International Law Program

Master of Laws (LL.M.) for Non-U.S. Lawyers

 

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Santa Clara University School of Law offers programs for lawyers who received their legal education outside of the United States to secure a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. Candidates may select from four programs:

 
* United States Law — General Studies
Students craft a program that matches professional needs.
 
* United States Intellectual Property Law
Specialize by taking most courses in the area of intellectual property/high technology law, including Patent Law, Copyright, Trade Marks and Trade Secrets.
 
* United States Human Rights Law
Focus your studies in U.S. human rights, with an extensive range of human rights and social justice courses to choose from.
 
* International and Comparative Law
Take advantage of Santa Clara's extensive study abroad programs and rich curriculum to study the law of the United States, internatonal law (public or private) and the law of another nation.

 

Why Select Santa Clara?

LOCATION: California's Silicon Valley, "the epicenter of world innovation."
 
TRADITION: Santa Clara is the oldest institution of higher learning in California. It is the site of one of the historic 18th Century Spanish missions. The university has a beautiful, park like campus with towering palm trees, rose gardens, fruit trees, and historical buildings.
 
QUALITY: Santa Clara University is regularly ranked as one of the best small universities in the Western United States (and the entire U.S.). The School of Law was established in 1912, is fully accredited by the American Bar Association, is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, and has a chapter of the prestigious Order of the Coif. Santa Clara Law's intellectual property program has been regularly ranked amoung the top ten programs in the United States. Santa Clara has more summer abroad programs than any other law school in the United States.
 
REPUTATION: Santa Clara enjoys a world-wide reputation. We have cooperative relationships with over twenty five universities around the world. Santa Clara is an invited member of the American Consortium in Legal Eduction. Santa Clara Law graduates have held positions of prominence and leadership throughout the world including Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, members of the United States Congress, President of the American Trial Lawyers Association, President of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
 
PROGRAM: The graduate program provides both unique classes and seminars for LL.M. students and and extremely rich course offering from which candidates may choose. Candidates take classes along with U.S. law students, thus insuring high quality courses, but in a non-competitive environment of ungraded classes and extended time on examinations. In addition to the academic program, candidates enjoy the atmosphere of a typical American college campus with athletic facilities, university-wide cultural events (theatre, music, lectures), social activity, and intercollegiate sports.
 
SCHOLARSHIPS: Financial aid available for highly qualified candidates. Awards based on financial need, academic background, and professional potential.

Admission Requirements

We welcome applications from from individuals trained in law schools outside the United States. who have shown by their educational and experiential background that they will be fully able to participate in and successfully complete the programs requirements. Individuals must have:
 
  • Obtained their first law degree from an educational institution outside the United States which is accredited by the appropriate authority in that country; (A complete transcript, in English must be supplied)
  • Graduated in the upper one-half of their law school class or demonstrated equivalent qualifications through work experience, standardized testes, or other means; and
  • Achieved an adequate—generally above average—score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), administered by the Educational Testing Service, within the past two years.

Graduation Requirements

Participants seeking the LL.M. degree must complete 24 semester hours of class credit. They must also be in residence for two regular semesters (not including summer sessions), and generally must complete degree requirements within two years from matriculation. 

Required Classes:

Introduction to United States Law (3 credit hours)
 
This summer class completed before the semester begins is designed to give candidates an intensive overview of the basic elements of United States substantive and structural law. Included are instruction on research and writing assistance.
 
International or Comparative Law (3 credit hours)
 
Those who have not taken a course international and comparative law as part of their previous studies, must do so to complete this degree. If such a course has been taken, this will be waived.
 
Law as Practiced in the United States (3 credit hours)
 
This is a spring, capstone seminar exploring the practice of law in the United States that includes lectures by practitioners and judges. As part of this seminar candidates prepare a paper on a topic of his or her choice under the direction of the Director of Graduate Studies.
 
General Studies — Non-Specialized Course of U.S. Law Study
 
Candidates undertaking a general study of U.S. law may select the remaining fifteen units (generally five classes) from among the upper division electives being offered in each semester. This broad selection allows the candidate to fashion a program that best addresses their professional needs. The program of each candidate is reviewed and approved by the Director of Graduate Programs
 
Specializations:
 
Santa Clara Law offers three specializations in areas of its nationally and internationally recognized strengths: Intellectual Property, Human Rights, or International and Comparative Law.
 
