OVERVIEW

The philosophy of the LL.M. program is to offer our students a broad platform to design their own course of study within parameters set by the Harvard Law School faculty. Those parameters include some exposure to U.S. law, some writing experience, and, in the case of students who hold a J.D. degree from a school in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, some exposure to legal theory. See Degree Requirements. Within this framework, LL.M. students have enormous latitude in planning their year. Interested faculty, the Graduate Program staff, and special student advisors work hard throughout the year to help students identify and refine their study objectives, then develop an appropriate sequence of courses and other work.

Most of a student's program will be drawn from the regular Harvard Law School curriculum - some 250 courses and seminars each year, offered to J.D. and graduate students alike. Students also have the opportunity to pursue a limited number of credits at other faculties within Harvard and other area schools and a variety of writing projects. About half of the LL.M. class each year write a 75- to 100-page paper (called the "LL.M. paper") on a topic the student develops in consultation with his or her faculty supervisor. We also offer the more extensive LL.M. thesis, an option designed for students who already have significant research and writing experience and plan careers in law teaching. Other students write shorter papers, whether independently or in conjunction with a course or seminar.

Given the flexibility of the program, the range of curricula students design is enormous. Some students take a varied curriculum, with courses ranging from environmental law to corporations to public international law. Others select courses primarily in a single area, such as constitutional law, business organization and finance, legal theory, or human rights.

Finally, our students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of extracurricular and co-curricular offerings on a not-for-credit basis. Graduate students participate in the full range of student organizations at the Law School. Other opportunities are designed specifically for graduate students. For example, in a typical year we offer between six and eight Byse workshops, taught by specially selected S.J.D. students and treating such disparate subjects as game theory and the law, police misconduct, feminist approaches to law and development, and the history of private international law. Other offerings include the Law Teaching Colloquium, a full-year offering that explores different approaches to the teaching of law, and the Legal Practice Workshop, designed to acquaint students with modes of legal analysis and writing used in the American law firm environment.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The philosophy of the LL.M. program is to offer our students a broad platform on which to design their own course of study within parameters set by the Harvard Law School faculty. All students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 22 credit hours and a maximum of 26 credit hours in one academic year; most students complete between 22 and 24 credits. Students also must satisfy some specific course and written work requirements. More specific requirements applicable to international students and U.S. students follow.

International LL.M. students are required to take at least one of the following courses in American Law: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Corporations, Criminal Law, Property, Taxation, and Torts. International students also must write either the 75- to 100-page LL.M. paper, the more extensive LL.M. thesis, or a paper of 25 or more pages that involves independent reflection, formulation of a sustained argument and, in many cases, outside research. Both types of papers may be written either independently or in conjunction with a seminar. Finally, we urge students to take at least one course focusing on legal history, legal theory, policy analysis or legal process.

For students who hold a J.D. from a law school in the United States or Puerto Rico, the emphasis is slightly different. For these students, the LL.M. degree is designed as preparation for a career in law teaching. These students are provided the opportunity to take a step back and relate the doctrinal areas in which they previously concentrated to broader intellectual, social and cultural traditions; and pursue an extended writing project. Thus students from the United States and Puerto Rico must take at least one course in legal theory or jurisprudence and write either the LL.M. paper or the LL.M. thesis.

ACADEMIC RESOURCES Workshops & Colloquia Legal Writing Workshops | Byse Workshops | Colloquia

The Graduate workshops and colloquia, led by the Byse Fellows, by Graduate Fellows and by Graduate Program administrators, are non-credit offerings that meet approximately every two weeks during the course of a semester or the year. In the case of workshops, discussion is generally organized around reading materials and/or an exposition by a workshop participant or guest speaker. For colloquia, the perspectives of the student participants contribute to the direction and content of the series. Schedules of meetings can be obtained by contacting the workshop or colloquium leader.

Byse Workshop participants who wish to write a paper in conjunction with the workshop can receive one credit for the paper as long as (a) the paper is at least 25 pages long, and (b) a faculty member acts as the formal supervisor of the paper.

