申请美国法学硕士学位须知

Getting an LL.M. Degree: What to Know

      This legal education, typically one year, is popular among foreign lawyers who want to practice in the U.S.

      这种通常为期一年的法律硕士学位课程对于想在美国执业的外国律师中很受欢迎。

✅  An LL.M. is geared towards those whom either have a J.D. degree and want to gain additional training in areas such as tax law or health-care law, or those who earned a degree outside of the U.S. and are looking to break into the U.S. legal market. 法学硕士是针对那些拥有法学博士学位的人并希望获得税法或医疗保健法等领域的额外培训，或者在美国以外获得学位并希望打入美国法律市场执业的人士。

While it may be widely known that law schools train people to become a lawyer by putting them through three years of rigorous study leading to a J.D. degree, people interested in a legal career may be unaware of another law degree offered by most U.S. law schools: the LL.M., or Master of Laws degree. 尽管众所周知，法学院通过三年的严格学习来培养人们成为律师，最终获得法学博士学位。 学位，对法律的职业感兴趣的人可能不知道大多数美国法学院提供的另一个法律学位：法学硕士。

The LL.M. typically takes one year to earn and allows students to tailor a specialized legal education. It's meant for two types of students, experts say. One is those with a J.D, degree who want additional training in a chosen area such as tax law or health-care law. This gives them a boost in their career in a particular direction, or may allow them to change fields of law after some practice. 法学硕士一般需要一年时间来完成，并允许学生量身定制专门的法律细分领域学习。专家说，这是为两类学生准备的。一种是那些拥有法学博士学位的人，他们希望在税法或医疗保健法等选定的领域接受额外的培训。这给他们的职业生涯在一个特定的方向上带来了推动力，或者可能允许他们在一些实践之后改变法律执业领域。

For the other type of student, one who obtained a law degree outside the U.S., earning an LL.M is a common way to break into the U.S. legal market – sometimes tripling and quadrupling the salary the recipient would earn back in their home country – or to expand their knowledge in American and international jurisprudence. 对于另一种在美国以外获得法律学位类型的学生，获得法学硕士学位是进入美国法律执业市场的一种常见方式--有时是在本国所挣工资的三倍或四倍--或者是扩大他们在美国和国际法学方面的知识。

      Who Should Apply for an LL.M.?

Since it is designed for those pursuing additional legal training, applying for an LL.M. degree typically requires a J.D. or another primary law degree, which outside the U.S. could be an undergraduate degree in law such as the LL.B., or Bachelor of Laws. This degree is common in many foreign countries such as the Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom. The J.D. degree in the U.S. once was an LL.B. program. 因为法学硕士学位是针对想获得更多法律培训的申请人，申请法学硕士学位通常需要美国法学博士学位或另一个在美国以外的初级法律学位，可以是法学本科学士学位。这个学位在很多外国都很普遍，例如澳洲、德国、日本、西班牙和英国。在美国，法学博士学位曾经也是法学学士学位。

U.S. law school applicants with these types of degrees need not submit LSAT scores, but the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, is usually mandatory for non-native English speakers. 拥有这类学位的美国法学院申请者不需要提交LSAT成绩，但托福成绩是非英语母语者的必修提供的。

“For foreign-trained lawyers, the LLM degree gives training in the U.S. legal system, which is critical for today’s globalized practice (of) law,” Madhavi Sunder, associate dean for international and graduate programs at the Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in an email. “Today’s complex problems, from global health and pandemics to national security and privacy to climate change, demand lawyers with interdisciplinary understanding and specialized training.” 乔治城大学法律中心负责国际和研究生项目的副主任桑德马达维在一封电子邮件中写道：“对于在国外接受培训的律师来说，法学硕士学位提供了美国法律体系的培训，这对当今全球化的法律实践至关重要。” “当今的复杂问题，从全球卫生和流行病到国家安全和隐私，再到气候变化，都要求律师具备跨学科的理解力和专业培训。” Georgetown's law school has one of the nation's largest LL.M. programs with an annual enrollment of about 550 students and 13 specializations including tax, global health, national security and technology. Two-thirds of its students come from outside the U.S. 乔治敦大学法学院拥有全国最大的法学硕士项目，每年招收约550名学生，包括税务、全球卫生、国家安全和技术等13个专业课程。三分之二的学生来自美国以外。

