BERKELEY LAW · LL.M. GUIDE
Berkeley Law’s Master of Laws (LL.M.) is for law graduates, and its two tracks award the same degree. The Traditional Track is nine months full-time in Berkeley. The Executive Track is built around full-time summers on campus.
2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE PROGRAM
The Traditional Track’s term begins on August 9, 2027, with classes from August 16. On the Executive Track? Get its 2027 teaching dates from Berkeley before you ask your employer for time off.
TRADITIONAL TRACK
Two semesters on campus, from August 2027 to May 2028, with at least 21 units.
EXECUTIVE · REMOTE + SUMMER
From January to December: part-time online courses in spring and fall, about 15 hours a week or less, plus 8 to 10 full-time weeks on campus in summer.
EXECUTIVE · TWO SUMMERS
Two summers in a row, each with 8 to 10 full-time weeks on campus.
The Traditional Track is the only one that can make up a gap in your law degree for New York’s bar exam. Two Summers students can’t use U.S. federal loans at all.
The Traditional Track: 21 units over two semesters, usually 10 to 16 a semester, finished within three years. If your law degree is from outside the U.S., you take Fundamentals of U.S. Law (3 units) and Legal Research and Writing (2 units) in the fall.
Skipping the writing course: With a common-law degree or course taught in English, or at least a year of frequent common-law writing in English that a supervisor confirms, you can ask to take a waiver exam by the first day of Fundamentals. If you pass, you write a paper of at least 15 pages instead. New York’s rule needs 2 credits in legal research and writing, so if you’re aiming for New York, check with Berkeley’s bar advisers before you skip the course.
The Executive Track: 24 units, including Fundamentals of U.S. Law, finished within three years. Remote + Summer students also take 3 writing units and write a 20-page capstone. Two Summers students take 2 writing units and write a 15-page memo in their first summer.
Certificates: They’re optional, within the general LL.M. The Traditional Track has six: Business Law; Law & Technology; Environmental Law; Energy and Clean Technology Law; International Law; and Public Interest and Social Justice. Its Law & Technology certificate takes 9 units of intellectual property and technology courses. The Executive Track has three: Business Law; Law & Technology; and AI Law and Regulation. The last two each take 11 units from their own course lists.
Clinics and journals: Clinics, pro bono work, journals, and advocacy programs are open to LL.M. students, but a place isn’t guaranteed.
Housing: It isn’t included in tuition or guaranteed. You can apply for university housing or find a place of your own, so start looking as soon as you’re admitted.
Health insurance: Every student must have it. You’re enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) automatically unless Berkeley approves a waiver for comparable coverage.
Your visa: LL.M. students usually come on an F-1 student visa, and some on a J-1 exchange visa. After you accept your place, you complete the Berkeley International Office’s Nonimmigrant Information Form (NIF), with your passport, proof of funding, and details of any family coming with you. At busy times, your I-20 or DS-2019, the form you need to apply for the visa, takes two to three weeks after a complete NIF. It arrives by email for you to print and sign, and the NIF no longer has a fee.
Arriving: A visa for a new student can be issued up to 365 days before the program starts, but you can enter the U.S. no more than 30 days before.
Working while you study: On an F-1 visa, campus jobs are limited to 20 hours a week in the fall and spring, and in your first and final summers. A J-1 job needs your sponsor’s written approval first, and federal work-study isn’t open to F-1 or J-1 students.
Internships off campus: Off-campus work needs authorization before you start. Since August 2026, the Berkeley International Office has paused Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for course credit until further notice, and the LL.M. isn’t on its list of eligible programs. A clinic or capstone alone doesn’t make you eligible, so don’t count on off-campus work during the degree.
After you graduate: On the Traditional Track with an F-1 visa, you can apply for OPT from 90 days before to 60 days after you finish, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must receive your application within 30 days of Berkeley’s recommendation. The international office charges $250. You can start work only once you have your Employment Authorization Document (EAD), the work card, and its start date has arrived. OPT allows at most 90 days without a job. Berkeley is updating parts of its OPT guidance, so confirm these steps with the international office before you apply.
