The 15 Best Master of Business Law Degrees

Imagine going to school 15 minutes from the beach and five minutes from Beverly Hills. With 100 years of rich history and unrelenting optimism, the University of California – Los Angeles is our #1 ranking. As the premier law school in Southern California, UCLA School of Law offers an interdisciplinary LLM degree, with a specialization in business law.

Within UCLA’s law degree specialization, you will gain a strong, multi-faceted foundation in business law, taught by world-renowned scholars. Business law is one of the nine specializations in this program, and this plan of study includes 22 credits over two semesters. You can earn this degree in just nine months!

You will take sample courses such as: 

• Business Associations
• Real Estate Finance
• Cybersecurity Law and Policy

With a global reputation for excellence, UCLA law degrees are highly sought after and competitive. You can apply online for this LLM in business law by submitting: 

• Your resume
• Official transcripts
• Your personal statement
• 2-4 recommendation letters

The deadline to apply is February 1.

Why not study business law in one of the world’s most notable centers of finance and law: Washington, DC? 

Rooted in vibrant history, and established in 1865, George Washington University Law School is the oldest law school in Washington DC. It is located in the familiar downtown neighborhood, fondly known as Foggy Bottom.

Check out GW Law’s LLM in business and finance law. The curriculum is described as both “rich and diverse, including both basic and advanced courses, allowing students to design a curriculum suiting their own interests and career plans.” This master’s degree entails a minimum of 16 credits, which includes two credits of experiential learning and two research paper credits.

Graduates from GW Law School have the advantage of being a part of a large GW Law alumni in business and legal settings in New York, Washington DC, and across the country. Along with the perks of a strong legal education and networking community, GW Law School also offers generous amounts of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, and loans.

A top-ranked public university (U.S. News, Times Higher Education, Forbes), the University of Arizona was born in 1895 before Arizona was even a state! Founded in 1915, UA’s James E. Rogers College of Law is one of the best law schools in the nation. 

At UA, you can earn an LLM in international trade and business law. This master’s degree is a full-time, one-year program consisting of 24 credits.

As a law student at UA, you will take sample courses in: 

• International Trade Law
• Business Organizations
• International Investment Law
• Commercial Law

Through this LLM in business law, you will also take the course Legal Research, Writing and Analysis, which does not count towards the 24 credit hours. However, this course will prepare you for the thesis or substantial writing project that this program requires.

UA’s College of Law accepts applications on a rolling basis. To apply, you must have earned a law degree from an ABA-approved law school. UA evaluates applicants on a variety of factors, including: 

• Education
• Extracurricular activities
• Community service
• Personal challenges

UA welcomes applicants from other countries and legal systems.

If you have a JD degree and are looking to obtain an LLM in international business and trade law, check out UIC John Marshall Law School’s LLM in international business and trade law. 

This master’s degree will provide you with a solid foundation in “rules, regulations, and legal approaches underlying international business and trade law,” and will make you super marketable in the international business realm.

In this LLM in business law program, you may choose to pursue a concentration in either international business law or international trade law. You will learn from the best U.S. and international trade law experts in the field while you: 

• Earn course credits
• Develop business law skills
• Conduct research 

The program entails 30 credit hours in foundation and track courses, such as:

• International Business Transactions
• Administrative Law
• Homeland Security

If you are a practicing attorney who is interested in expanding your expertise to cover international business and trade law, you can apply to UIC John Marshall Law School online here.

Ranked No. 66 in the “Best National Universities in the U.S. (U.S. News), Loyola Marymount University is a notable Catholic university in Los Angeles. 

Loyola Law School, the first ABA-approved school in California, offers a Master of Science in legal studies (MLS) with a specialization in business law that prepares students to “hit the ground running” in a corporate setting.

The MLS degree entails 26 credits, which includes 16 specialization credits in business law. Required courses include: 

• Business Associations
• Contracts
• Securities Regulation

Law students may choose elective courses such as:

• Antitrust Law
• Comparative Copyright
• Entertainment Law

Loyola offers both evening and day classes to ensure students extra flexibility.

Loyola’s MLS with a business law concentration provides students with “a theoretical and substantive foundation for corporate law fundamentals, including business associations, mergers and acquisitions, and securities regulation.” 

Loyola graduates are highly sought after and ready to pursue lucrative law careers. For more information about this program, download the brochure here.

