Is Master of Law (LLM) really worth it?
Many people are not sure whether they should go for an LLM right after they graduate from law school. One of the most commonly asked questions among law students is this — will a master’s degree help me get a job offer?
When I was in my final year of law school, I wasn’t sure if I should do an LLM afterwards — it’s a huge investment, and I didn’t know if it could help me with my future employment.
Yet, doing an LLM after graduation turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my legal career. Had I not done that, I would not have started my legal career in London and worked at one of the biggest global law firms.
1. Specialisation in a niche area of law
The first reason is to specialise in a more niche area. Nowadays, it’s very common that when you look at law firms, their associates or lawyers specialise in a specific field.
For example, if you want to practice law in the area of private international law or public international law, you can apply to universities like Leiden University or University of Pennsylvania. If you are into corporate law, you can apply for the Masters Degree in Corporate Law (the “MCL”) at University of Cambridge or the MSc in Law and Finance (the “MLF”) at Unversity of Oxford, while other universities like King’s College London offer a very high quality competition law programme as well. In these cases, an LLM may help you get a job if you are applying to, or aiming at, law firms specialising in that particular area of law.
If I had not done the Cambridge MCL degree, I would not have applied successfully to corporate law firms in London. The modules I studied enhanced my legal knowledge on the corporate market and helped me get through some of the interview stages. Additionally, I can even use my LLM experience as one of the reasons why I applied to this particular firm in my cover letter: I could mention the fact that the modules I studied in my LLM are the firm’s practice area strengths.
Therefore, how you explain your LLM experience in an application form does matter. For example, if you do an LLM in air and space law, when you apply to law firms like Clyde & Co and HFW, that would be an advantage because they are specialising in aviation law. If you want an international career at European Commission, and if you apply to universities like King’s College London and do a competition law module there, that will definitely help you with your goal. In other words, it really depends on the type of firms / organisations you want to apply to. Even for aspiring barristers, it’s not uncommon to see them doing a master’s degree aboard as well to enhance their CV. I have met a lot of aspiring barristers who have already secured pupillage completing a master’s degree in international human rights at universities in, e.g., Amsterdam.
2. Opening the door for foreign-educated law students
The second reason why you should do an LLM is that you are a foreign lawyer or law students and you want to break into another legal jurisdiction. If you want to get a job in the UK, the fact that you actually go all the way to that country and study for one year will definitely help you with your job hunting process.
First of all, you will be able to gain access to many networking events or University Law Fairs where you could meet a lot of different international law firms at once. Second of all, when you apply to law firms and secure interviews, you can also physically attend those interviews / assessment centres — this is particularly important in job markets like London and New York, where the competition is so keen that even domestic candidates can hardly secure a legal role. It would be very hard for you to get an offer without having any sort of experiences in that particular country. I also spoke to a lot of foreign lawyers in the US. Most of them either completed a Juris Doctor (“JD”) program, or an LLM degree — that’s also how they could find a job opportunity after their graduation. As you can see, doing an LLM is definitely a gateway to securing a job offer in a different country.
3. The “brand name” effect
The third reason why you should do an LLM is that you have an offer from a very prestigious or reputable university.
I hate to admit it, but the fact that you actually go to a prestigious university could have some positive impact on your future job applications. I spoke to some of my friends who didn’t go to a Russell Group university in their undergraduate degree. They told me that ever since they’ve got admitted to Cambridge, they got past the application stage at law firms more easily, although it’s not necessarily true for every single firm. Thus if you manage to get an offer at really top universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, that degree could potentially help you stand out from the crowd. That being said, I should also add that although a prestigious degree may help you get past the application stage more easily, it may not necessarily help you at an interview stage because, especially in the UK, what really matters is your performance on that particular day — if you don’t perform well, you don’t perform well and you won’t get a job offer by just having a prestigious law degree.
