The Law School's LL.M. program is strictly a research and writing one designed for people who have already received a basic law degree from an American law school or an equivalent degree (e.g., LL.B.) from a university outside the U.S. The LL.M. is primarily of value to those planning on a career as a legal scholar or researcher. No course work is required; in fact, degree candidates are actively discouraged from enrolling in courses. Applicants should already have a sufficient education in the field of research to pursue a serious scholarly project.
(If you are interested in the basic American law program (the J.D. degree program), you are at the wrong place; go to Admissions.)
The University of Wisconsin Law School's LL.M. program is research-based.
- No regular courses are taken in the LL.M. program. Students register for a non-classroom course called "Directed Research" (Law 990) each semester.
- We have one specialized LL.M. program, the Master of Laws-Legal
Institutions, specifically for those whose first degree in law
was from a university outside the U.S.
- Because our LL.M. degree is research-based and not course-based, completion of the LL.M. degree at our law school will not qualify you to take a bar exam. If you are interested in taking a bar exam, see the information about our Master of Laws-Legal Institutions degree.
We have entry in the fall and the spring.
- Applicants to the LL.M. program may seek either Fall (August) or Spring (January) admission. The deadline for receiving the application for the research-based programs is October 1 for spring entry and March 1 for fall entry.
- Students must satisfy the required physical presence residence requirement. This is done by enrolling as a full-time law student in Law 990 (12 credits each semester) and doing research in Madison for two regular semesters (i.e., fall and spring). Students admitted in the spring must be a resident for the following fall semester as well.
Our LL.M. program is designed as a two-year program.
- The LL.M. program is designed as a two-year program.
- The actual time of completion of the program may vary, depending on the research problem.
Eligibility to apply to the LL.M. program
- Those who have a J.D. degree from a U.S. law school are eligible to apply directly to the LL.M. program.
- For those who have a basic law degree from a university outside the U.S., especially from a civil code country, and who do not already have a master's degree in law from an American university, our Graduate Admissions Committee recommends the successful completion of our course-based Master of Laws-Legal Institutions program before applying to our LL.M. program. The LL.M.-Legal Institutions program provides the necessary foundation in course work and writing a research paper. The deadline for application for the LL.M.-Legal Institutions program is October 1 for spring entry and February 1 for fall entry. Entry is twice a year, in the fall (late August) and in the spring (late January).
Requirements of the program
Be sure to read carefully the requirements for the LL.M. program.
Costs of the program
Information about cost of the program is found at Tuition and Living Expenses.
Applying to the LL.M. Program
We have a two-part application process for our research-based graduate programs: (1) the filing and initial review of the full application and (2) initial approval and seeking a research advisor.
Questions?
If you have questions, please contact the Graduate Programs Office at the University of Wisconsin Law School:
telephone: (608) 262-9120
fax: (608) 265-2253
email: gradprog@law.wisc.edu