Specific workshops and colloquia for 2008-2009 are described below:

LEGAL WRITING WORKSHOP Dr. Jane Fair Bestor - Full Year

The LL.M. Writers' Workshop is a voluntary, non-credit workshop that supports students in completing the LL.M. written work requirement. All LL.M. students must satisfy the written work requirement for the LL.M. degree. The workshop is open to all LL.M. students interested in learning about the process of writing an academic paper in an American law school.

Workshop Objectives:

Help students conceptualize, research, and write an LL.M. Paper or Thesis. Introduce students to basic legal research skills (both U.S. and international) and American legal

writing techniques.

Facilitate advising relationships between LL.M. students and an S.J.D. candidate, and with library

research staff.

Help structure and set deadlines for researching and writing LL.M. Papers. Provide guidance and other non-technical support for LL.M. writing projects.

BYSE WORKSHOPS Law and Money: Five Theories For Understanding Money Conceptually and Legally, Iain Frame, Fall 2009, Friday 11:00am - 12:30pm, Contact: iframe@law.harvard.edu

From Athens to E-Democracy: The Promise and Perils of a Participatory Governance, Jennifer Shkabatur, Spring 2010, Time TBD, Contact: jshkabatur@law.harvard.edu

Byse Workshops are named in honor of Byrne Professor of Law Emeritus Clark Byse, and meet approximately every two weeks during the course of a semester. The Workshops, which are open to J.D., LL.M. and S.J.D. students alike, are led by selected S.J.D. students, and provide an in-depth treatment of some aspect of their dissertation scholarship. Participants who wish to write a paper in conjunction with the workshop may be eligible to receive one credit for the paper as long as (a) the paper is at least 25 pages long, and (b) a faculty member acts as the formal supervisor of the paper. The Graduate Program can provide students with further information about how to make such arrangements. There is no need to register for a Workshop in advance.

For more information, please contact Ms. Nancy Pinn (npinn@law.harvard.edu) or the individual Workshop leaders, identified below.

COLLOQUIA Law Teaching Colloquium - Christopher Taggart, ctaggart@law.harvard.edu - Full Year

The Law Teaching Colloquium is a year long series of presentations sponsored by the Graduate Program and the J.D. program, and organized by the S.J.D. community. Sessions promote discussion amongst students and professors from HLS, Harvard University and beyond, about the nature, structure and aims of legal education. Topics range from methods of teaching and the hiring process to the internationalization of law schools and visions of legal education. The Colloquium is open to all members of the Harvard community.

Eligibility Requirements To be considered for the LL.M. Program, an applicant must have a J.D. (Juris Doctor) from an accredited U.S. law school or a first law degree (J.D., LL.B. or the equivalent) from a foreign law school. Harvard Law School is rarely able to accept into its LL.M. Program anyone who already holds or is pursuing an LL.M. or equivalent degree from another law school in the United States.

Admissions Criteria Admission to the LL.M. Program is highly competitive. Last year approximately 1,500 applicants competed for around 150 places in the LL.M. Program. Most applicants are fully qualified for the program, and the Committee on Graduate Studies must select from among a large number of candidates who have excellent credentials. In evaluating applications, the Committee takes into consideration the applicant's grades and rank in his or her law and other university studies, letters of recommendation, occupational interests, professional and personal accomplishments, and other factors, including the following:

FOR LL.M. APPLICANTS FROM ABROAD The Program is designed for intellectually curious and thoughtful candidates who come from a variety of legal systems and backgrounds and who have demonstrated an intent to return to their country to contribute to the academy or legal profession. We are equally interested in applicants pursuing careers in law teaching and research, government service, the judiciary, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and private practice.

FOR LL.M. APPLICANTS FROM THE UNITED STATES The Program is designed for graduates of U.S. law schools who have had at least two or three years of experience beyond law school and who have committed themselves to a career in law teaching. In the admissions process, the Committee focuses primarily on applicants who have excelled in their basic law school studies, who elicit strong letters of recommendation from law school teachers and others familiar with their work, and who have spent at least two years working as a law school teacher, judicial clerk, or

practitioner in a public agency or private practice. Evidence of graduate education in a field other than law is also significant. Weight will be given to materials demonstrating the applicant's interest in, commitment to, and capability for a career in law teaching.

