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LLM Curriculum

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Duke Law’s LLM program provides the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the U.S. legal system and choose from a wide range of courses that fit your career goals and meet your specific interests.

LLM studentsDuke places special emphasis on building writing skills in English. In addition to a fall semester writing course, an un-graded elective course, the Legal Writing Workshop, is available to LLM students during the spring semester. The workshop is designed to provide additional instruction in U.S. legal correspondence and drafting, and to assist students in writing research papers and preparing for seminar presentations.

Although the Duke Law LLM is not a research degree, students can produce a substantial research paper under faculty supervision either by conducting an independent research project or by enrolling in a seminar.

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photo of Leandro Tavares Correa Pinto ’23, Brazil
Testimonial

Among the factors that influenced me in favor of a Duke decision, the perfect size and diversity of the LLM Class allowed us to create deep and meaningful relations with people from many different places and cultures. Without any doubt, Professor de Fontenay is one of the best professors that I have ever had, with an enviable skill of explaining any matter, regardless of the complexity, with an outstanding didactic.

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Leandro Tavares Correa Pinto ’23, Brazil
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Summer Institute on Law, Language, & Culture
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Duke Law is proud to offer the Summer Institute on Law, Language, & Culture (SILLC). The four-week intensive program takes place at Duke and is designed to introduce international students and visitors coming to Duke to the American law school experience.

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Duke-Leiden Institute
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The Duke-Leiden Institute in Global and Transnational Law is a one-month residential program in Leiden and The Hague, the Netherlands, designed for students and young professionals interested in studying international and comparative law. The Institute, which takes place over four weeks in June and July, also provides an excellent foundation for studying law in the United States. Courses are taught in English by faculty from the United States and from other countries. In previous years, courses have focused on subjects such as international trade, international dispute resolution, human rights, international criminal law, and comparative constitutional law. The Institute enrolls approximately 50 students from Duke and other American law schools, as well as from countries around the world.