Cybersecurity LLM degree
This LLM degree concentration provides students with a sophisticated understanding of the legal, policy, and technical architectures associated with cybersecurity. It is designed from the ground up to be transdisciplinary, featuring bespoke courses open, not just to law students, but to other graduate schools from across the campus. No prior expertise is required or expected. For more information about the LLM program in general, click here.
The program is sponsored and supported by the Robert Strauss Center for International Security & Law, under the supervision of Professor Bobby Chesney (who serves both as Director of the Strauss Center and the School of Law’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs). The Strauss Center encourages all applicants, and especially encourages applications from military judge advocates and others seeking a deep understanding of the U.S. approach to the full-spectrum of legal and policy issues associated with cybersecurity and cyber operations. Students enrolled in the Cybersecurity LLM also become “cybersecurity fellows” at the Strauss Center, and as such constitute a cohort participating in a wide range of Strauss Center activities relating to cybersecurity (including conferences, policy competitions, and speakers).
Requirements
The LLM degree requires a total of 24 credit hours, all of which must be completed in one academic year (constituting the fall and spring semesters). Twelve of these hours must be concentration-specific, meaning that they are from courses approved for inclusion in this program. In addition, students must take either a three-credit writing seminar or a two- or three-credit Directed Research Study involving a research paper. Non-U.S. students interested in taking a U.S. state bar exam after graduation will also have to take certain bar-required courses to be eligible for such exams.
LLM Courses
A variety of courses that do not qualify towards the 12-credit requirement for this concentration nonetheless may be of special interest to concentration participants, particularly those whose career plans involve national security-related matters. These include a substantial number of courses under the National Security Law heading (such as National Security Law: Targeting, Detention, and Prosecution Issues with Professor Steve Vladeck); Military Law; Admiralty; various upper-level Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure courses; and Space Law & Policy courses.
Interested? Learn More About the Program
If you want to talk about the course offerings likely to be available in the year for which you are applying, or would like to know more about the larger Strauss Center cybersecurity program, please do not hesitate to reach out to Professor Chesney at [email protected]
Or apply today!