL.M. Program Coordinator, Christabelle Lefebvre, at llmadmissions@lsu.edu. 
 

at LSU Law Graduation Ceremony (June)

Scholarship Awards

For the academic year 2017-2018, tuition and fees at the LSU Law Center was approximately $42,440. However, since the majority of our students were awarded scholarships, on average, the cost of tuition and fees paid by our LL.M. candidates was below $10,000 for the entire year.

LSU Law is able to offer an affordable LL.M. program because of generous scholarship awards —applicants may be considered for the following scholarships:

• Waiver of non-resident fees (value of approx. $19,350)

• Waiver of non-resident fees + partial waiver of tuition

• Waiver of non-resident fees + full waiver of tuition (full scholarship, value of approx. $39,100)

• A.N. Yiannopoulos Scholarship (stipend of approximately $2,000 or more per semester)

The A.N. Yiannopoulos Scholarship was established by late LSU Professor and Tulane Professor A.N. Yiannopoulos — an internationally renowned scholar of civil law, comparative law, and maritime law. The scholarship awards $2,000 per semester or more to an incoming LL.M. candidate who has exhibited exceptional academic achievement. All scholarship decisions are made by the LL.M. Program Committee.

• Robert Lee Tullis Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Civil Law

The Tullis Fellowship in Civil Law was established as a means of assisting a worthy graduate student who may wish to become a candidate for a Masters in law with some focus on the civil law.

All of the above scholarships are merit-based. Although financial need may also be considered, as a rule, recipients of our scholarships have excellent academic credentials.