Seven-Semester JD/LLM in Banking & Financial Law
Accelerated LLM in Banking & Financial Law
By taking qualifying courses during the second and third years of the JD program, students can graduate from the JD program with sufficient advanced standing to complete the LLM in Banking & Financial Law in just one additional semester.
Prerequisites
To be accepted in the seven-semester program, a JD student must complete the following prerequisite courses by the third year in the JD program:
- Corporations (4 credits)
- Secured Transactions (4 credits)
- Financial Regulation (3 credits)
Only one of these courses, Financial Regulation, earns credit toward the LLM degree.
Required Credit Hours
The number of credit hours required for the degree is 24, the same number required for the full-year LLM degree. JD courses carry their JD credit hours in the JD program and 2 credit hours each in the accelerated program. LLM courses carry 2 credit hours each in both programs. A JD student may take a maximum of six LLM courses during the JD program (including Financial Regulation) and these courses will carry over to fulfill the 24-credit LLM requirement. Thereafter, the student must take at least six LLM courses in the seventh semester to obtain the LLM degree. A student may substitute JD courses and seminars with their LLM advisor’s permission. Typically, a student will earn 12 credit hours of either JD or LLM courses prior to earning the JD degree, and will earn 12 credits in LLM courses in the seventh semester.
Qualifying Courses
In addition to the prerequisite courses, a JD student in the accelerated program must earn 12 LLM credit hours from the specified list of JD and LLM courses prior to receiving their JD degree. The Financial Regulation prerequisite counts toward these 12 LLM credit hours. If the student has taken Financial Regulation, the student will be deemed to have satisfied the Banking LLM program requirement to take Bank Structure and Regulation.
JD courses and seminars currently qualifying for seven-semester program credit (revised for the 2022–2023 academic year):
| Alternative Dispute Resolution | Corporate Governance | Mergers & Acquisitions |
| Affordable Housing Law | Financial Reporting for Lawyers | Negotiation |
| Antitrust Law | International Business Arbitration | Private Equity & Venture Capital Transactions |
| Bankruptcy Creditors’ Rights | International Business Transactions | Secured Transactions |
| Compliance in Financial Services Companies | International Development & Project Finance | Securities Regulation |
| Contract Drafting | Introduction to Risk Management & Compliance | Tax Aspects of International Business & Finance |
| Corporate Finance | Law & Economics Workshop | White-Collar Crime |
Note: This list is subject to change according to course availability.
Completion of the Program
Students are expected to complete the program in the semester immediately following graduation from the JD program and are required to complete the program in no more than three semesters after obtaining the JD degree. Appropriate JD courses and seminars may be substituted for LLM courses with the permission of the director of the Banking & Financial Law LLM program and the instructor.
Admissions Requirements
A student may apply for admission to the Accelerated LLM Program in Banking & Financial Law at any time during their second or third year. Upon preliminary acceptance, the student will be assigned an LLM advisor. Courses to be credited to the LLM should be chosen by the student in consultation with the student’s advisor.
Final admission to the program requires that, at the time of graduation from the JD program, the student will have completed all courses to be credited toward the LLM with a cumulative grade point average of 2.7 or higher.
