The Master of Laws (ML) program provides a concentrated post-graduate legal study program for practicing lawyers or graduates of foreign or domestic law schools. Candidates for this program include: 1) foreign lawyers and law graduates seeking training in United States legal doctrine and skills, including those who may wish to sit for the Texas Bar Examination; and 2) United States lawyers and law graduates wishing to pursue an advanced study in chosen areas of focus.

Students enrolled in the program pursue a non-thesis Master of Laws degree, and may be enrolled on either a full-time or part-time basis. Master of Laws students may complete 24 credit hours in one of the following areas of curricular specialization. ML students also have the option to complete a 24-credit personalized course of study.

Areas of Curricular Specialization

• Preparation for the Texas Bar Examination (in-residence)
• International Tax Law and Policy (distance education)^*
• Risk Management and Compliance (distance education)^*
• Transfer Pricing Law and Policy (distance education)^*
• Wealth Management (distance education)^*

^​* Certificate programs available; please see certificate program requirements for more information.

Specializations

Students who do not have a Juris Doctor from an A.B.A.-approved law school must take Introduction to the U.S. Legal System. This course will familiarize students with the structure of the U.S. legal system and fundamentals of legal reasoning and analysis. Additional curriculum requirements vary based on the student's chosen area of curricular specialization.

• ML students in the International Tax Law and Policy; Risk Management and Compliance; Transfer Pricing Law and Policy; and Wealth Management curricula may be required to take Ethical Decision Making. For the remaining coursework, students select from various course offerings in the student’s chosen area of curricular specialization. All courses in these curricula are offered asynchronously or synchronously via distance technology.
• Foreign ML students intending to take coursework to be eligible to take the Texas Bar Examination will also be required to take Legal Writing for Foreign-Trained Attorneys, Professional Responsibility, and other courses which satisfy the eligibility requirements to sit for the Texas Bar Examination. Students will work with their academic advisor to select the appropriate courses.  All courses are offered via in-person instruction at the School of Law in Fort Worth. Due to restrictions on distance education courses satisfying the eligibility requirements to sit for the Texas Bar Examination, foreign ML students should consult with their academic advisor before enrolling in any distance education course.
• ML students completing a personalized course of study select from various courses offered by the School of Law in the students' chosen area of focus.  Courses are offered asynchronously or synchronously via distance technology and via in-person instruction at the School of Law in Fort Worth. The mode of delivery of a particular student's coursework will depend on the student's personalized course of study.

This program is approved for delivery via asynchronous or synchronous distance education technology.

For more information, please go to law.tamu.edu.

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee
• Degree Plan
• Credit Requirements
• Transfer of Credit
• Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses
• Final Examination
   

Student’s Advisory Committee

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

The Master of Laws (ML) student’s advisory committee consists of the coordinating faculty member of the student's program, who has the responsibility of approving the proposed degree plan for the ML student.

Degree Plan

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

The student’s advisory committee, in consultation with the student, will develop the proposed degree plan. The degree plan must be completed and filed with the Graduate and Professional School prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable, and no later than 90 days prior to the date of the final oral examination or thesis defense.

A student should submit the degree plan using the online Document Processing Submission System.

A student submitting a proposed degree plan for a Master of Laws degree should designate on the official degree plan the appropriate program option.

Additional coursework may be added to the approved degree plan by petition if it is deemed necessary by the advisory committee to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination or Request for Final Examination Exemption is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Credit Requirement

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A minimum of 24 semester credit hours of approved coursework is required for the Non-Thesis Option.

Ordinarily the student will devote the major portion of his or her time to work in one or two closely related fields. Other work will be in supporting fields of interest.

Transfer of Credit

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A student who has earned 12 hours of graduate credit in residence at Texas A&M University may be authorized to transfer courses in excess of the limits prescribed below upon the advice of the advisory committee and with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater may be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Otherwise, the limitations stated in the following section apply. Coursework in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A or B) are earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit. Courses appearing on the degree plan with grades of D, F or U may not be absolved by transfer work. Credit for thesis research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for coursework submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours or equated to semester credit hours. An official transcript from the university at which the transfer coursework was taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions.

Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for graduate credit. If the course to be transferred was taken prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.

Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA.

Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

Some departments may have more restrictive requirements for transfer work. If otherwise acceptable, certain courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the master’s degree under the following limitations.

1. The maximum number of credit hours which may be considered for transfer credit is the greater of 12 hours or one-third (1/3) of the total hours of a degree plan. The following restrictions apply:
   • Graduate and/or upper-level undergraduate courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution, or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seeking status at Texas A&M University, or the student was in degree-seeking status at the institution at which the courses were taken; and if the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution.
   • Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit.
2. The maximum number of credit hours taken in post-baccalaureate non-degree (G6) classification at Texas A&M University which may be considered for application to the degree plan is 12.
3. A zero credit 684 or 685 course is only allowed for non-thesis option master's students. A zero credit 681 course can be used for either thesis or non-thesis option master’s students. Other courses, including 691 (Research) hours, are not eligible for zero credit.
4. Not more than 12 hours may be used in any combination of the following categories:
   • Not more than 8 hours in the combination of 691 (research), 684 (Professional Internship) or SOPH 680 may be used.
   • Not more than 8 hours of 685 (Directed Studies) may be used.
   • Not more than 3 hours of 690 (Theory of Research) may be used.
   • Not more than 3 hours of 695 (Frontiers in Research) may be used.
5. A maximum of 2 hours of 681 (Seminar).
6. A maximum of 9 hours of advanced undergraduate courses (300- or 400-level).
7. For graduate courses of three weeks’ duration or less, taken at other institutions, up to 1 hour of credit may be obtained for each five-day week of coursework. Each week of coursework must include at least 15 contact hours.
8. Continuing education courses may not be used for graduate credit.
9. Extension courses are not acceptable for credit.

10. For non-distance degree programs, no more than 50 percent of the non-research coursework required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.

11. To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs.  

Exceptions will be permitted only in unusual cases and when petitioned by the student’s advisory committee and approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Final Examination

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A final comprehensive examination is not required for the Master of Laws program.

A student pursuing the non-thesis option is not allowed to enroll in 691 (Research) for any reason and 691 may not be used for credit toward a non-thesis option Master of Laws degree. A maximum of 4 credit hours of 684 (Professional Internship), 8 credit hours of 685 (Directed Studies), and up to 3 credit hours of 690 (Theory of Research) or 695 (Frontiers in Research) may be used toward the non-thesis option Master of Laws degree. In addition, any combination of 684, 685, 690 and 695 may not exceed 25 percent of the total credit hour requirement shown on the individual degree plan. All requirements for the non-thesis option Master of Laws degree other than those specified above are the same as for the thesis option degree.

Additional Requirements

• Residence
• Time Limit
• Foreign Languages
• Application for Degree

Residence

On-Campus Degree Program

In partial fulfillment of the residence requirement for the degree of Master of Laws, the student must complete 9 resident credit hours during one regular semester or one 10-week summer semester in resident study at Texas A&M University. Upon recommendation of the student’s advisory committee, department head or Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program, if appropriate, and with approval of the Graduate and Professional School, a student may be granted exemption from this requirement. Such a petition, however, must be approved prior to the student’s registration for the final 9 credit hours of required coursework.

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Graduate and Professional School.

See Residence Requirements.

Distance Education Degree Program

The distance education modality does not have any residence requirement.

Time Limit

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

All degree requirements must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until seven years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework which is more than seven calendar years old at the time of the final examination (oral or written) may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

A student who has chosen the thesis option must have the final corrected version of the thesis cleared by the Graduate and Professional School no later than one year after the final examination, or approval of a petition for exemption from the final exam, or within the seven-year time limit, whichever occurs first. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.

Foreign Languages

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

No specific language requirement exists for the Master of Laws degree.

Application for Degree

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the Graduation section.