I believe there is more information than ever available to LL.M. prospects. Which is a good thing. But that requires sifting through information, determining what information to trust, and a couple other things.

Three topics that I think are important and wish I didn’t have to explain to people after they started programs.

LL.B.-LL.M. Combined Programs & Wanting to Qualify for Bar Exams

LL.B.-LL.M. and bar eligibility. If you’re in a dual-degree program, you need to be very careful if you have bar exam goals. I love these types of programs, but tend to view them more as exchanges with an LL.M. at the end instead of “just” a study abroad. They can be great, but you have to speak with people if you want to qualify for a bar exam through U.S. legal education. Speak with people at your LL.B. school and ask questions when considering these programs.

I covered this with the wonderful Liz Woyczynski for a piece last year, The LL.B. & J.D. exchange: Experiencing another legal education system:

While I believe one-semester LL.B. exchange programs are positive on every front, students who want to continue to the LL.M. should consider how this impacts the state’s bar exam.

“Exchange students are offered the opportunity to return to CWRU Law for a semester to complete an LL.M. degree,” Woyczynski said. “But they need to know that the New York Bar will not accept their classes completed as an exchange student toward qualifying for the bar exam; 24 credits are needed as an LL.M. student.”

And remember that goals change. So it’s not just about do you want to sit for a bar exam when you apply and are selected. But when you’re in your program and you start to see the different paths, options, and opportunities available to you. I don’t think taking a bar exam “because all the other LL.M.s are” is the right approach, but you may decide that a bar exam qualification is important for you.

Paths to BigLaw

How do I get BigLaw is a tough one for me to field. Especially from LL.M.s straight from LL.B. programs and/or with weaker pre-LL.M. credentials who look at their law school’s J.D. employment outcomes.

The hard truth? BigLaw hiring is done in ways that don’t align well with an LL.M. degree. Speak with J.D. students. 2L Summer to return offer after 3L is the most straightforward path. “3L OCI,” which includes any 3L hiring, is notoriously difficult for market-paying large law firms, even for J.D.s with good credentials.

And this gets into some of the A.J.D. tensions with goals like this. Can you secure the type of position for that initial summer, without any U.S. J.D. grades, that will lead to post-J.D. employment. Otherwise, you’re doing “3L OCI” but with only one year of grades and one summer of legal experience/training.

Those fancy law firm positions some of the “top” LL.M. students secure? Often one-year Visiting Foreign Associate positions, based on some combination of elite credentials and experience before the LL.M. degree, connections through their prior experiences, and/or networking and strategic framing. Do some research! Those positions are awesome, but are generally thought of as one-year opportunities. I’ve already seen 2024-25 selections start their next phases outside the United States.

Is entry-level, long-term, market-paying BigLaw “impossible” through an LL.M. degree? I’m not going to say there is a 0% chance. Just that from everything I’ve seen it is very unrealistic. And that’s especially true without elite credentials or something else at play.

The Differences Between LL.M. and J.D. Programs

Building off the above. The ABA website shares all this information very publicly and very openly. LL.M. degrees are not J.D. degree “conversions” for foreign-educated lawyers. There are plenty of foreign-educated lawyers who understand this distinction and enroll in J.D. degrees.

LL.M. programs are great if your goals align with an LL.M. program. LL.M. programs are a risky “bet” if your goals align with a J.D. program. And the usual reminder: An F-1 J.D. is still on an F-1 visa. So the J.D. is not the magic gateway to staying in the U.S., and the majority of J.D. students at the majority of U.S. law schools do not secure market-paying large law firm jobs.

Here’s what the ABA says about these programs, especially for foreign-educated lawyers/law school graduates/law students:

• ABA accreditation does not extend to any program supporting any other degree granted by the law school.
• Rather the content and requirements of those degrees, such as an LL.M., are created by the law school itself and do not reflect any judgment by the ABA accrediting bodies regarding the quality of the program.
• Moreover, admission requirements for such programs, particularly with regard to foreign students, vary from school to school, and are not evaluated through the ABA accreditation process.
• The ABA reviews these degree programs only to determine whether their offering would have an adverse impact on the law school’s ability to maintain its accreditation for the JD program.
• If no adverse impact is indicated, the ABA “acquiesces” in the law school’s decision to offer the non-JD program and degree.
• The Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has adopted a statement that no post-J.D. or other degree program is a substitute for the J.D. and should not be considered the equivalent of the J.D. for bar admission purposes. (Council Statement 1 of the Standards and Rules for Approval of Law Schools).

Does this mean LL.M. programs are “bad?” Not at all!

For less experienced F-1s, it’s best to think of them as one or two year experiences in the U.S., alongside a credential, an education, a network, and an experience. And possibly a path to certain bar exam eligibility. And possibly a head start for future plans in the U.S., through a change of status, a change in life circumstances, or a change in degrees (e.g., LL.M. to J.D. transfer).

For more experienced F-1s, possibly a combination of all that and more realistic options for an elite-post LL.M. opportunity for somewhere between 1 year and long-term.

And for those with more control over their ability to remain in the U.S. (U.S. citizen, LPR, ability to change statuses)? A deeper thought on which degree is best for you as you think about your own long-term plans that likely revolve around being in the United States.