11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106-7148, USA
Phone: 216.368.2083 | Website: law.case.edu/llm
Introduction
Case Western Reserve University School of Law, established in 1892, is one of seven professional schools of Case Western Reserve University, one of the world’s foremost independent research institutions. The law school is located just 15 minutes from downtown Cleveland, in University Circle, a 500-acre cultural park of more than 40 arts, educational, medical, and social service institutions. The area includes Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra, and the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic.
Cleveland is a wonderful place to study law—a major international legal center, centrally located. The city is welcoming and affordable.
LLM Programs/Areas of Specialization
The Master of Laws (LLM) gives graduates of foreign law schools an opportunity to study the
United States legal system and international law and trade, and to become truly capable lawyers in the twenty-first
century's global economy. We prepare foreign students for careers in their own countries, where they will
work with United States law and lawyers.
Our LLM program is one of the first in the United States designed specifically for foreign graduate students. Our LLM students have come from more than 60 countries. LLM students have full access to our 170 Juris Doctor (JD) courses, as well as courses specifically designed for the needs of LLM students.
LLM students benefit from individual attention and guidance in a family atmosphere. Our LLM students receive comprehensive instruction in US legal research, writing, and analysis, and a weekly workshop to monitor individual progress.
We offer three degree programs and a summer language and law institute.
United States and Global Legal Studies
The program's focus is on United States legal research methods and tools, international business transactions, and human rights issues. Graduates are law professors, judges, prosecutors, legislators, partners in international law firms, corporate legal counsel, and lawyers employed in government ministries all over the world. Students are required to take Foreign Graduate Seminar and US Contract Law and can fulfill the rest of their requirements by selecting from the full 170 JD courses to tailor their studies. Students may also choose to pursue one of five optional certificates of concentration: Criminal Law, Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Business Law, and Public International Law.
Intellectual Property
This program's focus is on the doctrine and policy of United States intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Intellectual property has become a focus in the global marketplace and informational economy, presenting some of the most important and complex issues facing legal systems, as well as the business, entertainment, and technology communities. Students are required to take Foreign Graduate Seminar and US Contract Law and three of these four courses: Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, and Cyberlaw. Students also are required to write a thesis. They fulfill the rest of their requirement by choosing from JD courses in the intellectual property curriculum.
International Business Law
The International Business Law program's focus is on academic analysis and practical applications of United States business law as applied to international transactions. It is designed especially for non-US lawyers who either interact with American lawyers or represent clients whose legal affairs are affected by US business law. The program will prepare foreign lawyers for positions in international law firms, in-house legal departments of multinational enterprises, government posts, and other for-profit and non-profit organizations doing business internationally. Students are required to take Foreign Graduate Seminar, US Contract Law and Business Associations. Students are also required to write a thesis. They fulfill the rest of their requirements by choosing from JD courses in the business curriculum.
The Summer Language and Law Institute
The Summer Language and Law Institute is open to any foreign legal professional or foreign law students, as well as incoming LLM, JD, and exchange students. It is an intensive four-week training experience designed to
- introduce students to the practice and study of law in the US,
- provide students with a practical introduction to US legal research and analysis, and
- improve students' English language skills through an integrated English for Legal Purposes program.
The training experience emphasizes the reading, analysis, research, writing, and comprehension skills necessary to participate in legal discourse. In some cases, completion of the Language and Law Institute will be a requirement for admission to the LLM program.
Additional Information
For more information, please visit the Foreign Graduates LLM Program website, or contact:
Ms. Liz Woyczynski, Assistant Director
Office of Foreign Graduate Legal Studies
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
USA
Phone: 216.368.2083
Skype: liz.woyczynski
E-mail: liz.woyczynski@case.edu
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