LL.M. Bar Preparation Track
UC Irvine School of Law’s LL.M. Bar Prep Track is designed for internationally trained attorneys interested in meeting the eligibility requirements to sit for the Bar exam in California, New York, and other U.S. states.
Specific Bar Eligibility Requirements (including California and New York) >
A Proven Approach to Bar Preparation
UC Irvine Law’s Academic Skills Program (ASP) is nationally renowned for its strategic and innovative approach to bar preparation. As a result, the law school has one of the highest bar passage rates in California.
Our LL.M. Bar Prep Track combines ASP’s proven approach to bar preparation and combines it with a unique academic method that is optimized for teaching internationally trained lawyers. This creates our distinctive hybrid approach that optimizes bar preparation for UC Irvine Law LL.M. students.
LL.M. bar preparation and planning begins with the opportunity for academic advising with LL.M. Program Director Dr. Maryam Zomorodian in the summer months preceding the fall semester and continues with formal workshops during our pre-semester orientation week. Students then have the opportunity start their fall semester with Dr. Michi Kono’s 3 credit course, Bar Essay Study of MBE-Tested Areas of Law. Dr. Kono’s further guides our LL.M.’s bar preparation efforts with the spring semester 3-credit course, Bar Essay Preparation for CA-Tested Subjects and Performance Test.
Practical, Student-Centered Courses
Dr. Kono's bar preparation method is built on a simple but powerful principle: true mastery comes not from memorizing rules, but from understanding how they work in practice. Students learn to break down complex legal subjects into manageable frameworks they can customize to their own learning style, then build deep comprehension by seeing how rules apply to real scenarios. With an emphasis on hands-on practice over passive study, students develop their analytical and writing skills through regular feedback—in class, through self-assessment with sample answers, and through direct professor review. This practical, student-centered approach ensures that international attorneys don't just learn American law—they learn how to think and write like successful bar examinees.
Along with Dr. Kono’s bar-specific courses, UC Irvine LL.M. students in the Bar Prep Track focus their studies on subjects tested on the bar exam. This is where our integrated LL.M. curriculum truly shines – our LL.M. students have access to bar tested courses within the LL.M. curriculum (outlined below) and in the upper-level J.D. curriculum. Our course of study has been specifically created for our LL.M.’s to maximize their exposure to content tested on by bar exams, and focus on legal doctrines and principles that are most likely to be tested by the bar exam.
Our LL.M. Bar Track students have access to the following courses:
LL.M. Bar Track Courses:
- Bar Essay Study of MBE-Tested Areas of Law
- Bar Essay Preparation for CA-Tested Subjects and Performance Test
LL.M. Courses in Bar Tested Subjects:
- Civil Procedure (LL.M.)
- Constitutional Law (LL.M.)
- Contracts (LL.M.)
- Introduction to American Law
- Professional Responsibility, Globalization and the U.S. Legal Profession
- Reading Analysis and Writing in American Law
- Torts (LL.M.)
Upper-Level Bar Tested Subjects (LL.M. Accessible):
- Business Associations
- Criminal Procedure
- Evidence
- Property
- Remedies
- Will & Trusts
See application instructions for applying to UC Irvine’s LL.M. for internationally trained attorneys.