If grades and work experience play an important role, the Personal Statement remains the central and defining element of an LLM Application. The Personal Statement is a truly Anglo-American exercise, which many foreign law students and lawyers are not familiar with or used to. Here we provide some simple tips to keep in mind when writing your LLM Personal Statement:
1. Explain Clearly Why You Want and Need an LLM Degree
Although this seems obvious, most LLM Applicants do not actually explain why they need and want to pursue an LLM degree. Lay out clearly why the LLM degree qualification will help you reach your goals. There is no right or perfect answer. You are perhaps a law student educated in a civil law jurisdiction who wants a one-year training in Common Law before working in a cross-border practice. You may be a practicing lawyer in your home jurisdiction who has decided that you want to work on transactions with a more international dimension. You may have completed an undergraduate law degree in a program where only very general course offerings were available, and who now seeks specialized training in cutting-edge areas of the law. The fact is, there are many, many interesting reasons to complement your indigenous legal training with a one-year LLM program. And please, if you are a corporate or transactional lawyer, you need not pretend to be interested in human rights if you’re not. It is perfectly legitimate to want to advance your career. Just explain how.
2. Don’t Repeat Your CV
LLM Admissions Offices will ask for your detailed CV as part of your LLM Application. They will actually look at your CV. Your Personal Statement is an opportunity for you to explain things that are not on your CV. Do not limit yourself to mentioning that you have worked for an international law firm for 6 months or two years. Explain what you have learnt, what responsibilities you were entrusted with, how you were challenged.
3. Get Personal
Although this may hurt your feelings, you are not the only applicant who obtained excellent grades or who has completed a placement at Baker & McKenzie or Clifford Chance. Avoid resting on your laurels. LL.M. Admissions Offices receive thousands of applications, a significant number of which are top-notch. What will make the difference is if you share your personal perspectives. Explain what you want to achieve in your legal career. If your goals have evolved, that is fine. We have helped many students who have started out wanting a career in diplomacy and have ended up working in international arbitration. Although many may not admit it, lawyers and law students are humans too. They change, they evolve, they step back and re-analyze. If you have been involved in extracurricular activities, lay out the exact nature and scope of your involvement. Try to establish a link between that involvement and your overall goals. Share with the admissions officers what skills you have developed, and what obstacles you have overcome. Also, feel free to mention personal interests or hobbies in passing, if they can reinforce or confirm a quality you are trying to show: perseverance, discipline, consistency.
4. Tailor Your LLM Personal Statement to the Law School You Are Applying To
Law Schools and LLM Admissions Committees want to feel special. Therefore you should avoid making your Personal Statement feel like it was recycled and re-used for 15 different LLM applications. Explain why the particular LLM program interests you. Talk about the size of LLM class, the areas of particular expertise of the Law School in question (i.e., International Law at NYU, or Intellectual Property at Berkeley), professors who are world-renowned in their area, student clubs and law journals.