LLM Internship Opportunities
We offer unique internship programs that provide short-term professional experiences either during or after your LLM studies, depending on your graduate program.
LLM Internship Program
BU LLM students have the opportunity to participate in a short-term, full-time, post-graduation, law-related internship in the US through our unique LLM Internship Program. Placements are intended to help students further their understanding of US legal culture, gain practical exposure to US legal practice and refine their professional development skills. We work with an outside organization, the Global Career Center (“GCC”), to help identify the right kinds of opportunities. Participating students work directly with GCC to determine placements that best match their career goals, and GCC then identifies an internship based on the student’s interests. These internships take place during the post-graduation one-year optional practical training (OPT) period that is available to students on F-1 visas. Placements generally begin in the summer after graduation and last four months, but can extend beyond that at the discretion of the employer. As students seek post-graduate opportunities in the US, this program can serve as an external and additional fee-based resource for students who opt to participate.
Graduate Banking & Financial Law Program: Financial Services Law Internship
The Financial Services Internship is a spring semester course for Banking and Financial Law LLM students that seeks to give students real-world experience in the practice of financial services law by immersing them in the day-to-day operations of a law firm, financial services organization, or regulatory agency. Students work under the supervision of a lawyer and a faculty advisor who help ensure that the students have a meaningful, relevant, and rigorous experience. Traditionally, students enrolled in this course gain at least ten hours of workplace experience per week. Past employers have included the Massachusetts Department of Banking, Cambridge Savings Bank, John Hancock, Ligris and Associates, American Consumer Credit Counseling, Computershare, and the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing. International students need to use Curricular Practical Training (CPT) in order to participate in this course. Note: the Financial Services Law Internship may be on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please check with the Director of the Banking & Financial Law LLM Program for more information.
Federal Clerkship Opportunity
Clerking for a federal judge in the United States is one of the most prestigious and sought-after opportunities available to recent law graduates. Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts has in the past offered high-achieving BU Law LLM graduates whose first degree in law is from outside the United States the unique opportunity to serve as one of his judicial clerks during his or her Optional Practical Training year. The clerkship has been an unpaid, full-time role that lasts for twelve months, starting in September for May graduates of our LLM programs.