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Download the program application: LL.M. in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government Application
Program Information
The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law inaugurated its LL.M. program in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government in August 2005. Please contact the College about your interest and the program office will update you via e-mail.
The LL.M. in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government is designed for lawyers and law school graduates who desire to work on issues related to tribal law and federal Indian law at the professional and academic levels. The program provides students with a detailed understanding of the nature of tribal government, law, and policy development within the domestic federal structure. LL.M. candidates will benefit from the extensive resources committed to the Indian Legal Program (ILP) at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, including a full-time director and staff and an Indian Legal Clinic with its own full-time director and staff. The program is administered by the ILP and consists of two different tracks intended to serve two distinct groups of students. Candidates will choose either the “Practicum Track” or the “Thesis Track.”
The ILP has been thriving since 1988 as a nationally recognized leader in Indian law education and scholarship. It continues to sponsor major academic symposia on Indian law and enjoys a prestigious reputation as a leader in generating Indian law scholarship. The ILP’s reputation is strengthened by the national recognition enjoyed by professors Rebecca Tsosie, Robert Clinton, Carl Artman and Paul Bender by its recruitment, retention, and mentoring of Native American students. The program is currently home to 36 native students representing 25 tribes from the United States and Canada. The law student population includes members of both federal and state recognized tribes. The majority of ILP graduates work for tribes throughout Indian country as attorneys or tribal judges. Graduates also work for private firms, non-profit organizations, federal agencies and state offices. The ILP’s reputation has been enhanced with the establishment of the ASU American Indian Policy Development and Leadership Center.
Admission Requirements
Criteria for admission include grades in law school and other academic programs, written recommendations by professors and/or employers, relevant professional and practical experience, and evidence of interest and potential in Indian Law.
Students admitted to the LL.M. program in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government must possess either a Juris Doctor degree from a law school in the United States accredited by the American Bar Association or a comparable terminal law degree from a law school accredited by the government or the highest accrediting authority of the nation where the school is located. The program is oriented, however, toward students who have a basic understanding of American government and have taken the relevant foundational course in federal Constitutional law. For this reason, it is assumed that most applicants will have earned their degrees from law schools within the United States.
The LL.M. program is designed to accommodate seven students per year. Because the Committee utilizes a "rolling admissions" process and space is limited, your chances of acceptance are higher the earlier you apply.
Applicants to the program must submit:
- proof of a law degree; either
A) a JD from an ABA-acredited law school in the United States or
B) a comparable law degree from a foreign law school approved by either the government or the relevant accrediting authority of the nation where the school is located;
- an essay describing their interest in the program
- a writing sample
- two letters of recommendation
- completed LL.M. application
- official transcripts of undergraduate and law degree studies
International Applicants
*Applicants who have earned academic credit in countries other than the United States: The World Education Services (WES) must independently evaluate all academic documents issued in countries than the United States. Please contact WES at their website (http://www.wes.org/) to obtain an application for an evaluation. You must request a course-by-course evaluation and order that an official copy from WES be sent directly to:
Graduate Admissions
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University
PO Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
Your application for admission to the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law will not be complete until this evaluation is received by the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
International applicants must meet the requirements of the Graduate College as well as those of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. If English is not your native language, you must provide evidence of English proficiency as indicated by acceptable scores. Applicants should have a TOEFL score above 600 (paper) or 250 (computer). Exceptional candidates with relevant experience and background who have scores of at least 590 (paper) or 243 (computer) also will be considered.
Degree Requirements
LL.M. Practicum Track
The LL.M. Practicum Track is oriented toward students who seek practical experience in tribal law and federal Indian law. It provides intensive instruction to students who graduated from a law school that had few or no courses in Indian law and who now seek to practice in these areas at a professional level. This track requires a minimum of 24 credit hours of study, including a clinical law experience. A thesis is not required.
Students will immerse themselves in the study of tribal law and federal Indian law and will apply the knowledge and experience they gain through the practical component of the degree program which may consist of state, tribal and federal court practice, tribal code drafting, and research projects for tribal courts and governments. Graduates will be well equipped for professional positions that require knowledge and expertise in tribal law and federal Indian law. Students on the practicum track will have the option of pursuing the degree on a part-time basis.
LL.M. Thesis Track:
The LL.M. Thesis Track is oriented toward students who desire to undertake the academic study of tribal law and federal Indian law in preparation for careers as professors and scholars. This track is designed for candidates who have demonstrated analytic and research ability, and who desire to undertake extended study, research, and scholarly writing. This track will require a minimum of 30 credit hours of study, including completion of a thesis of publishable quality.
Students will build a foundation in scholarly research and writing in tribal law and federal Indian law. While matriculating in the program, LL.M. students will have the opportunity to teach at the law school level. Students will be assigned to an Indian law professor who will mentor them in creating a thesis and submitting publishable articles. Graduates will have the necessary skills for entry-level positions in academia.
Courses
The core curricular offerings focus primarily on domestic tribal law and federal Indian law, and on American institutions of law and government. The Indian Legal clinical experience shares this focus. The LL.M. program explores the expression of domestic law within contemporary administrative, governmental, and judicial institutions.
LL.M. candidates will take at least four of the Core Courses, unless they have satisfactorily completed comparable courses in their prior law school studies, in which case they will be able to substitute courses from an advanced course list in satisfying their overall credit-hour requirement. Additional courses are under development.
Tuition
Tuition is $25,000 for a full-time program completed in one year or a part-time program completed in more than three years. If a student enrolls on a part-time basis, the $25,000 program fee will be divided over the terms of enrollment on a per credit hour basis. Employee tuition remission is not available on the special program fee portion of the program costs.
Why the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU?
Arizona State University is a very attractive location for an LL.M. in Tribal Policy, Law, and Government. The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law graduates more Indian law specialists than any other law school in the country. ASU is located in the heart of the southwest United States, home to roughly one-third of the Native population in the United States and where many of the largest Indian nations in the country reside. ASU sits on land that was within the traditional use and control of the Native communities that now border Tempe, including the Gila River Indian Community, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Native student enrollment at ASU reflects the strong ties that the University has to Indian nations throughout the Southwest.
ASU’s curriculum is among the country's strongest on subjects related to Native peoples. In addition to the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, strong programs already exist or are being developed in the College of Education (Center for Indian Education); the W.P. Carey School of Business (American Health Policy Collaborative); the College of Nursing (American Indian Students United for Nursing Project); the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (American Indian Studies Program); and the College of Public Programs. ASU is the academic home for several nationally known scholars who do research on American Indian issues, and ASU houses many unique resources for such scholarship, including the Labriola Collection at Hayden Library. In short, ASU and the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law are well positioned to support an outstanding LL.M. program in the area of Indian law.
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