FINANCING STUDY IN LAW SCHOOL

A year in Harvard Law School's LL.M. program is expensive. Tuition for 2007-2008 is $39,325; in addition, the costs of dormitory housing, food, medical fees, books and supplies, activity fee, and personal and travel expenses for a single student come to at least $23,097, for a total of at least $62,422. For the 2007-2008 academic year, the standard budget for married students calls for at least another $12,540 in living expenses for the spouse, $7,212 for the first child, and $7,116 for each additional child.

All financial aid awards are primarily based on the applicants demonstrated financial need. Financial aid is offered in the form of both grants (scholarships) and loans. The average grant is approximately half of tuition; for a small number of students with particularly acute financial need, we are able to offer grants covering full tuition and a portion of living expenses. In addition to our grant funds, we are able to offer students with financial need access to educational loans on favorable terms through Harvard Universitys special loan program with Citibank. Everyone in the LL.M. class of 2007-08 who demonstrated financial need received some form of aid, whether as grant, grant and loan, or loan only; more than 85% of these financial aid recipients received some amount of grant funding from Harvard.

All applicants who wish to apply for financial aid should complete the financial aid forms appearing in the LL.M. application materials and return them with their application for admission to the Graduate Program. Because the processes for making admissions and financial aid decisions are completely separate, your application for financial aid will have no impact on your application for admission. In addition, given our funding limitations, prospective applicants are encouraged to seek other sources of funds early in the application process.

OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDS Applicants seeking financial assistance should investigate funding sources in their home countries well in advance. Examples of such sources include employers, government agencies and foundations. Loans from private lending institutions in the U.S. may also be available to international applicants.

The United States Embassy or consulate in an international applicant's home country may have information on U.S. government grants under the Fulbright program and other information on fellowship opportunities. Applicants who are from certain countries or who meet certain specific criteria may be eligible for a number of scholarships administered by Harvard University's Committee on General Scholarships. Please note that

many of these scholarships have their own application procedures and deadlines, and students must apply for some of these funds by contacting committees or agencies in their home countries.

In some cases it may be possible for students to undertake part-time paid employment on campus, e.g., working in the Law School Library or as research assistants for faculty members. Generally speaking, students can expect to earn up to a total of $3,500 over the course of the academic year in return for 1012 hours of work per week. These positions cannot be arranged through the Graduate Program Office. Admitted applicants interested in such employment must seek out such positions after arrival at Harvard Law School. Off-campus employment during the year of study is not permitted for international students.

Application Deadlines For the LL.M. class beginning in September 2011, the application deadline is December 1, 2010. (We strongly encourage all application materials be submitted by November 15, 2010.)

In addition to submitting the Harvard Law School Online LL.M. Application by the deadline, applicants must make sure that any required documents (e.g., transcripts, TOEFL results) be sent out in time for delivery to our office on or before the deadline. Please note that the application deadline will be strictly observed. It is your responsibility to make certain that all required materials reach the Graduate Program office by the deadline.

Application Materials To apply to the LL.M. program, applicants must complete the relevant parts of the Graduate Program's application materials. These call for applicants to provide information about themselves and the studies they propose to pursue at Harvard, letters of recommendation from professors and others who know their work, and transcripts from each university they have attended.

In addition, all applicants from non-English speaking countries or who did not receive their legal education entirely in the English language must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination within two years prior to submitting their applications. The Graduate Program requires a minimum score of 600 on the paper-based test (with a minimum score of 60 on each of the three subsections and a score of at least 5.0 on the TWE), or a minimum score of 100 on the internet-based test (with a minimum score of 25 on each subsection). Applicants with at least two years of university education conducted entirely in English may request a waiver of the TOEFL exam; however, such waivers are not automatic, and are granted at the sole discretion of the Graduate Program.

TOEFL is offered by the Educational Testing Service at locations around the world. For more information, check their web site or contact them at TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541, USA.