Nearly 80% of LL.M. students at U.S. law schools are international students, according to the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, part of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. 根据印第安纳州大学中学后研究中心的法学院学生参与度调查，美国法学院近80%的法学硕士学生是国际学生。

      Reasons to Earn an LL.M. Degree

      获得法学硕士学位的理由

For U.S.-trained lawyers or those who just completed a J.D. who seek an LL.M., area of specialization is key, says Jacqueline Bokser LeFebvre, managing director for the New York Associate Practice Group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, a legal executive search firm. 对于美国专业训练的律师或者刚拿到法学博士学位的人来说。，法学硕士学位的课程专业领域是关键，法律猎头公司Major，Lindsey & Africa纽约联合实践小组董事总经理杰奎琳·博克瑟·勒菲弗尔表示。

“The LL.M. that I see the most value and demand for, especially in the New York market, is tax LL.M.,” says LeFebvre. “Often my clients who are looking for tax specialists, either ERISA or executive compensation specialists, or trust in estate specialists – lawyers who practice in these niche areas – a tax LL.M. gives them considerable advantage in the legal market.” “法学硕士我认为最有价值和需求的，尤其是在纽约市场，是税务法学硕士，”列费夫尔说。“通常我的客户正在寻找税务专家，无论是ERISA或高管薪酬专家，或房地产信托专家-都是税务法学硕士律师在这些细分领域。他们在法律市场上占有相当大的优势。”

Caryn Voland, Georgetown Law’s assistant dean for admissions, notes the LL.M. has a similar value for internationals looking to work in tax either in the U.S. or abroad where they will encounter issues of U.S. tax law as part of international transactions. 乔治城法学院负责招生的副院长卡琳·沃兰指出，对于希望在美国或国外从事税务工作的国际人士来说，他们将在国际交易中遇到美国税法的问题，具有类似的教育背景会相当有价值

Most international students who pursue the tax LL.M. at Georgetown "already have experience outside the U.S., which adds to those students’ marketability,” Voland wrote in an email. 大多数在乔治敦大学攻读税务法学硕士学位的国际学生“已经有了美国以外的经验， 这增加了这些学生的市场竞争力，”沃兰在一封电子邮件中写道。

International students often view an LL.M. program as a way to Americanize their legal career, possibly landing them a job at a big law firm and a pay bonanza. To that end, getting into one of the top law schools, sometimes referred to as T 14, will be critical; even better is a top-five law school, experts say. 国际学生通常将法学硕士学位这个项目当作是他们法律职业美国化的一个跳板，可能会让他们在一家大律师事务所找到一份工作，并获得丰厚的收入。为此，进入顶级法学院之一，有时被称为T 14，将是至关重要的;专家建议排名前五的法学院更好。

Yet even that is no guarantee of a lucrative legal job in the U.S., officials at some of the nation’s most reputable law schools warn. 美国一些最著名的法学院职员坦诚说道即便如此也不能保证在美国一定能找到一份收入丰厚的法律的工作。

“Some international students do pursue an LL.M. with the goal of working at a big U.S. law firm," Voland says. "While this is a possible outcome and some of our students do follow this path, we like to be clear that the U.S. job market is very competitive, and that the LL.M. is not designed as a pathway into a U.S. law firm.” “一些国际学生确实在攻读法学硕士学位，目标是在美国一家大型律师事务所工作，”沃兰说。“虽然这是一个可能的结果，而且我们的一些学生确实走上了这条道路，但我们希望明确的是，美国就业市场竞争非常激烈，法学硕士学位并不是进入美国律师事务所的必经之路。”

