Master of Laws (LL.M.)

The Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree program at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, offers a first-rate legal education to lawyers, judges, government officials, and others wishing to become educated about the legal system and practice of law in the United States. We offer a general LL.M. program that can be tailored to each individual’s interests, thus uniquely equipping students with the knowledge and skills to excel in today’s global legal community, whatever their personal and professional goals may be.

The program is a one-year, full-time, 24-credit course of study in advanced legal topics designed primarily for lawyers trained outside of the United States. Students are required to take four courses: Introduction to American Law; Research, Analysis, and Writing in American Law; American Legal Practice in Context; and Professional Responsibility, Globalization, and the Legal Profession in the United States. For the remainder of their courses, students select from a broad range of courses across the upper-level curriculum. Dedicated staff are available to assist students in planning their course of study and, if desired, ensuring that students’ coursework meets the eligibility requirements of California, New York, or other state bars.

Why Pursue an LL.M. at UCI Law?

World-Class Faculty

Classes at UCI Law are taught by a brilliant group of dedicated and welcoming faculty. Our faculty members are extraordinary scholars. A recent study ranked their scholarly impact as No. 6 in the country behind only Yale, Harvard, University of Chicago, New York University, and Stanford. Equally important, they are also superb teachers and devoted mentors. This unbeatable combination makes UCI Law a unique, dynamic and diverse intellectual community in which to learn and grow.

Impeccable Reputation

Individually and collectively, the faculty, staff, students, alums, and friends of the Law School have made UCI Law a place of excellence and innovation in teaching, scholarship, and public service. UCI Law had the highest ever debut ranking in U.S. News & World Report, and now is ranked No. 35 overall, No. 6 for Clinical Training, No. 9 in Legal Writing, and No. 19 in Intellectual Property Law. A vast majority of UCI Law students rate their overall educational experience as “Excellent,” and report developing clearer career goals and acquiring job-related knowledge at a significantly better rate than the national average. (Law School Survey of Student Engagement – LSSSE).

Small Class Sizes

Our student-faculty ratio is among the best in the country at 7-1 and the average number of students in an upper-level class is 11 – this enables students to have more individual time with our outstanding faculty. We combine the best of a small, collegial and supportive environment with a large and renowned research institution.

Learning by Doing

Experiential learning is the core of our curriculum. We teach our students how to turn theory into practice and learn by doing, essential in developing practice-ready skills for lawyers. Public service is also at the very center of UCI Law’s mission. Our programs provide students the opportunity and training to use their legal education to improve society.

Orange County, California Location

Our prime location in central Orange County, California ̶ one hour south of Los Angeles and one hour north of San Diego – makes UCI a highly attractive place to spend a year studying law. Located about 10 minutes from the beach, the UCI campus is situated in Irvine, California.

The city of Irvine has been ranked the safest city of its size in the U.S. for the 16th consecutive year. Among Irvine’s many benefits are its pleasant year-round climate and easy access to many cultural, entertainment, and outdoor attractions. In addition, Southern California is a vast, highly desirable, and sophisticated legal market home to prestigious international law firms, regional firms, and prominent public interest organizations. Orange County boasts a large and diverse economy home to some of the world’s largest companies as well as entrepreneurial small startups. The business climate emphasizes a myriad of sectors, including real estate, high technology, international trade, healthcare, and life sciences.

UC Irvine School of Law opened its doors to students in August 2009, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years. UCI Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the faculty ranked sixth in the country in scholarly impact in a recent study. The student body has admissions qualifications comparable to those of student bodies at top 20 law schools. The school’s innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

What's Special About UCI Law

EXCELLENT FACULTY

Drawn from top law schools, the faculty was ranked 7th in the nation in scholarly impact in a recent study, behind Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Stanford, NYU, and Columbia. Excellent teaching is also a high priority, and numerous faculty members have won teaching awards at their previous institutions.

CUTTING-EDGE INNOVATION

Founded in 2009, UC Irvine School of Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by emphasizing hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE

All students actually practice law (under careful supervision) while at UCI Law, beginning in the first-year Lawyering Skills course—where they do intake interviews at legal aid or public defender offices—and culminating with substantial client representation in an in-house legal clinic before graduation.

OUTSTANDING STUDENTS

Eighty-eight percent of UCI Law grads who sat for the bar exam in July 2012, February 2013, or July 2013 have now passed the bar in at least one jurisdiction. (To this point, we have had 134 graduates take a bar exam and 118, or 88%, have now passed.) The jurisdictions in which our graduates have passed the bar include Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

SMALL CLASSES

The student-faculty ratio is 10 to 1, which means classes are smaller and professors have more time for individual students.

ATTORNEY MENTORS

Each new student is assigned an attorney mentor from the local legal community to provide guidance in academic and career matters.

ACTIVE PRO BONO

More than 90% of students have been involved in the Pro Bono Program, participating in scores of projects in which they provided legal services under attorney supervision. Students are encouraged to log 120 pro bono hours in three years.

SATISFIED STUDENTS

The 2016 Law School Survey of Student Engagement shows that UCI Law far exceeds the national average when it comes to student satisfaction. About 95% of our students over all three classes rate their overall UCI Law experience as excellent or good, and about 95% say they would likely attend UCI Law again if they could start over.

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENTS

Our students have, over the years, spent their summers and begun their careers in a variety of legal settings, including large, medium and small law firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, general counsel offices and other alternative careers.

PRESTIGIOUS CLERKSHIPS

Judges in a variety of federal district and appellate courts and state appellate and supreme courts have hired UCI Law students to serve as their post-graduate law clerks. These clerkships span both the country and the federal judicial system.

INCOMPARABLE LOCATION

The Law School is located in beautiful, coastal Southern California, 40 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego.