Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law - Yeshiva University (New York City)

The Law School

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University was founded in 1976 and has become famous for its innovative programs, outstanding faculty, diverse attitudes, rigorous scholarship, and spectacular location in the heart of New York City. There are approximately 1,100 law students at Cardozo, including approximately 70 LL.M. candidates. Since 1998 when the graduate program began, more than 350 graduate students from nearly 70 countries have studied here.

Yeshiva University is one of the US’s leading research universities and includes a medical college, school of social work, and graduate program in psychology.

Cardozo has a network of more than 8,500 alumni, who hold respected legal, governmental, and corporate positions, live throughout the United States and abroad, and provide support as mentors and prospective employers.

The Program

Cardozo School of Law offers Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees in General Studies, Comparative Legal Thought, and Intellectual Property Law. The program welcomes graduates of US law schools and those who have completed a degree in law outside of the US. The program enrolls both full-time and part-time students; full-time students complete the program in one year, and part-time students may have up to three years to complete their studies. LL.M. students may begin their studies in mid-January or late August.

Master’s candidates study in the company of other talented and diverse LL.M. and J.D. students, under the guidance of world-renowned professors. Cardozo’s worldwide reputation brings leading academics, judges, and practicing lawyers to lecture, engage in research, participate in symposia, and meet with students, thus contributing to the law school’s global impact.

Cardozo’s LL.M. students benefit from a hands-on, accessible director of international and graduate programs who offers support and guidance throughout their academic career, a dedicated career counselor, and invitations to a wealth of extracurricular and networking programs specific to their academic and career goals.

The Intellectual Property Law LL.M. Program is the capstone of Cardozo’s renowned intellectual property (IP) law program, recognized as one of the five strongest in the United States. Cardozo’s depth of offerings are unsurpassed and include basic and advanced offerings in copyright law, trademark law, and patent law, as well as broad offerings in media and entertainment law, sports law, and broadcast law. The IP faculty is a prestigious and dedicated group of professors known worldwide for their expertise and scholarship. They are supplemented by accomplished First Amendment scholars and adjunct professors working on cutting-edge issues in the IP field.

The General Studies LL.M. Program is distinctive in its flexibility and breadth of offerings. Students design their own curriculum in keeping with their specific goals and interests, pursuing a cohesive and focused program of study developed with the director of graduate and international programs. Optional concentrations are offered in three areas: Corporate, Commercial and Securities Law; Alternative Dispute Resolution; and International and Comparative Law.

The Comparative Legal Thought LL.M. Program is the first of its kind in any US law school. The program capitalizes on Cardozo’s longstanding reputation in legal theory and jurisprudence and its faculty’s interdisciplinary work, which provides a more diverse and broader approach to the law than one might receive in traditionally constituted law environments. The program is designed primarily for students interested in preparing for the teaching market and for lawyers who want to study legal theory and interdisciplinary approaches to the law. With a strong faculty and distinguished visiting international scholars, Cardozo offers many courses in jurisprudence, law and philosophy, critical legal studies, religion, comparative constitutionalism, and law and literature. Students may pursue a concentration in Jewish Law as part of this program.

Cardozo offers two courses designed specifically to help international students prepare for the challenges of graduate law study in the United States. LL.M. students consistently find Introduction to U.S. Law and Advanced Workshop in Legal Research and Writing an invaluable part of their graduate legal education.

The Faculty

The Cardozo faculty has been recognized as among the most prolific and well regarded of all law schools in the United States. Cardozo professors are vibrant, intellectually curious, and committed to the twin goals of teaching and scholarship. They are accessible and dedicated to an educational collaboration with their students. Cardozo boasts an interdisciplinary faculty, serious about how the law relates to other expressions of the human spirit such as philosophy, literature, economics, politics, and history. More than half hold advanced degrees in addition to a law degree, one dozen hold Ph.D.’s, and many of their publications are required reading in law schools across the country and the world. Members of the faculty have testified before Congress, argued before the US Supreme Court, influenced legislation, advised corporations, and worked in large international law firms.

Entry Requirements

US law school graduates must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university or its equivalent and a degree from an ABA-approved law school. International law school graduates must have a degree that entitles them to practice law in a country outside the United States and must have excellent English language skills as demonstrated by their TOEFL results. The admissions process is highly selective and admitted students will have strong law school performances, enthusiastic letters of recommendation, and an informative and well-written personal statement. Applicants with a law-related internship or professional experience are preferred. The Admissions Committee carefully reviews each application individually.

Application Procedure

Prospective students may apply to the LL.M. program in three different ways:

- Online at lsacd_on_the_web/login/. This is the recommended option. NOTE: the last date to apply via LSAC for the fall term of any particular year is July 31. Thereafter, applicants must apply using another option.
- By downloading a PDF of the application and supplemental forms from the Cardozo website at http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/info.aspx?cid=1920&content=true.
- Through a hardcopy of the LL.M. bulletin and application by email request to llm@yu.edu.

LL.M. applications and all supporting documents must be postmarked by June 15 for August entry and December 1 for January entry. Materials received after the application deadlines may be considered if space permits. Applicants are advised to apply early.

Financial Aid

Cardozo’s LL.M. program does not provide need-based scholarships or financial assistance. Cardozo does offer limited merit-based partial scholarships to select admitted LL.M. students. These scholarships include the Dean's Merit Scholarship, the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Scholars Program for students interested in pursuing a career in corporate law, and the Uriel & Caroline Bauer LL.M. Scholarship for an Israeli student.

Scholarships generally do not cover the full amount of tuition and are extremely competitive. All admitted students are automatically considered for the Dean’s Merit and the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Scholars Program, and no separate application is necessary. Application information for the Uriel and Caroline Bauer LL.M. scholarship is available from the Admissions Office.

The majority of LL.M. students fund their education through private loans or federal assistance. Applicants needing financial aid are strongly encouraged to investigate funding sources early in the application process. Additional information about funding is available from the Admissions Office.

Location

Cardozo School of Law is in beautiful and historic Greenwich Village in the heart of New York City -- the cultural, economic, and legal capital of the world. Cardozo students can take advantage of the city’s offerings by attending lectures and symposia by leading figures in the legal, business, and political worlds, and by pursuing a rich variety of internship opportunities at thousands of law firms, businesses, financial institutions, government offices, and courthouses. Cardozo is located in a newly renovated 11-story building on lower Fifth Avenue, just south of Union Square Park, the epicenter of one of the city’s newest entertainment and shopping hubs. Fashionable restaurants, bars, clubs, movie houses, and stores surround the park, which is home to musical events, a famous farmer’s market, and a transportation hub that makes all areas of New York City readily accessible.

Student Life

Each year, approximately 70 new LL.M. candidates join the law school community. Graduate students are encouraged to utilize and enjoy the full range of Cardozo’s resources and programming and to join student organizations. LL.M. students also enjoy special programs that foster collegiality, shared learning, and professional contacts. The Office of Graduate and International Programs, in conjunction with the Graduate Law Society, sponsors guest lectures, social events featuring the food, music, and culture of different nations, and trips to local sights of interest, including federal courts and the United Nations. A mentoring/buddy program that pairs incoming students with returning LL.M. and/or J.D. students eases the transition to Cardozo and life in New York City. Formal and informal connections with LL.M. alumni are encouraged through networking events.

The Cardozo graduate program has already welcomed students from Albania, Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belarus, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, PR China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, U.K., Ukraine, U.S., and Venezuela.