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Boston College Law School

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Official Guide to LLM, Master’s, and Certificate Programs

Introduction.

Our students are immersed in the JD student community, take their classes alongside JD students, and work with international scholars and experts to better understand the latest international business practices, rules of law, and global developments. 

Our LLM program features flexibility, breadth, and depth: students can choose from an array of courses—both introductory and advanced—to build their knowledge, skills, and networks. They can also specialize their studies by pursuing a concentration in one of five areas:

• Business and commercial law
• Environmental law
• Human rights
• Intellectual property

We also have significant strengths in international law, constitutional law, gender and family law, and legal history. LLM students can cross-register for courses in Boston College’s other graduate schools and university departments as well.

Because our program immerses students in the US legal system while preparing them to thrive in an increasingly global legal community, our graduates pursue diverse career opportunities. Private practice, government service, the judiciary, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and legal scholarship are just some of the areas in which they work.

Faculty and Curriculum

BC Law faculty are highly regarded published scholars and leaders in the profession, recognized nationally and internationally for their expertise. But first and foremost, they are leaders and mentors in the classroom. Their dedication is illustrated by the time spent with students long after office hours have ended. The faculty believes in the importance of a legal education designed to enable graduates to adapt to the changing demands of law practice, supported by a strong skills-based approach that gives students real-world experience in the practice of law.

Experiential Learning

Clinical programs include

• Amicus Brief Clinic
• Civil Litigation Clinic
• Community Enterprise Clinic
• Criminal Justice Program (Prosecutors and BC Defenders)
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic
• Housing Law Clinic
• Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project
• Immigration Clinic
• Innocence Program
• Ninth Circuit Appellate Program (CA)
• Prison Disciplinary Clinic

Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy

BC Law has an extensive track record in training public policy leaders locally and nationally. The new Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy provides educational programs, career mentoring, and financial support to law students interested in government and public policy. The center focuses on public policy issues affecting Greater Boston and Massachusetts and houses both the popular Rappaport Fellows Program in Law and Public Policy, which provides 12 paid summer internships to talented law students from seven Greater Boston law schools, and the Rappaport Distinguished Public Policy Series at BC Law, which conducts scholarly research and hosts lectures, debates, and roundtable discussions on public policy issues with the region’s leading policy makers and thought leaders. The center also brings in the Rappaport Distinguished Lecturer, who teaches a special course and participates in various public and private lectures and events during the year. Last year’s distinguished lecturer was former governor and Democratic candidate for president Martin O’Malley. This year, the distinguished lecturers are former US Attorney Carmen Ortiz (fall) and MA Supreme Judicial Court Justice Geraldine Hines (spring).

The dedicated staff at the Boston College Office of Residential Life’s Off-Campus Housing Office provides services and resources to all graduate students in their housing search. Each year, the Office of Residential Life hosts a housing fair to help in the search for housing in local neighborhoods. The Roommate Finder and Roommate Locator are online databases for students seeking roommates to occupy a current or new apartment. For more information about housing for law students, please contact the Off-Campus Housing Office at 617.552.3075 or visit Housing .

Library and Physical Facilities

The BC Law campus is designed to foster the growth of community and to provide a learning environment that allows for both formal and informal interaction among faculty, students, and staff. The law library encourages individual or group study, with its desk and lounge areas, computer centers, audiovisual resource rooms, and private study rooms. With its soaring atrium entry and light-filled spaces, the East Wing includes classrooms and faculty offices, administrative offices for a career services center and a career resources library, two conference rooms, and the John J. and Mary Daly Curtin Center for Public Interest Law (a suite of offices for student groups working on public service projects). The East Wing’s brick exterior complements the law library and the Stuart House administration building, as well as the Barat House building, home of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy. The three buildings form an attractive courtyard for outdoor use by the law school community. The school’s Center for Experiential Learning is housed in the Smith Wing and provides a central location for students, faculty, and clients working together on clinical and externship programs. All academic, administrative, library, and service facilities are accessible to persons with physical disabilities. View an online virtual tour .

Student Life and Diversity

BC Law is a unique community focused upon the development of the whole person, nurturing students not just academically, but socially and spiritually as well. The school has a vibrant social life. The Law Student Association (LSA) and 50 other active student groups host many scholarly events during the year, including distinguished speakers and lecturers, relevant film screenings and discussion panels, and jointly sponsored events during Diversity Month, such as Culture Shock, which examines the role of privilege in society. The school holds a welcome reception in the fall, as well as dean’s office-hosted events (such as Oktoberfest and Harvest Desserts), town meetings, and mentoring programs with faculty and alumni. BC Law has an extensive Academic Success program, as well as a Public Interest Designation program and a pro bono program that centralizes activities and encourages students to explore pro bono opportunities, with participants acknowledged at graduation.

BC Law has an associate dean for external relations, diversity, and inclusion who focuses on assisting our diverse students in acclimating to law school and the legal profession through special events and workshops, as well as pipeline programs with law firms, corporations, and nonprofits. For more information, visit Diversity & Inclusion .

