UConn School of Law offers the only LLM (Master of Laws) program in insurance law in the country. The program draws lawyers and students from the United States and around the world who seek serious graduate training in insurance and financial services law.
Our location in historic Hartford, Connecticut — the famed insurance capital and headquarters to some of the largest global insurance companies — allows our students to study with the most sophisticated insurance law experts in the country. Our students come from all corners of the United States and around the globe.
Our graduates work in private law firms, regulatory agencies, insurance companies, investment banks, hedge funds, commercial banks, health care organizations, corporate law departments, and academic and non-profit institutions. They have become leading lawyers at insurance companies and other major financial services firms, law firm partners, regulators and professors.
The Academic Program
UConn School of Law provides the deepest curriculum in insurance and financial services law of any law school in the United States. Our classes are taught by recognized experts in the field, and we provide opportunities for externships at major insurance companies, including Aetna, Chubb, The Hartford, Mass Mutual, and The Phoenix; law firms; and the Connecticut Department of Insurance.
By design, our LLM program is highly flexible to fit the needs of working professionals. Our students can earn their LLM degrees either full-time or part-time. In addition, our distance learning option allows lawyers with JD degrees from accredited U.S. law schools to earn their degrees from home. We offer a wide selection of courses at night to accommodate students’ busy work schedules. JD students are invited to work toward an LLM in Insurance Law by applying for our joint JD/LLM degree.
Location
JD / LLM
Students may complete a JD plus an LLM in Insurance Law in as few as seven semesters at the UConn School of Law. Up to 12 credits of insurance law core courses from the JD program may be applied toward the LLM degree. Full-time Day Division J.D. candidates at the Law School in good standing may apply to the LLM program by submitting an abbreviated LLM application during their fourth, fifth or sixth semesters. Evening Division students may apply once they reach a comparable milestone.
JD students at other U.S. law schools may apply to join the JD/LLM program during their fourth semester of law school. Students who are accepted will be provisionally admitted to the LLM program and will spend their final JD year at the UConn School of Law. The JD degree will be awarded by the student’s home law school.
Distance Learning Option
Lawyers with JD degrees who live beyond commuting distance of the UConn Law campus may earn their LLM in Insurance Law through distance learning. These students primarily participate through video streaming of live classes, which allows them to hear, see and talk with the faculty and students in the classroom. The Insurance Law Center offers seven to eight insurance law courses through distance learning every semester, most meeting once a week from 6:30 to 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time. Many distance learning students take one or two courses a semester and complete the LLM program in two to four years.
The Insurance Law Center also offers several courses that are completely online. These courses are asynchronous, with no set time for class and students can participate online according to their schedules. The courses emphasize short written exercises and significant online discussion and require a time commitment at least equal to, if not exceeding, that of traditional live courses. These courses were developed under the guidance of experienced faculty members and lawyers, in consultation with one of the top online curriculum developers in the United States. Our online classes are available to all LLM and JD students.
Our distance learning LLM students must fulfill all degree requirements except for regular physical attendance on campus. The distance learning program charges the same fees as our on-campus Insurance Law LLM program.
Currently, our distance learning program is only open to LLM students who have already obtained a JD degree from an accredited law school in the United States. Students who received their JD from a law school in the United States or its territories where English was not the primary language of instruction are generally required to complete their first semester of study on campus. After their first semester they may complete the remainder of their LLM degree through distance learning. International students participating in our JD/LLM program must attend our program on campus.
Distance learning LLM student have full access to the research resources available from the UConn Law Library.