Program Overview

LLM in International Legal Studies

The LLM in International Legal Studies is a dynamic program that offers students the opportunity to become part of the broadest and most diverse program in international law and global governance. This program is designed to equip students with expertise in several different areas of international, comparative, and global law, enabling them to tackle cross-cutting issues that require innovative approaches.

Faculty

The program boasts more than 15 full-time professors who comprise the core international and comparative law faculty. These professors are unsurpassed in the depth of their knowledge and engagement. Additionally, the Global Faculty, celebrated scholars in their home countries invited to teach at NYU, and New York practitioners augment this deep bench of expertise.

Research Areas

Our professors teach and research in the following areas:

• Chinese and East Asian Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law
• EU Law and Regional Integration
• Global Governance and Administrative Law
• Global Law and Tech
• History of Int'l Law
• Human Rights and Int'l Criminal Law
• Int'l Climate, Environmental and Energy Law
• Int'l Legal Theory
• Int'l, Regional and Bilateral Trade
• Int'l/Transnational Litigation and Arbitration
• Investment and Investor-State Arbitration
• Law of War and Post-Conflict Reconstruction
• Law and Development
• Transitional Justice
• UN and Int'l Organizations Law

The Program

Curriculum

The curriculum is flexible, allowing students to build expertise in several different areas of international, comparative, and global law. This flexibility enables students to explore their intellectual interests within this broad field and define the direction of their future professional development.

Special Programs

The program offers special programs for students in particular areas of international and comparative law, including:

• Transitional Justice Leadership Program
• Human Rights Scholars Program
• Salzburg Cutler Fellowship
• USALI Student Scholars Program

Clinics, Colloquia, and Research Opportunities

Students can gain hands-on experience through clinics and externships. The program also features colloquia where students are exposed to emerging scholarship and engage with authors writing about today's issues. Furthermore, students can develop their scholarship in close consultation with a professor, with writing opportunities including a paper for a class, an independent research project, or a 4-credit thesis option.

Intellectual Life

A significant number of the program's centers and institutes do impactful work in international and comparative law, convening a calendar of events and organizing programs for students. Student groups and journals connect JDs and LLMs with common interests.

Centers and Institutes

The program is supported by the following centers and institutes:

• Bernstein Institute for Human Rights
• Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law
• Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
• Guarini Institute: Global Law and Tech
• Institute for International Law & Justice
• Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice
• NYU Center for Cybersecurity
• Reiss Center on Law and Security
• US-Asia Law Institute

Student Groups & Journals

Students can engage with the following student groups and journals:

• Africa Law Association
• Asia Law Society
• International Arbitration Association
• International Law Society
• International Refugee Assistance Project
• Journal of International Law and Politics
• Law Students for Economic Justice
• National Security Law Society

Faculty Insight

Professor Philip Alston, who teaches international human rights law, incorporates his human rights work into his classes, providing students with a unique perspective on the subject.

Meet the Faculty Director

Josť Enrique Alvarez, the Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law, has made substantial contributions to a wide range of topics in international law. His work includes the law-making aspects of UN system organizations, the challenges facing international criminal tribunals, and the legitimacy deficits and reform prospects for the international investment regime.

Other LLM Programs

In addition to the LLM in International Legal Studies, the university offers the following LLM programs:

• Master of Laws (LLM)
• LLM in Competition, Innovation and Information Law
• LLM in Corporation Law
• LLM in Environmental and Energy Law
• LLM in International Business Regulation, Litigation and Arbitration
• LLM in International Taxation
• LLM in Legal Theory
• LLM in Taxation