Michigan Law’s LLM (master of laws) program is one of the oldest in the United States, established in 1889. This year—137 years later—21 LLM students have joined the Michigan Law community.
The Law School keeps the LLM class small to maximize the quality of the students’ experience and ensure a closer integration with the JD program. Each student is paired with a faculty mentor as well as a Michigan Law Ambassador, a second- or third-year JD student who acts as a mentor.
The 2026–2027 LLM students have come to Ann Arbor from 14 countries around the world. Seventy-one percent of them have at least a year of professional legal experience, and their experience lies in a range of legal practice areas.
“I admire the resilience and determination all the LLM students have demonstrated in their pursuit of advanced legal studies,” said Alice Choo, director of graduate admissions. “They have navigated the visa application process and moved to a new country to study here, and I’m honored that they’ve chosen Michigan Law as their home in the United States.”
LLM students get immersed in the Michigan Law experience, attending class with JD students and joining student organizations. Some live alongside their peers in the Lawyers Club.
“It’s been so special to see how warmly the LLM students have welcomed each other as they settle into life in Ann Arbor,” Choo said.
Academic Information and Demographics
Enrolled Students
21
Fulbright Scholars
3
Median Age
26
Age range
24-35
First-generation college graduate
33%
Have spouses and/or children who accompanied them
10%
Gender
Women
48%
Men
48%
Nonbinary or Other Genders
4%
Where Are They From?
Countries
14
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. China
4. Columbia
5. Germany
6. Greece
7. Italy
8. Japan
9. Nepal
10. The Netherlands
11. Pakistan
12. South Korea
13. Taiwan
14. Uzbekistan
Work experience
Areas of legal practice
(includes students with experience in more than one area)
Academia
12%
Corporate
12%
Government
12%
Judiciary
19%
Law Firm
38%
Public Interest
7%
One year or more of professional legal experience before LLM
71%
Median years of work experience before LLM
3
Areas of legal interest
Meet a few of our LLM students
Dipika Gajurel
Dipika Gajurel’s interest in criminal justice began in childhood, watching crime investigation and courtroom dramas. Following her interest, she completed her bachelor’s degree in law and earned her master’s degree in criminal law and justice at the Kathmandu School of Law.
She worked as a public prosecutor for almost six years and then was promoted to deputy registrar (undersecretary) in the Supreme Court of Nepal in Kathmandu, where she helped judges write rulings.
This experience has given her two distinct perspectives on how the criminal justice system operates. As a prosecutor, she learned about the interests of victims and the state’s perspective on prosecution and sentencing. While working in the judiciary, she gained insight on how judges try to balance between the victims’ interests and the circumstances of the offense and the offender to achieve the broader goal of justice.
Gajurel is one of Nepal’s three Fulbright Fellowship grantees this year. As a grantee, Gajurel has committed to return to Nepal to work in the judiciary for two years after earning her LLM.
She chose Michigan Law in part because she had heard good things about the learning environment from other people from Nepal who studied here. As she researched law schools particularly for criminal law, “I found Michigan Law has amazing professors and clinics,” she said.
Michigan Law’s mini-seminars also piqued Gajurel’s interest, as law school in Nepal didn’t offer anything like them. “I was fascinated by the idea of a mini-seminar, how we can discuss a simple topic and delve deeper into legal discourse [around that topic].”
This year, Gajurel is looking forward to the academic journey and building new friendships. “Also, this experience will help me develop myself as a more confident person as a whole, because I was a little introverted or reserved,” she said. “I’m coming out of my comfort zone and, yes, it’s challenging, but I’m loving the process of it.”
Louis Ehmann
Louis Ehmann comes to Ann Arbor from Freiburg, Germany, where he has been pursuing his PhD at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, writing a book focused on the insolvency of a stock company.
In Germany, law school starts directly after high school. After graduating in 2024, Ehmann worked as a research assistant for a professor in corporate law until coming to Michigan Law this summer. He also taught an introductory course on the German civil code for LLM students in Freiburg.
Why did he pursue law initially? With a smile, he recalled what his kindergarten teacher used to say: “Louis is already very grown-up for his age. He is strict and likes to follow rules.” So, he joked, becoming a lawyer may have been the natural path for him all along. Behind the joke, however, lies a genuine interest: “I like law and rules, words and precision, as well as the logic of law and how it intertwines with economic and especially political dimensions of a society.”
Ehmann wanted to go abroad for an LLM. He had been to the United States a couple of times before, and he likes the countryside, the people, and the culture. Also, he said, “The legal system has great implications for our legal system in Germany, especially in the area of corporate law and insolvency and bankruptcy law, where I want to practice.”
Michigan Law appealed to him because “I always wanted to have a small city with a campus vibe,” and he appreciates the natural areas around Ann Arbor. He said that if he went to a bigger program in a bigger city, he “might not get the real experience of how it is to go to an American law school and meet American law students.”
Even in his first weeks in Ann Arbor, Ehmann said he already felt like he knew most of the LLM class quite well. “The Lawyers Club is really nice. I’m living on campus, and the dining hall is amazing. You get to know so many people,” he said.
Ehmann’s studies focus on bankruptcy law. He said he is especially looking forward to two courses on restructuring bankruptcy, because the professors are also professionals who work outside of academia, so they bring an interdisciplinary approach between law and economics.
Luciana Ramirez
A Fulbright scholar from Argentina, Luciana Ramirez has always wanted to work in the public sphere, and her goal is to become a judge. Before coming to Michigan Law, she was lead clerk at Buenos Aires Administrative and Tax Law Court.
“Through my work being a clerk, I’ve seen that you may not change thousands of lives, but you can change one life at a time, and it’s actually very helpful for people,” she said. “I did some work that I’m very proud of, so I want to stay in that line.”
Examples include work in housing rights, helping people access housing; in public health, getting implants for deaf people; and in education, making sure children have access to the public kindergarten that is their right.
Ramirez earned her law degree at the University of Buenos Aires, where she has also served as a teaching assistant and assistant professor, focused on constitutional law. “Argentinian constitutional law is mainly based in American constitutional law, so to gain the depth you want in order to be a very good law professor,” studying in the United States is the best option, she said. “It has always been my dream to come here.”
With her LLM, Ramirez aims to become a better writer and researcher, and she looks forward to this next step in her academic path. “I love it. I’ve always been very nerdy,” she said.
Ramirez chose Michigan Law because of its strong public interest offerings—and because of the attention and care she received from Alice Choo and Michigan Law alumni, who talked to her about life in Michigan. “I was kind of afraid, coming to a different country. I knew that here at Michigan, if I have any problem—health wise, emotional, anything—someone is going to look after me. That, I think, is not the norm for many colleges.”
Ramirez’s LLM program is the first opportunity she’s had to be a full-time student, because in Argentina, students typically work while in school. “All my life I’ve been a part-time student, part-time worker,” she said. “It’s the first time that I’m able to only study, so it’s very exciting for me.”