One of the world’s distinguished public universities, the University of Washington educates 54,000+ students each year and includes campuses in Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell. Not to mention the world-class academic medical center, but this ranking is about business law, so let’s get back to that. 

If you’re interested in international business law, check out UW’s LLM in global business law.

Law students will spend nine months at the University of Washington and complete at least 40 quarter credits. The cornerstone course in this program is Law B551 Comparative Legal Studies Seminar. In addition, you will take electives such as:

• Business Organizations
• Law and Economics
• International Contracting

Admission to UW is competitive: to apply, you must have a JD from a school accredited by the ABA. If you are an international applicant, you need a law degree or credentials to demonstrate equivalent qualification. You also should have professional work experience in the law field. Check out additional application information here.

Admission for UW’s LLM in business law is competitive: to apply, you must have a JD from a school accredited by the ABA and if you are an international applicant, you need a law degree or credentials to demonstrate equivalent qualification. You also should have professional work experience in the law field. Check out additional application information here.

At Loyola University Chicago, you will find nationally ranked programs with a Jesuit mission and a campus in Rome, Italy! In fact, more than 30% of LUC students study abroad. 

LUC’s School of Law, established in 1908, has a rich history of “leadership, innovation, and service, and here you can earn an LLM in business law designed for “attorneys hungry for greater opportunity.”

The LLM in business law requires 24 credit hours, which includes: 

• Required courses
• Elective courses
• A thesis project

Required courses are: 

• Business Planning
• International Business Transactions
• LLM Business Law Thesis Paper

LLM graduates are armed with expertise, knowledge, skills, and professional values that lend to a successful law career.

You can complete this master’s degree in one year or two, depending on whether you are full or part-time status. LUC also offers many of the LLM courses in an online curriculum to enhance flexibility. To apply, you need to have a JD degree and submit: 

• Official transcripts
• Two recommendation letters
• A statement of purpose
• A resume

A contemporary Catholic university that Carnegie classifies as “high research activity,” the University of San Diego holds as much academic excellence as it does in surrounding beauty. (180 acres overlooking San Diego, Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean!) Through USD’s School of Law, you can earn an LLM in business and corporate law that is rigorous, yet flexible.

Highlighted in an article published by LLM Guide, you will find USD’s LLM in business and corporate law program detailed. Designed for attorneys, this LLM in business and corporate law includes 24 credits in courses that focus on both theoretical and practical knowledge in subjects like:

• Taxation
• Corporate finance
• Intellectual property
• Commercial law

Four of the 24 credits require a written work requirement, such as two research papers in business and corporate law. Law students can create customized plans of study with the approved electives to meet their professional interests. 

This business law degree is offered both in the day and the evening to accommodate busy schedules, and full-time candidates can finish in as little as a year.

Imagine earning a law degree from one of the most dynamic and beautiful cities in the country: Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is “the capital of academic America, home to a sophisticated, world-class legal market.” 

Northeastern School of Law features a business law master’s degree with a concentration in international business law that is worth checking out.

As a Northeastern LL.M. student, you will take courses with law students both in the U.S. and around the globe from top-notch faculty, devoted to helping you succeed as a law professional. With an international business law concentration, you can expect to take classes such as:

• Corporations
• International Business Transactions
• International Trade Law
• Law and Economic Development

NUSOL partners with international universities such as East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, so you will receive a truly global experience through this program. 

To apply to NUSOL, you must have a law degree and submit: 

• Official transcripts
• A two-page personal statement of purpose
• One letter of recommendation
• Your resume

Founded in 1789, Georgetown University in the nation’s capital is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the United States. 

At this leading research university, you can earn an LLM degree in International Business and Economic Law, designed for students interested in “cross-border business activities and the regulatory regimes, national and international that apply to them.” 

As an LLM business law student at Georgetown Law, you will have the opportunity to customize your plan of study. You need just one required class, Corporations, and another one related to international business. That leaves you with 16 specialization credits and over 70 courses to choose from. Sample courses include: 

• Antitrust Economics and Law
• Business and Human Rights in the Global Economy
• Commercial Law 

Many students also incorporate externships into their program, and seriously, what better place to gain hands-on experience than the nation’s capital? Georgetown Law has one of the largest alumni networks of any of the country’s law schools with over 40,000 graduates all over the globe. Georgetown Law reviews applications holistically, so check out the admissions requirements here.

