The role and application of intellectual property (IP) law is rapidly changing in today’s global and digital marketplace. Practicing in the growing area of law now requires a higher level of specialized knowledge and skills to compete in the legal marketplace. Recent graduates earning LLM degrees from the nationally ranked IP program at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago are experiencing firsthand the advantages the advanced law degree is giving their career.
“A J.D. from John Marshall says that I’m a lawyer, but my LLM says that I’m a lawyer with a specialty,” recent LLM graduate Ross Hersemann said. “I chose John Marshall for my LLM in intellectual property because of their nationally recognized program, their extensive alumni network, and the dedication of their practitioner professors who teach practical skills from day one.”
Hersemann does trademark work in the Chicago area and recently launched his own website, which focuses on legal issues in video games.
Joseph Klocke, who graduated with his LLM in IP law this spring, felt an LLM degree was important to make him stand out from other job applicants.
“In a saturated legal market, having an LLM really elevated my resume and appealed to employers,” Klocke said. “Additionally, because of the fact that I earned the degree at John Marshall, a top-ranked program in the nation, I knew that I had the requisite knowledge to begin my practice in intellectual property law.”
Doris Estelle Long, director of the Center for Intellectual Property, Information & Privacy Law, noted that John Marshall’s IP program is a trailblazer in the field and has an outstanding reputation for understanding the needs of both employers and students. .
“We offer over 50 courses and specialized training in ‘hot areas’ such as biotechnology patents, IP in business start-ups, intellectual property and information security, and asset valuation,” Long said. “And with night, weekend and online course offerings, we give our working attorneys a lot of flexibility to complete their degree on their own schedule.”
John Marshall’s program draws students from around the U.S. and the globe. It has partnered with IP lawyers in the People’s Republic of China for 20 years, and conducts an ABA-approved summer program in China directed exclusively to IP issues.
John Marshall also is one of 42 law schools in the country to participate in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Law School Clinic Certification Program. It is the only law school in Illinois whose USPTO program focuses on both patent and trademark practice areas.
Click here for more information about John Marshall’s LLM programs, or please contact Christine Kraly at ckraly@jmls.edu.
