About Executive LLM, LLM - at IE University
IE Business School and Northwestern University School of Law have created a pioneering program for the experienced lawyer who wants to earn the LL.M. degree from a top US law school, along with a Certificate in Business Administration from IE, without having to take a year away from work to do so. Program content centers on the US legal system, based on the Anglo-American common law, as well as its application in European practice and beyond. Participants also study business administration subjects vital to international lawyers at this stage of their careers, including financial accounting, corporate finance, negotiation, marketing and business strategy. This program represents a partnership between two of the world's leading institutions for law and business education, both committed to providing participants with the knowledge and skills needed to take the next step up the ladder of professional success. The Executive LLM Program was launched in September 2006, and the inaugural class was graduated on May 13, 2007.
The Timeframe and StructureThe Executive LLM Program runs from September to May, and offers candidates maximum flexibility in the form of two structural options. The first option combines three intensive on-campus periods (each roughly two weeks in duration). Two of these periods are held in Madrid on the IE campus (September and November/December), and the third and final period is held at the Northwestern Law campus in Chicago (April/May). In between the on-campus periods, participants continue their studies on line, using our Campus Online courseware platform. This option is specifically designed for the working lawyer who cannot take an extended period away from his or her firm or company. The second option is ideal for candidates who can take more time away from their professional and personal obligations to spend the Spring semester at Northwestern Law in Chicago. In this case, participants will complete the first two on-campus periods in Madrid, along with the intervening online period. Then, from early January to mid-May, participants travel to Chicago for the Spring semester in residence at Northwestern Law, where they may choose courses from among the wide variety of subjects offered to Northwestern JD and LLM students. Regardless of the option chosen, the Executive LLM program culminates with the Northwestern Law all-campus graduation ceremony, held in Chicago at the end of the third on-campus period.
On-Campus and Online EducationThe combination of traditional classroom instruction and interactive online education makes it possible to offer the learning experience of a full-time residential LL.M. program in one academic year without extended periods away from your career. On campus sessions are intensive, to let you get the most out of your precious time with professors and colleagues in Madrid and Chicago. Then the learning community continues to grow and develop on line, even though participants may be scattered across several continents. The Campus Online platform becomes the fundamental point of reference for group work and virtual discussion teaching led by the professors. Participants report spending some 15 hours per week during these computer-based periods, including both online work and off-line study. The asynchronous nature of the on-line periods means that participants can take part in the online sessions at their convenience - evenings, weekends, lunch hours - and don't have to connect to the courses at specified times. Whether on campus or on line, all courses in the Executive LLM Program are taught by faculty of distinction from both Northwestern Law and IE Business School. These top scholars, teachers and practitioners draw on their own extensive experience, as well as the diversity and background of the class members themselves, to create a unique and innovative learning experience IE and Northwestern Law have joined forces to provide this unique LL.M. program for experienced lawyers, in recognition of the increasingly global legal profession and its growing convergence with the world of international business. This pioneering program provides the participants with unsurpassed legal knowledge as well as the skills required for success in the international legal and business worlds.
