Why study an LLM?
There are two major legal traditions in the world: continental law, to which Spanish law belongs, and common law, to which U.S. law belongs. The CEU-Fordham Program offers training in both legal traditions and also carries with it the official degree that accredits it, providing the student with an undoubted competitive advantage in an increasingly globalized and interconnected legal environment. The Program is especially aimed at law graduates with an international legal vocation, who wish to practice law in large law firms, international institutions or organizations, or business corporations of transnational scope. Obtaining the LLM also gives students the opportunity to sit for the New York Bar Association exam, which qualifies them to practice law in the United States (State of New York)*.
Why Fordham School of Law?
Fordham Law School is in the Top 25 of the best law schools in the United States according to the latest edition of America's Best Graduate Schools ranking published by U.S. News and World Report. According to the National Law Journal, it ranks 4th in the number of graduates employed by the top 100 law firms in New York City, which is the largest legal hub in the United States and the world. Precisely because Fordham Law's Manhattan campus is located next to major law firms, students in the Program participate in numerous networking initiatives and activities organized and promoted by the University itself. They also become part of the Fordham Law alumni community, an important global legal network to which graduates from more than 80 countries belong.
Structure and duration
LLM students also have the option of applying to the U.S. authorities for an OPT (Optional Practical Training) visa, which allows them to work in the U.S. for a period of 12 months from the completion of the LLM.
The Program provides for a full academic year at Fordham to pursue the LLM, choosing from one of these tracks:
Itinerary A: Madrid ➜ NY
The student takes the Master of Law and Legal Practice in Spain (from October to June), completes the mandatory internship in Spain (from July to December) and in January moves to NY to take the LLM at Fordham University (January cohort). After the end of the 1st semester at Fordham, the student takes the official state exam in Madrid to practice in Spain (the last few years it has been held in June) and in September he/she returns to Fordham to take the 2nd semester. This pathway lasts 2 years and 3 months.
Itinerary B: NY ➜ Madrid
The student first attends the two semesters of the Fordham LLM in NY (from August to May) and then completes the Master's degree in Access to the Legal Profession and Procurement in Spain (from October to June) and the mandatory internship (from September to January) in Spain. This itinerary lasts 3 years and 3 months.
Specialization
The Fordham School of Law LLM allows students to choose the area of legal knowledge in which they wish to specialize from among the following:
- International Law and Justice
- Banking, Corporate, and Finance Law
- International Business and Trade Law
- International Dispute Resolution
- Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law
(*) The requirements necessary to sit for the New York Bar Association examination are established by the New York Bar Association itself, to which, in any case, reference should be made with respect to the examination.
(**) The CEU-Fordham Program offers students the possibility of applying for an OPT visa, which allows non-U.S. citizens to work as interns in the U.S. for 12 months. In any case, please refer to the corresponding regulations. The CEU-Fordham Program does not include the search for or assignment of internships for students by USPCEU or Fordham School of Law.