UNDERSTAND WHAT BERKELEY LOOKS FOR
In Berkeley’s words, “we admit people, not numbers.”
YOUR LAW DEGREE
You need an accredited professional first degree in law, generally a JD (Juris Doctor) or an LLB (Bachelor of Laws), completed before you enroll.
Letrado’s adviceIf a U.S. bar exam is in your plans, find out now how New York or California will treat your law degree. New York’s answer can decide which track you need.
YOUR REASONS
Berkeley considers your priorities and how well the program fits them, and your personal statement is where you show both.
Letrado’s advicePick one or two Berkeley courses, centers, or professors, and connect each to a question your own work has raised. Naming every famous center tells a reader less than one connection you can explain.
YOUR RECOMMENDERS
Berkeley asks for at least two letters, from professors, employers, colleagues, or internship supervisors who can judge your performance and potential.
Letrado’s advicePlan on two strong letters. Send each recommender the dates and details of the work they saw you do, and let them write every word themselves.
WHAT BERKELEY DESCRIBES
after you submit, the invitation arrives, and Berkeley encourages you to finish within 5 to 7 business days
three video answers of 2 minutes each, and one written answer in 10 minutes
leaving it out doesn’t count against you
Berkeley accepts answers only through Kira, the platform it uses for the assessment.
WHAT NEW YORK’S BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS SAYS
Your law degree meets your country’s education rules for practicing law, matches the length of a U.S. law degree, and is substantively equivalent to a legal education in English common law. You don’t need to be admitted at home, but you need proof from your country’s authorities that your degree meets those rules.
Your degree meets your country’s education rules for practicing law but falls short on length or on content, not both. A qualifying U.S. LL.M. can make up that gap.
Your degree falls short on both. Ask the Board about other routes, such as a U.S. JD.
The New York State Board of Law Examiners decides each case from your records, and first-time candidates educated abroad need its advance evaluation. A UK law conversion course doesn’t automatically count as a qualifying degree, even when it’s called an LLB.
A qualifying LL.M. is studied on the U.S. campus of a law school approved by the American Bar Association (ABA): at least 24 credits within 24 months, including two semesters of at least 13 weeks outside the summer, with no more than 4 summer credits. It includes 2 credits each in professional responsibility, legal research and writing, and the U.S. legal system, and 6 in subjects the bar tests. Bar-preparation courses and independent research don’t count.
If you’re relying on an LL.M., the Board needs your foreign records by May 1 before a February exam, or by October 1 before a July exam. They must come straight from your university or the issuing authority, sealed.
Passing the exam isn’t admission. Under the current rules, you also need the New York Law Exam, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), a character and fitness review, 50 hours of pro bono work, and a skills requirement. New York switches to the NextGen bar exam, a new version of the test, in July 2028, so check the Board’s rules for that exam before you rely on this list.
WHAT THE STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA SAYS
Full, unrestricted admission in another U.S. or foreign jurisdiction, in good standing, can qualify you for the general bar exam with no more legal education.
A first law degree equivalent to a U.S. JD, or one that meets your country’s education rules for practicing law, plus a year at an approved U.S. law school, such as an LL.M. of at least 20 units including professional responsibility.
Longer routes, which can include the First-Year Law Students’ Examination and a U.S. JD or four years of registered law study.
On the LL.M. route, you also need an approved evaluation of your degree, or a qualifying report from the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service. California suggests three courses (12 units) in subjects the bar tests. You finish within 36 months, and your final transcript has to be mailed, sealed, to the State Bar in Los Angeles, not sent electronically.
If you’re admitted abroad, you register with the State Bar and mail an original certificate of good standing issued within the last six months. Foreign admission alone doesn’t qualify you for California’s shorter Attorneys’ Examination, which needs at least four years of active admission in another U.S. jurisdiction. You also need the MPRE, the professional responsibility exam, and a moral character review. California moves to the NextGen exam in July 2028.
