The Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois University of Technology (USA) and the Center for American Law in Ukraine open admissions for the SAL Ukraine program 2024-2025.

SAL Ukraine is the first and only program in Ukraine, which provides an opportunity to obtain a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in the USA in just 5 or 9 months with an 80% discount on tuition and without the need to pass the TOEFL exam.

In response to the Russian military aggression in Ukraine and the resulting significant financial distress faced by Ukrainian legal professionals seeking to further their legal education, the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, USA) continues to offer a special and substantial (80%) reduction to tuition for Chicago-Kent's LL.M. program for students who successfully complete the first phase of the SAL Ukraine 2024-2025 program.

This special offer applies to any Ukrainian legal professionals who are qualified to participate and successfully complete the SAL program during the upcoming 2024-2025 year, and also to those SAL Ukraine program graduates who successfully completed the first phase of the SAL program within the previous three years.

The program consists of two interlinked parts:

• Pre-LL.M. (mandatory) — online;
• LL.M. (optional) — offline at the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, USA) after successfully completing studies at the Pre-LL.M stage and receiving a diploma of 10 academic credits signed by the dean of the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Lecturers of the SAL program are one of the best legal practitioners, including: 

• prof. Adam Weber, a former prosecutor at the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Associate Dean of International Programs at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• prof. Maurine Neiberg, IP Attorney, one of the best patent lawyers in Chicago;
• prof. Jonathan Decatorsmith, Director of Clinical Education at the C-K Law Group, Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT, civil litigator and tax specialist, supervises the CK Tax Clinic;
• prof. Harold Krent, Professor of Law, Former Dean of the Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT, worked in the Department of Justice for the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division;
• prof. Edward Harris, Associate Professor of Legal Research and Writing, Former Associate Dean of International Programs at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• prof. Ronald Gieseke, Transactional lawyer with over thirty years of corporate law experience in Fortune 500 companies, Visiting Assistant Professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• prof. Richard Warner, SAL Worldwide Director, Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT (Chicago, USA), member of the U.S. Secret Service's Electronic and Financial Crimes Taskforce, member of the U.S. Secret Service's Cyber Fraud Task Force;
• prof. Geoffrey Mazullo, Professor of law, ESG Expert in Emerging Markets Organization, adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT.

Graduates of the SAL Ukraine program who successfully complete the program are provided with:

• 100% guarantee of admission to Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT (Chicago, USA) after successful completion of the SAL Program and meeting the admission requirements;
• 3 years after graduation from the SAL Program, students have a guaranteed right to continue their LL.M. studies at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• No need to take the TOEFL exam;
• SAL Program graduates have significant benefits and discounts if they choose to continue their studies at LL.M. programs at the Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT in Chicago, USA;
• We support with obtaining an American student visa.

Program duration:

• Pre-LL.M. — 10 weekends (1 or 2 times a month) from October 2024 to May 2025
• LL.M. in Chicago, USA — 5 or 9 months (depending on the chosen specialty)

Who can apply?

• Practicing lawyers, attorneys, judges, and prosecutors regardless of age
• Bachelors, Masters of Law, Doctors of Juridical Science
• Law students (3rd or 4th year)

All applicants must be proficient in English at the Intermediate level or above.

Opportunities after receiving an LL.M in the USA: 

• Work in international companies that require quality international legal education 
• Obtain the right to take the NY bar exam in the USA 
• Start legal practice in the USA (provided LL.M. graduates meet immigration and work authorization requirements)

Tuition fee for the SAL Ukraine Program for the 2024-2025 academic year is following:

• Pre-LL.M phase - USD 3 000 (tuition can be divided into two parts)
• LL.M at Chicago-Kent College of Law (Chicago, USA) - USD 5000 (5-month program) or USD 8625 (9-month program)

*The total cost of studying an LL.M. at the Chicago-Kent College of Law (Chicago, USA) is $44 000, but for SAL Ukraine 2022-2025 (Pre-LL.M) graduates - the tuition fee is five times lower - $8625 (9-month program) or $5000 (5-month program).

Admission process

All applicants are required to submit the following:

• CV with 1 paragraph of the cover letter (in English)
• Copy of LL.B. diploma or university statement for LL.B degree students

*Your first and last name in your CV must be indicated as in the foreign passport.

Documents should be submitted in PDF format (copies of the diploma may also be sent in JPEG) through the application form on the program’s website (https://salkentlaw.com.ua/apply) or on e-mail hello@salkentlaw.com.ua

Deadline — August 19, 2024.

Admission to the program is decided by the SAL Ukraine Faculty and Chicago-Kent College of Law. All candidates will receive a decision on enrollment within two weeks from the date of document submission.

SAL program partners in Ukraine are: Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), Elsa Ukraine, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukrainian Catholic University Law School, Lviv University of Trade and Economics, West Ukrainian National University, National University Odesa Law Academy.

Details

In 2011-2024, more than 371 students from Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, and other cities of Ukraine graduated from the SAL Ukraine program. More than a hundred enrolled in the LL.M program at Chicago-Kent College of Law (IIT) which they successfully completed. Among the graduates are founders, partners, senior lawyers from TOP-50 law firms in Ukraine, as well as judges and heads of legal departments of well-known international companies.

The School of American Law (SAL Program) is associated with the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, USA). SAL successfully functions in different European and Asian countries. The program is based on Chicago-Kent's experience offering American Law studies in Europe since 1998. The School of American Law is the first and only program in Ukraine to provide an LL.M. in just 5 or 9 months.

Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology is the second oldest and one of the most prestigious law schools in Illinois. It was ranked among the Top 100 Best Law Schools in the U.S. in 2022 by U.S. News & World Report. Its intellectual property law program is ranked as the best (#1) program in the U.S., and its trial advocacy program is ranked as the fourth-best program in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report 2022 rankings).