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View from the top: an LLM at Boston College
Regarded as one of the most prestigious and internationally facing liberal arts colleges in the USA, Boston College was founded in 1863 and has developed an enviable track record of educating professionals intent on making a difference in their academic and professional careers. The LLM program is no different and seeks to encourage a small class approach to big picture issues.
“There’s no such thing as a typical LLM student,” says Gail J Hupper, Director of LLM and International Programs at Boston College in the USA. "Our LLM students come from a diverse range of geographic and professional backgrounds". Hupper, formerly Assistant Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School continues: “Our LLM program is informed by two central ideas. First, the presence of international LLM students in the Law School community – both inside and outside of the classroom – enriches our understanding of not only international legal norms but of our own legal system as well. Second, by bringing lawyers from other countries to Boston College for a year, we are not simply giving those lawyers an exposure to the US legal system, we are also helping bring ideas about social justice and public service - ideas that are central to our educational philosophy - to a world stage.”
One of the additional benefits of reading an LLM degree at Boston College – or BC as its students affectionately call the institution – is the intimate atmosphere offered by the program. With an intention of growing to 30 students over the coming years, the relatively small size of the program encourages students to integrate into the broader community of the Law School.
Hupper sees this as one of the defining aspects of the LLM experience at BC: “From the outset, each LLM student is paired with a JD student “buddy” who can introduce the LLM to new friends, show him or her around, and provide informal advice on things like housing, restaurants, movie theaters and the Boston area in general. In addition, we introduce each LLM student to faculty working in the student’s areas of interest early during their time here, in order to promote informal mentoring relationships.”
The LLM program is founded on the highest of academic standards and aims to educate those students who have some legal training and experience in their own countries.
The LLM program is founded on the highest of academic standards and aims to educate those students who have some legal training and experience in their own countries. Hupper provides an insight into the kind of students BC is interested in recruiting to the LLM: “We tend to look for people who have some work experience following their basic law degree, but this is not an absolute requirement. We do insist on high academic performance in students' prior studies, strong English skills, and a sense that the person will make a real contribution to the legal profession after graduation.”
With so many international LLM programs now available to international students, what sets the BC program apart from other US, or indeed European or Asian programs? The quality of academic staff, research areas and rather eclectic nature of the course construction are features of great interest to international students and Hupper adds another key dimension for prospective applicants: “It is our ethos. While the school has always placed a great deal of emphasis on the professional knowledge that every good lawyer must possess, that knowledge is imparted within a framework of ideals that have made the study and practice of law a calling for so many who come here.”
