Beginning in fall 2014, the University of Nebraska College of Law will open its doors to attorneys from other countries with a new program designed to teach them about law and the legal system in the United States.
The new LL.M., or master of laws, is open to students with a law degree from schools outside the United States. Students of the program will be trained to meet the demands of legal practice in a globalized world by attending courses with J.D. students at the college.
“Our goal is to engage these attorneys in U.S. legal studies and to provide a wider worldview for our J.D. students,” said Elsbeth Magilton, executive director of graduate programming for the College of Law.
During this one-year program, LL.M. students will take an introductory course, U.S. Legal System and Constitutional Principles, and legal writing. They will select the rest of their classes from the regular J.D. curriculum.
The LL.M. degree will prepare students for global law practice in their home countries by educating them about the United States’ laws and legal system. The college plans to enroll up to five students in 2014 and then develop the program to as many as 20 students.
“Lincoln is such a welcoming place with a vibrant campus community,” Magilton said. “We are very excited to continue the university’s mission of adding diversity to our campus and our city by welcoming these attorneys as students at the law college.”
The new program will be the second LL.M. degree offered by the college. The other is in space, cyber and telecommunications law. Graduates of that program have gone on to careers working for private companies like SpaceX; for civilian agencies like the State Department and NASA Jet Propulsion Lab; for military operations such as the U.S. Cyber Command and Space Operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base; as well as for think tanks, consulting firms and law firms.
