If a student wishes to practice law, an LLM degree will not be sufficient. Practicing attorneys who wish to acquire their LLM for specialized knowledge, or students who wish to practice after graduation, are required to obtain a Juris Doctor (JD) degree to take the bar exam. A JD is obtained by completing a three-year full-time program or four-year part-time program offered through law schools, which, upon completion, prepares a student to take the bar exam. You must acquire a JD prior to getting into an LLM program.
Business professionals who do not practice law may wish to acquire an LLM degree to enhance their knowledge in specific areas of law that will aid their businesses. In the United States, a Juris Doctor degree is required for admission to an LLM program. No specific law school specialization prepares a student for an LLM program. However, an interest in a specific area, such as tax law, international law or intellectual property, generally is preferred for students applying to LLM programs. .
Course credits vary from university to university depending upon whether semester or quarter credits are awarded. However, most universities require at least 21 units to be completed by an LLM student for graduation, including Duke University and the University of Southern California. These are full-time programs that are one year in length and require specific courses such as Introduction to the U.S. Legal System and Legal Research, which are required by all LLM programs.
For international students who seek entry into an LLM program in the United States, passing the TOEFL or Test of English as a Foreign Language is a requirement. The IELTS is a similar test of English proficiency that is given in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Passing one of these two tests with a basic proficiency in the English language is a requirement of entry into an LLM program.