LLM Program (Masters of Law) in Real Estate Law for Lawyers

Program Requirements:

To earn an LLM in Real Estate Law, students must complete a total of 24 credit hours, including 14 credit hours of required course work. The LLM Program can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis. All required courses are offered once each academic year either during the fall or spring semesters. Electives are offered periodically but not every year. Full-time students who intend to earn their LLM in Real Estate Law in two semesters need to take required courses when offered. Two credit-hour courses meet either two hours per week for 14 weeks or three hours per week for 9 weeks. Three credit-hour classes meet three hours per week for a period of 14 weeks.  Classes are held during late afternoons, evenings and on Saturdays. Full-time LLM students may earn their degree in an academic year. Part-Time LLM students often complete the degree in 2 to 3 years, but have 5 years in which to complete requirements.

New students may start in the Fall or Spring Semester.

No thesis is required for graduation, but students are encouraged to undertake an Independent Research Project and to write a publishable article.

Courses and Curriculum:

The curriculum, developed with input from an Advisory Board of practicing attorneys and respected professionals in the industry, covers all substantive areas of commercial real estate law and integrates skills training. Thus it enables students to gain an in-depth understanding of commercial real estate law and practice. The courses help students develop the ability to ask the right questions to quickly cut to the heart of the issues.

Course materials include the forms and materials real estate attorneys actually use to document and close transactions.  The courses and curriculum emphasize and respond to the transactional nature of real estate practice and law.

The Real Estate Legal Practicum is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the practice of real estate law by completing an externship in a law firm, corporate law department, non-profit organization or government agency under the supervision of experienced commercial real estate practitioners.  Through the Real Estate Legal Practicum, Center students have worked at law offices including Freeborn & Peters, Ticor Title, Motorola, Hinshaw & Culbertson, and Holland & Knight.

Required LLM courses are: Commercial Real Estate Transactions; Drafting & Negotiations Skills Workshop; Federal Income Tax Aspects of Real Estate; Real Estate Finance; Environmental Controls and Concerns Affecting Real Estate; and Leasing, Ownership and Management.

Elective LLM courses, offered periodically, include: Affordable Housing; Alternative Means of Dispute Resoultion; Bankruptcy and Insolvency Laws Affecting Real Estate; Condominium, Cooperative and Other Common Ownership Interest Communities; Construction Law; Energy Law; Fair Housing/Fair Lending Law; Historic Preservation Law; Insurance Aspects of Real Estate Transactions; International Aspects of Real Estate; Land Use Control and Zoning; Natural Resources Law; Public Finance; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Litigation; Securitization of Real Estate; Seminar on Selected Topics in Commercial Real Estate Finance and Development; Seminar on Selected Topics in Local Government Law and Policy; Seminar on Selected Topics in Sustainability; Sustainability in Modern Real Estate Transactions.

Only elective courses are offered in summer. Here is a suggested schedule for a student planning to earn an LLM in two semesters:

Fall Semester:

Commercial Real Estate Transactions (3)
Real Estate Finance (3)
Federal Income Tax Aspects of Real Estate (2)*
Real Estate Elective Course (2)
Real Estate Elective Course (2)

Spring Semester:

Environmental Controls & Concerns Affecting Real Estate (2)
Leasing, Ownership and Management (2)
Drafting & Negotiation Skills Workshop (2)
Real Estate Elective Course (2)
Real Estate Elective Course (2)
Real Estate Elective Course (2)

Total Credits after 1 Year:  24

*Students who did not take a course in Federal Income Taxation must take Introduction to Federal Income Tax (1) before taking Federal income Tax Aspects of Real Estate (2).

LLM Courses Earn Attorneys CLE Credit.  Because John Marshall is an American Bar Association accredited law school, attorneys who take LLM courses after admission to practice earn CLE credit from their LLM courses based on the actual number of class hours attended. The Registrar's office provides students with a certificate at the end of each semester evidencing the CLE credit earned.

For more information about the Center for Real Estate Law, please contact us with a specific question or request information.