Loyola offers what we believe to be the only fully-sequenced 3-year Joint JD/Tax LLM program in the United States. Three years. Two degrees. A program designed to make you practice-ready in tax immediately upon graduation.
Loyola's 3-year joint program offers students significant employment and financial advantages:
- Potential for LL.M.-level tax employment after three years: Many students cannot afford to spend the additional year it normally takes to complete a stand-alone full-time Tax LLM program. Our program allows you to earn your Tax LLM degree from one of the country's Top 10 graduate tax programs without extending the time you spend in school.
- Enhanced job prospects: During the fall on-campus-interview season at the beginning of their second year (when big firms hire second-year summer associates on track for permanent offers), students in the joint program can offer employers a credential (completion of the intensive summer tax session) not available from any other law school in the United States.
- Second-year summer open: Students in the joint program will normally be free to accept firm employment during the summer after their second year without conflicting academic obligations.
Loyola’s 3-year Joint JD/Tax LLM Program is also open to JD students already enrolled at other U.S. law schools. The Joint JD/Tax LLM for Visiting Students offers students at other law schools many of the same employment and financial advantages that Loyola’s 3-year Joint JD/Tax LLM program offers to Loyola JD candidates.
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Program Requirements
Students in the 3-year joint JD/Tax LLM program are subject to all rules and requirements applicable to Loyola JD and Tax LLM students generally.
In addition, to complete the joint JD/Tax LLM program in three years, students must complete both intensive summer tax session courses and 12 additional units of Tax LLM courses (Tax Practice and Procedure plus 10 additional units of Tax LLM elective courses) during their second and/or third years of law school. In any event, students in the program must complete the requirements for each degree within five years after matriculation.
Because of the intensive nature of the instruction, students enrolled in the intensive summer tax session may not undertake any significant competing commitments, e.g., working, taking other courses, or sitting for the bar examination. Violation of this prohibition may result in denial of course credit.
Students who have previously taken one or more courses subsumed in the intensive summer tax session courses (e.g., Income Tax Timing Issues, Taxation of Property Transactions, Corporate Taxation I & II and Partnership Taxation I & II) will receive undiminished Tax LLM credit for the relevant intensive summer tax session course, but will not receive unit credit toward the Tax LLM degree for any subsumed courses.
In no event will intensive summer tax session courses count for credit toward the JD degree. Students in intensive summer tax session courses will be graded on the Tax LLM grading scale and will receive credit only on their Tax LLM transcripts. The 12 additional units of Tax LLM coursework necessary to complete the Tax LLM degree taken during the second and third years of law school will count toward both the JD and Tax LLM degrees and will appear on both the JD and Tax LLM transcripts. Students in the joint program will be graded on Loyola’s JD grading scale for these courses.
Course Track
Although significant flexibility is permitted, students in the Joint JD/Tax LLM program will normally complete all requirements for both the JD and Tax LLM degrees in three academic years, as follows:
|
First Academic Year |
Required JD Courses |
|---|---|
|
Summer Intensive Schedule |
Intensive 10-week summer tax session (12 units): income taxation, advanced income taxation, and business entity taxation |
|
Second & Third Year |
12 additional units of advanced tax courses counted toward both degrees, plus remaining JD coursework, culminating in: |
|
Third Year |
Two elective capstone courses: Tax Law Practicum and/or Tax Policy Colloquium. Five clinical/externship options: IRS Small Case Tax Clinic, Nonprofit Tax and Transactional Clinic, Taxpayer Appeals Assistance Clinic, United States Attorney Tax Division Externship, and/or IRS Office of Chief Counsel Externship. |
Visiting Student Course Track
Two tracks are available, one immediately following your first JD year, and the second immediately following your second JD year.
Second Year Track
You may visit Loyola for the 12-month period (mid-May to mid-May) immediately following your first JD year. During the summer, you will participate in Loyola’s unique intensive summer tax session, which provides a rigorous foundation in the basics of tax law. During your second JD year, still visiting at Loyola, you will take at least 12 additional units of advanced tax work. You will then return to your home school for your third JD year, graduating at the end of that year with a JD degree from your home school and a Tax LLM degree from Loyola.
If you pursue the Second Year Track, your three years at law school will look like this:
|
First Academic Year |
At your home school |
|---|---|
|
First Year Summer |
Intensive 10-week summer tax session (12 units): income taxation, advanced income taxation, and business entity taxation |
|
Second Academic Year |
Visiting at Loyola: 12 additional units of advanced tax courses counted toward both your home school JD and your Loyola Tax LLM, plus other JD coursework |
|
Third Academic Year |
At your home school |
Third-Year Track
You also have the option to visit Loyola for the 12-month period (mid-May to mid-May) immediately following your second JD year. During your second-year summer, you will participate in Loyola’s unique intensive summer tax session.
If you pursue this second track, your three years at law school will look like this:
|
First & Second Academic Year |
At your home school |
|---|---|
|
Second Year Summer |
Intensive 10-week summer tax session (12 units): income taxation, advanced income taxation, and business entity taxation |
|
Third Academic Year |
Visiting at Loyola: 12 additional units of advanced tax courses counted toward both your home school JD and your Loyola Tax LLM, plus other JD coursework |
Upon the completion of either track, you will graduate with a JD degree from your home school and a Tax LLM degree from Loyola.