lawyer

375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA

Located in downtown Chicago, Northwestern Law is an innovative institution that empowers students to meet the challenges of the complex, competitive, and ever-changing legal and business worlds. Northwestern Law offers a number of different degrees and programs of study.

Renowned Students, Faculty, and Curriculum

An Emphasis on Global Enterprises and Practical Learning

Northwestern Law places a heavy emphasis on global enterprises (including international opportunities ) and practical learning, with some of the most highly regarded study-abroad, clinical, and interdisciplinary programs in the country. The Law School's Bluhm Legal Clinic includes 14 centers and offers one of the best clinical experiences of any law school. Nearly 90 percent of Northwestern Law JD students participate in clinical work in some capacity while obtaining their degree.

• Total law school enrollment: 1,000 (approximate)
• Total LLM enrollment: 200 (approximate)

With more than a half million volumes and access to a wide range of electronic resources, the Pritzker Legal Research Center is one of the country's largest law libraries. It also provides students access to the 3.7 million volumes of the combined Northwestern University libraries.

Our modern facilities and recent additions support collaboration and interaction. Wireless technology is available throughout the law school, and recent renovations include a new 22,000-square-foot clinic center, more than 10 state-of-the-art classrooms and seminar rooms, and upgraded lighting.

Northwestern Law offers six distinct LLM programs.

The nine-month general LLM program offers outstanding graduates of foreign law schools an opportunity to expand their knowledge of American law and legal processes, continue their studies in international law, and engage in comparative legal research.

Graduates of the program represent more than 50 countries and hold prominent positions in many areas of practice. They include attorneys, professors, judges, corporate counsel, consultants, human rights workers, bankers, and civil servants.

Curriculum

Students must take at least 20 law credit hours to earn the LLM degree. LLM students may take up to two co-listed Kellogg courses if space is available. Co-listed courses are Kellogg courses taught by Kellogg faculty and offered through the Law School.

LLM students are free to design their own program of study from the Law School's many upper-level courses and seminars, including commercial and corporate, international, constitutional, and human rights law.

A written thesis is not required, but students with well-defined topics may pursue individual research projects.

During their first semester in residence, students enroll in two mandatory courses. The Common Law Reasoning course focuses on the fundamental research, analysis, and drafting skills expected of US-trained lawyers, and the American Legal History course introduces students to the history and principal characteristics of the American public and private law systems. With the exception of these two courses, LLM students are completely integrated with American JD students.

For further information on planning your curriculum, see Plan Your Academic Career .

Contact Information

For additional information, please visit the LLM Programs website. or contact:

Sam Kwak

Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Chicago, IL 60611

Phone: 312.503.8465

LLM in Taxation

Through the Tax Program at Northwestern Law, students gain a firm foundation in the principal areas of tax law and learn how to deal with complex real-world transactions. Living and learning in a supportive community at the center of one of the world's leading cities, students have access to extensive resources, an innovative curriculum, and an outstanding faculty.

Individuals who already hold a JD degree can enroll on either a full-time or part-time basis to receive the LLM degree. Practicing attorneys may also take courses on a nondegree basis to refine their knowledge in specialized areas of the tax law. Current law students can participate in the joint- JD/LLM program and receive a JD and LLM in only six or seven semesters.

With one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios of any graduate tax program, students at Northwestern Law establish strong one-on-one relationships with our nationally recognized, in-residence, full-time tax faculty. In addition, the program is designed for students who value studying with a professor who wrote the book. Of the seven required substantive courses. 100 percent are taught by a professor who has written or is writing a treatise, a casebook, or both on that topic. Of the 20 elective courses, nearly a third are taught by a practitioner or professor who has authored a text on the subject matter.

The tax faculty at Northwestern Law is committed to preparing students to excel as tax professionals in a changing world. Students will come away from the Tax Program at Northwestern Law with an unparalleled understanding of the intricate dynamics of tax law and the skills to thrive in its practice.

Contact Information

For additional information, please visit the Tax Programs website. or contact:

Jacqueline Reise

Assistant Director, Tax Program

375 E. Chicago Avenue

Chicago, IL 60611

Phone: 312.503.3300

LLM in International Human Rights

The Program in International Human Rights Law is designed for students with American JDs or law degrees from other countries who wish to undertake an in-depth study of the norms and methods of international human rights law and international criminal law and their implementation by international courts and organizations and in domestic legal systems. The degree program provides an excellent grounding in international human rights law and international criminal law for individuals with career interests in the field.

The structure of the program affords unique advantages for educational and social interaction. Students are assured of a close working relationship with the professors, all of whom have had hands-on legal practice and academic experience in the field, and access to the programs of the Center for International Human Rights. The Center is led by Professor David Scheffer, a former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues in the Clinton Administration who played the key US role in the creation of and support for the international and hybrid criminal tribunals. Other leading faculty members in this field are Professors Sandra Babcock, who directs the clinical projects, Bridget Arimond, who directs the LLM degree program, and Stephen Sawyer, who teaches several seminars. Students in the program benefit from participating in small group seminars with other LLM students and joining JD law students in core and elective courses of the program. In addition, the program encourages international students to study not only relevant law, but its application to the circumstances of their home countries.

Individuals who wish to complete the LLM Program in International Human Rights must apply specifically to that program by checking the appropriate box on their application for admission. It is anticipated that most applicants to this program will already have completed a JD or first degree in law in their home countries. Applicants who have not done so, but who have significant relevant work experience, will be considered for the Master of Legal Studies (MSL) Program in International Human Rights. This program is identical to the LLM Program in all respects except the degree conferred upon completion of the program. MSL applicants should complete the application form for the LLM Program in International Human Rights.