University of Minnesota Law School (UofM Law School)

The University

Founded in 1851, the University of Minnesota (UofM) is one of the most comprehensive public universities in the United States and ranks among the most prestigious. It is a both a public teaching university, with a strong tradition of education and public service, and a primary research institution, with faculty of national and international reputation. Twenty Nobel Prizes have a known University of Minnesota connection, five of which have been awarded to alumni, and the most recent being awarded to a faculty member in 2007. The nearly 375,000 living alumni of the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota are spread out all over the United States and world, as demonstrated by the over 70 geographical chapter areas maintained by the Alumni Association. UofM students have been awarded five Rhodes scholarships, and since 1988, 94 UofM faculty have received Fulbright Scholarships to research overseas. Today, with over 66,000 students and 4,000 faculty taking part in over 370 degree programs, these lists grow longer each year.

The Law School

As a top public law school in the United States, the Law School has an excellent reputation, both nationally and internationally. Our faculty have studied and taught globally and our alumni have gone on to successful careers in locations all over the world.

Among U.S. law schools, the quality of our faculty is ranked eleventh, and their productivity is ranked ninth. The faculty specializes in diverse legal areas such as international and comparative law, business, securities regulation, property, international trade, tax, labor and employment, intellectual property, jurisprudence, civil and criminal procedure, and human rights. Our student to faculty ratio is 12 to 1, ensuring that students have the maximum opportunity to interact with their professors both inside and outside the classroom. Our law library is the eighth largest law library in the United States. It contains over 1,000,000 volumes and volume equivalents. It is open to students 24 hours a day for study or research.

Our alumni are proof of the quality of education that occurs at the Law School. The Law School has almost 12,000 alumni spread throughout the nation and world, working in all 50 U.S. states and over 68 countries. Our alumni have been U.S. vice presidents, executives at fortune 500 companies, judges, and faculty at institutions all over the world.

The Program

Since 1995, our LL.M. program has exposed foreign lawyers and legal academics to the U.S. legal system and, at the same time, allowed those individuals to pursue their own areas of interest. The LL.M. program has over 350 alumni in 62 different countries. These alumni have gone on to work for law firms, corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), governments, and international organizations both within the U.S. and all over the world.

Our program begins each August and continues through mid-May. In the first three weeks of the program, LL.M. students complete the mandatory Introduction to American Law course, which prepares students for the demands of the academic year. Topics introduced in the introductory course include U.S. history, legal history, civil procedure, constitutional law, legal English, and legal research and writing. In the Introduction to American Law class, students learn how to brief cases, analyze judicial opinions, interact in the classroom, and in general get prepared for the full-time study of law at the UofM.

After completion of the Introduction to American Law course, LL.M. students enroll in the same rigorous and demanding law courses offered to J.D. students. LL.M. students select their own courses. Students may choose to focus on international and comparative law, the U.S. legal system, business and corporate law, intellectual property, human rights or other area of their specific interest.

Although the LL.M. provided by the University of Minnesota Law School is a general LL.M. (LL.M. students may focus in any area of law desired), the Law School is also pleased to provide LL.M. students with the opportunity to participate in four, formalized "concentrations": Business Law, Human Rights, Health Law and Bioethics, and Labor and Employment Law. Students choosing to concentrate will be required to complete a specific number of credits of coursework within their specialized area, and upon successful completion, will receive a notation on their transcript and a certificate. Participation in the concentrations is entirely optional.

Programs developed especially for LL.M. students include the mentoring program, which matches each LL.M. student with second- or third-year law student mentor. LL.M. students are also given the option of taking a Legal Research and Writing course specifically created to help foreign lawyers polish their English legal writing skills. Additionally, second semester LL.M.s are eligible to take part in the Foreign Lawyer Judicial Observer Program – a class which matches LL.M. students with judges working in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The LL.M. student observes the judge work in chambers and in the courtroom throughout the semester.

The Faculty

Our faculty ranks internationally among the most productive and influential in legal education. The international experience and expertise of our faculty is varied and diverse. Some of our faculty with international expertise include:
- Richard Frase (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/fraser.html), recognized for his scholarship in comparative criminal law;
- Oren Gross (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/grosso.html), a former faculty member at Tel Aviv University and expert in international trade and security law;
- Fred Morrison (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/morrisonf.html), an expert in public international law who is a director of the American Society for the Comparative Study of Law;
- Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/niaolainf.html), the first woman to be nominated by the Irish government to the European Human Rights Commission;
- Ruth Okediji (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/okedijir.html), a leading U.S. expert on international intellectual property law;
- Francesco Parisi (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/parisif.html), also a professor at the University of Bologna, Italy who specializes in law and economics;
- Gregory Schaffer (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/shafferg.html), a leading scholar on international trade law and globalization;
- David Weissbrodt (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/weissbrodtd.html), a former U.S. expert to the U.N. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights; and
- David Wippman (www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/wippmand.html), Dean of the Law School and recognized authority in international law, who also teaches in international criminal law, international human rights, and ethnic conflict.

Entry Requirements

Applicants must have a law degree from a law school outside of the United States. Additionally, preference is given to individuals with two or more years of experience in the field of law. Applicants whose native language is not English must also demonstrate proficiency in English, most commonly through achieving a score of 550/213/79-80 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Strong preference is given to candidates with TEOFL scores of 600/250/100. IELTS scores are also accepted, with 6.5 and above being the preferred score.

Application Procedure

Applications are available at: www.law.umn.edu/prospective/llm/apply.html. Candidates for admission may submit their applications online or by mail. A completed application includes: an application form and application fee; official academic transcript from all college and universities attended; two letters of recommendation; a personal statement; proof of English proficiency; and a résumé or CV. Applications for the class starting in August of 2010 will be available starting November 1, 2009, and will be due on or before April 1, 2010. Review of completed applications begins in January and admissions are made on a rolling basis. Qualified applicants may be interviewed by phone (or in person, if practical).

Tuition and Fees

For the 2008-2009 academic year, the total for tuition, fees and health coverage is estimated at $37,550 and expenses for living in Minnesota are estimated at $11,908. Applicants must demonstrate adequate financial support for their educational and personal expenses prior to being admitted to the program. The University of Minnesota Law School has a limited amount of financial assistance available. Students wishing to apply for financial aid should send in a separate statement explaining why they are requesting financial assistance along with their application.

Location

The University of Minnesota Law School is located in the state of Minnesota and the heart of the Minneapolis/St. Paul (the “Twin Cities”) metropolitan area. The Twin Cities contain a thriving legal community, housing many U.S. federal and state courts, numerous law firms with international practices, and several fortune 500 companies. The metropolitan area is also the home of many cultural amenities, such as art and science museums, parks and gardens, a surprisingly large theatrical community, and an array of professional sports teams. Minnesota also boasts many recreational activities. Known as the “land of ten thousand lakes,” Minnesotans bike, hike, canoe and fish in the summer months, and ski, ice fish, snowmobile and play ice hockey in the winter months.

While Minnesota does get cold in the winter, LL.M. students find the winters to be very tolerable. All the Law School classes are located within one building, many other campus buildings are connected through skyways and tunnels, and buses run frequently throughout the campus to alleviate the need to walk long distances outside in the coldest months. Additionally, warm winter clothing can be found inexpensively throughout Minnesota. Finally, spring and fall are mild seasons in Minnesota and can be particularly beautiful.

As a top tier law school in the heartland of the United States with connections all over the world, the University of Minnesota Law School provides a supportive, challenging and rewarding atmosphere for graduate study which is exactly what many foreign lawyers are seeking.