The Master of Laws is an internationally recognized postgraduate law degree It is usually obtained by completing a one year full time program The Master of Laws is higher academic degree, comparable to an Master of Business Administration in business and management Law students and professionals frequently pursue the Master of Laws to gain expertise in a specialized field of law, for example in the area of tax law or international law Many law firms prefer job candidates with an Master of Laws degree because it indicates that a lawyer has acquired advanced, specialized legal training, and is qualified to work in a multinational legal environment
In most countries, lawyer are not required to hold to hold an Master of Laws Degree, and many do not choose to obtain one An Master of Laws Degree by itself generally does not qualify graduates to practice law In most cases, Master of Laws Students must first obtain a professional degree in law, e.g. the Bachelor of law in the United Kingdom or the Juris Doctor in the United states, And pass a bar exam or the equivalent exam in other countries, such as the Zweites Staatsexamen in Germany While general curriculum of the Bachelor of Laws and Juris Doctor is designed to give students the basic skills and knowledge to become lawyer, law students wishing to specialize in a particular area can continue their studies with and Master of Laws program Some universities also consider students for their Master of Laws program who hold degree in other related areas, or have expertise in a specific area of law
Graduation requirements for an Master of Laws program vary depending on the respective university guidelines Some programs are research-oriented and require students to write a thesis, while others only offer a number of classes that students must take to complete the course of study Many Master of Laws program combine both coursework and research Part time programs are also available for professionals wishing to complete their Master of Laws while working full time
Prospective students should be aware that there is no universal definition for the term Master of Laws It is used in different ways by institutions around the world Particularly in the United states and Germany Master of Laws programs are often designed to teach foreign lawyers the basic legal principles of the host country In this regard, the Master of Laws can help lawyers seeking to relocate and practice in another country, or expand their area of practice to multinational issues The completion of an Master of Laws program,however does not automatically qualify foreign students to take the bar exam in their hot country In the United States for example, some states allow foreign lawyers to seek admission to the bar upon completion of an Master of Laws while in other states, a Juris Doctor is required
Master of Laws is an abbreviation of the Latin Bachelor of Laws Magister, which means Master of Laws, In Latin, the plural form of a word is abbreviated by repeating the letter Hence, Master of Laws, is short for law Bachelor of Laws is the possessive plural form of the Latin word legal which means specific laws as opposed to the more general concept embodied in the word just from which the word juris and the modern English word justice are derived