Candidates who desire to specialize take twelve units (generally four courses) from designated courses in their area of specialization. In addition, the paper done in conjunction with the seminar "Law as Practiced in the United States," must focus on their area of specialization.
 
*Intellectual Property
 
The twelve units of specialized study must include at least two of the following classes: Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Trade Secret Law.
 
A sample of designated specialization courses regularly available that will satisfy the requirement: Biotechnology Law, Patent Litigation, Patent Processing, Food and Drug Law, Technology Licensing, Cyberspace Law, Entertainment/Media Law, Broadband Regulation, Venture Capital, Privacy, Health Law.
 
*Human Rights
 
Candidates must take their twelve specialization units from the three broad categories of social justice classes listed in the law school Bulletin and Handbook, and should undertake social justice volunteer activity. Candidates with appropriate backgrounds may participate in Santa Clara's active and extensive Community Law Center or the Northern California Innocence Project (housed in the law school).
 
*International and Comparative Law
 
The goal for candidates for the LL.M. in International and Comparative Law is to secure exposure to the law of at least three countries, their home country which presumably they know well, the United States, and at least one other country or region, as well as secure course work in the three major areas. Students must take their twelve specialization units by selecting at least one course from each of the following areas:

 

— Public International Law: (e.g., International organizations, Legal Aspects of War,

 
— Ocean and Coastal Law, International Environmental Law, Refugee Law)
 
— Private International Law: (e.g., International Business Transactions, Globalization and the Law, Cultural Property, International Trade)
 
— Comparative Law: (e.g., European Union, Comparative Intellectual Property, Chinese Investment)
 
— Summer Abroad
 
Candidates for the LL.M. in International and Comparative Law must complete the academic portion of any of Santa Clara Law's fourteen summer abroad programs that does not focus on the law of the nation from which the candidate received their law degree. Units earned abroad count toward the twenty-four required units and can satisfy one or more of the specialization area requirements. This requirement is designed to give the graduate a broad understanding, not only of their own legal system and that of the United States, but of a third nation or region. Only Santa Clara offers such an opportunity to secure a truly international education!

Tuition

A nonrefundable registration fee of $100.00 is required. The deposit is made with the program application. (for good cause, upon petition, this fee may be waived, or applied to tuition if the applicant is accepted)
 
Tuition for the LL.M. (24 units) for 2008-09 will be $1,375 per unit or $33,000. A candidate may take additional units, but if so, units in excess of 24 will be charged at the $1,375 per-unit rate. Should degree requirements not be completed in 2008-09, units taken thereafter will be at the per unit rate for that year.
 
Participants have full use of Santa Clara University's extensive educational and athletic facilities at no additional charge.

The Campus and Facilities

Santa Clara University is located in the city of Santa Clara, California, 47 miles south of San Francisco. The University lies in the heart of "Silicon Valley", home to one the nation’s greatest concentrations of high-technology industry and professional and scientific activity. Near the southern tip of San Francisco Bay and adjacent to San Jose, Santa Clara is an integral part of the fourth largest urban area in the country.
 
Santa Clara has emerged as the primary center for the country’s electronic, biotechnology, and aerospace industries. Computers, laser products, and other space-age electronic equipment are developed and produced in and around Santa Clara.
 
The business district of San Jose, and the courts and government centers of San Jose and Santa Clara County are within three miles of the university. Santa Clara County is full of beauty and has a moderate climate even in mid summer. Pacific Ocean beaches are only an hour west and the sun almost always shines.
 
The School of Law, located on the 103-acre University campus, is housed in four buildings surrounded by landscaped lawns, bright flower gardens, and towering palm trees. The newly expanded Heafey Law Library contains more than 200,000 volumes. The fully refurbished building features open stacks, study carrels, typing and group study rooms, and a large reading room faced by soaring glass walls and a magnificent view of the campus.
 
LEXIS and WESTLAW legal information retrieval computers are also available, and all students are trained in their use in the U.S. Law course, refreshed again in the spring semester seminar. The School of Law is a member of the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction and has a growing collection of educational software programs. Computer access for laptop computers is available to all students both in the law library and in the classrooms.
 

All courses are taught in English. All courses are subject to change.

 

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