Best LLM Programs in the USA

Stanford Law School

Stanford, California, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws

Stanford runs its LLM as four separate specialisations, each taking roughly 15-20 students a year: Corporate Governance & Practice, Environmental Law & Policy, Law, Science & Technology, and International Economic Law, Business & Policy. The corporate governance track requires a full nine-month residence, 35-45 credit units and two years of prior legal experience, while the technology track draws on named university centres such as CodeX. It is open only to lawyers with a law degree from outside the United States, so it is not an option for US-trained lawyers.

On campus · English

UC Berkeley School of Law

Berkeley, California, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws

Berkeley offers the same LLM degree in two formats: a nine-month Traditional Track on campus and an Executive Track that mixes part-time online study with a summer in Berkeley. Students can add a certificate of specialization, with the school listing areas such as Technology Law, Energy and Clean Technology Law, Environmental Law and AI Law and Regulation. The choice of format makes it a candidate for a lawyer who cannot leave work for a full year.

On campus · English

UC Davis offers a ten-month LLM in several shapes: a general degree, a customised degree, or one of six concentrations (business, intellectual property, environmental, criminal law and policy, immigration and tax) that earn a concentration certificate. It also lists a two-year advanced option, a spring start and a bar preparation programme, which is unusual flexibility for a school of its size. Optional summer programmes in English for legal professionals and US legal orientation support students who need preparation before the LLM year.

On campus · ten months of study · English

UCLA lets students follow a general course or choose among 13 degree specialisations, and its programme page foregrounds business and tax, entertainment and media, and human rights as areas of focus. The wide menu of specialisations makes it a good fit for lawyers who want a specific subject named on the degree.

On campus · English

Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Malibu, California, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws

Pepperdine splits its LLM into separate degrees rather than tracks: Dispute Resolution (also offered online), International Commercial Arbitration with a capstone mock arbitration, Entertainment, Media and Sports Law, and a US Law degree for international lawyers. The arbitration and dispute-resolution focus is the distinctive reason to consider it.

On campus · English

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws

Loyola Los Angeles builds a flexible American-law curriculum for foreign law graduates and experienced attorneys, and says it opens first-year JD courses to LLM students that other schools do not. Moot court and experiential programs where students assist clients add a practice element, which is useful for lawyers who want skills training more than a narrow specialism.

On campus · English

Yale Law School

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LL.M.)

Yale takes about 25 LLM students a year and states that admission is generally open only to those committed to a career in teaching law. The degree is elective with no prescribed course of study, and students are eligible to apply for support to present at academic conferences. Yale says plainly that the programme is not designed to prepare students for the New York bar, so it suits aspiring academics rather than practitioners.

On campus · one year of full-time study · English

Georgetown University Law Center

Washington, Washington, DC, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LLM)

Georgetown's LLM is open to both US- and foreign-educated lawyers, with more than 300 courses a year and several specialty areas, set in Washington, D.C. Its LLM Summer Experience is a pre-programme in which foreign-educated lawyers can earn up to four credits that the school says count toward the New York bar. The school's page does not itemise the specialisations in the text we could fetch, so subject choice should be checked on its graduate pages.

On campus · English

Chicago's LLM is a single general degree of 27 course hours over three quarters, with no required courses and no mandatory dissertation. Students sit with JD students and may take courses at other university schools such as Chicago Booth, and the school notes LLM-only courses in subjects needed for the New York bar exam. It suits lawyers who want to build their own programme around law and economics, corporate or comparative law.

On campus · 27 course hours over three quarters; full-time on campus; start only in Autumn Quarter (September) · English

Harvard Law School

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M.

Harvard's one-year LLM lets students design their own course of study within faculty-set parameters that include some exposure to US law and a writing component. About half of the students write a paper of roughly 50 pages, and students can take a limited number of credits in other Harvard faculties. The cohort of around 180 students from some 65 countries makes it one of the largest and most varied LLM classes in the country.

On campus · one-year degree program · English

Suffolk University Law School

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LLM)

Suffolk offers a General LLM, a Global Law and Technology LLM, a JD/LLM in Legal Innovation and Technology, and an accelerated JD/Taxation degree, so technology and intellectual property are the clearest specialisms. The school also points to clinics and experiential opportunities, with a separate SJD for those continuing to research.

On campus · English

Michigan's full-time LLM requires at least 24 credits and offers two LLM-only courses, in constitutional law and in research and writing, recommended especially for civil-law-trained students. The school is candid about limits: LLM students cannot take externships for credit and litigation clinics are generally restricted to those with a US JD, though transactional clinics and pro bono work are open. It also describes individual advice on New York and California bar requirements and a dedicated attorney career counsellor for LLM students.

On campus · one-year; starts at the end of August and ends by mid-May · English

Minnesota offers a Business Law LLM and a general LLM with the option of one of 12 concentrations. Courses created for international students include Introduction to American Law, an LLM Judicial Observation course and LLM Legal Writing and Legal Skills, which gives the programme a practical and orientation-focused structure. The school says every admitted student is considered for a scholarship and that the programme has run for 31 years.

On campus · English

WashU's online LLM in Taxation is a 24-credit degree with one required course in federal income taxation and 21 credits of electives such as partnership taxation, international taxation, state and local taxation, tax procedure and an externship. It is aimed at lawyers wanting tax specialisation remotely, not at foreign lawyers seeking a general US-law degree.