Public Interest

Home to the John and Mary Daly Curtin Center for Public Interest Law programs, BC Law has a long, celebrated tradition of public service. The Office of Career Services has a dedicated director of public interest programs who helps coordinate the school’s various efforts (including the Public Interest Designation program, Pro Bono program, spring break trips to Navajo Nation, immigration-focused projects, and service to areas of need such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina) and advises students pursuing careers in public service.

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Latest stories from the record.

Building a Family Far from Home

Breaking Law Review Barriers

Criminal Law Challenger

New Practicum Builds on Antiracism Efforts at BU Law

Students work on racial justice projects with community partners in experiential course taught by Caitlin Glass.

Boston university school of law, why bu law.

Boston University School of Law is one of the nation’s top law schools with a history of excellence dating back to 1872. Our faculty are consistently recognized for exceptional teaching, preeminent scholarship, and transformative mentorship. With more than 25,000 alumni living in all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the world, our graduates have access to a vast global network that contributes to their professional success. The BU Law complex, comprised of the state-of-the-art Sumner M. Redstone Building and adjoining 17-story tower, is located in the heart of Boston overlooking the Charles River.

Health Law Program U.S. News & World Report

Best Classroom Experience Princeton Review

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Intellectual Property Law U.S. News & World Report

Recent Stories

Check out some recent stories about our students, faculty, and alumni from  The Record,  the magazine of Boston University School of Law

Tobias Keil (LLM’24) goes the extra mile to create community for the American Law Program.

Incoming Law Review editor Crystal Hsu (’25) draws inspiration from pioneering editor-in-chief Clara Burrill Bruce (1926)

Associate Professor Zohra Ahmed encourages her students to question legal institutions.

A Calling to Criminal Defense Law

Shira diner strives to make an impact on the criminal legal system on a case-by-case and student-by-student basis..

Representing the Underdogs

Madeline meth collaborates with clinic students to defend vulnerable clients in court..

Reflecting on 2023

Key moments from this year..

BU Law Student Advocates for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Madeline comer (’25) interned at the boston area rape crisis center this past summer with support from the new bu program on reproductive justice..

Drawing on Law to Study AI

Researcher vasanth sarathy (’10) is exploring how ai algorithms can be deployed to flag and counteract misinformation online, in part by identifying spurious arguments., explore areas of practice.

With more than 200 courses and seminars—one of the most extensive course catalogs of any law school in the country—you'll be able to prepare for a career in a broad variety of practice areas.

Privacy and Technology Law

BU Law offers a unique clinic focused on intellectual property and privacy and technology law: the BU/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic (SILC). In this clinic, law students work with entrepreneurs from BU and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on legal and regulatory issues.

Banking & Financial Law

Courses range from foundational offerings that cover the banking and financial services industries in the United States and across the world to more in-depth classes that focus on specific topics such as hedge funds or charitable organizations.

Corporate, Business & Transactional Law

Corporate, business, and transactional law is a far-reaching practice area that encompasses all the legal aspects of commercial activity.

Administrative, Regulatory & Public Law

Administrative and Regulatory Law courses consider government regulation of private activity and affects regulated industries, such as banking, insurance, and health care. Public Law concerns the structure of government.

Family Law, Gender & Sexuality

Foundational courses provide an overview of the case law, statutes, and constitutional underpinnings that shape the government’s role in regulating family life as well as the laws surrounding estate planning and inheritance.

Intellectual Property

BU Law offers several foundational courses covering the major components of intellectual property law, including copyright, patent, trademark, unfair competition, and trade secret. It is also the only law school in the country to offer a clinic focused on intellectual property and the related field of privacy and technology law: BU/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic (SILC).

International & Comparative Law

At BU Law, students can choose from dozens of courses in public international law, which covers the relations between countries; private international law, which deals with cross-border business transactions; and comparative law, which focuses on the laws of other countries.

Race, Racism, and the Law

Race and the Law courses are broken down into those that take an anti-racist approach to lawyering, exploring ways to produce or sustain racial equity; and courses that examine opinions, statutes, and other legal materials that address issues of race or racism, including civil rights laws.

Employment & Labor Law

The foundational employment and labor law curriculum covers a wide range of issues including affirmative action, religious discrimination, constitutional protections for public-sector workers, and anti-retaliation and whistleblower laws.

Immigration & Human Rights Law

The curriculum at BU Law covers deportation, asylum, naturalization, and citizenship questions and has vast experiential courses, including the International Human Rights Clinic and the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program.

Legal History & Jurisprudence

Since its founding in 1872, BU Law has offered courses on legal history and jurisprudence, allowing students to grapple with some of the fundamental questions at the heart of legal systems, including the definition of law, its underlying authority, and judicial powers.

Entertainment & Sports Law

At BU Law, courses on entertainment and sports law delve into subjects ranging from publicity rights and defamation to invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, antitrust principles, and labor law.

