LL.M. - Lucky to Learn More, Life-Long Memories, or Both?
by Aleksandra Ivlieva & Grigory Vaypan*
“LL.M.” has become an international catchword. But then LL.M. dissolves into thousands of uni- versity-specific curricula and policies as well as millions of individual stories. An LL.M. experi- ence is a blend of the general and the particular, of commonalities and peculiarities. In this article, we have attempted to put the two together and to combine our personal recollections with some generalizations and classifications that define the “LL.M. field” for us. What follows is “based on a true story” of our own LL.M. experience (we both pursued our master’s degrees in 2012/2013 at Harvard Law School), as well as on stories of our friends from a handful of schools around the globe.
P
Why Do an LL.M.? Something Old, Something New, or Something Inspirational
We have come across three types of prospective LL.M. students. Those belonging to the first group see a master’s program as a way to deepen their knowledge or sharpen their expertise in a particu- lar area of law in which they have probably already have some prior experience. To the contrary, those belonging to the second group are tired of what they have been doing and want to change direction and explore a new area. Finally, there is a third group of people with a somewhat blurred objective in mind. They embark on an LL.M. jour- ney because they are undecided about their fu- ture and feel that they need some sort of inspira-
ursuing an LL.M. degree is a multilay- ered phenomenon. It is an educational program common to many countries across the globe, and the very term
tion from a new environment, new ideas and new people around. For them, the LL.M. turns out to be less about gaining knowledge but more about re-imagining the world.
It is at first surprising to find out how many stu- dents belong to the third category. Like them, we started filling our LL.M. applications with a few academic achievements but little understanding of how to realize ourselves professionally. A year abroad seemed like a good opportunity to defer a decision about our future careers while at the same time trying to make things clearer. From abroad, we saw the perspectives that had been obscured at home. Critical legal studies offered us new visions of law and society and prompted us to reconsider the foundations of international law and private law in our LL.M. papers. Grigory had a semester-long clinical placement with a federal judge who set a remarkable example by his career of fighting against corruption. Aleksandra learned of the success story of U.S. environmental law and started strategizing about how to make law work for the environment’s sake in Russia. And it was interesting to see our fellow students becoming less and less certain about their future plans but also more and more inspired during the course of the LL.M. year. For us, this proved that LL.M. was an ongoing experience which slowly but surely transformed the minds of its participants.
Substance of an LL.M. Year: For the Bar vs. In a Bar
Designing the shape of your LL.M. year requires thinking strategically and prospectively. In par- ticular, you always have more than one option in
ILSA Quarterly » volume 22 » issue 3 » February 2014
29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104