This reminds me of an experience I encountered after I received the admission letter from Cambridge — I was a recent law graduate and worked as an intern in Hong Kong. I accompanied my boss to the court and he bumped into his lawyer friend. I still remember the way he introduced me to his friend:
“This is my new intern, Gordon. He is going to study for a master’s degree at Cambridge in the coming year!”
Coming from a less prestigious law school, I was never particularly proud to tell others where I went to law school. Yet, apparently things have changed ever since I got an offer from Cambridge. Some of my friends start introducing me as a “Cambridge-educated” lawyer at gatherings. Sometimes I’m also mistaken as someone coming from a wealthy family. While personally I’m not too comfortable with hearing all these assumptions about me, I cannot deny that my Cambridge background does benefit me in some ways, in both professional and social settings.
4. Be eligible for the new york bar
The fourth reason why you should do an LLM is that you need to take the New York Bar exam, but you are not eligible without an LLM degree. If you study in a civil law country, then you would likely need to do an LLM in the USA in order to be eligible to take the bar exam in New York. It’s not uncommon for foreign students to pursue an LLM at universities like the NYU, take the New York Bar exam (and secure a job offer at Biglaw) afterwards.
5. Compensating for weaker LLB grades
The fifth reason why you may want to do an LLM is to compensate for weaker undergraduate law (“LLB”) grades.
For some people, an LLM can be used as an evidence of improving academic performance. For example, if you get a 2:2 / Lower Second-Class Honours in your undergraduate law degree but then get a distinction for your LLM from a more prestigious or better ranking university, that could serve as a positive indicator of your academic ability despite your poorer LLB grades. In this case, I would say an LLM may be helpful.
On the other hand, if you already get a 2:1 / Upper Second-Class Honours for your LLB at a pretty good university, getting a distinction from your LLM degree doesn’t add much value to your CV, as you would already satisfy the minimum academic requirement for a graduate or training contract position.
6. Entering the academia world
The sixth reason why you should do an LLM is that you want to pursue an academic legal career or want a professorship in the future.
Notably, in an LLM degree, you are often required to write a dissertation (i.e. an essay of 10,000+ words) and writing articles is a typical task of law professors — they not only have to teach, but they also have to publish articles each and every year. That’s potentially an even more important thing than teaching itself. In other words, an LLM is a good way for you to evaluate whether you want to commit three to five years to a PhD degree in law. Will you actually enjoy the research heavy nature of PhD or being a law professor? In this case, an LLM can be a stepping stone to a PhD degree.
Before I graduated from my master’s degree, I actually secured an offer from Cambridge for a PhD in law, but then I decided that I don’t really like the fact that working as a professor or researcher is very independent and they don’t get to work with other legal professionals, as opposed to corporate lawyers who are able to have regular contact with different clients and professionals.
7. Taking a mini vacation to figure out life
The seventh reason why you should do an LLM is that you are already a qualified lawyer in your country, but you want to take a break from work.
When Idid my master’s degree at Cambridge, there were a lot of other qualified lawyers and for them that one year was considered as a break from all the crazy workloads they had as a corporate lawyer. Also, they wanted to experience the lifestyle of a student again, have the time to really slow down and identify their priorities in life.
8. Acquiring new language skills and life experiences
The final reason why you should do an LLM is that you want a challenge or a different lifestyle, or to improve your language skill.
First of all, I’ve never gone abroad for a year and after that I realise how much I love it. I also experienced a massive improvement in my English speaking skill. I also realise that when you actually immerse yourself into a culture and speak to people from different parts of the world on a daily basis, that’s the moment when you can really master your spoken English skills.
If you’re a foreigner or if English is not your first language, you could probably relate to this: we always have this perception that others are judging you right now. After my time at Cambridge, I just really don’t care anymore. Nowadays, law firms care about language skills (not just English). It’s not even uncommon for European or British people to learn Chinese Korean, or Japanese — learning a new language could potentially be something that really helps you stand out in your job applications.
For those who are interested, I also made a detailed video on why you should pursue an LLM — check this out:
