DEGREES OFFERED

Master of Law Degree (LLM)

This program is a one-year, full-time course of study in advanced legal topics designed for lawyers trained outside of the United States. Students select courses from an extensive curriculum of specialized courses and seminars at Penn Law. You can review the full curriculum at the Registrar’s page.

The following are among the more popular specialty course tracks:

Corporate Law
Criminal Law
Trade Law
Intellectual Property & the Internet
International Law
Securities and Banking
Constitutional Law

The LLM program can be done as a Course Track or as a Thesis Track. For more information on the specific requirements of the program, please consult the Degree Requirements section of the Registrar’s Page.

Penn Law’s LLM program is distinguished from graduate law programs at other schools in several ways:

Cross Disciplinary Study
Graduate students can participate in Penn Law’s exceptional cross-disciplinary program, both at the Law School or throughout the University. Students can earn a Wharton Business and Law Certificate (described below) or take one course at any of the University's highly esteemed graduate and professional schools, including Wharton’s MBA program, the Annenberg School for Communication, and the graduate programs in economics, history, philosophy, political science, bio-ethics, and sociology. Credits from these courses are counted towards graduation requirements for the LLM degree.

Penn Law is well known for the broad array of cross-disciplinary courses here at the Law School. Seventy-five percent of our faculty hold advanced degrees beyond law, of which close to 50 percent are at the PhD level and 40% have secondary appointments or affiliations within the University. Our faculty’s broad interests and expertise are certainly reflected in the courses that they teach in areas as diverse as Securities Regulation, Corporate Finance, Negotiations, Accounting, International Finance, and non business courses such as Mental Health Law or Immigration Law. A more complete listing of recent courses can be seen on our Registrar’s page.
Wharton Business and Law Certificate
This program is offered in alliance with Wharton's Programs for Working Professionals at The Aresty Institute of Executive Education. It is designed for foreign-trained lawyers who need to acquire:
- A strong grounding in business disciplines to better serve their clients, manage their practices, or expand their professional options beyond the practice of law.
- A robust business vocabulary that enhances workplace communication and an understanding of business culture in the United States.
- Enhanced skills for the sophisticated presentation of projects, ideas, or investment propositions to colleagues, clients and other professionals from the worlds of both law and business.
- A better understanding of the core management concepts that will increase their capacity to develop or professionalize a practice, department, firm or business enterprise.
Penn Law LLM students who have at least three years of work experience and meet specific program requirements are eligible to apply. This new program will run concurrently with the LLM program. Those who successfully complete its requirements will earn a certificate awarded by The Wharton School as well their LLM degree from Penn Law. Wharton courses are held in the evenings and Saturdays in state-of-the-art teaching facilities at Jon M. Huntsman Hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia.

WBLC students choose three courses from among several areas of study, including accounting, corporate finance, human resource management, marketing, business policy, and general management. The business courses in the certificate program are taught by Wharton faculty members and industry executives who are appointed by Wharton departments for their subject expertise, teaching skills, and ability to offer applied concepts and examples to course participants. Courses available to WBLC students provide a top-level introduction to the foundations of management in a wide range of business disciplines. For additional information about Wharton courses, visit http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/wpwp

Wharton Certificate candidates are required to undertake course work over and above that required of the LLM program alone and must pay additional tuition beyond that charged for the LLM degree (see below).

Tuition

$8,265 (subject to change)

Application Information

Only Penn Law LLM students may participate in the Wharton Certificate program. The Law School will provide, via separate email sent to all admitted LLM applicants, a link to the online WBLC application. These applications are generally due by March 15.

For further information, please view this flier or visit the WBLC website. You may also contact the Law School’s Office of Graduate and International Programs at +1 215-898-0407 or GradAdmissions@law.upenn.edu.
Penn Law LLM Summer Program
Penn Law offers a distinctive summer orientation program open to LLM candidates at all US law schools. This program – mandatory for those admitted to Penn's LLM class – features credit bearing, graduate level legal course work in US legal systems and research.

Master of Comparative Law (LLCM)

This program is a one-year course of advanced study for students who have received their LLM degree (in general, from Penn Law). LLCM candidates have the option of pursuing a concentration of study in a particular field, such as

American Legal Institutions
Business Organizations and Securities Law
Commercial, Foreign Investment and Trade Law
Comparative and International Law
Criminal Law
U.S. and Transnational Litigation and Dispute Resolution

The LLCM degree requirements can be found in the Registrar’s section.

Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)

The SJD program provides an opportunity for students to conduct extensive research, culminating in a dissertation, under the guidance of a faculty member from Penn Law and, where appropriate, other professional schools and graduate departments of the University of Penn. The program is designed for students with exceptional promise as academics or with specific and important research goals.

For more information on the specific requirements of the program, please consult the Degree Requirements section of the Registrar’s Page.

Penn Law Summer Program

Penn Law offers a distinctive summer orientation program open to all candidates who have already earned a law degree by the date the program begins. (The program is mandatory for all Penn Law LLM candidates, who are registered for it automatically and do not need to submit a separate application).

The Summer Program features credit bearing, graduate level legal course work in US legal systems and research.

For more information on the program, please consult the Summer Program page.