LL.M. in U.S. Law (for foreign lawyers)

Program Requirements

To earn their LL.M. degree students are required to:

• Complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of approved courses
• Maintain the minimum grade point average that applies to their course of study. 
• Enroll in the following courses their first semester (as part of their 24 credit-hour requirement):  
• Introduction to American Law (5319), which builds an important foundation for legal studies; and 
• Legal Writing (5397), which provides an overview of vital skills to be used as a student and practitioner. 

The Law Center offers one of the largest course selections in the United States.  Students can pursue specific interests by selecting courses in a variety of practice areas. See course schedule. See past course schedules.

Applicant Requirements

• Lawyers educated in other countries must hold a law degree from an accredited university or be admitted to practice before the highest court in their jurisdiction. 
• Applicants must demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactory graduate work by presenting evidence of either a high grade-point average or superior class standing at the school where they earned their law degree. 
• A test of English proficiency is required of all applicants who earned a law degree from a country in which English is not the official language, according to the university listing found here: https://uh.edu/graduate-school/international-students/english-proficiency/ The Law Center LL.M. program typically requires a score of 100 on the IBT-TOEFL, 7.0 on the IELTS-academic, or 120 on the Duolingo English test.
• Applicants are encouraged to complete and submit the online application as soon as possible, even if you are still working on improving your English language proficiency score.

U.S. Legal Skills Class

The University of Houston Law Center offers a short intensive course for foreign lawyers that provides an orientation to U.S. legal education. This one-week orientation course focuses on:

• preparing foreign lawyers for legal education in the United States;
• legal terminology;
• concepts of professionalism;
• tools used in preparation for legal study;
• law school exam preparation in the U.S.
• the way principles, practices, and theories of law are taught in the U.S;
• foundations of the U.S. legal system; and
• procedure and process for interpreting and enforcing laws in the U.S.

By introducing this foundational information, this course is intended to prepare foreign lawyers for the study of law in the U.S. Law LL.M. Program (for foreign lawyers).

• Students must first be accepted into the LL.M. Program
• Students have the option of registering for this class once they have been enrolled in the LL.M. program.
• This course is offered for 1-credit hour that goes towards fulfilling the requirements of the LL.M. program.

See sample course schedule below.

Course dates and times are subject to change.

The course is taught by Prof. Katherine Brem (bio). The course materials will be identified ahead of class. The course will be graded as Pass/Fail.

Click on the link for the Syllabus.

Introduction to American Law course starts the week of August 12, 2024. Regular fall classes start the following week, August 19, 2024.

Legal English Certificate Program (LEC)

• University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) offers a Legal English Certificate (LEC) program specifically designed to assist foreign-trained lawyers and law students in the legal English used for the study and practice of law in the United States. This 4-week intensive online course can help you satisfy English language requirements for the US Law LLM (master of laws) program. We strongly encourage our foreign applicants, from non-English speaking countries, to take this certificate course to better prepare for potential study at UHLC. Visit www.law.uh.edu/llm/legal_English.asp and contact UHLCglobalprograms@uh.edu to express interest and reserve your spot.

Summary Fall Itinerary