Opportunities for International Students

The Master of Law (LLM)  is an advanced law degree available exclusively for attorneys or judges. Applicants for our LLM program must have completed the first degree of law required to practice or teach law. For candidates in the United States this requires a JD degree from an ABA-accredited law school.

The LLM is a 24 unit program which can be completed as a full-time student in two semesters, or can take up to three years as a part-time student. Pepperdine offers the following LLM program options:

• LLM in International Commercial Arbitration (ICA)
• LLM in US Law
• LLM in Dispute Resolution
• LLM in Entertainment, Media and Sports

Many of the LLM programs will provide enough electives for international students to be able to sit for the New York or California bar exam. 

More about the LLM program

Pepperdine LLM students can apply to the JD Program as transfer students without taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The applicant's grades and relative difficulty of coursework pursued in Pepperdine's LLM will be very important factors. Successful applicants will usually have good grades in at least four substantive law courses tested on the bar exam.

If the applicant is accepted into the JD Program, he or she may transfer the credits from law classes taken toward completion of the LLM degree. The student must then complete the first year curriculum in his or her second year at Pepperdine. In the third year, enough advanced courses must be completed in order to satisfy the JD graduation requirement. Students transferring from the LLM to the JD will be awarded the JD degree upon completion of the JD requirements and will not be awarded an LLM degree. Only students currently enrolled in Pepperdine's LLM program may apply in the manner.

The Master of Dispute Resolution (MDR) program provides practical dispute resolution training for candidates who do not have a law background or degree. Students in the MDR program consist of people from a variety of professions including business and other graduate students, executives, human resource professionals, doctors, psychologists, peacemakers, and social workers. Through the MDR, students will delve deeper into specialty areas, including Employment, Dispute Resolution Systems Design, Ombuds, and more. Please refer to course descriptions for a full list of courses.

The MDR Program is a 26-unit program that can be completed in one year as a full-time student with courses available in one week, two weekends, and fourteen-week formats in Malibu.

More about the MDR program

The Certificate program is a 14 unit program consisting of foundational courses in Mediation, Negotiation and Arbitration. Students can complete the program full-time in one semester or over three years as a part-time student. Professionals who participate in the Certificate program are looking for more depth than can be provided by professional training programs and the additional credibility of our Certificate Program. Those that complete the Certificate program and want additional training can also reapply for our MDR or LLM, and if accepted, transfer their Certificate units into the other programs.

More about the Certificate in Dispute Resolution program

Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law provides faculty and researchers from around the world the opportunity to visit Pepperdine under the J1 Research Scholar program. A J1 Research Scholar must be a faculty member, post-doc, a research associate, or a person with similar education or accomplishments at their home institution.
More about the J1 Research Scholar Opportunity