      How to Choose an LL.M. Program

      如何去选择法学硕士项目

International students often focus on the top U.S. law schools with even greater consciousness of name-associated pedigree than their American counterparts, who might be looking for a law school in a particular region, some experts say. 一些专家说，国际学生往往关注美国顶尖法学院，他们对声名远播的学校意识甚至比美国学生更强，而美国学生可能只会在特定地区报读法学院。

“There is a brand name awareness all over,” says Peter Cramer, who heads LL.M. and international admissions consulting at The Spivey Consulting Group, a law school counseling firm. “I think there is a general idea ... go Harvard or bust.” “到处都有品牌意识，”法学院咨询公司Spivey Consulting Group法学硕士的国际招生咨询负责人彼得·克莱默说。“我认为有一个公认的想法是...... 要么进哈佛要么不读。”

International students’ vision for what counts as a good school is often too narrow given the stiff competition to get into the very top institutions, especially considering that most end up pursuing a more general international legal career rather than getting a big law job, Cramer says. 克拉默说，鉴于进入顶级院校的竞争非常激烈，国际学生对好学校的看法往往过于狭隘，尤其是考虑到大多数人最终追求的是更广泛的国际法律的职业，而不是一份好的法律工作。

“Sometimes you have to go outside that idea of T10, T14,” he says. “LL.M. applicants can get a prime education without being tied to the 'brand name' issue.” “有时候你必须跳出T10、T14的概念，”他说。“法学硕士申请人可接受优质教育，而无须受“品牌”问题所束缚。

There are some specialty areas in which legal programs are ranked, such as arbitration, in which U.S. law schools lead the world. 法律学位排名中有一些专业领域，比如仲裁，美国法学院在这方面领先世界。

“Why don’t you want to get into a program that has an LL.M. program that tags on to a nationally well-known program such as Pepperdine?” Cramer asks. The Rick. J. Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine University has one of the top-ranked law programs in arbitration, also called dispute resolution. “你为什么不想进入与全国知名项目（如佩珀代因大学）挂钩的法学硕士学位呢？ ” 克莱默说道。佩珀代因大学Rick. J. Caruso法学院拥有仲裁（也称为争议解决）方面排名最高的法律硕士项目之一。

Another area Cramer suggests considering is intellectual property law, for which many top-ranking programs are attached to law schools that fall outside of the top 14. 克莱默建议考虑的另一个领域是知识产权法，在这方面，许多排名靠前的法律硕士项目都是排名前14位之外的法学院。

Regardless of a law program's ranking, international law students can enhance their chances of obtaining a high-paying U.S. job by networking through the firm where they worked in their home country, experts say. Networking is incredibly important and can start even before applying to an LL.M. program, says Cramer, a former assistant dean of the law school at Washington University in St. Louis. 专家们说，不管法律专业的排名如何，国际法专业的学生都可以通过他们在本国工作的公司建立关系网，从而增加在美国获得高薪工作的机会。圣路易斯华盛顿大学法学院前副院长克莱默说：人际关系网非常重要，甚至可以在申请法学硕士之前就开始物色。

Being fluent in high-demand foreign languages such as Spanish and Portuguese and having legal expertise in foreign jurisdictions can also be boons to the LL.M. degree candidate. 精通西班牙语和葡萄牙语等市场需求较高的外语，并拥有外国司法管辖区的法律的专业知识，对于法律硕士学位候选人也可能是福音。

“In some of these big U.S. law firms, they need individuals that have cross-border and comparative expertise,”says Cecilia Caldeira, assistant dean of international programs at the Fordham University School of Law in New York. “Employment is never guaranteed, but it is important to properly position yourself within your competitive set. Perhaps students will find themselves in excellent positions which may not be the traditional 'Big Law.'” 纽约福德姆大学法学院国际项目助理院长塞西莉亚·卡尔代拉表示：“在一些大型美国律师事务所，他们需要具备跨境和比较专业知识的个人。”“虽然就业从来没有保证，但重要的是要适当地定位自己在你的竞争环境。也许学生们会发现自己处于一个很好的位置，这可能不是传统的“大法律”。”