Program Requirements

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Students must complete 24 credits with a minimum grade point average of 2.30/4.00 in order to receive the Masters of Law in International Law degree with specialization in U.S. and Transnational Law for Foreign Lawyers. Many students pursue different paths in reaching this goal.

Required Courses

• Introduction to U.S. Law, which is a three-credit course and only offered in the fall semester.
• Legal Communication and Research, which is a two-credit course that meets once a week and continues through the spring semester. Two sections of Legal Communication & Research Skills are offered to allow for the most personal attention to students.

Additional Courses

Most students will take an additional two courses in the fall semester and four courses in the spring semester. Students must have 24 credits to graduate, so the exact number of courses taken depends on how many credits are associated with each course. Students studying on less than a full time basis should begin with the two required courses in the fall semester.

U.S. Law Courses

Some students are particularly interested in taking courses that will introduce them to the American Legal System. One approach would be some of the first year required courses for J.D. students. First year students at UM are required to take: Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Property Law, Constitutional Law I, and Criminal Procedure.

Some of these topics will be covered in the required Introduction to U.S. Law Course, but certainly not in the depth of the first year course. These courses tend to be quite comprehensive and extremely difficult. In the fall, students may choose among two sections of Contracts, four sections of Property, and six sections of Torts.

The large majority of our foreign students will take Business Associations, which is offered in three sections for the fall semester. This course will provide an overview of the American Corporation; many students view this course as fundamental to their studies and long-term professional interests.

New York Bar Subjects

Foreign law graduates wishing to pursue the NY Bar exam upon completion of the LL.M. program, should consult the New York State Board of Law Examiners website.

For LL.M. students pursuing the New York Bar, required coursework at Miami Law would include:

• Professional Responsibility;
• Legal Communication and Research;
• Introduction to US Law and
• A minimum of six credits hours in other course subjects tested on the New York State Bar Examination. Courses include: Business Associations, Civil Procedure I, Civil Procedure II, Conflict of Laws, U.S. Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, Contracts, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Procedure Adjudication, Substantive Criminal Law, Evidence, Family Law, Property, Real Estate Transactions Workshop, Torts, Trusts & Estates, Commercial Law I

Click here to see a letter from the State of New York Court of Appeals on approved courses at Miami Law.

Transfer to the JD program

Students that are contemplating transferring to the JD program should consider taking one basic US Law course that demonstrates their ability to handle JD-level work for the fall semester. It will also be advantageous to study with at least one member of the tenure track faculty. By the spring semester students can discuss other academic requirements with their advisor that will need to be satisfied.

International and Comparative Law Courses

Many students are most interested in our varied international and comparative law courses. Popular choices from past years, as well as some new course offerings, would include those listed below.

Comparative Law

International Business and Trade

International Law

Dispute Resolution

Immigration

Ocean and Coastal Law

Other Interesting Subjects

This listing includes some very innovative courses offered by UM that defy traditional categories:

Miami Law does offer several courses in Spanish. These courses are intended for J.D. law students who are trying to improve their knowledge of technical Spanish. We discourage native Spanish speakers from taking these courses.