LLM & JSD Admissions
The University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law offers graduate law programs leading to the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in the following fields: Transnational Business Practice, Public Law and Policy, International Water Resources Law, and Advocacy. It also offers a Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D.) in International Water Resources Law. Brochures with detailed information and applications materials are available from the International Programs Office of the Center for Global Business and Development, the Capital Center for Governmental Law and Policy, and the Registrar’s Office.
Transnational Business Practice (LL.M.)
The one-year program leading to the Master of Laws in Transnational Business Practice can be undertaken on any one of three tracks. In each track, the student must earn twenty-four (24) units. There is a collaborative degree program with the University of Salzburg Faculty of Law involving a semester of instruction in Salzburg in the English language and a semester on our Sacramento Campus. A one-year program of study is available in Sacramento which offers at least thirty electives in international and comparative law plus a full offering of basic courses and electives in American law topics. The third program involves a semester either in Salzburg or in Sacramento and a ten to twelve week internship worth six (6) units with a firm in a country foreign to the candidate preceded by six weeks of pre-internship instruction at the Pacific McGeorge campus in Sacramento worth six (6) units. Internship hosts are carefully selected and are available in over thirty of the principal trading nations of the world.
Each program may be commenced in the Fall or Spring semester.
Public Law and Policy (LL.M)
The graduate program in Public Law and Policy is a one- or two-year, post-J.D. program leading to the award of a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Public Law and Policy. The program is designed for recent law school graduates who wish to pursue a career in the public sector or in a private sector law firm which represents public agencies; and for more experienced lawyers who wish to explore public sector legal problems in greater depth in an academic atmosphere.
One of the special features of the LL.M. program is the availability of a special full-time internship program in collaboration with several state agencies. Students who are awarded one of the competitive Graduate Legal Scholar positions receive a full-time internship tuition waiver and a $17,500 stipend to support them during the internship year. Scholars earn nine units of credit for the internship and complete their other course requirements by taking evening classes at the Law School.
International Water Resources Law (LL.M. or J.S.D.)
The graduate programs in International Water Resources Law are designed for academics as well as attorneys who practice, or intend to practice, with governmental agencies, international organizations, international financial institutions, major corporations and international law firms.
The Master of Laws (LL.M.) program requires successful completion of fifteen (15) units of coursework as well as preparation and defense of a master’s thesis. The doctoral degree (J.S.D.) requires successful completion of eight (8) units of coursework as well as preparation and defense of a doctoral dissertation.
LL.M. in Experiential Law Teaching (LL.M.)
For the graduate program leading to a Master of Laws in Both American and non-American law graduates may enroll in this one-year, two-semester program, regardless of whether they are recent graduates or have been in law practice for a number of years. The goals of the program are to help these lawyers develop and refine their own advocacy skills as well as to train them to be able to teach advocacy skills to others when they return home.
The LL.M. in Advocacy Practice and Teaching curriculum includes a wide range of required and elective courses covering all aspects of advocacy and litigation.
All students must take a special Seminar of the Teaching of Advocacy and to complete a Master's Thesis. Lawyers who obtained their first degree in Law outside the United States may also qualify to sit for the New York Bar exam after completing the LL.M. in Advocacy Practice and Teaching.
