Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center

Introduction

Located in the capital city of Baton Rouge, along the banks of the Mississippi River, Louisiana State University Law Center is a national and international hub for teaching, research, and public service in all aspects of the law. Baton Rouge is the second largest city in Louisiana and only a 90-minute drive from the historical city of New Orleans.

LSU Law offers a firm foundation in American law and boasts the only law school in the nation that has a fully integrated common law and civil law legal education. 

When combined with a comparative law focus, LLM graduates leave LSU with a truly global legal education and the skills needed in today’s competitive legal market. 

Why Choose LSU Law?

• Top 10 budget LLM programs in the U.S. (LLM Guide) 
• Top 10 worldwide LLM in Energy Law program for 2019 (LLM Guide) 
• Generous merit-based scholarship opportunities 
• Eligibility to sit for the New York State Bar exam (or other U.S. State Bar exams)
• Opportunity to work in the U.S. for up to 18 months (for J-1 students)
• A rigorous yet personable learning environment
• Affordable housing and low cost of living
• Flexibility to tailor your course work to match your professional plans 

Law School Enrollment

The Law Center’s student body comprises of approximately 550 students, with the majority of those in the juris doctor (JD) program. With an average enrollment of eight, our LLM Program is designed to be personalized and provides one-on-one attention to our master’s students. 

Curriculum

LSU Law students are trained rigorously in the same common law and federal law subjects that are taught at other leading American law schools. The curriculum also reflects the Law Center’s role as a champion of the civil law. Students interested in pursuing advanced study of the civil law may elect to take courses that offer an extensive comparison of the law under the two legal systems. 

The LLM in Comparative Law requires two semesters in residence (August to May) and a minimum of 26 credit hours of study. Our students are generally required to take two courses: Introduction to United States Law (two credits) and Legal Research and Writing (two credits).

For the rest of the credits, students have great flexibility to tailor their course work to match their individual interests and are free to explore a wide variety of courses to suit their professional plans. LSU Law offers a full range of law courses, seminars, and skills development classes, including:

• Civil and international law
• Intellectual property law
• Business, corporate, and commercial law
• Mineral and energy law
• Environmental law
• Labor and employment law
• Law, science, and public health
• Constitutional and administrative law
• Family law
• Torts and insurance law
• Admiralty law

Orientation

Prior to the beginning of the fall semester, our LLM students participate in a two-week orientation program. This orientation helps students adjust to the language and study of law at an American law school, as well as provide opportunities for course selection, completion of enrollment and administrative requirements, and other activities to accustom themselves to life as US law students.

Orientation also includes a trip to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans, located in the historic French Quarter, and to the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

Grading System and Curve

LLM students have all but one of their classes alongside juris doctor (JD) students. At LSU Law, the same grading system applies for JD and LLM students: all students are graded on the same curve. This makes our LLM a challenging program and explains why we have high passage rates on the New York and Louisiana state exams.  

Learning Through Practice

We offer a number of experiential opportunities that provide students with the chance to earn credit while learning through practice. The Law Center has a range of experiential courses through clinics, field placements, and skills courses.

The Law Clinic offers students the opportunity to practice law and represent indigent clients in the community. Under close faculty supervision, students practice law by representing real clients with important legal issues or serve as mediators in real cases of controversy. Students practice in local courts, before administrative agencies, and other venues. 

There are also numerous field placement opportunities, including the Judicial Field Placement Program, which places students as judicial law clerks in state and federal courts; the Governmental Field Placement, which places students with the Attorney General’s Office and other state and local agencies; and the Public Interest/Nonprofit Field Placement, which places students with local agencies serving marginalized populations and the legal interests of the poor. 

In addition, the Law Center offers a wide range of skills courses in which students learn essential lawyering and practice skills through simulation and forensic exercises.

Library and Physical Facilities

The Law Center occupies two connected buildings: the Old Law Building (built in 1936 in a neoclassical style) and the New Law Building. The front exterior of the Old Law Building was modeled on the facade of the US Supreme Court.

Both buildings have undergone extensive renovations (completed in 2004), resulting in student-friendly classrooms with the latest technology, a comfortable student lounge, and a coffee shop. 

The Law Library occupies much of the space in the New Law Building, spanning four floors. Our library is considered one of the best in the country; it contains a wide range of American, foreign, and international legal materials, as well as resources that are not available elsewhere.

Student Services, Organizations, and Cultural Activities

Law students have access to many activities and organizations, both at the Law Center and on the main campus. Among the many Law Center student organizations are the Student Bar Association, the International Law Society, the Black Law Student’s Association, the Hispanic Law Student Association, the Civil Law Society, and the Federalist Society, to name but a few. Social activities include Tiger tailgate parties prior to home football games, the weekly Thank Goodness It’s Friday (TGIF) gathering on the Old Law Building’s front steps, a Halloween party, the Barrister’s Ball, Assault and Flattery (where the students poke fun at their professors), and many other activities that all law students are encouraged to participate in.

Additionally, full-time LSU students have access to the University Recreation Center (UREC), which is a 250,000 square-foot, innovative, and comprehensive recreational facility. UREC provides a modern and energetic atmosphere conducive to the needs of LSU students, featuring cardio and strength equipment, fitness studios, and pools (indoor and outdoor). LSU itself has a robust sports program and has won national championships in several sports. Most law students have the opportunity to attend a football game in Tiger Stadium, alongside nearly 100,000 cheering fans. It is an experience that defies description and shouldn’t be missed!

