Eight Career Benefits of a Master of Laws (LLM)

If you feel that your undergraduate degree leaves much to be desired –  in the event of a drab classification or a relatively unknown university – securing an LLM from a prestigious law school might help you bridge over the gap between your education and the entry requirements of leading law firms.

Of course, if you’ve achieved a disappointing grade classification at undergraduate level, it would probably be wise to dedicate some time to questioning your motivations, where you went wrong and whether a career in law is really the best path for you.

If you’ve already started down one legal pathway and fancy a change, an LLM is a great way to switch specializations. LLMs are available in a huge variety of areas, including many high-demand areas, providing the opportunity to become highly specialized in a short space of time. Fancy moving into a growing field such as intellectual property law, international dispute resolution, tax or securities law? An LLM can help you get there.

What many LLM sceptics often fail to acknowledge is the incredible networking potential of having several universities to fall back on. Studying a legal degree at a second instutition will mean that you are able to reach out to not an additional set of professors, peers and alumni. While the possibility of networking shouldn’t be your sole motivation, you should take it into account when chalking up the pros and cons of doing an LLM. 

To improve your foreign language skills, there’s nothing quite like studying in the language. If you’re applying for jobs at an international law firm, graduating from an English-taught LLM will prove that you are familiar with both everyday and professional legal English.

Some LLM programs are research-focused, and actively support and encourage students to explore new fields and contribute to publishable research. If this is what gets you really excited, then a research-focused LLM could be your gateway into a PhD and a future role in academia.

Having an LLM from a prestigious university could help you boost your earning potential, as well as the likelihood of getting snapped up by a bigger law firm several years down the line. However, do remember that a whole mix of factors will contribute to your job prospects, including your years of professional legal experience, your law’s schools status, the type of LLM you complete, and how in-demand your specialization is.

A version of this article was originally published on 19 November 2008. It was updated in April 2016.