LLM in Law, Science & Technology

The Master of Laws (LLM) in Law, Science & Technology provides rigorous academic and professional training in legal practice and interdisciplinary analysis related to current developments in law, science and technology, including such areas as e-commerce, jurisdiction and dispute resolution in cyberspace, biotechnology and health science issues, intellectual property regimes and contractual developments related to the global information economy, venture capital, and high technology start-up companies.

The LLM in Law, Science & Technology is limited to students with a primary law degree earned outside the United States. Except under unusual circumstances, candidates must have at least two years of professional legal experience before commencing the LLM program.

LLM students are required to be in residence at Stanford during the full (nine month) academic year. They are required to take a minimum of 35 credit units and a maximum of 45 credit units.

how to apply

Note to applicants: 

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program awards up to three years of funding to Stanford graduate students from all disciplines, with additional opportunities for leadership training and collaboration across fields.

Applications for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program are due in early Autumn, one year prior to enrollment. View dates and deadlines. You can also sign up for Knight-Hennessy Scholars email alerts to stay up to date on the availability of their online application.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE KNIGHT-HENNESSY SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Courses

Candidates for the LLM in Law, Science, and Technology must successfully complete each of the following courses:

  • Introduction to American Law
  • Professional Responsibility
  • LST Colloquium I
  • LST Colloquium II

LLM LST students who intend to take the New York Bar also must take an advanced legal writing course that has been pre-approved for the New York Bar, such as Advanced Legal Writing: Business Transactions or Advanced Legal Writing: American Practice. For a complete list of pre-approved advanced legal writing courses and other eligibility requirements, please refer to the New York Bar Exam section of this SLS Student Handbook. In addition to these required courses, a number of others are recommended for all LLM LST students. A list of these courses was provided to all LLM LST students prior to enrollment and is available from the Office of International Graduate Programs.

Program Supervisors

Henry T. Greely

  • Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law
  • Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences
  • Professor, by courtesy, Genetics
  • Chair, Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics
  • Director, Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society

Faculty

Henry T. Greely

Henry T. Greely

  • Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law
  • Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences
  • Professor, by courtesy, Genetics
  • Chair, Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics
  • Director, Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society
Roland Vogl 2

Roland Vogl

  • Executive Director of CodeX - the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics
  • Executive Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology

Related Programs

The Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology combines the resources of Stanford Law School — including renowned faculty experts, alumni practicing on the cutting edge of technology law, technologically savvy and enthusiastic students, and a location in the heart of Silicon Valley — to address many of the questions that arise from the increasingly prominent role that science and technology play in our global economy and culture. The program draws on expertise in and beyond the Stanford Law School community, with courses taught by visiting scholars, faculty from other University departments, attorneys, business executives, and scientists. The program offers a small, close-knit community for intellectually engaging study of science- and technology-driven law and policy, including a regular speaker series with prominent academics and practitioners in the field. Stanford law students are an integral part of the program, running four successful technology-oriented student organizations at Stanford: the Stanford Law and Technology Association, the Stanford Technology Law Review, the Stanford BioLaw and Health Policy Society, and the Stanford Journal of Law, Science and Policy.

Besides running its own programs on intellectual property law, the LST program includes six related programs and centers each with its own more specific focus: the Stanford Center for the Digital Economy, the Center for Internet and Society (CIS), the Center for Law and the Biosciences, CodeX – The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, the Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse, and the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF).

Programs and Centers

Stanford Center for the Digital Economy

The Stanford Center for the Digital Economy provides a neutral forum for scholars, policy makers, and executives to explore the burgeoning field of electronic commerce law. In a unique interdisciplinary synergy with industry working groups, the Stanford Center for the Digital Economy supports policy studies, develops guidelines and works towards the enhancement of industry practices.

Center for Internet and Society

The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) brings together scholars, academics, legislators, students, and scientists to study the interaction of new technologies and the law, and to examine how the synergy between the two can either promote or harm public rights such as free speech, privacy, public commons, diversity, and scientific inquiry. CIS also runs the Cyberlaw Clinic and the Fair Use Project, which provide students with the opportunity to participate in related litigation.

Center for Law and the Biosciences

The Center for Law and the Biosciences, directed by Professor Hank Greely, examines how new discoveries in the biosciences will change society and how the law may affect those changes.

CodeX - The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics

CodeX is a multidisciplinary laboratory operated by Stanford University in association with affiliated organizations from industry, government, and academia. The staff of the Center includes a core of full-time employees, together with faculty and students from Stanford and professionals from affiliated organizations.

Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse

The Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse addresses the critical need for a comprehensive, online resource for scholars, policymakers, industry, lawyers, and litigation support firms in the field of intellectual property litigation. The database will be the first comprehensive source for information about all IP lawsuits filed in federal court.

Transatlantic Technology Law Forum

The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF) aims to promote a balanced approach to today's and future transatlantic tech law issues and to focus scholarly attention on these issues by involving academics, businesspeople, government officials, legal professionals, legislators, policy makers, representatives of international organizations, scholars, students and the public at large from both sides of the Atlantic.

Additional Stanford University Programs Related to Law, Science, and Technology

Relevant to candidates for the Law, Science and Technology LLM are the Law School’s teaching and research ties with the Schools of Business, Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the Departments of Computer Science and Economics, as well as the following university-wide interdisciplinary programs:

  • The Stanford Technology Ventures Program is the entrepreneurship center within the Stanford School of Engineering. It consists of a series of courses, conferences, internships, websites, and research activities designed to promote entrepreneurship education.
  • The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies was founded in 1996 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to build understanding of the issues faced by entrepreneurial companies and individuals.

Teaching Fellows