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)
- 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)
*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.
**For 2023-2024:
- 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
- Selected Topics in Cybersecurity Law may include Protecting Critical Infrastructure: Mitigating Cybersecurity & National Security Threats; Cybersecurity: Risk Management and Incident Response; and Cybersecurity in the United Nations