CEU-LLM Fordham University

There are two major legal traditions in the world: continental law, to which Spanish law belongs, and common law, to which U.S. law belongs.

The CEU-Fordham Program offers training in both legal traditions and also carries with it the official degree that accredits it, providing the student with an undoubted competitive advantage in an increasingly globalized and interconnected legal environment.

The Program is especially aimed at law graduates with an international legal vocation, who wish to practice law in large law firms, international institutions or organizations, or business corporations of transnational scope.

Obtaining the LLM also gives students the opportunity to sit for the New York Bar Association exam, which qualifies them to practice law in the United States (State of New York)*.  

Advantages: 

• Simplified admission process at Fordham University as a CEU student. 
• Mandatory Fordham health insurance during your stay in the US, which is paid directly to Fordham.
• TOEFL ITP exam preparation course and two ITP exams.  
• Assistance from programme coordinators at USPCEU and Fordham University.
• Academic advising before and during the exchange. 
• Issuance of programme transcripts and diplomas. 

LLM students also have the option of applying to the U.S. authorities for an OPT (Optional Practical Training) visa, which allows them to work in the U.S. for a period of 12 months from the completion of the LLM.  

The Program provides for a full academic year at Fordham to pursue the LLM, choosing from one of these tracks:  

Itinerary A: Madrid ➜ NY  

The student takes the Master of Law and Legal Practice in Spain (from October to June), completes the mandatory internship in Spain (from July to December) and in January moves to NY to take the LLM at Fordham University (January cohort). After the end of the 1st semester at Fordham, the student takes the official state exam in Madrid to practice in Spain (the last few years it has been held in June) and in September he/she returns to Fordham to take the 2nd semester. This pathway lasts 2 years and 3 months.  

Itinerary B: NY ➜ Madrid  

The student first attends the two semesters of the Fordham LLM in NY (from August to May) and then completes the Master's degree in Access to the Legal Profession and Procurement in Spain (from October to June) and the mandatory internship (from September to January) in Spain. This itinerary lasts 3 years and 3 months.  

Specialization

The Fordham School of Law LLM allows students to choose the area of legal knowledge in which they wish to specialize from among the following:  

• U.S. Law 
• International Law and Justice 
• Banking, Corporate, and Finance Law 
• Corporate Compliance 
• International Business and Trade Law 
• International Dispute Resolution 
• Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law 
• Fashion Law 
• Real Estate 

(*) The requirements necessary to sit for the New York Bar Association examination are established by the New York Bar Association itself, to which, in any case, reference should be made with respect to the examination.   

(**) The CEU-Fordham Program offers students the possibility of applying for an OPT visa, which allows non-U.S. citizens to work as interns in the U.S. for 12 months. In any case, please refer to the corresponding regulations. The CEU-Fordham Program does not include the search for or assignment of internships for students by USPCEU or Fordham School of Law.