LLM degrees are designed for attorneys who are already board-certified to specialize in particular areas of the law. Some attorneys pursue LLM degrees because they want to advance in the field of law they already practice or they may want change to another field. Popular LLM study includes programs in tax law, environmental law, intellectual property, and international law. LLM programs are traditionally offered by American Bar Association-approved law schools and traditionally run for one year. LLM programs in the U.S. law schools also qualify foreign-trained lawyers to sit the bar exam in any state and practice law in the U.S.
Some law schools offer masters programs for non-lawyers who have careers that might be served by an understanding of the law such as journalists, political organizers and engineers. Law schools primarily offer these programs. Georgetown University Law Center, for example, offers the Masters of Studies in Law specifically for journalists, during which students take fundamental legal classes in civil procedure, criminal law, and legal research and writing. Vermont Law School offers a Master of Environmental Law and Policy which give non-lawyers, such as officials of non-governmental organizations, a background in environmental law. The John Marshall School of Law and the Albany Law School offers masters degrees in different concentrations of law, such as real estate. Other law schools that offer legal masters degrees include the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Arizona State University College of Law. The West Virginia University College of Law offers its Masters of Studies in Law completely online. Although not a law school, Tufts University offers a Masters in International Law as part of its graduate programs.
Many schools in foreign countries offer master's programs in law that focus on European law, international law, and human rights law among other subjects. For some nations, master's programs are prerequisites to becoming lawyers in those countries. The University of Oxford offers a Masters of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice, a Masters of Philosophy in Law, and a Masters in International Human Rights Law. Maastricht University in the Netherlands offers LLM degrees in international law, European Law and labor law.