LL.M. Curriculum

Thurgood Marshall School of Law offers an LL.M. Program concentrated on Immigration and Naturalization Law.  This LL.M. Program is the first of its kind in the United States.

The mission of the LL.M. Program is to further the law school’s commitment to excellence by providing specialized academic and practical training for law graduates, to equip them with an array of skills required to effectively practice, identify and solve complex problems and participate in policy making in the field of Immigration and Naturalization Law.

The LL.M. Degree is a natural complement to Thurgood Marshall School of Law's Juris Doctor (J.D. Program which is heralded for its institutional reputation for expertise in the field, including the continual success of its Institute for International and Immigration Law.  TMSL maximizes its reputation such that the law school impacts and influences the practice of law.

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Course of Study

 Students enrolled in the Master of Laws (LL.M.) Immigration and Nationality Law Program are required to take 24 credit hours of immigration law courses for graduation. However, LL.M. students may opt to take additional courses to satisfy Rule 13 of the Supreme Court of Texas Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas. Both the 24 credit hours of required immigration law courses and the elective Texas Bar examination required courses must be completed within two academic years (24 months) from the date of matriculation in the LL.M. Program.

 

Courses Satisfying LL.M. in Immigration and Nationality Law Degree's 24 Hours Graduation Requirement:
Course Code	Title	Credit Hours
Law550	Advanced Immigration Law	3
Law551	Advanced Immigration Practice	3
Law552	Advanced Practice 1-140’s	3
Law553	Immigration Externship	4
Law554	Employment Visas Professionals	3
Law555	Employment Visas Executive	3
Law556	Non Traditional Immigration/Nonimmigrant Visas	3
Law557	Employment Perm Resident Prof.	3
Law558	Immigration Law Practice Management	3
Law560	Immigration Law Research and Writing	3
Law561	Crimes and Immigration Laws	3
Law562	Consular Practice-Visa denials, Bars and Hardship Waivers	3
Law563	Immigration and Naturalization	3
Law564	Family Based Immigration	3
Law565	Asylum and Refugee Law	3
Law755	Immigration Law	3
Law762	International Human Rights	3
Law764	Immigration Law	3
Law779	Immigration and Nationality Law (Survey)	3
Law971	Appeals in Immigration	3
LL.M. students may be permitted to enroll in the following J.D. courses to satisfy the 24 credit hours immigration law graduation requirement. The enrollment is subject to the approval of the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the J.D. priority registration rule.
Course Code	Title	Credit Hours
Law760	International Law	3
Law774	International Criminal Law	3
Law844	Sem: Human Rights	3
Law933 and Law934	Administrative Law Clinic: Immigration	6

 

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Supreme Court of Texas Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas

Refer to Rule 13, Page 20: https://ble.texas.gov/txrulebook

Foreign Students Intending to take the Texas Bar Exam:

Note: Exemption of law student for foreign applicants to the Texas Bar:

The Texas Board of Bar Examiners Rule 13, LLM Curricular Criteria, §8 (Applicants from other Jurisdictions) is strictly followed. Under the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas, an applicant must satisfy the law study requirement by graduation with a J.D. degree or its equivalent from an approved law school. (Rule III a). However, one of the exemption to this rule for the foreign applicant is that if they: (1) completed a coursework in an accredited foreign law school; (2) authorized to practice law in the foreign jurisdiction; and (3) completed an LL.M. degree that meets the curricular requirements of §9 at an approved U.S. law school. (Rule 8, §3-4).

The following is a summary of the LL.M. Criteria §9, (a) (Rule 2-8) Minimum of 24 semester credit hours:

1. Minimum of 700 minutes of instruction time per 1 credit hour given
2. Two semesters of 13 calendar weeks each
3. Not exclusively summer semesters, but maximum of 4 credits may be earned during summer.
4. Must finish program within 24 months of matriculation
5. All coursework to be completed on campus, unless Law school petition to the Board for an exception
6. Must include at least:
1. 2 credit hours of professional responsibility
2. 2 credit hours in legal research, writing, and analysis
3. 2 credit hours in course designed for introduction to fundamental U.S. Law
4. 6 credit hours in subjects tested on Texas Bar Exam.
7.   May include, toward satisfaction of 24 credits requirement:
1. Up to 4 credits of clinical coursework
2. Up to 6 credits of other coursework related to the law or legal training taught in  conjunction with a joint degree program by a member of the law school faculty
8. All coursework for the program must be completed at the U.S. campus of, or through synchronous online instruction offered by, an approved law school.

Presently foreign students seeking this exemption under our program must  complete  the Texas exemption courses in addition to the required courses for the completion of the Immigration and Nationalization LL.M.

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- Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association, website: https://www.americanbar.org/

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. Website: https://sacscoc.org/about-sacscoc/

 

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