International Legal Studies (LLM)

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Program Description
Admissions

Program Description

In this LLM specialization, you’ll become a part of the broadest, most diverse and dynamic program in international law and global governance of any school in the world.

More than 15 full-time professors comprise our core international and comparative law faculty, unsurpassed in the depth of their knowledge and engagement. You'll build expertise in several different areas of international, comparative, and global law to equip yourself to deal with cross-cutting issues that call for innovative approaches. Your professors will help you explore your intellectual interests within this broad field, and define the direction of your future professional development.

Admissions

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Program Requirements
Basic Courses and Distribution Recommendation
Four-Credit Thesis Option

Program Requirements

The program requires the completion of 24 credits, and all students must complete at least 14 credits in classes designated by the following course topics:

International Law
Comparative and Foreign Law
International Litigation and Arbitration

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
Major Requirements
Course Topics
Select fourteen credits in the following topics:		14
International Law
Comparative and Foreign Law
International Litigation and Arbitration
Electives
Other Elective Credits		10
Total Credits		24

Basic Courses and Distribution Recommendation

Students are strongly advised to build expertise in several different areas of international, comparative, and global law. This will help equip students with the legal awareness and flexibility of thought to deal with cross-cutting issues that call for innovative approaches and pose some of the most exciting challenges in many careers. Unless students have considerable academic background in the particular area, they are advised to take at least one basic course in Public International Law, one in International Economic Law, and one in Comparative or Global Law. Students who have taken basic courses such as International Law as part of their first law degree sometimes choose not to take them in the LLM. However, the intellectual approach and material covered are likely to be different from similarly titled courses in other countries so many students find it valuable to take these courses at NYU.

Four-Credit Thesis Option

This option offers students enrolled in the full-time LLM in International Legal Studies who are seriously interested in academic careers in international law an opportunity to write a substantial high-quality thesis (24,000-32,000 words) on an international law topic. The number of students who will be permitted to undertake the thesis option is strictly limited. Students will be selected by a committee after filing an application during the fall term consisting of an outline of the proposed thesis, along with a bibliography. (The deadline for this application will be announced at the beginning of the fall term.) Students who are selected will be matched with an appropriate faculty supervisor or supervisors with whom they will be expected to meet periodically to present drafts of their work. This option does not count toward the limit on the number of credits that students may otherwise take as Directed Research. (Additional note: LLM candidates have a number of other options for writing research papers intended for publication, including writing produced in the course of seminars and as an additional credit option in some classes (with the permission of the instructor). The thesis option is best suited to those candidates who have, prior to their arrival at NYU, undertaken considerable work on a project whose completion could usefully draw on the expertise of an NYU faculty member.)

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid
1st Semester/Term		Credits
Topics Course		2
Topics Course		2
Elective		2
Elective		2
	Credits	8
2nd Semester/Term
Topics Course		2
Topics Course		2
Elective		2
Elective		2
	Credits	8
3rd Semester/Term
Topics Course		3
Topics Course		3
Elective		2
	Credits	8
	Total Credits	24

Learning Outcomes

In accordance with Revised ABA Standard 302; N.Y. Court of Appeals Rule 520.18(a)(1) please find an inventory of student learning outcomes that covers the areas of “substantive knowledge and procedural law”; lawyering skills; and “proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system.”

International Law

Over the past 50 years, the transnational regulation of persons, capital, markets, and power has progressed to such an extent that today practically every subject taught as part of the “domestic” legal curriculum has a transnational, international, or comparative legal dimension. Many of these sub-regimes are the subject of specialized courses or seminars. The basic survey course on international law reflects this “internationalization” of law, with the possibility of covering many topics once seen as subject only to “domestic jurisdiction.”

NYU’s international law courses are divided into three sub-groups: Comparative and Foreign Law, International Law, and International Litigation and Arbitration. Each of these in turn embrace a multitude of subjects. In addition to the extensive curriculum in New York City, NYU Law Abroad offers specially-designed courses in Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai.

Courses identified as dealing with “international law” address traditional “public law” topics, such as the actions of states and interstate organizations, so-called “private international law” (dealing with the regulation of persons or property), or modern regimes that blur such distinctions, such as courses on “global governance” or the World Trade Organization. The category also includes courses that focus on specific types of cross-border transactions, such as project finance or sovereign debt offerings. In addition, there are specialized courses on international topics such as human rights, environmental law, and investment law.

“Comparative and foreign law” courses deal with the foreign law of a particular jurisdiction, region, or religion or compare international and foreign rules with respect to a particular topic (such as courses on international and comparative antitrust or comparative intellectual property).

“International litigation and arbitration” courses address how U.S. courts handle cases having a transnational element, the rules governing the arbitration of transnational contractual disputes or those involving foreign investment, or less formal methods for resolving international disputes.

While some students anticipate practicing in only one of international law’s various sub-specialties, the typical JD graduate finds unexpected focus areas in post-graduation practice and many over time engage in various ‘careers’ in law. Accordingly, for interested JD students it is wise to take full advantage of the breadth of NYU’s rich and diverse offerings in this field. In addition, since a good international lawyer needs to be, first and foremost, a good lawyer with a solid foundation in the finely honed doctrine and techniques of his or her own legal system, even prospective “international lawyers” need a very solid grounding in U.S. law. Accordingly, all students, even those aspiring to specialize in international law, should take courses in corporations, taxation, evidence, and federal courts.

The good international lawyer, irrespective of eventual specialty within the field, should also acquire a cosmopolitan training in international law’s most significant sub-regimes. To give an example: while an NYU student who aspires to be a human rights practitioner should of course take advantage of NYU’s wide number of specialized human rights offerings, including clinics, the most effective and creative human rights lawyers are often those who are also versed in the trade and investment regimes, have taken a course or seminar on comparative or foreign law (the better to see how international law may or may not penetrate into national law), and have immersed themselves in at least one course involving “private” international law (such as conflicts of law, international business transactions, transnational civil litigation, or commercial arbitration).

Find out more about International Law at NYU Law.