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LL.M. Program

The only program of its kind in the world, the Insurance Law LL.M. engages students in the serious and systematic study of those aspects of law that bear upon insurance specifically and risk and responsibility more generally. The program provides students with a solid grounding in the principles of insurance and offers an array of specialized insurance and related courses. The combination of a broad base and a menu of specialized courses taught by recognized experts in the field prepares graduates to address problems of insurance, risk and responsibility in a variety of institutional settings: private law firms, regulatory agencies, insurance and other financial services companies, health care organizations, corporate law departments, and academic and non-profit institutions. 

The LL.M. in Insurance Law may be earned on a full- or part-time basis. In addition to the Law School's large number of daytime offerings, core insurance law courses and a selection of related courses are offered in the late afternoon and early evening.  Students may participate via video and complete the program via distance learning.  J.D. student may apply for an advanced standing J.D./LL.M. degree.

Neftali Garro, a Fulbright Scholar, is a lawyer from Costa Rica where he earned his law degree. Before enrolling in the LL.M. program he was an associate lawyer with KPMG Attorneys in San Jose, Costa Rica. Before returning to KPMG, Mr. Garro interned for a major U.S. law firm and spent a year in Rome handling a complex international insurance matter for the World Food Program.

Admission Procedures

Applicants for admission to the Insurance Law LL.M. program must hold a J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school or a law degree from a faculty outside the U.S., or an advanced degree in a related field. The admissions committee considers the applicant's academic performance, intellectual curiosity and professional and personal experience. Admission is highly selective and limited to no more than 20 full-time LL.M. candidates (or part-time equivalents). Candidates from outside the U.S. are encouraged to apply, provided they can demonstrate fluency in reading and writing English.

J.D. students wishing to apply to the advanced standing program should submit an application in their third year of law school if they are in the University of Connecticut School of Law, or in their second year, if they are a law student at another institution.  Lawyers from other countries are encouraged to apply provided they can demonstrate fluency in reading and writing English by achieving a TOFEL score of at least 585 on the paper-based exam or 240 on the computer based exam.  They will join our 20 international students here for a year-long program in U.S. legal studies.

Application forms may be obtained from the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law, by phone (860) 570-5177, online or by e-mail. All international student applications should be received by April 15th for fall enrollment or November 15th for spring enrollment. Applications received before these dates will be given priority consideration. Applicants will be notified by May 15th or December 15th of the Admission's Committee decision. Applications for students not requiring a VISA will be accepted through July 1 for fall enrollment, and December 1 for spring enrollment.

Degree Requirements

General:

LL.M. candidates are required to take the Principles of Insurance course and at least 21 additional credit hours, for a minimum of 24 credits. As described below, 2-3 of these credit hours should satisfy the mandatory writing requirement. In addition, students may take up to six credits in related fields, which will count towards the 24-credit requirement. International LL.M. students are limited to 3 additional credits outside the insurance curriculum. Students with substantial insurance experience, or who have taken a similar class in law school and achieved a grade of B or better, may request to waive the requirement to take Principles of Insurance. The director or executive director must approve all courses of study, including whether to grant a waiver request for Principles of Insurance.

Writing Requirement:

LL.M. students must satisfy a 2-3 credit writing requirement as part of their degree program. The paper must be on an insurance-related topic approved by the director or executive director, and written on a graded basis. There are several ways the writing requirement can be fulfilled:

1. Writing a thesis, as described below,
2. In conjunction with a class that requires a substantial paper (minimum 20 page length),
3. With the permission of the instructor at the beginning of the course, substituting a substantial paper for an examination,
4. As a special research project of not less than two credits supervised by a full-time or adjunct faculty member,
5. Writing a piece certified to be published or nearly publishable by the faculty advisor of the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Thesis:

LL.M. students may, at their option, write a thesis for 3 credits that satisfies the writing requirement. A thesis is a substantial paper that is of publishable or near publishable quality, and involves supervised drafts. LL.M. students must write a thesis if they wish to be considered for honors. A thesis can be written in two ways:

1. As part of a 3 credit course with permission of the instructor, who acts as the thesis advisor,
2. As a special 3 credit research project supervised by a full-time or adjunct faculty member

Honors Designation:

LL.M. students are eligible to graduate with honors under the following conditions:

1. Obtain a minimum 3.3 grade point average,
2. Write a thesis and obtain a grade of A or A- as determined by the faculty advisor, and
3. The thesis must also be submitted to a 3-member faculty panel composed of the thesis advisor, the director or executive director of the Program and a faculty member chosen jointly by the student and the advisor. The panel would not alter the faculty advisor's grade, but would make the final determination whether the thesis was of honors quality. The panel serves as a screening process to help ensure a level of uniformity in determining what constitutes an honors thesis.

International LL.M. Students:

The Insurance Laws Center is pleased that a growing number of international lawyers are coming to the University of Connecticut School of Law to obtain an LL.M. in insurance law. The LL.M. degree can be completed with 2 semesters of full time study, though most U.S. LL.M. students chose to complete the program on a part-time basis due to professional commitments. The School of Law has special services for international students and welcomes their application. The degree requirements for U.S. and international LL.M. students are identical, with the exception that international students are generally required to take the 3-credit U.S. Law and Legal Institutions class, and the 1-credit legal writing and research class. These 4 credits count towards the 24-credit requirement. International LL.M. students can take a maximum of 3 other credits outside the insurance curriculum.

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