Description
JD students may concurrently enroll in the LL.M. in Tax Program which offers concentrations in Taxation or Business Transactions. The tax concentration develops practical skills to support career growth and preparation for tax practice. Students can choose electives allowing them to focus in either Estate Planning or Business Tax. The business transactions concentration is designed to train students to serve the needs of business and tax clients throughout the life cycle of a business venture. The skills-based program begins with formation and choice of business entity, then addresses financing in the growth phase, possible reorganizations and mergers as the business matures. The concentration offers elective courses in various business tax courses.
JD students can earn a JD and an LL.M. degree at the same time by attending summer school following their second year of law school. With careful planning, students can avoid taking courses the second summer after graduation. The LL.M. tuition rate will apply to any courses taken after JD graduation.
Degree Requirements
JD students must complete all JD graduation requirements including 90 credit hours. The LL.M. requires 24 credit hours. 15 of the online hours may also count toward the JD degree. Up to 6 hours of select JD courses may also be counted toward the LL.M. JD/LL.M.
The tax concentration requires the following 13 hours of courses:
- Personal Income Tax (2 hours)
- Capital Transactions (3 hours)
- Corporate Tax (3 hours)
- Tax Procedure (2 hours)
- Partnership (3 hours)
The business transactions concentration requires the following 17 credit hours of courses.
- Business Entities (2 hours)
- Intellectual Property (3 hours)
- Securities Regulation (2 hours)
- Mergers and Acquisitions (3 hours)
- Principles in Accounting (3 hours)
- Business Planning (2 hours)
- *JD Transactional Drafting (2 hours)
*This is a 2 hour JD course offered in the building but applied to the LL.M. degree leaving 4 hours of select JD courses which may also be applied to the LL.M. degree.
Electives
The remaining electives included the required courses offered in the other concentration plus and of the following:
- State and Local (2 hours)
- *Executive Compensation (2 hours)
- *International Tax (2 hours)
- Ethics (1 hour)
* These two courses are pre-recorded and ONLY available as LL.M. credit. Credit for these courses will not be applied to the JD degree.
Application of JD Credits to the LL.M. Degree
With approval from the Daniel Powell, Associate Dean for Graduate Law Programs, up to 6 hours (3 courses at 2 hours each even if the JD course is 3 hours) of certain JD courses may be applied to the LL.M. degree. Since you must take the JD version of Transactional Drafting in the building this leaves 2 JD courses at 2 credit hours each you may take for LL.M. credit.
Here is a list of JD tax courses which Dean Powell may approve:
| 641 | Tax Procedure |
| 643 | Tax, Personal Income |
| 644 | Decedents Estates, Trusts, and Fiduciary Obligation |
| 647 | Taxation, Federal Estate and Gift |
| 666 | International Trade and Investments Law |
| 671 | International Business Transactions |
| 681 | Estate Planning |
| 689 | Taxation, Income of Business Entities |
| 720 | Tax Policy Seminar |
| 747 | Will Drafting |
| 760 | Principles in Accounting |
| 761 | Taxation, International |
Here is a list of business JD courses which Dean Powell may approve:
| 615 | Business Ethics Seminar |
| 631 | Workplace Law |
| 645 | Business Organizations |
| 684 | Antitrust |
| 685 | Business Planning |
| 697 | Workers’ Compensation |
| 703 | Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions |
| 709 | Securities Regulation |
| 721 | Employment Discrimination Law |
| 722 | Copyright Law |
| 724 | Banking Law |
| 727 | Bankruptcy |
| 732 | Employee Benefits |
| 737 | Business Bankruptcy |
| 740 | Employment Law Drafting |
| 748 | Corporate Law, Problems in |
| 748 | Corporate Law, Special Problems: Intro to Corporate Finance |
| 748 | Special Problems, Corporate Law: Comparative Law and Economics Seminar |
| 748 | Corporate Law, Special Problems in: A Merger Transaction |
| 748 | Corporate Law, Special Problems: Advanced Contracts Seminar |
| 748 | Corporate Law, Special Problems in: Representing Small Businesses |
| 748 | Special Problems in Corporate Law-Offshore Financial Transactions (Cayman Islands) |
| 752 | Trademarks and Unfair Competition |
| 758 | Unincorporated Business Entities |
| 765 | Corporate Finance |
| 777 | Bankruptcy Litigation |
| 816 | Transactional Drafting |
| 835 | Patent Law |
Students in the business transactions program will not be given LL.M. credit for any of the three estate planning courses. (Estate & Gift Tax, Income Taxation of Estates & Trusts, and Estate Planning)
Application of LL.M. Credits to your JD Program
Students working on both degrees should also make sure to earn the 90 hours required for the JD degree. Subject to the approval of Grace Lee, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, students may apply up to 15 credit hours of the online (LL.M.) courses toward their JD degree. Students may not enroll in distance education courses until they have completed 28 JD credit hours. JD students must complete all other JD graduation requirements.
Prerequisites/Grades
Prerequisites in the LL.M. program apply only to LL.M. courses. JD business law course prerequisites apply only to JD courses. The JD program requires students to maintain a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.33(See JD academic standards in the Student Handbook.) The LL.M. program requires students to maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 in courses taken within that program. Grades in JD courses do not affect the LL.M. grade point average; conversely, grades in LL.M. courses do not affect the JD grade point average or class ranking. Grades in JD courses taken for LL.M. credit affect only the JD GPA.
How to Apply
JD students are automatically admitted to the LL.M. program but, as a condition of that admittance, must meet with both Daniel Powell, the Associate Dean for Graduate Law Programs (dpowell@law.ua.edu) and Grace Lee, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (glee@law.ua.edu).
In preparation for these meetings, please draft a preliminary plan of JD and LL.M. courses you plan to take in your second and third year in Law School. You will find the LL.M. schedule of courses here.
You must have a current plan for courses you will take to earn the LL.M. degree on file with the Graduate Law Department