WHAT BERKELEY DESCRIBES
Berkeley’s professional-development advisers offer counseling, workshops, and networking, not job placement. Most LL.M. alumni work in private law firms around the world, and others work in-house at companies, in government, or in public-interest law. Berkeley describes U.S. openings as limited.
While you’re enrolled, you can take part in New York University’s International Student Interview Program if your first law degree is from outside both the U.S. and Canada. If yours is from Canada, ask the career advisers whether you can join. Berkeley’s August on-campus interviews for JD students aren’t open to LL.M. students.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
You apply through LSAC, the Law School Admission Council, and every applicant uses its LL.M. Credential Assembly Service (CAS) for records. Each track and start date needs its own application, and you normally can’t switch tracks once you’re admitted, so settle your choice first.
Executive Track · Remote + Summer
Nov 16, 2026Traditional Track · priority
Dec 1, 2026Traditional Track · regular
Feb 1, 2027Executive Track · Two Summers
Mar 15, 2027Dates without a year are as Berkeley Law lists them. Confirm each deadline’s closing time with admissions.
After the priority deadline, you can still ask by email for the Traditional Track’s $80 fee to be waived.
Your universities send sealed or stamped records, with LSAC’s Transcript Request Form, straight to LSAC, not to Berkeley or through you. Berkeley accepts literal English translations by anyone.
A statement of up to three double-spaced pages, and a CV of about two pages.
Your recommenders send them through LSAC.
The TOEFL iBT (the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System), if English isn’t your primary language.
Minimum scores: TOEFL iBT 5.0 on the 1–6 scale TOEFL introduced in January 2026, with at least 4.5 in speaking and writing. For a TOEFL taken before January 20, 2026, the minimum is 100 on the old 0–120 scale. IELTS 7.0, with at least 6.5 in speaking and writing.
Which versions count: TOEFL iBT Home Edition and IELTS Online are accepted. TOEFL MyBest scores, TOEFL ITP, IELTS Indicator, and IELTS One Test Retake results aren’t, and neither are Cambridge English tests or the Duolingo English Test.
Sending scores: Scores must be less than two years old when you apply. Send TOEFL scores to LSAC, code 8395.
A formal waiver: You can ask for one in your application if English is your native language, if you’ve completed at least one academic year of full-time study at a U.S. university with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 (a B average), or if you’ve completed at least two full-time years of a degree at a university outside the U.S. that teaches only in English. If you qualify through your studies, your records must be in LSAC. Work experience in English doesn’t count, and a waiver isn’t automatic, so ask admissions before you skip the test.
LSAC’s fees: $45 for the electronic application service, $63 for document assembly, and $38 for each report sent to a law school. LSAC doesn’t waive them, though a school may offer a coupon. Berkeley recommends LSAC’s International Transcript Authentication and Evaluation Service ($159), but doesn’t require it.
Getting started: Berkeley suggests setting up your LSAC account four to six weeks before you apply. Materials sent by a deadline can be processed after it, but the priority benefits need your application complete by the priority deadline.
Translations: Bar authorities set stricter rules than Berkeley: New York needs a certified translator and won’t accept your own translation. If New York is in your plans, a certified translation from the start saves doing it twice.
Executive Track: Decisions generally come two to three weeks after your file is complete. If you apply to both Executive formats by the Remote + Summer deadline, you’ll generally get both decisions at the same time.
Traditional Track: Decisions are rolling. A complete priority application gets its decision by January 15, and most decisions come by early March 2027.
Your deposit: If you’re admitted, a $1,000 seat deposit holds your place. It isn’t refundable, and it counts toward your first term’s tuition. Ask admissions for your deadline to pay it, and whether you can defer, before you turn down another offer.
Reconsideration: Berkeley reconsiders a denial in the same cycle only for an error outside your control that you raise promptly.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
Up to three double-spaced pagesIn 11-point type with 1-inch margins.
Berkeley wants your own thinking and your own words. Other people can give “basic proofreading or critiquing,” and nothing more. Generative AI isn’t allowed in any written part of your application except the optional AI exercise.
