LL.M. Degree Requirements

Mandatory Program Orientation

All students participate in a mandatory orientation, which begins before the official start of the semester, and includes a series of classes about the American legal system and legal writing and research.  

  • Mandatory Law Week for Fall Semester 2024: August 12-16, 2024 
  • Mandatory Law Orientation for Spring Semester 2025: January 10, 2025 (tentative)
Credit Hours Required                                                                   
  • A minimum total of 24 credit hours over two semesters are required to graduate with an LL.M. in American Legal Studies.
  • To maintain their full-time status, students must register for a minimum of 9 credit hours and a maximum of 17 credit hours per semester. We strongly recommend that students enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester in order to have a balanced workload across semesters and to make steady progress towards completing the credit hours required for graduation.
  • If a student is concerned about his or her ability to complete the program in two consecutive semesters, a limited number of extenuating circumstances may be taken into account to alter the length of the program. Any student experiencing difficulties must contact promptly the [[llmadm,Director of the LL.M. Program]].
Courses Required 
  • Although students have flexibility in choosing their own coursework, many LL.M. students choose to enroll in several core courses such as Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Property, and Torts.  Though the program is not intended to serve as a U.S. bar examination preparation course, students who are targeting a state bar examination are strongly encouraged to review the relevant state bar’s application requirements and select courses that will meet those requirements. 
  • Legal Research and Writing (2 credit hours) is a graded, required course and must be taken in the first semester of the LL.M. Program.
Study Plans and Campus Programming

  • LL.M. students create their own program of study by either choosing a broad survey of courses or focusing on one of many specialized areas, such as business and corporate law, criminal law, constitutional law, international law, intellectual property law, or methods of dispute resolution. LL.M. students are fully integrated in the life of the law school and take most classes with their J.D. peers. Many also take the coursework necessary to qualify them to sit for a U.S. Bar Examination after graduation.

  • Education is not limited to the classroom. Throughout the year, William & Mary offers several programs and activities to enhance students' legal study. LL.M. students have access to all conferences and lectures held at the law school (such as the Supreme Court Preview) and a variety of programs and events hosted across the William & Mary campus.

Grade Point Average
  • LL.M. Degree candidates must earn a final cumulative grade point average of 2.0 to earn the LL.M. Degree. They must also pass any pass-fail classes if those credit hours are needed to meet the minimum required credit hours to graduate with the LL.M. Degree.
Questions? Contact our LL.M. Admissions Office at [[llmadm]].