LLM GUIDE Blogs > George Washington's LLM in International Law > JOBS, the BAR EXAM, and The THESIS
JOBS, the BAR EXAM, and The THESIS
By droit.est.philosophie in George Washington's LLM in International Law on Mar 22, 2007
Jobs:Since Ivan covered the job-hunt methodology in his usual meticulous manner, I will only emphasize his intelligent point that you must start searching immediately upon beginning the program or, even better, before you matriculate. If you are looking for a judicial clerkship or for work in a large firm, they do their hiring almost exclusively in the months of August through November. Many LL.M. candidates, including me, are avidly pursing post-graduate career opportunities at present. Perhaps I will post at the end of the year where I and my classmates have found employment.
The BAR Exam:I have received more questions about the BAR exam from blog-readers than any other subject, so I have included some highly relevant points regarding the most pernicious of all examinations you will ever endure in your life.
One of the best moments of this year was when I received that letter in the mail stating, among other things, that I passed the Bar exam. I was so happy that the three grueling years of law school had reached their summit. I jumped up and down, ran across the room, hugged my lady, and then drank booze until I passed out. It was exhilarating and thrilling.
The path to the BAR is a little different for everyone. As a U.S. law student I was immediately eligible to sit for any Bar exam in the country upon the completion of my studies. It is a little different, however, for LL.M. students with foreign law degrees. If you possess a LL.M. from an accredited U.S. law school (such as George Washington), you are immediately eligible upon the completion of the requisite program of study to sit for the Bar exam in either New York (NY) or California (CA), and only NY or CA. Other states allow LL.M. students with foreign law degrees who have taken a number of other U.S. law courses to sit for their Bar exams, but these requirements vary by the individual state. Most U.S. states, to the best of my knowledge, require a U.S. J.D.
The Bar exam is a two or three day examination. The Bar exam is two days in NY and most states; whereas it is three days in CA. Each day is circa six hours of grueling work and a combination (in most states) of the MBE, a six hour multiple choice section, and six hour of variant combinations of short essay and long essay questions.
Most students take a Bar review course (sometimes called bar preparatory or prep courses) such as BARBRI and PMBR (sometimes both). These bar review courses are very expensive but are almost essential to someone who seriously wants to pass the Bar exam. If you do not take a Bar prep course of some kind, I sincerely believe that you will be at a serious disadvantage (because everyone else takes a bar review course). Without a bar review course, it is not impossible to pass, but almost impossible particularly for foreign law degree holders. But, again, they are very expensive.
Once you pass the BAR exam in one state, you get sworn into office in court and then are immediately eligible to practice law but (aside from minor reciprocity/ petitions for one time admissions) only in the state in which you passed the bar. For example, if you take the NY bar you can only practice in NY and not in DC or elsewhere unless if you are also admitted in DC.
I am taking another bar exam this summer, so I can practice in two states. I do not look forward to it, but, alas, it is life.
The Thesis:Not every LL.M. program in the country has a thesis requirement, but the majority of the U.S. LL.M. programs at George Washington do. The thesis is a 100+ page work of writing, and is the pinnacle of the LL.M. experience. The thesis schedule generally goes something as follows:
In the Fall Semester:
- Find and reserve a Thesis advisor
- Send your advisor a short outline and topic statement of your thesis
- Send your advisor an expanded outline of your thesis
- Submit a substantial section to your
In the Spring Semester:
- Submit a Rough Draft to advisor and wait for comments
- Revise or rewrite your rough draft and submit a second draft to your advisor
- Revise the second draft and submit the final 100+ page work to the University to be bound and placed in the library.
I am presently somewhere between these last two steps, and the final draft is due in about a month and a half. The LL.M. experience truly culminates in the creation of a 100+ page law review article. Needless to say, the Spring Semester is when most of the thesis gets written, revised, etc. I and most of the LL.M. students I know have had to give up many weekends and work many late nights to meet the deadlines and finish the thesis on time. We are still struggling….
Hope this information is helpful and best of luck,
Droit
Comments
Great entry, Droit!
Dear Surrit,
Sorry for the delay in responding, it has been a busy week. I will now pm you some information.
Ivan- you are awesome!
Hey Droit,
I was admitted to the GW IP LLM.. will start next fall..am excited coz i think their IP courses are really good! Do you know any of the IP LLMs? And how their job searches are coming along?
Hi Jo,
Congrats of your admission! You are in for a great year at a wonderful university.
Yes, I do happen to know a few IP LLMs. I know one went to work on Capitol Hill (with the US Senate). Another in Government (the Trademark office or somesuch)...others I'm sure at firms... besides that I haven't heard and certainly don't know all of the students in the program.
I can tell you almost everyone in the international and comparative law LLM program now has a job of some sort. Not bad for three months after graduation. Sadly, not all of us have the jobs of our dreams as of yet but a job is better than no job, or so they say...but the money is quite good nonetheless.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Droit
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hey droit,
i have been following your correspondence since long now and here i am with an offer to LLM in International Comparitive law at GWU and also an offer from UT Austin for LLM. I stay in Houston and am an immigrant . Well its been the last of crucial days deciding whether to9 make it to GWU or Ut. Could you help me just giving a line to think apon. i a,m sure u busy with ur thesis etc.i havent yet heard about a schol from GWU and how does one get a R/A and which subjects in International.......thanks a lot