Individualized Legal Studies

Drake Law School offers a general LL.M. in Individualized Legal Studies. Students can choose from a suggested list of concentrations below or design their own program of specialized study.

Specialized Study (12 credits)

A candidate for the LL.M. in Individualized Legal Studies (ILS) must successfully complete a general course of study that consists of 24 semester hours of law credit drawn from the regular Drake curriculum. This specialized study, or "build your own program" concentration, allows each student to design his or her own concentration by devoting 12 of these 24 credits to a specialized area of study of the student's choice. Faculty members work closely with each LL.M. candidate to design a customized curriculum by selecting courses that are tailored to the candidate's unique career goals or interests. A candidate may choose his or her own individual specialization as an alternative to the prescribed concentrations, such as Business Law, Human Rights and Global Citizenship, or Sustainable Development, listed below.

Business Law Concentration (12 credits)

The Business Law concentration allows students to focus their studies in the corporate, tax, and commercial law areas. Today the U.S. finds itself embroiled in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Yet globalization has opened new markets and created unprecedented business opportunities, and the U.S. remains the world’s dominant economy. For both American and international students, the market for lawyers schooled in U.S. business law and practices should continue to expand. The following list includes courses that may be used to satisfy this concentration’s requirements.

Note: Courses followed by an asterisk cover subjects tested on some or all state bar examinations.

• Business Associations*
• Business Planning
• Business Tax
• Current Problems in Corporate and Business Law
• Federal Income Tax
• International Trade
• Payment Systems*
• Real Estate Transactions
• Sales*
• Secured Transactions*

Human Rights and Global Citizenship Concentration (12 credits)

The Human Rights and Global Citizenship concentration examines the roles that nations, individuals, international organizations, and the rule of law play in the realization of human rights. The post-World War II era has witnessed a proliferation of international human rights norms. These rights norms have evolved in a way that promotes not just the political rights with which Americans are familiar, such as the rights to free speech and a free press. Instead, they also involve guarantees related to social and economic well-being that transcend the traditional rights discussion. These include the rights to health care, education, and human dignity. The following courses may be used to satisfy this concentration’s requirements:

• Art, Cultural Heritage and the Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law
• International Environmental Law
• International Human Rights
• International Intellectual Property
• Public International Law
• Independent Research

Sustainable Development (12 credits)

The Sustainable Development concentration encompasses the broad inquiry into how to provide for human resource needs without depleting diminished global resources. Agricultural, land use, renewable energy, and environmental and natural resources law are all integral pieces of the regulatory approach to this vital subject. In addition, evolving human rights norms promote the notion that people everywhere are entitled to live in a healthy environment while enjoying the benefits of economic development policies that perpetuate prosperity. We anticipate that the need for lawyers well-equipped to meet sustainable development challenges will increase in the years to come. The following courses may be used to satisfy this concentration’s requirements:
 

• Food and the Law
• Environmental Regulation of Agriculture
• International Trade
• Introduction to Agricultural Law
• Legal Issues in Wind Energy Development  
• Independent Research (as approved by the Program Director)
• Other sustainable development courses (as approved by the Program Director)