L.L.M. in International Business Law
Amsterdam, Netherlands
LLM
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 2,209 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* non-EU/EEA students: April 1 | EU/EAA students: June 1
** EU students: €2,209 per year | non-EU students: €16,830 per year
Key Summary
About: The L.L.M. in International Business Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam addresses corporate law. It offers three specializations: Markets and Behavior, Commercial Transactions, and Climate Change and Corporations. Courses are taught by practicing academics. The campus is in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district and the program connects to international companies and law firms.
Career Outcomes: The program builds legal research, oral advocacy, compliance, cross‑border transaction and regulatory analysis skills. Graduates work as business lawyers, in‑house counsel, government legal advisers, international organization lawyers and compliance officers; some pursue PhD. With a Dutch LLB, graduates gain effectus civilis and may qualify for Dutch Bar.
Corporate law is changing. Economic, climatic, and societal upheaval is forcing businesses to develop a sense of context in the world. Tomorrow's business lawyers must develop a flexible and open approach to legal problems. That can even include reconsidering the efficacy of the law itself.
VU Amsterdam does not offer a single International Business Law specialization. We offer three very clear legal identities covered by separate Master’s specializations. Each of these specializations opens up a wide range of specific career opportunities in an international environment.
Each specialization has an outspoken and up-to-date approach to today's corporate law. They are focused on what is going on right now:
- Markets and Behavior
- Commercial Transactions
- Climate Change and Corporations
VU is proud to be the first university in Europe to offer a specific International Business Law degree that combines an all-around Master's in Business Law, with a specific focus on some of the most complex legal challenges of our day around climate change.
The VU campus is located in the heart of the Amsterdam business district Zuidas, the beating heart of the Netherlands’ legal community. The university has well-established relationships with many internationally operating companies based there. Many of the courses are also taught by academics who are also practicing lawyers. This network can provide great career opportunities for our International Business Master’s graduates.
Open Days
Join the Online Master’s Event on Thursday, 26 November, or the International Master’s Webinar on Tuesday, 6 October, to learn more about the programme and studying at VU Amsterdam.
Summer School
Apply to VU Amsterdam Summer School and develop your academic skills in a focused and inspiring study abroad experience.
Campus Tour
Curious about the VU campus? Watch the full campus drone video on YouTube here.
Understand the implications of law in the international arena
International Business Law is a full-time, one-year graduate program in law (LLM). It is taught in English and consists of mandatory curricula for two specializations, compulsory courses and optional courses for Commercial Transactions.
The courses are taught by both legal practitioners and academics.
You will complete the IBL Master's program by researching and writing a Master's thesis. You will select the topic of the Master's thesis in cooperation with a supervisor who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law. The topic of the Master's thesis must relate to one of the subjects taught during the academic year. A Master's thesis requires between eight and ten weeks of research and writing.
If you need an extra challenge, the program offers the possibility to take on some extra-curricular activities. You may participate in international moot court competitions, law clinics, a faculty-based research track, editorial work with the student law journal, and internships. Students usually find their own internships at an international company or law firm located in the Netherlands, although some companies approach the program board, which publishes the offers on the educational digital platform just for you. You may obtain 6 or 12 extra credits for the respective activity, which will be printed on the diploma supplement.
International classroom
The IBL Master’s program is designed as an international and dynamic graduate program. The relatively small number of international students in the class guarantees a highly interactive character of the courses. Students as well as lecturers coming from different countries and different legal and educational cultures strongly contribute to the special and truly global character of the IBL Master’s program. It all offers a unique intellectual atmosphere for group discussions, presentation of views on legal matters, and exchange of ideas that are enriched by diverse national perspectives.
Although the IBL Master’s program is an internationally oriented program that attracts students from all over the world, this program is also very attractive to Dutch students. First of all, together with a Dutch bachelor’s in law degree the IBL Master’s degree provides for the so-called civil effect. Moreover, seeing the far-reaching internationalization of businesses nowadays, it is crucial for a lawyer or an in-house legal counsel to draft various legal documents in English, as well as to understand the legal systems of other countries and other international developments in (European) law.
Which specialization do you choose?
Find out what the different possibilities are within the master's program
- Commercial Transactions
- Markets and Behavior
- Climate Change and Corporations
The improvement of legal academic skills constitutes an important goal of the IBL Master’s program.
The courses require writing several papers and preparing oral presentations, which will improve your performance and will help you to communicate effectively in (international) business relations. In addition, you will develop skills to anticipate, analyze and address legal problems that may arise in practice. The IBL Master’s program is designed to offer you the opportunity to acquire both theoretical and practical legal skills.
What can you do after your Master's degree?
Entering the job market
Students who successfully completed the program have a wide range of career choices. They can work as professional business lawyers, in-house legal counsels for companies, government officials, corporate executives, legal professionals for an international (intergovernmental) organization, etc.
Our alumni have jobs at, e.g., multinational companies, international law firms, banks, and international accounting companies all over the world. Others pursue a career as legal counsel in government institutions or international organizations. Some alumni choose to further develop their academic legal research skills by enrolling in a Ph.D. program at VU Amsterdam or elsewhere.
Effectus civilis
Together with a Dutch academic Bachelor of Laws degree, the IBL Master's degree provides for the so-called effectus civilis. A Dutch IBL Master graduate may thus opt for a career at a law firm in the Netherlands and can become a member of the Dutch Bar Association (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten).
For more information about our (upcoming) open days and webinars please visit us