Letrado’s adviceBerkeley’s rules are stricter than ours, so anyone’s feedback, ours included, stays at basic proofreading and critique. We can still help you choose a track, plan your bar route, and brief your recommenders.
Berkeley suggests writing about the parts of your background, potential, and perspectives that mean the most to you; why you want advanced legal study now; your professional or public-good ambitions; and the Berkeley fields, faculty, or centers that connect to your goals. These are suggestions, not separate questions to answer one by one.
There’s no formal page limit, but two pages are generally enough. Berkeley suggests putting education first. Links are fine, but extra attachments and images aren’t.
The questions ask, for example, how you’d check AI’s accuracy, where your own judgment took over, and when you’d decide against using it. Name your question and disclose every prompt you used. This is the only part of the application where you use AI, and skipping it costs you nothing.
Atticus, for applicants to the AI certificate, asks about your interest in AI and law, and how the degree supports your career and the legal community. Its essay goes in your LL.M. application. African Legal Impact asks how the degree will help you make a positive impact on communities in Africa. Ask admissions whether that essay goes in your application or comes after you’re admitted.
If you answer yes to a character and fitness question, add a detailed addendum, double-spaced in 11-point type, and update it if anything changes.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
That’s for fall 2026 and spring 2027, and California residents pay the same. On the Executive Track, Berkeley lists $79,961.75 in tuition and fees for Remote + Summer students who started in spring 2026. For other starts, ask the financial aid office.
MOST AWARDS
You’re considered for most awards when you apply. They pay toward tuition only, and they can’t move from one track to the other.
TRADITIONAL TRACK
A few full-tuition awards too, such as the single Robbins award, for superior academics and a first law degree from a civil-law country. Fulbright nominees can receive a $10,000 to $50,000 supplement.
EXECUTIVE TRACK
$20,000 Global Reach awards for underrepresented countries, and $15,000 awards for listed countries in Latin America and Asia Pacific. Young Lawyers awards, also $15,000, are for lawyers with three to seven years of work after law school and an interest in business, intellectual property, or technology.
On the Executive Track, a first degree or home in one of the United Nations’ least-developed countries can bring half tuition. If you have a competing offer, you can ask Berkeley to reconsider your award, but it doesn’t promise to match.
LL.M. scholarships (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED 2026–27 TUITION AND FEES · TRADITIONAL TRACK
$84,637Berkeley’s separate living budget for the same year is $47,246, including health insurance of $4,103 a semester, and books.
For August 2027 entry, use the 2027–28 figures once Berkeley sets them, usually in July.
LL.M. cost of attendance (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceBerkeley settles its awards before you start, and there’s no extra scholarship aid once you’re enrolled. For scholarship priority, have your Traditional Track application complete by the priority deadline, or ask admissions for the Executive Track’s priority date.
ADMITTED TO BERKELEY LAW · C.S.
She was a junior lawyer qualified in Italy, at a mid-sized Milan firm, doing contract review, regulatory research, and due diligence for clients from small technology companies to established manufacturers. She had contributed to cross-border matters but had never led a major case, and her thesis was in comparative contract law, not technology.
A general wish for an international network didn’t explain the timing, the cost, or what the degree would be worth when she went back to work.
Again and again, her matters raised the same uncertainty: how technology regulation interacts across European and cross-border commercial work.
She weighed course flexibility, research expectations, the cohort, the length, the jurisdiction, and the route back to European practice.
Berkeley’s two tracks (opens in a new tab) differ in length, time on campus, and the bar routes they support. Compare them as C.S. compared her programs: on length, and on where you’ll practice.
AI illustrationHER BERKELEY OUTCOME
Offered a place in Berkeley Law’s LL.M.
HER CHOICE: CAMBRIDGEKing’s College Chapel, University of Cambridge · Photo: Andreas Praefcke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Cropped.
Berkeley offered real strength in technology, but she planned to return to practice in Europe with more cross-border responsibility, and Cambridge fit that plan best.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
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