Erasmus School of Law - Erasmus University Rotterdam

LLM International Business Law

This LL.M. program covers the legal aspects of international trade and commerce. It is exclusively focused on international commercial law.

Commercial contracts and trade financing

After the Research & Writing Skills module, you will study commercial contracts. The start of commercial transactions is often a contract for the purchase of goods or services, but there are also important ancillary contracts, e.g. commercial agency contracts, distribution agreements, licensing or franchising agreements, etc. These agreements are studied in the Commercial Contracts course. The goods or services purchased also need to be paid. In an international setting, payment and security for payment are not always simple. The Trade Finance Law course looks into the legal aspects of these issues.

Risks, insurance, transportation, and intellectual property rights

Parties involved in business transactions will often enter into insurance contracts to cover their risks and liabilities. You will learn how these risks can be allocated and how they may be averted or minimized for example through insurance contracts. Also, purchased goods usually need to be transported. You will study contracts of carriage, transport documents and related documents, and the liabilities of the carrier and the shipper. Finally, manufacturers need to protect their products against unauthorized copying. In the Intellectual Property Rights course, you will learn to understand both the business rationale and the legal structure of IPR protection. You will also become familiar with the practical implications (and possibilities) of the law.

Does the program have a particular focus?

The Master of International Business Law distinguishes itself from other LL.M. programs in business or trade law by its exclusive focus on the commercial law perspective. The courses deal with the way the parties themselves structure their commercial interactions. Company law, regulatory- and public law aspects are left aside.

Throughout the master programme aspects of international trade law are considered from a comparative law perspective. Particular attention is paid to differences in approach and outcome between civil law jurisdictions and common law jurisdictions and by reference to the relevant standards in international trade law.

Based in the port of Rotterdam, this program educates legal professionals who are to become well-versed in international trade law. Due to its position in the center of a large trade hub, the program can offer students many opportunities for exploration of trade in practice by combining the theory that is taught with on-site workshops.

Which courses do I get?

Block 1

• Research and Writing Skills in International Trade Law

Block 2

• Commercial Contracts
• Insurance Law

Block 3

• Trade Finance (& Banking) Law

Block 4

• Bound elective
• Free Elective

Block 5

• Carriage of Goods
• Master Thesis International Trade Law
• Extra-curricular: Capita Selecta Trademark Law

As a graduate, you will have in-depth and comparative law knowledge of the legal aspects surrounding an international commercial transaction.

Graduates will find job opportunities as in-house lawyers with internationally active companies, trading houses or banks, and insurance companies. Also, they will be attractive candidates for commercial law firms and for any authority or government body that deals with international trade and commerce.

Positions of our graduates:

• Lawyer or attorney in the legal practice;
• Business lawyer or legal adviser at (international) companies, trading houses, banks or insurance companies;
• Civil servant, for example at the European Commission;
• Academic teacher or researcher.