Major: Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution
Degree Awarded: Master of Laws (LLM)
Calendar Type: Semester
Minimum Credit Hours: 24.0
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 22.0101
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 23-1022
About the Program
The LLM in Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution will train students to become more effective client advocates in a variety of dispute-related settings. These include client interviewing and counseling, pre-trial advocacy, jury selection, and appellate advocacy. The program is designed to both re-train attorneys whose work has not previously demanded, or taught, such skills, as well as to improve the advocacy skills of attorneys who already work in this area.
The LLM may be taken either part-time or full-time. Students may maintain part-time status by enrolling in a minimum of 5.0 credits per semester. To maintain full-time status, students must enroll in a minimum of 9.0 credits per academic semester. The program is designed to be completed in either one or two years.
Additional Information
More information about the Thomas R. Kline School of Law is available on the school's website.
Admission Requirements
The LLM program is open to applicants who have received a JD, an LLB, or a comparable law degree. International applicants must meet the same requirements for admission as students from the United States. Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate the ability to speak, write, and understand the English language by submitting an acceptable score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or similar examination. In addition to test scores, telephone or Skype interviews may also be used for foreign applicants.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but new students will typically begin in the fall semester.
Degree Requirements
The LLM is a 24.0 credit program with 17.0 credits made up of required courses:
| LAW 637S | Advanced Evidence | 3.0 |
| LAW 646S | Mediation and Arbitration | 3.0 |
| LAW 904S | Advanced Trial Advocacy: Civil | 3.0 |
| or LAW 906S | Advanced Trial Advocacy: Criminal |
| LAW 811S | Expert Witnesses | 3.0 |
| LAW 882S | Litigation Drafting | 2.0 |
| LAW 981S | Litigation Technology | 3.0 |
| E-Discovery & Digital Evidence | |
| Improvisation for Lawyers | |
| Pre-Trial Advocacy | |
| Advanced Trial Advocacy: Civil * | |
| Advanced Trial Advocacy: Criminal |
| Appellate Advocacy | |
| Jury Selection | |
| Total Credits | 24.0 |
The LLM degree will be conferred only after the student completes 24.0 credits. A student must maintain a GPA of 2.20 each semester and at program completion.
Sample Plan of Study
Students may complete the LLM in one or two years, depending on whether the student chooses to pursue the degree on a full-time or part-time basis. A potential plan of study for a full-time student would be as follows:
School of Law Faculty
Tabatha Abu El-Haj, PhD, LLM, JD (New York University; Georgetown University Law Center; New York University School of Law). Professor. Constitutional law (specifically, First Amendment and election law), popular constitutionalism, administrative law, and the sociology of law.
Lindsey Barrett, LLM, JD (Georgetown University Law Center). Assistant Professor. Consumer privacy regulation; artificial intelligence.
Adam Benforado, JD (Harvard Law School). Professor. Law and mind sciences, corporate law and contract law.
Susan Brooks, JD (New York University). Professor. Clinical and co-op education; family law; children's rights; legal ethics.
Chapin Cimino, JD (University of Chicago Law School). Professor. Contract law; constitutional law; law and humanities; higher education law.
David S. Cohen, JD (Columbia University School of Law). Professor. Constitutional law; civil rights; sex discrimination.
Clare Keefe Coleman, JD (Villanova University School of Law) Director of International Student Programs. Associate Professor. Writing specialist.
Rose Corrigan, PhD (Rutgers University) Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. Associate Professor. Women, public law, American politics and policy.
David DeMatteo, PhD, JD (MCP Hahnemann University; Villanova University School of Law) Director of the JD-PhD Program in Law and Psychology. Professor. Psychopathy, forensic mental health assessment, drug policy; offender diversion.
Robert Field, PhD, MPH, JD (Columbia University). Professor. Department of Health Management and Policy. Drexel University Kline School of Law. Health policy; public health law; health administration and management; public health ethics.
Daniel M. Filler, JD (New York University School of Law) Dean. Professor. Criminal law and procedure; sentencing and death penalty; law and society; law and humanities.
Richard H. Frankel, LLM, JD (Georgetown University Law Center; Yale Law School) Associate Dean for Experiential Learning, Director of the Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program. Professor. Appellate litigation, access to justice in areas including consumer, administrative, and immigration law.
