Choose an LLM course specifically designed for your chosen career path

Are you looking to take you studies to the next level with a Masters of Law? Have you thought about the beneficial position held by universities in mainland Europe with regards to politics and industry?

The Institute for International Business Law at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, offers industry led, vocational LLM programs that increase your job prospects. These specialised  LLM programmes are International Contracts and Arbitration, Compliance, Commodity Trading and International Business Law.

These programmes launched ten years ago, and have been designed in collaboration with industry to provide high quality staff for the workforce. Students are given competent training to start work in companies and law offices as soon as they graduate.

This industrial partnership means each programme is tailored for a specific job such as contract management, compliance officers or commodity trading lawyers and dealers.

If you make the wise choice to study one of these courses, you’ll be learning exactly what the companies need you to know as an employee, infinitely increasing your chances of getting a job at the end or even during your studies and increasing your chances of success in the job.

These courses are also beneficial if you are already working but want to update your knowledge and achieve additional certification to validate your work experience.

These programmes are unique to the University of Fribourg because of the topics they cover and the way content is taught. These LLM programmes are both interdisciplinary and cross-cultural.

Source: University of Fribourg

You will not only be learning law, you will also explore the way many other topics intersect with the subject, gaining specific skills and information required for the specific job.

For example, in Compliance you will learn about financial analysis and accounting, economics, risk management and business ethics, among other topics.

These programmes are also cross-cultural, since lawyers need to understand how to relate with professionals from other legal cultures.

Cross-cultural communication in law at Fribourg is ensured not only by the types of exercises and teaching, including a special course in cross-cultural communication, but also by the diversity of the student body, which draws people from roughly 30 to 35 different nationalities each year.

So far, graduates from more than 90 countries make up the faculty’s professional alumni network. If you’re coming from abroad, you’ll be among good company at the Institute for International Business Law.

Last year, the Institute launched an exciting, new programme on Commodity Trading, which is a unique and innovative concept. It’s focused on the needs of people hoping to work as lawyers in commodity trading companies.

The project is developed in co-operation with the world leading commodity law firm Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, based in London and Geneva.

It provides high level and targeted information on all topics that companies such as Holman Fenwick Willan expect candidates to know, such as international sale of goods, transportation, but also the fundamentals of compliance, regulatory compliance, financing and insolvency, derivative trading, arbitration and dispute resolution etc.

Switzerland is one of the most important locations in the world for commodity trading, with a vast number of companies operating there. This means that demand for trained law professionals with knowledge and experience of commodity trading is high.

Source: University of Fribourg

For this reason, internship and employment opportunities are vast, meaning many graduates will continue to work in Switzerland after they finish their studies.

Another unique programme is the Compliance course, which was one of the first in the world when it launched seven years ago. This programme helps train compliance officers for the financial sector and the industry and the export business while covering a wide range of topics.

The programme in Contracts and Arbitration is primarily designed for those looking to work in contract management or hoping to becocme contract lawyers with exposure to arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution mechanisms.

It offers an introduction to comparative contract law focusing on both civil and common law and then covers the most important types of contractual arrangements, including M&A, sales of goods, distribution and agency, insurance, sports contracts etc.

The programme enhances the development of skills through legal clinics, communication and negotiation techniques, as well as drafting exercises.

In short, these specialised programmes are designed to match the needs of the students wanting to engage in these specific careers, putting you in the best possible position to achieve your career goals.

Your needs are carefully analyzed in light of what your future employer needs you to know, and the curriculum is continually adapted to make sure it follows current industry trends.

Fribourg is also the perfect place to further your studies as it lies on the linguistic border between the French and German speaking parts of Switzerland, making the city a natural bridge between different languages and cultures.

On top of your law studies, you’ll have the excellent opportunity to improve your language skills, giving you a great workplace advantage.

So, if you are looking to pursue a career in International Contracts and Arbitration, Compliance, Commodity Trading or International Business Law, the first place you should consider is the University of Fribourg.

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