Fully online · as little as 18 months · English

Columbia Law School

Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M. Program

Columbia's LLM requires 24 credits (at least 11 per term), the courses Introduction to American Law and LL.M. Legal Research & Writing for most students, and an LL.M. Experiential Credit requirement. It begins with a three-week orientation in which advisers help each student design an individual programme, and the school links to clinics, externships and skills workshops. The school states that an LLM does not guarantee eligibility to practise in the United States and explains the New York Board of Law Examiners eligibility process.

On campus · one year · English

New York University School of Law

Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LLM)

NYU's Graduate Division offers nine LLM degrees: a general Master of Laws and eight specialisations including Corporation Law, Environmental and Energy Law, International Taxation, Taxation, Legal Theory, International Legal Studies and Competition, Innovation and Information Law. Each specialisation has faculty directors and a smaller community inside the larger school, and any LLM can be combined with the Advanced Certificate in Law & Business. This depth of named tracks is the main reason it stands out for subject-focused study.

On campus · English

Fordham University School of Law

New York City, New York, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M. in U.S. Law

Fordham offers ten LLM programmes, each a named field: U.S. Law, Competition Law, Corporate Compliance (in person and online), Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law, International Business and Trade Law, Fashion Law, Banking and Corporate Finance, International Dispute Resolution, International Law and Justice, and Real Estate Law. The Fashion Law programme is taught by academics and industry insiders in New York City, and Corporate Compliance is offered in person and online. This set of narrow, clearly defined programmes suits lawyers who know the field they want to work in.

On campus · English

Duke University School of Law

Durham, North Carolina, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LLM Degree

Duke's LLM is for graduates of law schools outside the United States and, apart from two required courses, students take classes with JD students from a selection of more than 200 courses. LLM students can also take courses at the Fuqua School of Business, the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School of Public Policy, and the school runs a Pre-LLM Program. The cohort is described as small, which gives integration with the JD class rather than a separate LLM stream.

On campus · English

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Columbus, Ohio, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LLM Degree Program

Moritz gives LLM students a general curriculum or a concentration drawn from over 100 courses, with the option of transferring into the JD afterwards, which is unusual and relevant for those wanting a full US law degree. Support is documented in detail, including a commercial bar-preparation course at low cost, advising, mentoring and OPT career services.

On campus · English

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LLM)

Penn Carey's full-time LLM for lawyers trained abroad opens with a required pre-term programme on the US legal system, offers concentrations in Intellectual Property and Technology Law or Energy, Security, and Human Rights, and allows enrolment in the Wharton Business and Law Certificate. Practice exposure comes through an LLM Public Service Program, clinics and bootcamps. The school is unusually frank that LLMs face significant structural barriers to finding legal work in the United States.

On campus · English

Vanderbilt offers three curriculum tracks (Course, Law & Business and Thesis) and a Summer English for Legal Purposes programme with intensive oral and written instruction before the academic year. It is built for internationally trained lawyers, with university-level international student services alongside the law school's own advising.

On campus · one-year · English

The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law)

Austin, Texas, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Master of Laws (LL.M.)

Texas takes only 25 LLM students a year into one degree with seven concentrations, among them Business Law, Cybersecurity Law, Global Energy, International Arbitration & Environmental Law, Human Rights & Comparative Constitutional Law and Latin American & International Law. Each concentration earns a certificate of specialisation and requires a research paper on a related topic. The law school has also developed courses specifically for foreign-trained LLM students, such as Contracts for Foreign Lawyers and Legal English.

On campus · English

University of Houston Law Center

Houston, Texas, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M. Programs

Houston runs separate LLM routes in Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Law, Health Law, Intellectual Property and Information Law, International Law and Tax Law, plus a US-law LLM for internationally educated lawyers. The energy programme in particular reflects the city's industry, and the structure serves US-trained specialists as well as foreign lawyers.

On campus · English

SMU's LLM in comparative and international law is aimed at foreign-trained lawyers, and its distinguishing feature is a Corporate Counsel Externship Program for international students that pairs a weekly class with placements in corporate legal departments. The school reports more than 120 participating organisations, giving a structured route into practice-based learning.

On campus · One year (full time) · English

Vermont's LLM in Animal Law is a specialist degree for post-JD students who want a career in animal law and policy, covering companion animals, wildlife, farmed animals and animals in entertainment and experimentation. Degree work is completed through a thesis, research project, teaching practicum or externship, with clinics and externships offering litigation, policy and enforcement experience. Full-time students typically finish in 12 months, and the school allows up to five years.

On campus · full-time students typically complete in 12 months; up to five years allowed · English

Virginia places LLM students in the same courses and seminars as upper-level JD students, drawing from more than 275 offerings a year, and requires a substantial research paper from everyone. A Graduate Studies Office designs each course of study individually and will plan courses to meet New York bar course requirements for students intending to sit that exam. Its law-and-economics and law-and-medicine electives and a small LLM and SJD community (26 students enrolled in 2026-27, per its page) give it an intimate profile.

On campus · English

William & Mary Law School

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: On-Campus LL.M. Program

William & Mary lets students take a general US-law course or concentrate in areas including business and corporate, criminal, constitutional and international law, and offers an externship for credit at law firms, corporations and non-profits. It also offers an online route, and its page directs bar-minded students to the national bar guidance rather than promising eligibility.

On campus · Full-Time, Two Semesters · English

University of Washington School of Law

Seattle, Washington, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M. Programs

UW offers seven LLM programmes: Asian and Comparative Law, Global Business, Health Law, Intellectual Property, Sustainable International Development, Tax and a General Law degree. The Sustainable International Development programme is described as the first at a US law school to focus on international development law, and a bar support programme is provided.

On campus · English