On Wednesday, August 14, Harvard Law School’s Graduate Program officially welcomed the LL.M. Class of 2025 to campus: 189 new students from 62 countries who will spend the upcoming academic year pursuing a Master of Laws degree.
The law school’s LL.M. program attracts students from a variety of legal systems, with many different interests and career plans. As is typical, 97.5% of this year’s class are international students, from countries and jurisdictions ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela. The majority of them have pursued advanced studies or have two or more years of professional or teaching experience. The cohort includes full and part-time law teachers, judges, prosecutors, journalists, government officials and diplomats, and three active-duty U.S. JAG officers (Coast Guard and Navy), as well as 14 Fulbright scholars and 17 Supreme or Constitutional Court Clerks, for courts in eight countries.
Outside of the law, the LL.M. students’ pursuits are just as wide-ranging. The Class of 2025 includes internationally and nationally ranked athletes, as well as many enthusiastic amateurs; dancers, musicians, artists and performers; a volunteer paramedic and a former wildfire detection pilot; an accomplished juggler and a competitive Scrabble player; as well avid readers and travelers.
In addition, nine candidates are beginning their studies for the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree, the law school’s most advanced degree. These students — including a human rights activist, a Supreme Court Clerk, a teaching fellow, a former law firm associate and post-doctoral fellow and three Fulbright Scholars — join 39 continuing S.J.D. candidates; together, they represent 26 countries and jurisdictions.
Harvard Law School is also welcoming ten international exchange students, from its partner schools in Australia, China, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. These students will spend the fall semester or the academic year here, pursuing J.D.-level studies or doctoral-level research.
The students’ first week on campus includes a welcome breakfast and introductory remarks by Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03, Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies; Catherine Peshkin, Assistant Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies; senior Graduate Program administrators; and representatives from the law school’s student services offices, as well as a welcome reception for the students and their families. During orientation, which continues through August 30, they will also attend their first Harvard Law School lecture — a talk by Professor Michael Klarman on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education — and undertake a special one-credit course on U.S. legal research, writing and analysis.
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