JD/LLM in Real Estate Law
Our joint JD/LLM in Real Estate Law program offers JD candidates career enhancement and expanded marketability in real estate law by developing the knowledge and transactional skills offered in our LLM program. Earning an LLM in Real Estate Law will maximize your skills and your employability, while only adding a semester or two to your time at UIC Law.
Our curriculum, developed with input from our Real Estate Law Advisory Board and the faculty, takes a transactional approach to legal education by utilizing real-life situations and materials in the classroom. Classes are held during late afternoons, evenings, and on Saturdays to accommodate those who work while earning their degree. Full-time joint candidates may earn their LLM in an additional semester beyond the JD program. Part-time joint candidates often complete the LLM portion of the degree in two-to-three years, but have five years in which to complete the program requirements.
Requirements Heading link
Effective Fall 2020, new students are not being admitted to this program. Please contact the program directly for more information.
Students may matriculate into a joint-degree program only after they have completed 30 JD credits but before they have completed 60 JD credits. Once admitted, joint program candidates receive individualized academic counseling each semester from the Center director or associate director prior to registering for classes. This advising appointment is intended to direct the candidate’s progress, including the preparation of the upcoming semester’s schedule and approval to take LLM courses.
Joint JD/LLM in Real Estate Law candidates may apply the first 10 credits satisfactorily completed in the LLM program in which they are enrolled to the electives requirements of the JD. Most degree candidate will be able to complete the requirements of the joint program with 110 credits (80 JD 30 LLM) instead of the 120 credits required if the programs are completed separately. Students unable to complete the joint degree must still complete a total of 90 hours to be awarded the JD degree.
Students who matriculated prior to August 16, 2019, are subject to degree requirements in place when they first enrolled, provided they complete those requirements within the time limit for degree completion and do not interrupt their enrollment without formal approval. Students should consult their appropriate Center regarding their degree requirements.
Curriculum Heading link
Required & Recommended Courses
Required JD Courses*
*This course is a prerequisite for LLM courses.
Recommended JD Electives
Required & Elective LLM Courses
Required LLM Courses
- Real Estate: Commercial Leasing (RE 521/JD 521, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Commercial Transactions (RE 440/JD 440, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Drafting & Negotiations Skills Workshop (RE 459/JD 459, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Environmental Controls & Concerns (RE 426/JD 426, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Federal Income Tax Aspects of Real Estate (RE 535/JD 535, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Finance (RE 526/JD 526, 2 Credits)
Elective LLM Courses
- Administrative Law (RE 458, 3 Credits)
- Clinic: Fair Housing Advanced (RE 547/TADR 547, 1-3 Credits)
- Clinic: Fair Housing Class (RE 539/JD 539, 2 Credits)†
- Clinic: Fair Housing Clinic (RE 541/JD 541, 3 Credits)†
- Externship: Real Estate Transactions (RE 543/JD 543, 1-3 Credits)
- Externship: Sustainability (RE 545/JD 545, 1-3 credits)
- Independent Study in Real Estate Law (RE 596, 1-3 Credits)
- Real Estate Litigation (RE 497/JD 497, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Affordable Housing (RE 503/JD 503, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Agricultural Law (RE 513/JD 513, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration & Mediation (RE 524, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Bankruptcy & Insolvency Laws (RE 530/JD 530, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Climate Change Law (RE 511, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Commercial Real Estate Industry (RE 517/JD 517, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Common Interest Communities Including Condominiums (RE 533/JD 533, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Construction Law (RE 456/JD 456, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Energy Law (RE 509/JD 509, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Fair Housing & Fair Lending Law (RE 499, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Historic Preservation Law (RE 531/JD 531, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Insurance Issues & the Law (RE 528/JD 528, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: International Law (RE 489/JD 489, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Land Use Control & Zoning (RE 452/JD 452, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Natural Resources Law (RE 420/JD 420, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Public Finance (RE 458/JD 458, 2 Credits)
- Real Estate: Sustainability in Modern Real Estate Transactions (RE 506, 2 Credits)
- Special Topics in Real Estate & Sustainability Law (RE 594, 1-2 Credits)
†Candidates are required to take both of these components to enroll in the Fair Housing Clinic.
Please review each course description to determine what prerequisites apply.