UH Law School to Launch Master of Laws Program for International Students

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Posted: Jan 3, 2003

The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is introducing a new LL.M. (Master of Laws) program for foreign legal professionals that will begin in August 2003. The one-year graduate program was approved by the UH Board of Regents in October, and the American Bar Association has now granted the School of Law permission to offer the program.

The program is open to legal professionals trained outside the United States and will offer a wide choice of subjects for study. Students may pursue a general course in American legal studies or specialize in comparative or environmental law, areas for which the school is well known. Enrollment will be limited, allowing for personal attention from the faculty and close interaction with American J.D. (Juris Doctor) students.

"The new LL.M. program is another milestone in the law school‘s history of excellence," said Dean Lawrence C. Foster. "This program will strengthen Hawaiʻi‘s already existing relationship with Asia and the Pacific, and it will build new productive relationships with the rest of the world."

Professor Alison W. Conner is serving as the first LL.M. director. Conner earned her doctorate in Chinese and Southeast Asian history from Cornell University and her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she specialized in Asian and comparative law. Before joining UH, she taught for nearly 12 years in Asia at the University of Nanjing, the National University of Singapore and the University of Hong Kong.

According to Conner, the LL.M. program is designed for students from around the world, but at least initially the School of Law expects that most students will come from Asia and the Pacific. The School of Law already offers its J.D. students a concentration in Pacific-Asian legal studies, maintains ties with Asian law schools and firms, and attracts research visitors from Asia every year.

The William S. Richardson School of Law first opened its doors in 1973. Its international moot court teams consistently do well in competition and its Environmental Law Program is nationally ranked. For more information about the new LL.M. program, email lawllm@hawaii.edu.