/ Law Centers and Institutes/Center for Animal Law Studies/Online Animal Law LLM/Program Details

Program Details

Please note that the information on this page is specific to our online Animal Law LLM Program. For details regarding our in-person Program, go here.

Program Length and Curriculum

The online Animal Law LLM Program is a part-time, asynchronous degree track, which requires 26 credits to complete. Program requirements in the online Animal Law LLM Program can be completed in as few as 18 months. Students may begin their studies in the Fall or Spring semester. A summer start is not an option. In addition, International students without a background in U.S. law must take a one-credit Introduction to U.S. Legal Studies course in their first semester in the online Program.

The schedule (subject to change) of course offerings is as follows:

Fall 2021
- Introduction to U.S. Legal Studies (for new international candidates)
- Animals in the Law
- Industrial Animal Agriculture Law
- Emerging Topics in Animal Law A
Spring 2022
- Introduction to U.S. Legal Studies (for new international candidates)
- Companion Animal Law
- International Animal Law
- Emerging Topics in Animal Law B
Summer 2022
- Aquatic Animal Law
- The Law & Ethics of Animal Testing; and
Fall 2022
- Crimes Against Animals
- Wildlife Law

Degree Requirements for U.S. Students

To obtain the Animal Law LLM degree, U.S. students must earn a minimum of 26 credits with a cumulative GPA of 2.50 or better. U.S. students who have not taken an animal law survey course at the JD level must take Animals in the Law (3 credits). U.S. students who have taken an animal law survey course may submit a request to the Animal Law Advanced Degree Program Director to waive this requirement. In its stead, the student would be eligible to take a three-credit, Individual Research study under the direction of a faculty member who is available at that time.

Degree Requirements for International Students

To obtain the Animal Law LLM degree, international students must earn a minimum of 26 credits. Unlike U.S. LLM students, however, international students are graded on a “credit / no credit” basis. As such, they do not receive letter grades (e.g., A, B+, C-, etc.) on assignments or for their work in any of their courses. However, they may receive an “HR,” or Honors, designation for courses in which they would have earned a B+ or higher.

International students without a background in U.S. law must take an Introduction to U.S. Legal Studies course in their first semester in the online Program. International students must also take Animals in the Law regardless of whether they have taken a similar course in their home country.

Course Load/Timing

If a U.S. student wishes to take fewer than 5 credits in any semester that is not the summer term or their final semester, they must request permission to “underload” from the Animal Law Advanced Degree Program Director. Note that a student must be registered for at least 5 credits each term to be considered a full-time student. Being less than a full-time student may impact a student’s ability to defer federal loan repayments, so students should plan accordingly.

Academic Calendar

The law school is on the semester system, with 13 weeks of classes and two weeks of exams in each semester. The fall semester usually begins the week before Labor Day and ends the second or third week of December; please note that international students beginning in the fall semester may begin taking the Introduction to U.S. Legal Studies course, which is required for all international students who have not studied law in the U.S., two weeks before the normal fall start date. The spring semester begins in early January and ends in May, with a one-week spring break in March. See the school’s academic calendar for specific dates here.

Additional Information

For more information, please contact the Animal Law Advanced Degree Program Director, Dr. Rajesh K. Reddy, at rajreddy@lclark.edu or 503-768-6895.