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JD/Tax LLM Program for Visiting Students

Visit at Loyola as a 2L or 3L JD student and earn your JD and Tax LLM in the same three years you would normally take to earn just your JD

Prof Katie Pratt records a class for the virtual tax program.
Professor Katie Pratt records a virtual class for Loyola's Tax LLM program.

LMU Loyola Law School offers rising 2L and 3L JD students at other law schools a unique opportunity: to earn a Tax LLM degree at the same time they are completing their JD work. At the end of the standard three JD years, they receive their JD from their home school and their Tax LLM from Loyola. They can then begin practicing tax at an LLM level immediately upon their JD graduation.

In today’s market, job candidates need every edge they can get. A Tax LLM degree certifies competence in a discipline central to transactional practice. Loyola’s joint JD/Tax LLM Program for Visiting Students offers students significant employment and financial advantages:

  • One fewer year in school: Many students cannot afford to spend the additional year it normally takes to complete a stand-alone full-time Tax LLM program. Loyola’s program allows you to earn your Tax LLM degree from one of the country’s top five online tax programs without extending the time you spend in law school.
  • Half the normal Tax LLM tuition: You will be asked to pay for the 12-unit virtual Summer Tax Intensive program at Loyola’s normal Tax LLM tuition rates (currently $2,310 per unit, or $27,720 for 12 units). The remaining 12 units required for the Tax LLM are included at no additional cost as part of your JD tuition for the academic year you are in residence at Loyola.
  • Enhanced job prospects: During the on-campus-interview season in the fall of 2026 (when firms hire second-year summer associates on track for permanent offers), visiting students in the joint program can offer employers a credential (completion of the Summer Tax Intensive) not available from any other law school in the United States. Our placement rates at high-level tax jobs is typically at or close to 100%.

Finally, this unique Joint JD/Tax LLM option is offered by one of the country’s top five online tax law programs (U.S. News & World Report).

How It Works

Although significant flexibility is permitted, students joining the program the summer after their 1L or 2L year will normally complete all requirements for their Loyola Tax LLM degree in one academic year while continuing to earn credit towards their JD degree from their home school, as follows:

  • Summer after 1L or 2L year: Intensive 10-week summer tax session (12 units), counted solely toward the Tax LLM degree: income taxation, advanced income taxation, and business entity taxation (online)
  • 2L or 3L year: 12 additional units of advanced tax courses, counted toward both degrees (online), culminating in our Tax Law Practicum, Tax Policy Colloquium, or one of five clinical/externship options: IRS Small Case Tax Clinic, Nonprofit Tax and Transactional Clinic, Taxpayer Appeals Assistance Clinic, United States Attorney Tax Division Externship, and/or IRS Office of Chief Counsel Externship. In addition to their tax work, students in the program take 19-21 units of JD coursework over the course of the fall and spring semesters (on campus)

The Summer Tax Intensive is completely virtual. As a result, you need not move to Los Angeles for the summer session. Your fall and spring semesters, however, will be in residence in Los Angeles – a wonderful city in which to live, study, and ultimately practice law should you choose to do so.

Because of the intensive nature of the course (at least 30 hours total per course unit reading, studying, preparing for live sessions and any assessments, and completing course assignments during the applicable summer term), students enrolled in the intensive summer tax session may not undertake any significant competing commitments, e.g., working, taking other courses, or sitting for the bar examination, without petitioning the program to do so. Such a petition can be included in your personal statement.

Application Deadline

The application for the Summer 2026 cycle opens on Monday, September 1, 2025.
The priority application deadline is Friday, March 12, 2026. 
Classes begin on Monday, May 18, 2026.

How to Apply

The following application and PDF documents must be completed and submitted to taxllm@lls.edu to be considered for admission:

Questions? Please contact Graduate Admissions at taxllm@lls.edu or +1(213) 220-0789.