LLMs – Demystifying the World of (Voluntary) Further Legal Study

Article written by Sammar Masood, final year law undergraduate at City, University of London.

LLMs are a Master’s degree in law. Although the idea of voluntarily signing yourself up for more legal studies seems scary to many of us, LLMs are a great opportunity to open more career doors for your future, give you a competitive edge, and play into your true interests. With the close of this academic year upon us, read on to get an insight into what your future may hold.

The bare bones

Before getting into the nitty gritty, it’s helpful to go in totally informed as to what an LLM exactly is. It is one year (or two if part-time) of taught and research-based studies into a specific area of law that interests you. The degree will culminate with your dissertation written on a sub-topic of your choice and interest. You will be assigned a supervisor who is a certified expert in your area of law. The information taught will delve into specific areas of law which you maybe only scratched the surface of in your undergraduate degree. For example, maybe you really enjoyed that one lecture in your public international law module about state self-defence. Well, if you choose to do a LLM in Public International Law, that one lecture can be a whole in-depth module. Finally, unlike an LLB degree, an LLM from both national and international universities are universally accepted, so no need for any mind-bending conversions!

Choosing your niche

As mentioned, LLMs are in-depth legal studies into your preferred interests, so you must align yourself with one of many areas of law where your interest fits under. This area of law will be the title of your LLM course, making it accessible for you to comb through different courses. For example, popular courses include an LLM in: Public International Law, International Economic Law, Commercial Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Environmental Law. Chances are, you would have at least studied one of these as an elective module in your undergraduate degree. Therefore, you already have an overview of what kinds of topics you will go further into and what interests you enough to pursue it in further study. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to have the exact title of your final dissertation inscribed in your mind! Even a general but, crucially, GENUINE interest in one of these areas is enough to get yourself on the right footing. Additionally, speaking to professors and tutors in these areas can really help prepare you for the realities of pursuing an LLM in that area. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your favourite module leader to ask them about an LLM, they might even do some teaching on the LLM module in your current university.

Career Paths

One of the best things about taking an LLM is that it opens up a whole new job sector for you – academia. Not all lecturers or research fellows have a PhD degree, many have studied up to LLM level. To have the opportunity to dip your toe into academia is amazing. An optimal work-life balance is relatively difficult to achieve as a practising lawyer, and everybody’s circumstances and priorities are not the same. Therefore, in the future if you ever wanted to take a part-time or permanent break from practice, a career in academia can provide more flexibility in your working life.

Moreover, and of great interest to lots of students, many legal careers in the UN, International Court of Justice (ICJ), or International Criminal Court (ICC), as they are in a specific branch of their operations such as refugees and asylum, human rights, or the environment, require an LLM in one of these areas. Many students’ dream from the minute they start law school is to one day be a true human rights lawyer at one of these organisations. So, having that LLM on your CV undoubtably gives you that competitive edge.

However, if you love the buzz of practicing law, an LLM can boost your expertise in a particular area that interests you, perhaps resulting in you joining a niche firm that specialises in that area, hence requiring an in-depth level of knowledge. Additionally, many universities have the option of completing your LLM part-time over two years, making, for example, part-time entry level roles and studying attractive and a great way to build up practical experience.

A considered purchase

While LLMs have many positives, a major sticking point for many students is the price of the course. The first way to address this is to make use of the many postgraduate scholarships offered by universities. Almost all universities understand that, most of the time, a government postgraduate loan (£12,167) will not cover the total cost of their LLM. Therefore, it makes sense that there are more postgraduate scholarships available than undergraduate. If you take a scroll through this section of a university’s website, you will find many scholarships spanning different amounts with at least one matching your eligibility. Additionally, external funding from social mobility organisations, and even the Law Society, are also available as a way of increasing access into the legal world. Also, a popular route for many is to take an LLM later in life. This way, maybe your interests have matured more, and you’ll be more certain about what drives you to do further study.

Overall, while its clear that an LLM is not an easy decision, the doors it opens for your career options are unique. So, the best piece of advice you can take away from this article is to truly establish your interests and goals. Is an LLM important to you? Do the career options mentioned seem highly attractive for you? Do you enjoy further studying with an element of research? You don’t need to know the answer to these questions right now but in the near future if it turns out to be a resounding yes, then embrace it and start looking for your ideal LLM!