LLM Graduate Programs
BU Law offers four Master of Laws (LLM) programs for domestic- and foreign-trained lawyers:
- LLM in American Law (for non-U.S. lawyers)
- LLM in Banking and Financial Law
- LLM in Intellectual Property Law
- LLM in Taxation
Concentrations
As the practice of law becomes increasingly specialized, lawyers need advanced skills to stay ahead of rapidly changing laws and regulations. BU Law offers concentrations in five key areas of practice. A concentration enables you to develop specialized skills through in-depth study with leading scholars and practitioners without having to pursue an advanced degree. Upon completing a concentration’s course and writing requirements, you’ll receive a certificate of completion for the concentration at graduation.
Health Law
Our health law curriculum is ranked #4 in the country by U.S. News & World Report, with courses taught by highly respected scholars in the field who are ranked as “excellent” by The Leiter Report. Topics include access to computerized health records, public health and environmental risks, the ethics and intellectual property rights involved with gene therapy, complex contracts among insurers, patients and providers under managed care, and countless others. If you elect the health law concentration, you may also cross-register for courses at Boston University School of Public Health and the Program in Health Care Management at the School of Management.
Intellectual Property Law
BU Law is among the top schools in the nation for intellectual property studies—in fact, the program is ranked #4 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In the intellectual property concentration, you will be studying with internationally known scholars with backgrounds in high technology, engineering, biotechnology, publishing, and arts and entertainment. They can equip you with the skills to address complex intellectual property issues at an advanced level. In addition, BU Law’s strong relationships with the legal community and high-technology industry in greater Boston give students exposure to top practitioners in the field.
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
If you choose the litigation concentration, you’ll learn legal theory and “black-letter” law in the classroom and gain practical experience as well. This concentration capitalizes on the highly regarded teaching and curricular strengths of our clinical programs. You’ll be representing real clients in real cases and working with local lawyers and judges. A key component of this concentration is Alternative Dispute Resolution.
International Law
If you plan to work in the international arena, you’ll need to understand the political, economic, business and legal environments of foreign countries, as well as those of the United States. In the international law concentration, you’ll explore issues at an advanced level, acquiring sophisticated knowledge of international transactions and of American law as it works in the global environment. The expertise of our full-time faculty is augmented by our broad range of semester-abroad opportunities in Europe, Asia, Latin American and the Middle East.
Business Organizations and Finance Law
In corporate law firms, attorneys must be as knowledgeable about the business world as the law. In this concentration, you’ll study with nationally known scholars who present a thorough theoretical and analytical background to corporate and finance law and teach you critical practical skills essential to the business world. BU Law’s graduate programs in taxation and banking and financial law offer more opportunities. And many interdisciplinary courses are available through the BU School of Management and the Department of Economics in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Real-World Practice—BU Law Clinics
In BU Law clinical programs, you’ll apply legal theories from the classroom to real-life lawyering. You’ll represent clients in real cases from the initial interview to the final courtroom summation. And you’ll hone your legal skills with close supervision and support from a BU Law faculty member—with no more than eight students to a teacher.
Clinical Programs in Criminal Law
As a 2L, you may enroll in Introductory Trial Advocacy and Introduction to Criminal Practice, which combine classroom instruction in interviewing, counseling, investigation, and case structuring with work in Boston courts. The coursework continues in the fall of the third year, when you’ll spend the entire semester immersed in the practice of criminal law. You’ll conduct investigations, formulate trial strategy, file pretrial motions, participate in plea bargaining, try cases before a judge, and make sentencing arguments, all under faculty guidance and support.
If you’d prefer a less-intensive exposure to criminal law, without devoting as many credits, you may enroll in the clinic in the third year. Students on this track take Introduction to Criminal Practice in the fall. In the spring, they try cases in court as members of the Defender Program or the Prosecutor Program.
Civil Litigation Program
If you elect the two-semester Civil Litigation Program, you’ll represent indigent clients in civil matters. Working out of the offices of Greater Boston Legal Services in downtown Boston, students are assigned cases concerning such issues as housing, disability and social security benefits, immigration, divorce and child custody, and unemployment.
Students engage in all phases of legal work and appear in courts of all levels, from state trial and housing courts to the state Supreme Judicial Court and the federal courts.
Legal Externship Program
If you’re interested in experiencing the realities of legal practice, choose the Legal Externship Program (available to upper-class students). Externships may include working in the judiciary or in offices handling civil and criminal litigation, civil rights, health care, securities law, environmental law, immigration law, domestic violence, and children’s law.
Legislation Programs
If running for office or working in a legislature is part of your career plan, BU Law’s Legislation Clinics offer hands-on training in legislative design and drafting. Students focus on general legislation, intellectual property or health and environmental legislation. Second- and third-year BU Law students are matched with senators and representatives at the Massachusetts State House and may draft legislation for legislators, public interest groups, and government agencies.
BU Law offers four options for studying legislation:
- Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic
- Africa i-Parliaments Clinic
- Legislative Counsel Clinic
- Legislative Internship Program
Semester in Practice
The Semester-in-Practice Program provides an opportunity to spend a semester working full time for credit at an externship placement outside of Boston. Designed for students who want an intensive hands-on experience not available in Boston, this program aims to further your specific career and academic goals.
The Semester-in-Practice Program offers four options:
- Human Rights Externship in Geneva—Through the Human Rights Externship, students may spend a semester working in Geneva for a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) committed to the protection of human rights.
- Government Lawyering in Washington, D.C.—Students in the Government Lawyering Externship may spend a semester working at a government office in Washington. Examples include opportunities with the staff of a Congressional committee or subcommittee, in the legal office of an administrative agency, or with a federal board/commission.
- Death Penalty Externship—Students participating in the Death Penalty Externship may work at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Independent Proposal Externship—Students may develop their own proposal for a full-time externship outside of Boston.
Moot Court Programs
As a 1L, you’ll begin honing your advocacy skills by participating in the J. Newton Esdaile Appellate Moot Court Program. Second-year students may pursue more rigorous advocacy training through two intramural competitions: the Edward C. Stone Appellate Competition (open to all second-year students) and the Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition (open to the top qualifiers of the Stone Competition). Final arguments for the Albers competition have been held before such respected jurists as Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Byron R. White, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Souter. BU Law sponsors intramural moot court teams that in recent years have won regional and national victories in many competitions.
Trial Advocacy
The Trial Advocacy Program provides an introduction to the trial process as well as training in trial skills. Small class sections are taught by leading New England judges and practitioners, who use simulated cases to teach the realities of the courtroom. Students may take a course focusing on pretrial motions and discovery in criminal and civil cases. After completing a basic trial advocacy class, students may opt for an advanced class that immerses them in the trial of a complicated, multi-party case. At the end of the semester, each student performs as counsel in a simulated trial.
