Master of law

The Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin Magister Legum or Legum Magister) is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In some jurisdictions the "Master of Laws" is the basic professional degree for admission into legal practice.

To become a lawyer and practice law in most states and countries, a person must first obtain a law degree. While in most common law countries a Bachelor of Laws (or LL.B.) is required, the U.S. and Canada generally require a professional doctorate, or Juris Doctor, to practice law.

The Juris Doctor (J.D.) is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law. The degree is earned by completing law school in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other common law countries. Many who hold the degree of Juris Doctor are professionals committed to the practice of law, and may choose to focus their practice on criminal law, tort, family law, corporate law, and/or a wide range of other areas.

The majority of individuals holding a J.D. must pass an examination in order to be licensed to practice law within their respective jurisdictions.

If a person wishes to gain specialized knowledge through research in a particular area of law, he or she can continue his or her studies after an LL.B or J.D. in an LL.M. program. The word legum is the genitive plural form of the Latin word lex and means "of the laws". When used in the plural, it signifies a specific body of laws, as opposed to the general collective concept embodied in the word jus, from which the words "juris" and "justice" derive.

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