The John Marshall Law School is pleased to announce its new LLM program in Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution following the acquiescence of the program this week by the American Bar Association.
The LLM degree program, beginning in the fall 2011 semester, will complement the law school’s outstanding nationally-ranked program in trial advocacy. The law school already offers its J.D. students certificate programs in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and trial advocacy.
“We are excited to be able to offer this new LLM program that includes in its focus the use of new electronic technology and data management programs that have become such an integral part of the practice of law today,” said Dean John E. Corkery.
The law school has been planning to expand its trial advocacy and dispute resolution offerings for more than a year. Clinical Professor Susann MacLachlan, director of the Center for Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, spearheaded the formulation of the 24-credit-hour program and worked with the faculty Curriculum Committee in developing the 20 new courses.
“This new LLM in Trial Advocacy and ADR supports the law school’s mission to educate and train attorneys with broad skills to meet the challenges of the legal profession and is consistent with emerging trends in the national law school community,” MacLachlan explained. “We see it as imperative that John Marshall, with its long history of teaching trial skills and ADR training, be a vanguard of this movement.”
The curriculum will include required courses in Advanced Scientific Evidence, Expert Witnesses, Litigation Technology, Models of Dispute Resolution, and Negotiation Theory and Practice in Primarily Pre-Trial Scenarios. Students will be able to select from 15 electives covering such topics as discovery, aviation law, jury selection and victims in criminal procedure.
Students will be able to choose three of the electives courses—Prosecutorial Ethics, Media Relations and the Advocate, and Environmental Crimes and Prosecution—as online offerings.
The law school now will offer a joint JD/LLM program giving JD students the option of earning an LLM in just one additional year by counting up to 10 credits in the LLM program toward JD requirements.
“This new degree will be a wonderful addition to our outstanding programs,” said MacLachlan.
In addition, John Marshall has developed a strong negotiations and dispute resolution program. Courses in the LLM program, including Administrative Law Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Family Law Mediation and International Conflict Resolution are designed to offer students an option for assisting clients outside the courtroom.
Each class will have a limited enrollment. Outstanding adjunct professors who can share their courtroom and mediation skills will be teaching the LLM classes.
“Our research indicated that regionally there are few opportunities for law students or practitioners to earn an advanced degree in trial advocacy or dispute resolution,” MacLachlan said. Of the dozen Midwest regional law schools, only one offers a similar LLM program, and nationally only five schools offer LLM programs that focused on trial advocacy, dispute resolution or a combination of both.
To learn more about the LLM in Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution or to receive information on enrolling, contact Silvia Rodriguez, assistant director of Graduate Admission at 312.360.2658 or srodrigu@jmls.edu.