LLM – The key to a thriving legal career

16 Jun 2017

If you’re finishing law school or desperately seeking that coveted training contract with a top law firm, you probably have an understanding of how competitive it can be out there for new graduates entering the employment market.

These days competition is steep, and in some cases, having a decent LLB may not be enough to set you apart from the crowd. If you’re serious about law and committed to furthering your prospects, a Masters of Laws – or LLM – could be your golden ticket.

An LLM allows you to specialise in one particular field, deepening your understanding and boosting your opportunities in this area. Some regions of law, such as criminal litigation, Islamic finance or maritime law, require specialised training that many undergraduate courses fail to provide. By selecting the perfect LLM program, you will be able to pursue an interest further, move into a new area of expertise and differentiate yourself from other applicants when the time for job applications comes around.

Choosing to pursue your LLM overseas adds another level of advantage; studying abroad allows you to gain expertise in another legal system, while picking up valuable international experience and language proficiency that is highly sought-after by employers in a global world.

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Taking on further study will also vastly extend your network in the legal profession. Studying your Masters at a new university opens you up to a whole catalogue of professors, peers and alumni that can aid you in your job hunt or provide tips of the trade to help you start.

There are plenty of benefits to further study that can give you the leg up needed to make you stand out from the pack, not to mention having an LLM from a prestigious university gives your earning potential a boost, as well as the likelihood of getting snapped up by a bigger law firm several years down the line.

Ultimately, it’s a course that bridges the gap between your undergraduate education and the often tough entry requirements of leading law firms.

Here are 4 law schools offering outstanding LLM courses to set you on the path to career success…

ANU COLLEGE OF LAW, THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Source: ANU College of Law

Ranked among the world’s top 16 legally-focused Schools, the ANU College of Law is Australia’s national Law School.

Balancing global outlook with local focus, the College holds a long-standing reputation for excellence in education, research and community outreach, remaining intently focused on its objectives to:

shape and influence public policy, placing an emphasis on the values of law reform and social justice;
use its position to help understand and address the major legal, social and political challenges of the 21st century; and
remain a leader in legal education and research, with the outstanding calibre of graduates representing a key measure of success.

Across undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees, the ANU College of Law provides a unique understanding of current law and policy, with alumni working not only as lawyers, but as agents for social change, improving public policy and enhancing global diplomacy.

With many academic staff recognised as leaders in their fields, the ANU College of Law has an enviable research profile, holding particular expertise in constitutional and administrative law, international law and environmental law. The College also has a continued commitment to increasing the representation of women and Indigenous Australians in law and legal practice.

TC BEIRNE SCHOOL OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

At Queensland’s premier Law School, TC Beirne at the University of Queensland (UQ) embodies a rich heritage of cultivating exceptional legal leaders and thinkers.

TC Beirne’s highly collaborative learning environment challenges students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the law while cultivating excellence in critical reasoning and lateral thinking. This approach instils graduates with a desire to use their skills and knowledge to effect positive change locally and abroad.

Designed with flexibility in mind, there are no formal specialisations in the UQ LLM, giving students the freedom to tailor their own studies. To assist and guide with their academics, the School groups classes into clusters to give clarity to those who wish to concentrate in a particular field of law.

These clusters include Corporate and Commercial Law, Intellectual Property and Technology Law, International and Comparative Law, International Trade and Maritime Law, Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Public Sector Law, and Resources, Mining and Environment Law.

This is an internationally-recognised qualification that is highly desirable in today’s competitive legal profession. When it comes to locking down the perfect job following graduation, the School’s employability programs and BEL Faculty’s Student Employability Team are there to help you out and introduce opportunities to get you off to a flying start.

Source: University of Queensland

MELBOURNE LAW SCHOOL (MLS), UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

The vibrant community at MLS encompasses expert and award-winning teaching staff, a strong alumni network, dedicated mentors, visiting scholars from around the globe, and leading research centres and institutions.

This prestigious Law School ranked number one in the Asia Pacific in the 2017 QS World University Rankings by Subject, and is home to a vast 18 research centres, placing it firmly at the forefront of legal practice. Some of these institutions include the Institute for International Law and the Humanities, Civil Justice Research Group, Global Economic Law Network, and Centre for Resources Energy and Environmental Law.

The Melbourne Law Masters gives students the ability to specialise in a specific area of law or to take a more generalised approach. All areas are led by an expert in the field and many areas are linked with a research centre or institute, providing students with an invaluable academic resource.

The School offers an incredibly vast array of topic areas with 184 subjects offered in its 2017 intake, including 29 new subjects such as Appropriation, Art and the Law, Cartels, Comparative Foreign Affairs Law and Competition Law in a Globalised World.

The course has a strong international outlook with over half the subjects being international, transnational or comparative in character. This approach is reflected in the extraordinarily diverse nature of the student body. The course attracts students from all parts of Australia and all regions of the world.

FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand’s leading Law School offers the largest range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in New Zealand and is ranked among the best law schools in the world according to QS Top Universities.

The School’s high entry standards – which exceed any other law school in the nation – excellent teaching and wealth of student opportunities mean its graduates are highly sought-after and fully-prepared for exciting legal, professional and academic careers.

The Faculty’s academic staff produce world-class research and the Davis Law Library hosts New Zealand’s most extensive collection of legal research materials.

International students receive a warm welcome at this small, intimate law school that highly values student engagement and interaction. There’s plenty of support on offer to help you settle in, and a network of people who can answer any questions you might have about your studies, the university, or general New Zealand student life.

The emphasis of this LLM is on flexible learning. Designed to work for everyone regardless of situation and commitments, students can choose from over twenty-five taught courses and entry to the program is open throughout the year.

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International