LL.M- is it useful?

A question my friends have often asked me when I wanted to do LL.M was- ‘why LL.M and why from abroad?’ They meant why I wanted to study again after five years of undergraduate law. Also, why I was not doing it in India. Well, in my case, I genuinely wanted to study further, to specialize and to know more about law. I also wanted to study from one of the world’s premier educational institutions. These, along with the fact that unfortunately most LL.M programmes in India are not as well-structured as the new five year integrated B.A., LL.B, made me think about applying for LL.M abroad. When I wanted to apply, I was very clear in my mind. I wanted to go only to the best institutions of the world like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, McGill and LSE. I wanted to get the very best education that the world offered. Settling abroad was really not a driving force. In fact, in all probability, I would go back to India after completing my studies.

But let me sum up here what I read and heard about usefulness of LL.M from different sources. If you want to pursue LL.M, so as to settle abroad, it may not be a great idea. LL.M abroad DOES NOT guarantee you a job abroad, thanks to the global economic condition. I know people who have landed up with excellent highly paid jobs in the country they pursued LL.M from but I also know people who are still searching for jobs after completing their Masters. So, as I said, no guarantee. Secondly, Indian law firms more often than not DO NOT value LL.M, they value work experience. So, if you join an Indian law firm after LL.M abroad, they might pay you the same salary that they would pay to the fresher LLB degreeholder. So the question is why would anyone do LL.M then?

Here are my reasons:

a    1. If you want a unique experience, want to meet people from all over the globe, interact with legal luminaries, get introduced to quality research- go ahead, do it. LL.M from a reputed university is the best way to get this exposure. It will be perhaps one of the most exciting and learning experience of your life- that is guaranteed. 

       2. If you want to join the academia, you definitely need a masters degree. Why not do it from a world reputed university?

3.   If you are motivated to study further, why not do it from a university which is best in the world in the field? This will give you opportunity to have the experts in the field as your professors and it would be a wonderful experience. Think how exciting it would be if the authors of the books, ,you read and reread like Bible in law school, teach you themselves? 

4.  LL.M may not guarantee you a job but it definitely increases your change to get an international job. 

5.  The top law firms, in any case, pay a lot of money to freshers. So, does it matter much that they are not paying you more than the fresher LLB? 

6. You already did law school from India. Why not move to a different city in a different part of the world and enjoy the thrill.

Well, I know money is an issue. But, most universities abroad offer excellent scholarships. I would discuss that in my next post.