Legal education and bar admission requirements were a subject for action at the organizational meeting of the Americans Bar Association in 1878. At that first meeting of the American Bar Association a committee on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar was formed which led to the creation of the first Section of the ABA, the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar in 1893. There were continued discussions of the bench and the bar about the need for the regulation and accreditation of law schools in the United States and in 1923. Standards for the Approval of Law Schools were adopted by the American Bar Associations, and the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar began the accreditation process. The ABA accreditation program is for American law schools offering the first degree in law, the J.D., which is a post baccalaureate degree. This accreditation by the American Bar Association permits law school J.D. graduates to sit for the bar examinations in each of the admitting jurisdictions of the United States.

While the law school accreditation programs accredits law schools for the purpose of offering the J.D. degrees, the growth area in Americans legal education the past decade has been the LLM degree. The intent of those law schools offering the LLM is to enhance the skills and knowledge of individuals having their first degree in law. Essentially there are two principal variations of the LLM degree. The first are those related to advanced study of specific subjects such as taxation, international and comparative law, business law, intellectual property, natural resources and environmental law, health law, real estate law, labor law, dispute resolution, maritime law and bankruptcy law. The students in these programs are usually American, often practicing lawyers who wish to develop or enhance an expertise in a specific area of law. There are also foreign trained lawyers enrolled in these programs.

The second type of the LLM degree is one offered specifically for foreign trained lawyers. These programs usually consist of one or more required courses providing an introduction to American law and then a choice of various course topics usually from the courses offered in the J.D. curriculum. An LLM from an American law school obtained by a foreign trained lawyer does not generally qualify the individual to sit for a bar examination in an American jurisdiction. If the holder of the LLM degree is permitted to sit for a bar examination in a particular jurisdiction, there are often certain courses prescribed by the bar examining authorities that must be school is fully approved. The additional degree taken in law school as part of the LLM course of studies. The position of the American Bar association is that only persons possessing a J.D. degree should be permitted to sit for a bar examination.

The American Bar Association does not accredit or approve LLM degree programs, rather it acquiesces in their establishment. The accrediting body permits an approved law school to offer the program. It does not approve the program, rather it is an approved law school, which offers an LLM program about which the accrediting body has taken no action concerning the LLM program academic content or quality. The ABA Standards provide as follows:

A law school may not establish a degree program in addition to its J.D. degree program unless the school is fully approved. The additional degree program may not detract from a law school's ability to maintain a J.D. degree program that meets the requirements of the Standards.

Without diverting teaching resources from the J.D. degree program, a program leading to an advanced law degree shall have sufficient resources to meet the objectives set by the law school offering the advanced degree program, including not fewer than one full-time faculty member or administrator who has primary responsibility for the advanced degree program. If an advanced degree program relates to a designated field of legal study or research, not fewer than one full-time faculty member or administrator who is identified with the field should be among the program’s instructors.

There are no rules by the accrediting authority as to the number if credit hours required for the LLM degree, whether there should be a substantial writing requirements associated with the degree or what specific courses should be taken to receive a LLM degree in a specific subject matter area. These matters are determined by the law school offering the degree. Many law school programs require a written thesis produced under the supervision of a full-time faculty member, but some do not. Some programs provide opportunities or even require an internship experience, but others do not. Generally schools require between 20 and 24 semester credit hours for the degree earned over a period in residence of one year with a cumulative grade point average of B. Part-time students usually are allowed two calendar years to complete their study. For Americans students seeking an LLM degree, most law schools require a J.D. from a law school, either approved by the Americans Bar Association, or a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

Increasingly the American legal education establishment is concerned that law schools offering the LLM degree have processes whereby the quality and integrity of the degree program is assured. In addition to a director of the program, schools are concerned about a significant writing experience and a logical selection of course subjects for the degree.

There are currently over 6,000 students studying for the LLM degree in 97 of the 186 law schools approved by the American Bar Association and several new programs are anticipated to begin this coming year.

The LLM degree in the United States is in a transitional stage. Hopefully its status and its requirements will be clarified in the near future.