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William Byrnes (Texas A&M) tax & compliance articles

Posts Tagged ‘Master of Laws’

A Review of the Development of an Internet Delivered LL.M Program in the United States

Posted by William Byrnes on August 27, 2013


This entire article may be downloaded at > William Byrnes’ SSRN academic page <

This article reviews the development of the first Internet delivered LL.M program (i.e. LL.M. of International Tax and Offshore Financial Centers, the ‘Program’) in the United States.

The paper comprises four sections: In Part 1 the economics reasons for, and logistics considerations of, the Internet delivered Program are addressed. Part 2 reviews the pedagogical approach to legal education employed in the United States, criticisms thereof, and finally examines an emerging pedagogical trend in the United Kingdom. Part 3 reviews the teaching tools employed in the Program International Tax and Offshore Financial Centers, and Part 4 reviews the practical aspects of developing the Program, obtaining ABA acquiescence, and reviews the Internet delivered law courses that came before it. Finally, the article concludes with some personal observations.

In Part 1 the economics reasons for, and logistics considerations of, the Internet delivered Program are addressed.

Part 2 reviews the pedagogical approach to legal education employed in the United States, criticisms thereof, and finally examines an emerging pedagogical trend in the United Kingdom. In particular, this part concludes that the grounding of a LL.M (Masters) level legal education program exclusively using the Socratic method (case study) roots of traditional Juris Doctorate (graduate) legal education may neither meet the goals, nor produce the skills sought by this Program. By example, some legal education writers have negatively critiqued the primary use of the Socratic method in even graduate legal education’s pedagogy. The scope of the negative critiques are presented from the perspective of economic efficiency over educational quality, as well as the perspective of professional development, and also from the perspective of a feministic approach.  These critiques are followed by a review of suggested alternatives. This part ends with an examination of the emerging United Kingdom literature supporting a pedagogy based upon ‘student-centered learning’.

Part 3 reviews the teaching tools employed in the International Tax Program. Part 4 reviews the practical aspects of developing the Program, obtaining ABA acquiescence, and it reviews the Internet delivered law courses that came before it. Finally, the article concludes with some personal observations.

Keywords: LL.M Program, Legal Education in the US, Legal Education in the UK, Internet Delivered Law Courses, C&IT in Legal Education, CAL, CBL, Socratic Teaching Method, Alternatives to Socratic Teaching.

This entire article may be downloaded at > William Byrnes’ SSRN academic page <

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Administrative Director of Graduate Programs

Posted by William Byrnes on February 18, 2011


Administrative Director of Graduate Programs

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: Administrative Director of Graduate Programs (previously LLM)

REPORTS TO: Associate Dean for Distance Education Programs

POSITION STATUS: Full-time, Exempt

GENERAL SUMMARY: Responsible for the coordination and support of the graduate distance education and continuing professional education programs with the departments of the central administration, including admissions, financial aid, business office, student services, information technology, and library. The Administrative Director is chiefly responsible for providing high level support to Associate Dean for Distance Education Programs and activities related to program development, relationship building with professional organizations, legal and financial institutions and individual students, and to the entrepreneurial activities related to the delivery of continuing education programming to a wide array of professionals globally.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Coordinate the student registration process four times per year for new and current LLM and JSD candidates with the Registrar and within each course.

• Serve as one of three key point persons to handle the questions and needs of current and incoming graduate students, as well as those of working professionals seeking continuing education opportunities.

• Support adult learners through the processes and structures of engaging with financial aid, online learning systems such as blackboard and WIMBA, and online publisher databases via proxy access such as CCH.

• Serve as main point of contact for Embanet regarding operations: admissions, student registration and reconciliation.

• Developing quarterly contact list for leads and applicants and refreshing alumni contact list.

• Develop training materials for new students on technology and systems used in the program.

• Serve as main point of contact for faculty of the program in terms of their contracts and payment, scheduling of their classes and training on Wimba.

• Coordinate graduation for the LL.M. and JSD students, process their graduation forms, order their diplomas and certificates.

• Participate in supporting the collaborative entrepreneurial process of new program development and implementation via developing processes and protocols.

• Provide direct supervision to student workers, federal work study students and international interns who work for the Program to support above functions.

• Responsible for all administrative activities, working closely with other departments to ensure proper and timely processing and reporting related to programs.

• Provide support and organization for travel and entertainment.

• Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Bachelor degree required, preferred graduate level or professional degree, in law, business or related area.

• Preferred 5 years working in the financial services with international experience.

• Must be comfortable working with senior partners and high level officials within the banking, finance, law, accounting, private business, and government arenas.

• Must have an understanding of asynchronous and synchronous distance technology education at the graduate level.

• Must have the ability to understand administrative and technical structures to ease adult learners through such processes and structures of financial aid, online learning systems such as blackboard and WIMBA, and online publisher databases via proxy access such as CCH.

• Multiple languages are a plus.

WORK SCHEDULE

Full time, Monday through Friday, 40 hours per week. Nights and weekends as needed.

CONTACT

All contact must be with Lisa Chigos (lchigos@tjsl.edu). Send CV and cover letter.

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