LLM in National Security & U.S. Foreign Relations Law
Director: L. Schenck
Students who choose not to write a thesis must complete National Security Law (6870), U.S. Foreign Relations Law (6871), and a minimum of 14 credits from the courses listed below,* including at least 2 credits graded on the basis of a research paper. The research paper must be at least 8,000 words in length, and U.S. law school graduates must achieve a minimum grade of B+.
Students who choose to write a thesis must complete National Security Law (6870), U.S. Foreign Relations Law (6871), Thesis (6690-91), and a minimum of 10 credits from the courses listed below; they are not required to complete a research paper in addition to the thesis.
Note: Students who receive credit for Law 6879, Cybersecurity Law and Policy or Law 6884, Technology Foundations for Cybersecurity may not enroll in Law 6890, Cybersecurity Law and Technology.
*Note: Credit earned in courses offered as part of GW Law's Oxford Program may be applied toward LLM program requirements.
All candidates for the LLM degree must complete a total of 24 credit hours, including course work that satisfies the written work requirement.
Courses
Foundation Courses
- National Security Law (6870)
- U.S. Foreign Relations Law (6871)
Advanced Courses
- Professional Responsibility and Ethics (National Security) (6218)
- Litigation with the Federal Government (6240)
- Admiralty (6293)
- Role of the Federal Prosecutor (6363)
- Immigration Criminal Enforcement (6367)
- Computer Crime (6369)
- Law of Separation of Powers (6384)
- Legislation (6416)
- Legislative Analysis and Drafting (6418)
- Congressional Investigations Seminar (6420)
- Veterans Law (6423)
- Veterans Advocacy (6428)
- Information Privacy Law (6486)
- Anti-Corruption and Compliance (6511)
- International Law (6520)
- International Money Laundering, Corruption, and Terrorism (6521)
- Immigration Law I (6538)
- Refugee and Asylum Law (6540)
- International Law of Human Rights (6546)
- Space Law (6548)
- Law of the Sea (6550)
- Law of War (6552)
- U.S. Export Control Law and Regulation (6553)
- International Criminal Law (6554)
- Nation Building and the Rule of Law (6559)
- Public International Law Seminar (6562)**
- Human Trafficking Law (6572)
- Legal Drafting (National Security) (6652)
- Field Placement (6668)
- Selected Topics in National Security Law (6869)**
- National Security Law Seminar (6872)**
- Military Justice (6873)
- Comparative Military Law (6874)
- Counterterrorism Law (6875)
- Homeland Security Law and Policy (6876)
- Nuclear Nonproliferation Law and Policy (6877)
- Intelligence Law (6878)
- Cybersecurity Law and Policy (6879)
- The Law of Emergencies: Natural Disasters, Climate Crises, Pandemics, and Beyond (6880)
- Artificial Intelligence Law and Policy (6881)
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (6882)
- Counterintelligence Law and Policy (6883)
- Technology Foundations for Cybersecurity (6884)
- Transnational Security (6885)
- Domestic Terrorism (6886)
- Problems Trying Terrorists in Article III Courts (6887)
- Crisis and Legal Controversy in the CIA (6888)
- Aviation Law and National Security (6889)
- Cybersecurity Law and Technology (6890)
- Foreign Access to US Technology (6891)
- Selected Topics in Cybersecurity Law (6892)**
- Disinformation, National Security, and Cybersecurity: Overview and Legal Approaches (6893)
- Blockchain: Law, Policy, and Cybersecurity (6894)
- Global Privacy Law and Conflict Seminar (6895)
- Foreign Direct Investment Law: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and National Security (6897)
- Cybersecurity Law Crisis Challenges: Protecting Critical Infrastructure, Risk Management, and Incident Response (6898)
*Constitutional Law I (6214) and Constitutional Law II (6380) also will be available; only students with a non-U.S. law degree who plan to take the New York bar examination may count these courses toward the 14 credits required in the field. Other courses may be approved to count toward the 14 credits in the field, with the permission of the Program Director.
**For 2024-2025:
- Public International Law Seminars may include Arms Control
- National Security Law Seminars may include Internal Investigations, Modern Politics, and the Office of the Inspector General
- Selected Topics in National Security Law may include Law of Secrecy; Domestic Deployment of the United States Military; and the Law of War, Civilian Harm Mitigation, and Response
- Selected Topics in Cybersecurity Law may include Cybersecurity in the United Nations