Criminal Law

The criminal law program at BU Law encompasses not only foundational criminal procedure and evidence courses but also a wide range of clinical offerings in which students handle actual cases in court.

Housing, Real Estate & Land Use

The BU Law curriculum offers courses on nearly every facet of housing, real estate, and land use, including landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities, environmental and tax implications, and affordable housing development.

Civil Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution

Lawyers increasingly need skills in alternative dispute resolution. BU Law offers students a wide array of courses designed to prepare them for proceedings inside and outside the courtroom.

BU Law offers a unique program addressing the critical legal issues in health today. Located in one of the world’s life sciences epicenters, BU Law’s health law program is ranked #1, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Environmental Law

Massachusetts has long been at the forefront of environmental issues, including through litigation brought by the Attorney General’s Office where BU Law students regularly work as interns or externs.

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law courses cover both traditional legal topics, such as constitutional history and theory, federalism, and judicial review, as well as those that examine legal frameworks through the lens of social identity and social movements.

In The Media

Our faculty experts weigh in with opinions and expertise in local, national, and international media outlets.

Politicians and Nonprofits Will Struggle to Keep AI in Check—but Corporate Boards Can’t Afford to Fail

Jeffrey Saviano pens an opinion.

Nationally Recognized Leader in Professional Responsibility Nancy Moore to Be Honored with the Sanford D. Levy Award

Nancy Moore to be honored with the New York State Bar Sanford D. Levy Award.

4.95 Million People Die from Treatable Infections Annually. A New Project Tells Their Stories

Kevin Outterson is featured.

Intimidating Judges Harms Judicial Independence

Angelo Petrigh co-authors a piece.

BU Law Events

Browse our most recent events below, or view the full events calendar .

LCL Recovery Day 2024

Bu law alumni reception in orange county.

Why Study in Boston?

The reasons are numerous. For starters, Boston is a global center of education and research. The city is also a major hub for law, business, medicine, technology, and government. It's an international city with vibrant cultural, art, social, and entertainment communities. It comprises an eclectic mix of  neighborhoods, from historic to quirky to trendy, with a wide range of housing options for students. The list goes on.

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2023-24 Academic Calendar

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The show must go on, though virtual, law day this year was a little like watching a string of movie shorts: presenters and the recipients of the seven awards told stories of their achievements and expressed their gratitude, all while viewers got to see classmates and friends on their home screens. this year’s pinnacle honor, the st. thomas more award, […].

Summer 2021

Summer 2021 Open Issue

Though virtual, Law Day this year was a little like watching a string of movie shorts: Presenters and the recipients of the seven awards told stories of their achievements and expressed their gratitude, all while viewers got to see classmates and friends on their home screens.

This year’s pinnacle honor, the St. Thomas More Award, went to Paul Dacier, a BC parent and the executive vice president and general counsel of Indigo Agriculture, Inc. His start-up agricultural technology company has been referred to as “the world’s most disruptive technology company.” Dacier has committed those same trailblazing talents to bettering BC Law as former chair and now member of the Dean’s Advisory Board.

Rita-Anne O’Neill ’04 received the William J. Kenealy, SJ, Alumna of the Year Award. Co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s global private equity group and deeply involved in the legal community, she has held leadership roles at the ABA, including on committees dealing with women’s initiatives and mergers and acquisitions. Her pro bono activities are also extensive.

The Daniel G. Holland Lifetime Achievement Award went to two alumni this year for their significant contributions to the Law School community. The winners happen to be husband and wife: Evelynne L. Swagerty ’84, retired as senior vice president and general counsel at Bank of America, and Hon. Wilbur P. Edwards Jr. ’84, retired associate justice of the Housing Court. Both have been unfailing law school supporters and have served on the BC Law Alumni Council and Black Alumni Network, among numerous other activities.

The Special Service Award was bestowed posthumously to Associate Clinical Professor Alexis J. Anderson, who joined BC Law in 1983. A beloved teacher and colleague, she served in many capacities, including as director of LAB for five years, director for the Disability Benefits Project, and teacher of numerous courses.

Sophia L. Hall ’12 won the Recent Graduate Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements of a graduate from the past five to ten years. She is an attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston. As a litigator, she represents people of color and immigrant women. Her employment and police conduct work is regularly featured in publications such as the New York Times and Boston Globe .

Chairs of Law Day 2021 were Susan M. Finegan ’91 and James McDermott ’80.

To view the awards, visit sites.bc.edu/law-day .

Law Day 2021 Sponsors

• Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo PC
• Conn, Kavanaugh, Rosenthal, Peisch & Lord LLP
• Edward Hanley ’86
• Goulston & Storrs PC
• Hemenway & Barnes LLP
• Liberty Mutual Insurance  
• Beck Reed Riden LLP
• Locke Lord LLP
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
• Witmer, Karp, Warner & Ryan LLP

HONORABLE MENTION

• Adler Pollock & Sheehen PC

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