As a student pursuing your JD degree here at John Marshall, you are in a unique situation to focus your education on federal income tax law.  Joint degree candidates can count the first 10 LL.M. level credits as J.D. elective credits, and will have a separate GPA in the LL.M. degree program. Your marketability is enhanced with an LL.M. degree.

Being accepted as a joint degree student usually only adds about a semester or two to your overall law school education and experience.  However, you decide if you will graduate and receive the J.D. degree and then complete the LL.M. degree requirements (you will be eligible to sit for a bar exam upon earning your J.D.) or you can graduate on the same day with both degrees.

We are extremely proud of the depth and breadth of the materials covered in the curriculum and the quality of teaching. As a result of the continuous input from our faculty and Advisory board, the curriculum remains timely, focused and relevant to the field of employee benefits law.

Joint J.D./LL.M. candidates must complete 80 J.D. credits from the John Marshall catalogue (including all required J.D. courses) plus a total of 24 credit hours from the LL.M. Tax Law catalogue, including certain required courses and a variety of elective classes and externships or practicums. Up to 6 elective LL.M. credit hours can be taken from the Employee Benefits curriculum, or with appropriate approvals, from any of the other Centers for Excellence at John Marshall. Additionally, each student must submit a publishable research paper.

The student body is diverse, some with little exposure to employee benefits law, while others are practicing daily in the area. To accommodate students, classes are held in the late afternoon and evenings, and on Saturdays. One-week accelerated courses are also offered during the summer.

Students may choose to pursue a general degree track, or one of the four specialization tracks offered under the LLM tax program:

• Corporate Taxation 
• Estate & Personal Financial Planning 
• Taxation of Closely Held Businesses 
• Employee Benefits

Required LL.M. Tax Law classes

Elective Tax Law classes

Graduate Tax Law Externships and Practica

General information for all JMLS joint degree candidates