Barry Furrow, JD (Harvard Law School) Director of the Health Law Program. Professor. Health law; torts.
Eamon Gallagher, JD (Drexel University Kline School of Law) Director of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. Corporate transactional law; entrepreneurship and law
Deborah Gordon, JD (New York University School of Law) Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Professor. Trusts and estates, gift tax, legal methods.
Wendy Greene, LLM, JD (George Washington University School of Law; Tulane University School of Law) Director of the Center for Law, Policy, and Social Action. Professor. Natural hair discrimination; race and the law; employment law
Nicole Iannarone, JD (Yale Law School). Associate Professor. Financial industry regulation; consumer and securities issues; law and technology.
Aimée Kahan, JD (University of Pennsylvania School of Law) Director of Strategic Initiatives. Associate Professor. Health care quality, patient safety, and risk management
Anil Kalhan, MPPM, JD (Yale School of Management; Yale Law School). Professor. Immigration and citizenship law, constitutional law, comparative law and criminal law.
Lauren Katz-Smith, JD (Drexel University Kline School of Law). Assistant Clinical Professor. Child advocacy; public interest law.
Nancy C. Kraybill, JD (University of California-Los Angeles School of Law) Director of Academic Skills. Professor. Arbitration, mediation, civil litigation and academic skill development.
Elizabeth Kukura, LLM, JD (London School of Economics and Political Science; Temple University School of Law; New York University School of Law). Associate Professor. Reproductive rights; women’s health care.
Amy Landers, JD (University of California) Associate Dean for Faculty Research, Director of the Intellectual Property Law Program. Professor. Patents and intellectual property law.
Anat Lior, LLM, JSD (Radzyner Law School; Yale Law School). Assistant Professor. Artificial Intelligence governance; insurance and emerging technologies; intellectual property.
Amy Montemarano, JD (Rutgers University School of Law – Camden). Associate Professor. Legal research and writing.
Kevin P. Oates, LLM, JD (Temple University School of Law; Pace University School of Law) Senior Associate Dean of Students and Administration. Professor. Legal methods; evidence; conflicts of law; legal ethics.
Karl Okamoto, JD (Columbia University School of Law). Professor. Entrepreneurship; business organizations; corporate law; venture finance; securities law.
Pammela Quinn, JD (Duke University School of Law). Associate Professor. International law and enforcement of legal norms at the international and domestic levels.
Rebecca Rich, JD (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Boston College Law School) Assistant Dean for the Law Library and Technology Services. Assistant Teaching Professor. Disability law; law and technology; administrative law; bioethics.
Arly Smith-Pearson, JD (Tulane University School of Law) Supervising Attorney. Civil Litigation Field Clinic. Civil litigation.
Gwen Roseman Stern, JD (Temple University School of Law) Director of Trial Advocacy Program. Professor. Medical malpractice and product-liability law, trial advocacy and community awareness of legal procedures.
Donald F. Tibbs, PhD, LLM, JD (Arizona State University; University of Wisconsin Law School; University of Pittsburgh School of Law). Visiting Professor. The overlapping issues of law, civil rights, criminal procedure, race and punishment and professional responsibility.
Lisa Tucker, JD (Harvard Law School). Associate Professor. Legal methods; United States Supreme Court practice, family law.
Emma Tuohy, JD (Temple University Beasley School of Law) Director of the Federal Litigation and Appeals Clinic. Immigration law.
Emily B. Zimmerman, JD (Yale Law School) Director of the Criminal Law Program. Professor. Legal methods; criminal law and procedure.
Emeritus Faculty
Amelia Boss, JD (Rutgers-Camden School of Law) Director of Business & Entrepreneurship Law Program.. Trustee Professor Emerita. Commercial law, including electronic payment systems, bankruptcy and contracts.
Roger J. Dennis, JD (Northwestern University School of Law) Founding Dean Emeritus. Professor Emeritus. Corporate law; business organizations; civil procedure; law and economics.
Terry Jean Seligmann, JD (New York University School of Law) Arlin M. Adams Professor of Legal Writing Emerita. Professor Emerita. Legal methods; education and special education law.
Norman P Stein, JD (Duke University School of Law). Professor Emeritus. Pension law; employee benefits; tax law.