If you want to study abroad while working on a law degree, check out this ranking where you can earn not one but two degrees and spend a year in Paris! Duke Law School and Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (“Sciences Po”) offer a joint JD/Master’s in global business law where you can earn both the JD and Master of Laws (M2) in three years.

To clarify, the M2 is a French national law degree, and graduates are eligible to sit for the French bar exam. Duke’s program website states that the “aim of this  highly selective, multi-disciplinary and international program in global business law is to provide in-depth analysis of the issues involved in the global market, with a European perspective.”

You will spend the first two years of this program at Duke and your third year studying in Paris. Course topics include: 

• International business transactions and contracts
• The World Trade Organization
• Intellectual property

As mentioned, Duke Law School is highly selective. Check out the application requirements here.

Northwestern University, a comprehensive research school in Illinois, boasts many national recognitions and is one of only four top 10 US universities that is also ranked in the top 20 for each graduate education category. 

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law offers a Master of Science in law, a customizable program to meet your career interests.

Northwestern’s MS program focuses on law, business, and technology with three categories of electives: 

• Intellectual property and patent design
• Business law and entrepreneurship
• Regulatory analysis and strategy

Twenty-eight credits are required, which are broken down into required courses and a large variety of electives. Required courses include: 

• Business Formation and Structure
• Contract Law and Design
• Intellectual Property Fundamentals

You can complete this program full-time or part-time on campus or part-time online. To be eligible for admission, you need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and a STEM background, either from a degree or work experience (or preferably both!) 

Northwestern reviews applicants based on: 

• Academic records
• Recommendation letters
• Extracurricular activities
• Leadership abilities

Vanderbilt University, an independent, private university and home to the prominent Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is known for its strong academics and research. From Vanderbilt Law School, you will find the LLM law and business track degree, a rigorous, full-time program that focuses on “corporate law, securities regulation, finance, accounting, and the principles of corporate governance.” 

Through this business law degree program, you will take five required courses and then an additional nine credit hours in electives of your choice, which totals 27 credit hours. Required courses include: 

• Corporations
• Accounting
• Corporate Finance
• Securities Regulation
• Legal, Research, Writing and Analysis in the U.S. 

You will have support from Vanderbilt University’s International Students and Scholars Services.

Law and business graduate students may only enter in the fall semester and must complete the program within one year. Graduates are armed with the expertise to work in the business law realm as government regulators or similar occupations. 

Interested in Vanderbilt? Applications are accepted from September 1 to April 30. Check out details here.

As one of the nation’s leading research institutions, Case Western Reserve University ranks #42 among national universities, #18^th for contributions to innovation, and #1 in the state. Case Western’s School of Law features an LLM in International Business Law for students interested in the analysis and applications of the U.S. business and foreign business transactions.

As an LLM student at Case Western, you will be joining a global network of over 70 countries! The program requires 24 credits, including required courses: 

• Business Associations
• U.S. Contract Law for LLM
• U.S. Legal Research, Writing and Analysis

You then choose 12 credits of elective courses, such as: 

• International Business Transactions
• Antitrust Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution

Of course, being an international degree, you have the opportunity to study abroad within the partnerships in schools in Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. 

The business law degree prepares graduates to practice law globally, which means you graduate with a plethora of expertise in operating in legal environments in foreign countries and communicating with clients and lawyers across the world.

University of the Pacific, a private school in Northern California, is all about personalized learning and choices. With ten schools and 100 majors, you will see this quickly. 

Among these majors is a JD with a business law concentration that prepares you for a general law business practice or a specialized one in other types of business law such as: 

• Entertainment
• Banking
• Real estate
• Employment

The Pacific McGeorge Business Law program entails three core courses, three electives, and one experiential learning course. Core courses include: 

• Business Associations
• Accounting for Lawyers
• Bankruptcy

Elective courses are divided into categories of: 

• Corporate/Commercial
• International Business
• Real Estate
• Taxation

Finally, you will complete an experiential learning course in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Business Planning, and Mediation, to name a few.

You can apply to this program as a first-year student or a transfer. First-year students need a bachelor’s degree, the J.D. Credential Assembly report (JDCAS) with LSAT results, and three recommendation letters. 

Transfer students need official transcripts from all prior law school work, two recommendation letters, and a copy of their JDCAS report.