LSU’s campus is culturally vibrant. For example, the College of Music hosts several performances each week, often featuring special performers. The College of Dramatic Arts also stages multiple productions each year, and the LSU Union Theater hosts nationally touring productions (musicians, plays, and comedians, to name a few). National and international speakers, hosted by various colleges, make presentations, give book readings, and have discussion sessions that are open to all students.

LSU is home to over 1,000 international students from all over the globe, and throughout the academic year, the International Cultural Center hosts a variety of activities and festivals, allowing international students to share their culture with the LSU community.

Career Services

LSU Law has a Career Services office onsite, staffed by dedicated career counselors. Counselors are available to meet with students on a one-on-one basis to discuss areas of interest and career goals. The Career Services office sponsors a wide variety of career-related programs throughout the school year. These programs are designed to promote early student self-assessment, pique students’ interest in specialized areas of legal practice, and encourage students to think about job opportunities as they develop a post-graduation employment plan.

Housing

LSU Law has a dedicated staff member who guides admitted LLM students with finding housing. In the last few years, most students have successfully found affordable off-campus housing that is within a 10-minute walk to the Law Center. 

Students who are interested in on-campus housing also have the option to rent an apartment in the recently constructed (2018) Nicholson Gateway. Modern, new apartments come fully furnished and in a variety of layouts, with both 10-month and 12-month leases available. Steps away from class and with restaurants, shopping, 10,000 square-foot University Recreation/Fitness Center, and grocery store onsite, Nicholson Gateway Apartments is the perfect home for savvy graduate students.  

For housing inquiries, contact us at llmadmissions@lsu.edu.

Admissions Requirements 

The LLM degree in Comparative Law is open to American and international students with either civilian or Anglo-American training who seek a firm foundation in the American common law and civil law in English. Applicants must hold a juris doctor from an American Bar Association (ABA) law school, or its equivalent from a foreign law school and are expected to show that they are sufficiently proficient in English to pursue graduate legal studies in the US. 

We do not require English language proficiency testing if an applicant is a native English speaker or if an applicant earned a degree from a university that has English as the language of instruction. All other applicants are required to have their official test score report sent to LSU Law. Applicants who must complete English proficiency testing should take:

• the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test; or 
• the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). 

We recommend that our applicants have a score of 100 on the TOEFL, but we require a minimum score of 90. As for the IELTS, we recommend a score of 7.5, but require a minimum score of 7.

Fall Application

Application Process 

Each fall a new entering LLM class enrolls at the LSU Law Center; we do not offer spring admissions and our students cannot currently participate in our program on a part-time basis. However, note that LSU Law is exploring this possibility; if you are interested in studying at LSU part time, please contact our office. 

Applicants must apply to the LSU Law Center and submit all materials through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC.org) and register with the LSAC LLM Credential Assembly Service (LLM CAS) by purchasing the Document Assembly Service (DAS). We only accept applications submitted through LSAC. 

Application Fee 

The application fee of $50 (U.S. funds only) must be paid through the LSAC online payment service (waived for applications submitted on or before February 28).

Application Deadline 

The priority application deadline is February 28. Applications submitted after February 28 will be evaluated on a space-available basis. LSU evaluates LLM files on a rolling admission basis. The earlier you complete your application for admission, the earlier you will receive a decision. 

However, note that all LLM applications must be submitted by March 31. This is especially important for international applicants who require a J-1 student visa (final deadline). 

If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, we may accept late applications. We encourage you to apply as early as possible, but after March 31, we urge you to call (or email) and speak with someone from our office to inquire if an application is still possible.

Merit-Based Scholarship Opportunities

At LSU Law, most of our LLM students receive some form of financial assistance through merit-based tuition and nonresident fee waivers. Our waiver awards have ranged from $1,000 to full tuition/nonresident fee waivers. The amount waived depends on the overall academic and professional strength of an applicant. Although financial need may be considered, waiver awards are primarily merit-based and are only extended to applicants who have excellent academic credentials. Only the very best applicants may be awarded a full waiver of tuition and fees.

In addition to grades, the LLM Admissions Committee considers experience in the practice of law, volunteer work, publications, research projects, academic honors such as scholarships, prizes, memberships in honors societies, memberships on legal journals or law reviews, etc.

When you add tuition, nonresident fees, and mandatory fees, our LLM program costs approximately $40,000. However, as a result of these waivers, on average, the cost of tuition and fees paid by our LLM candidates is below $10,000 for the entire year. This makes our LLM one of the best-value graduate legal studies programs in the U.S. We encourage prospective applicants to visit our website at law.lsu.edu/llm/financing/ to learn more about our program costs.

In addition to these awards, applicants have the opportunity to be considered for two endowed scholarships: the A.N. Yiannopoulos Scholarship and the Tullis Fellowship in Civil Law. Applicants who wish to be considered for a scholarship as well as a tuition waiver and fee waiver must complete the “Financial” portion of the electronic LSAC application.

Contact Information

For additional information, please contact:

LLM Program
LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center
W326, 1 East Campus Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Phone: 225.578.7831
Email: llmadmissions@lsu.edu