Key Points

Fall Term and Spring Term Enrollment:

The program functions on a semester system, with both Spring Term (April) and Fall Term (September) enrollment permitted.

Degree Offered:

LL.M. in Global Legal Practice (a professional school master's degree)

Language of Instruction:

English (All courses will be taught in English.)

Expected Full-time Period of Study:

1 year (part-time 1.5 or 2 years)

The standard term for the program is 1 year, but for those of you who wish a lighter study load, we will accept a "part-time" course for completion in 1.5 or 2 years. Depending upon your employment hours, it may be possible for you to take classes on 6th periods (starting from 6:10PM) and Saturdays. After the announcement of admission results, we will make available a registration counseling opportunity for prospective students considering a 1.5 or 2 year course, so please make a request to us then.

Degree Requirements:

At least 30 course credits required for completion.
　　At least 4 credits in either category
　　(1) Global Business and Law, or
　　(2) Global Security and Law.

At least 4 credits in the Practical Training category (e.g. moot court, negotiation and arbitration seminars, internships, drafting and other practical training courses).

A master's thesis is not required for degree completion. If you wish to complete a thesis-length research and writing project, you can register for the courses "Research Paper I/II". After admission to the program, kindly consult with the professor of your choice for research paper supervision.

Additional Degree Requirements for Recent Law Faculty Graduates

For students who have not completed a law school (i.e. J.D.) program nor gained equivalent legal knowledge as evidenced by membership in a bar, graduate-level legal education, or significant work experience in a legal function, an additional 6 course credits (i.e. at least 36 course credits in total) will be required for degree completion. At least 4 additional credits will be required in the category Japanese Law and Asian Law in Global Practical Perspective, and at least 2 additional credits in the Practical Training category (e.g. moot court, negotiation and arbitration, internships, drafting and other practical training courses).

Certificates:

Keio LL.M. program offers the opportunity for students to earn a certificate demonstrating specialization in

　　• Business Law,
　　• International Dispute Resolution,
　　• Japanese Law,
　　• Law and Development in Asia, and,
　　• Intellectual Property Law

Each certificate will require satisfactory completion of at least 10 credits in the relevant field, as well as 2-credit research paper. For the certificates in Business Law and International Dispute Resolution, at least one related 2-credit practical training class must be included. As the course requirements set forth a minimum only, and a certificate is intended to evidence a significant degree of focus and specialization, a student may apply for a certificate in only a single area of specialization.

Studying law in Japanese:

In the past we have received some requests from LL.M. students to participate in J.D. courses taught in Japanese language. From April 2018, we have modified the LL.M. program requirements to make this possible, and to apply the resulting credits toward the LL.M. graduation requirements, in limited cases. The maximum number of credits that might be applied to the LL.M. would be 4 credits per semester and 8 credits in total. This will only be possible for LL.M. students whose requests are approved at the discretion of the relevant committees and then the responsible instructor for the course. In principle requests are limited to J.D. elective courses. There will be no additional fee for taking such J.D. courses. Similar to the LL.M. courses, most J.D. courses are taught using the Socratic method, often involving discussion, so students must read, write, speak and understand technical terms in Japanese. If you wish to register for elective J.D. courses, please let us know no later than 48 hours after the pre-semester orientation. Also, please note that you will not be able to register for undergraduate level courses, including the Faculty of Law.

Studying Japanese Language:

You may study Japanese via courses offered at the Keio University Center for Japanese Studies. The details of registration and placement will be provided after LL.M. admission. Please note that these Japanese language courses do not provide credits toward your LL.M. degree, and some additional fee is charged. (Tuition for Center for Japanese Studies is currently about 20,000 yen per credit, with some additional amount for textbooks/materials.)

【website】Keio University Center for Japanese Studies

Double Degree LL.M. Program:

For details click here.

Exchange Programs:

For those of you who wish to pursue a portion of your studies overseas, you may be able to study abroad at one of the partner schools of Keio Law School. After the admission results are released, please consult with us regarding the timing (term) / country / university of your choice. The LL.M. program will recognize up to 15 credits obtained at an overseas partner university which can be approved as having equivalent course content to one of the LL.M. courses. However, since there is a limit to the number of exchange students under our agreements with partner schools, and there may be conflicts with the academic calendar at some partner schools, there will be cases where we will not be able to accommodate your request. Also, with the academic calendar difference and the credit transfer system, there may be cases where a student who goes on an exchange term is not able to finish the LL.M. program in 1 year.
For our J.D. program, KLS has existing exchange arrangements with, among other universities: Cornell, Georgetown, UCLA, University of Washington (USA), The University of British Columbia (Canada), Sciences Po (Paris), Yonsei (South Korea), Tsinghua (China), National Taiwan University, and Singapore Management University. We expect to have exchange arrangements available with a number of these as well for the LL.M. program.

Internship:

For interested students, we offer "Internship" as a (2-credit) LL.M. course. Internships in principle, take place during spring or summer vacation period for approximately 2-3 weeks, and are at Japanese and international law firms, corporate legal departments, and international institutions. Internships offered within Japan are focused primarily on providing opportunities for international students; and internships outside Japan are primarily available for Japanese students who wish to work at United Nations-affiliated and other international institutions and focusing upon legal assistance. We also hope to send interns to some Asia offices of Japanese law firms. If there is a surplus of applicants, we will select among candidates for available opportunities. Further details will be provided after admission.

We have arranged internships in Japan at some of the law firms and companies with which members of our advisory board are affiliated. Internship workplaces will only be arranged after enrollment.

【website】 Keio University Law School, Advisory Board

For internships outside Japan, Keio Law School has sent JD students for internships with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (Vienna) and the JICA Laos Legal Assistance project office. In 2018 we have sent an LL.M. intern to the Singapore International Commercial Court.

In 2016, our project "Human Resource Development Program through LL.M. for Asian Global Legal Professions (PAGLEP) in Collaboration with Universities in Mekong Countries" has been selected for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology grant funding. Therefore, we intend to send some students to the Mekong countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar) as part of the internship program.

●For more details on the LL.M. program（詳細）:

★LL.M.brochure/パンフレット(English)
★LL.M. Admission information／入試情報

●Press Release

[English]
Keio University Law School LL.M. in Global Legal Practice Receives Official Approval https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/press-releases/2016/Sep/6/49-18368/

[Japanese]
慶應義塾大学大学院法務研究科グローバル法務専攻 専門職学位課程（法務修 士）の設置認可について https://www.keio.ac.jp/ja/press-releases/2016/8/26/28-18337/