The University of Iowa College of Law

REGISTRAR'S PHONE/FAX/EMAIL:
319-335-9080/000-000-0000/
debra-paul@uiowa.edu

CAREER SERVICE PHONE/FAX/EMAIL:
319-335-9011/319-335-9019/
peggy-timm@uiowa.edu

An Overview

The University Of Iowa College Of Law (Iowa Law) is the oldest law school west of Mississippi and one of the eleven professional graduate schools at the University of Iowa. The law school's current building was completed in 1986. It has nine classrooms including the Levitt Auditorium, the law library, legal clinic, two student lounges, offices for the student-run journals and Moot Court program, faculty offices, administrative offices, bookstore, meeting rooms, cafeteria and an ATM. The law school boasts of a 10,000 living alumni spread around the globe. The law school is a charter member of The Association of American Law Schools and is an American Bar Association approved institution.

Part of the larger University of Iowa campus, Iowa Law reflects Iowa City's unique cultural community. Students, faculty, and staff work together in a friendly, relaxed, and productive environment that puts students' needs first. Iowa Law students participate in diverse organizations and contribute to four scholarly publications.

Degrees Offered

• Master of Laws (LL.M.)

Details of Courses Offered

Each year the College of Law admits a selected batch of students to pursue studies leading to the LL.M. degree. These students are provided practical training and a path to bar admission and opportunities for in-depth research in a world-class setting. The comfortable environment and affordable cost of living helps the law school's LL.M. students to get high value and support.

The Iowa LL.M. degree is one degree program, designed for two different classes of students:

1. Practical Training and Path to Bar Admission: foreign-trained jurists who seek a comparative introduction to and specific training in aspects of United States law and legal institutions; special courses are available for students interested in qualifying to sit for state bar examinations. These include a legal research and writing course tailored for LL.M. students, an extended orientation including an introduction to American Legal Systems, and access to core courses such as Contracts, Property, Torts and Professional Responsibility.


2. In-depth Research Path: foreign-trained jurists or graduates of J.D. programs in the United States who wish to deepen their understanding of law; applicants may propose any legal field of concentration but the faculty will accept students only in fields in which it has sufficient depth and it is especially prepared to accept students in the fields of international and comparative law, including the law of international business transactions and/or human rights; and business and innovation.

Admission is competitive and to be admitted, all applicants must present evidence of high academic potential and strong recommendations, especially from law professors who supervised their work in classes or seminars.

Current UI J.D. candidates seeking the LL.M. degree may do so by successfully completing 108 semester hours of academic credit over four years; 24 of these 108 hours must be concentrated in a specific area of law selected in consultation with your faculty advisor. An area of concentration includes international and comparative law, business and innovation, or tax. At least four of these 24 hours must be taken after admission into the LL.M. degree program. To qualify as part of the 24 credit hours required for the LL.M. degree, the credits must be graded and the student must have obtained a 2.1 or better. These 24 credit hours have to be earned from the law school's general course offerings, with the exception of LL.M.-specific courses noted below:

1. The legal practice track: This track is open to foreign trained lawyers who do not have a US JD. For this track, LL.M. students must take the LL.M. orientation course to the US legal system (two credits in August before the start of the fall semester), a course in professional legal writing specially designed for foreign-trained lawyers (two credits), a course in professional responsibility (three credits), and at least six credits of other basic bar exam courses, such as contracts, torts, or constitutional law. This track is designed to qualify the student to take the bar examination in states like New York (Important Information for Foreign-Educated Applicants to the New York State Bar [pdf]), Wisconsin, and California that allow certain foreign lawyers to sit for the bar exam.


2. The research track: This track is open to both foreign trained with a J.D. and students holding an U.S. J.D. degree. LL.M. students without a JD degree must take the LL.M. orientation course to the US legal system (two credits in August before the start of the fall semester). All LL.M. students in this track take LL.M. Seminar, a research and writing course during which they will write a research paper qualifying for at least one credit on a topic they choose with the approval of their advisor. This track is especially suitable for those seeking an academic career or one involving primarily policy formulation or research.

With the exception of the LL.M. orientation course and the special LL.M. writing courses (professional writing or research seminar), all other courses are taken together with the law school's regular offerings, especially its rich offerings on U.S., international, and comparative law. This method of instruction ensures a very effective comparative experience through broad contact with U.S. law students and professors. Similarly, U.S.-trained students benefit from close contact with foreign-trained lawyers.

Financial Aid

The chief financial support the College provides is to hire LL.M. students as quarter-time research assistants (10 hours per week for a total of 300 hours over the fall and spring semesters). In addition to wages, the position entitles out-of-state student to pay tuition at the in-state rate, which is a substantial savings.

Some partial scholarships are also available to LL.M. students. The Thelma L. Schaffer Scholarship, the Carroll Sample Scholarship and the Donald R. Newbrough International and Comparative Law Scholarship Fund are available to academically outstanding and otherwise deserving LL.M. students.

To apply for research assistantships and scholarships, students simply have to indicate that they need financial support to attend the program on their LL.M. application. Whether or not is applying for financial aid, for visa purposes all international students must fill out the section of the application entitled "Financial Statement for International Students."

International students can consider applying for other funding options as well. The Fulbright Program; the Muskie Program for countries of the former Soviet Union; or the Ron Brown Fellowships for Eastern Europe can help. Certain countries also offer funding possibilities for students desiring to study abroad. Private organisations like Ford, Soros, Rotary International, the Asia Foundation, and the American Association of University Women also provide educational aid. Students whose home universities participate in the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) may get admitted to the program without paying more tuition than their home university charges.

Cost of Attendance

Career Development/Services Offered

Lowa Law graduates are consistently employed in AmLaw 100 firms, small law firms, federal agencies, prestigious judicial clerkships, and prominent non-profit organizations. During a typical year, approximately 100-150 firms, corporations, government agencies, and courts visit the College of Law to hire students. Even more, they consider Iowa students through resume collections and off-campus recruiting programs in major metropolitan cities such as Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Students and alumni alike are recruited through hundreds of job postings and other employment opportunities each year.

Additionally, the school's career development office sponsors a variety of programs each semester on topics ranging from the judicial clerkship interview to emotional intelligence for lawyers. The office is devoted to supporting their students' search for meaningful employment.

Career Counselling
A student can drop in or make an appointment with one of the school's advisors to figure out a path that fits his/her specific needs. Career counselling services are offered to students through their law school career and long after graduation.

References

• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/contact
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/contact/admissions.php
• https://www.law.uiowa.edu/careers/contact
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/about
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/llm#admissions
• http://grad.admissions.uiowa.edu/international/english-requirements-jd-llm-applicants
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/llm#english
• http://grad.admissions.uiowa.edu/academics/master-laws-program-llm
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/llm
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/llm#genlacad
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/llm#finaid
• http://grad.admissions.uiowa.edu/jd-llm-programs-estimated-costs
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/careers
• http://www.law.uiowa.edu/careers/students