LL.M. Degree Requirements

The philosophy of the LL.M. program is to offer our students a broad platform on which to design their own course of study within parameters set by the Harvard Law School faculty. All students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 22 credit hours and a maximum of 26 credit hours in one academic year; most students complete between 22 and 24 credits. Students also must satisfy some specific course and written work requirements. 

Specific Requirements

International LL.M. students are required to take at least one of the following courses in American Law: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Corporations, Criminal Law, Property, Taxation, and Torts. International students also must write either the 75- to 100-page LL.M. paper, the more extensive LL.M. thesis, or a paper of 25 or more pages that involves independent reflection, formulation of a sustained argument and, in many cases, outside research. Both types of papers may be written either independently or in conjunction with a seminar. Finally, we urge students to take at least one course focusing on legal history, legal theory, policy analysis or legal process.

For students who hold a J.D. from a law school in the United States or Puerto Rico, the emphasis is slightly different. For these students, the LL.M. degree is designed as preparation for a career in law teaching. These students are provided the opportunity to take a step back and relate the doctrinal areas in which they previously concentrated to broader intellectual, social and cultural traditions; and pursue an extended writing project. Thus students from the United States and Puerto Rico must take at least one course in legal theory or jurisprudence and write either the LL.M. paper or the LL.M. thesis.