US Law Programs Interest International Students

Each year, thousands of legal professionals from around the world come to the United States for advanced legal training. They often choose to attend a Master of Laws program or LL.M.

The LL.M. program is different from the Juris Doctor or J.D. program. A J.D. degree is required for those who want to practice law in the U.S.

In the LL.M. program, legal professionals learn about the U.S. government, the U.S. legal system, and international legal issues. They can specialize in several areas including intellectual property, international business, immigration, human rights, and security.

LL.M. influence around the world

A 2020 study from The Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University shows that international students make up 79 percent of LL.M. students at American law schools.

One such student is Aimé Mbarushimana.

After practicing law for 15 years in Rwanda, Aimé came to American University's Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. to get advanced training in arbitration², mediation³, and alternative dispute resolution. These are ways of settling disagreements without legal action.

He said the training he received at American University helps support the traditional Ubuntu belief system in Rwanda. Ubuntu highly values building agreements and communities. He told VOA Learning English that using more mediation can help lower the number of court cases in Rwanda and give judges more time to work on them.

Mimoza Shala is a prosecutor⁴ in the Eastern European nation of Kosovo. She studies in the LL.M. program at Wake Forest University's School of Law in North Carolina. The school has partnered with the U.S. Departments of Justice and State for the last ten years to train legal professionals from Kosovo.

Shala's job in Kosovo includes working on cases of domestic violence. Wake Forest University (WFU) connected her with an American prosecutor who also works on domestic violence cases. And she learned how the two legal systems deal with the issues.

Nishchay Dagar of India worked for two years in trial law in his country before coming to WFU. Dagar said he now "feels in love with professional ethics⁵" and wants to bring this training to his future work. He also sees the U.S. legal system as more efficient than India's, and he hopes to bring this organization to his work.

Expensive but worth it

The cost of attending LL.M. programs in the U.S. is usually higher than in other countries. However, students who spoke⁶ with VOA said the extra cost is worth it, for many reasons.

Law professors in the U.S. usually give students more individual help than those in their home countries. Besides office hours to study and receive advice, sometimes, professors would invite groups of students to their homes for social gatherings⁷. They also help students connect with working professionals and legal experts.

Gabriel Ortiz of Venezuela recently completed his degree, specializing in human rights law, at American University. He noted⁸ that many professors are also experts in different legal areas. They include judges for the Inter-American Court and lawyers at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

Ortiz also found that law students from Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, and Myanmar also had similar issues in their home countries. He said, "What I found interesting was to see how we share similar problems... We are able to know that the realities we are facing are not that different."

Laura Orjuela from Colombia agrees. The American University law student said she has deepened her understanding of gender⁹ issues by talking with students from countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. She added that when students compare so many international perspectives about the same issue, it helps increase the number of possible solutions they can use to fix problems.

"Maybe this thing we did in my country, it never worked... what they did in that country... we'll try it to see if that works," she said.

Dagar, from India, said he highly values professional experience outside the classroom. These include pro¹ bono, or volunteer work and special courts for people under age 18. WFU School of Law also has a North Carolina Business Court within the law school building where students can observe real court cases.

Wen Wei and Li Ruoqi of China are students at Georgetown's law school in Washington, D.C. They said that because there are so many law students in China, having an LL.M. degree from one of the top law schools can help students get better jobs in China.

LL.M. students in the U.S. must possess high levels of understanding of legal English. They usually have classes and attend social events with American students. As a result, their English skills can greatly improve during their LL.M. studies.

Sherhernaz Joshi is an Assistant Dean of Graduate and International Programs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She said many students have said, "I thought I was coming for a degree, but the experience changed me forever."

Words in This Story

advanced - adj. characterized by high levels of training or experience needed and/or high levels of complexity¹⁰

intellectual property - n. original creative works such as books, films, works of art, and music, and whose creators have ownership of them

arbitration - n. the hearing and ruling of a dispute or disagreement between parties by a person or persons chosen or agreed to by them

mediation - n. a way of resolving a disagreement by using a third party who helps those involved reach an agreement.

alternative - n. another choice or way to do something

resolution - n. an end or settlement of a disagreement

prosecutor - n. a government official who brings criminal charges against and/or tries to prove that someone is guilty in a trial.

domestic violence - n. violence that occurs within a family

ethics -n. the study of what is right or wrong in a moral sense

reality -n. the true situation

perspective -n. a way of seeing or judging something or some situation

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

3 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

4 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

5 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。