• Counsel for private and public organizations who represent clients and could help design systems for their organizations to handle regular disputes involving partners, customers, suppliers, and employees.
• Lawyers who want to administer public and private dispute resolution organizations, such as private dispute resolution firms, court-annexed dispute resolution programs, community mediation programs, or statewide offices of dispute resolution.
• Government lawyers who serve as administrative law judges or hearing officers or who are responsible for managing public participation processes.
• Lawyers who want to become legal academics focusing on dispute resolution.
• Lawyers who want to develop careers as mediators, arbitrators, trainers, and dispute resolution consultants.
• Advocates in private practice.
• Lawyers from abroad who are involved in designing dispute resolution processes in their own countries.

The program is designed to:

• Increase knowledge about the purposes and effects of various dispute resolution processes.
• Advance understanding of the interplay between traditional legal processes and other dispute resolution processes.
• Improve skills used by advocates and neutrals in dispute resolution processes.
• Promote understanding needed for the design of appropriate, effective, and fair dispute resolution processes in public and private organizations.
• Enhance understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities of neutrals in dispute resolution processes.
• Contribute to the development of theory, public policy, and professional ethics in the field of dispute resolution.

Online LLM Admission Requirements

On-Campus LLM Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the on-campus LLM Program, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Applicants must have completed the first degree in law (JD, LLB or equivalent) required for law practice or law teaching in the country in which law studies were pursued.
  • Note: U.S. applicants must have satisfied the JD requirements of an ABA-accredited law school. In exceptional cases, U.S. applicants may be admitted if they have satisfied the JD requirements of a non-ABA-accredited law school.
  • Applicants to the on-campus LLM in dispute resolution program may be admitted without a JD degree if they have a bachelor’s degree and substantial experience in dispute resolution.
• Applicants must possess a minimum of 2.5 (A = 4.0) grade point average in their law program, and a 3.0 GPA for work completed in any additional graduate or advanced degree program.
• The majority of students begin the program in the fall semester (which begins in mid-August). New students are not admitted in summer semesters. Applications should be submitted as far in advance as possible before the desired semester of enrollment.
  • No later than July 31 for Fall enrollment
  • No later than November 30 for Spring enrollment

Application deadline

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis as space is available.

LLM Admission Policy

The LLM Admissions Committee reviews the total application package and selects qualified applicants who would best benefit from and contribute to the LLM Program. These are complex judgments based on factors including but not limited to the following:

• The Committee is especially interested in how applicants plan to combine their prior experiences with our LLM education to advance their career. Applicants’ statements of purpose should address this as specifically as possible.
• The Committee looks for indications that applicants have the ability to do the rigorous academic work in the Program. The Committee reviews applicants’ transcripts from law school and other educational programs but applicants may demonstrate academic ability in other ways, especially if a significant period has elapsed since the applicants were in school.
• The Committee prefers applicants with significant prior legal experience. Applicants without significant prior legal experience are considered more favorably if they have other relevant full-time work experience or accomplishments and/or a demonstrated interest in a particular area of the law.
• Applicants whose native language is not English must be able to read, write, understand, and speak English sufficiently well to participate in and contribute well to the class experience.
• The Committee tries to select a group of students with a combination of experiences that provides some relevant diversity as well as shared experiences to make for a rich class experience.

LLM Application Materials

Application materials should be submitted online directly to the application system. Any items that cannot be scanned in PDF and uploaded to the online system should be mailed to:

LLM Program – MU Law School
206 Hulston Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

If you have questions or concerns about the online application system, contact mulawcdr@missouri.edu or 573-882-5969.

Required Application Materials:

• Graduate School application (online)
• Nonrefundable application fee of $75 for U.S. citizens/Permanent Residents and $100 for International/Non-Resident Alien applicants. The application fee is not applicable to the educational fee, student activities fee, computing fee or student health fee.
• Unofficial copies of your transcript(s) – scan and upload to the online system. Do not send official copies of your transcripts until you have been notified of acceptance by our program.
• Official TOEFL score report (International applicants only). The LLM Program prefers the internet-based TOEFL test. The IELTS is acceptable only in those situations where the TOEFL IBT is unavailable. See the English Language Proficiency Policy on the Office of Graduate Studies website for more information about the University’s English language test score requirements.
• Professional resume
• Statement of purpose (300-500 words stating reasons for pursuing this degree)
• Two letters of recommendation: preferably one from an academic source and one from a professional source. Recommendation forms can be downloaded or they can use the online system. Also, the person making the recommendation can send the letter directly to the LLM Program at the address listed above.
• Financial support application form (for on-campus LLM in Dispute Resolution students, if applicable).

Note: LLM Program applicants are NOT required to submit GRE or LSAT scores.