Following the Rules is Just the Beginning

J.D./LL.M. - Organizational Ethics & Compliance

About J.D./LL.M.

Companies must intentionally build ethical cultures and compliance procedures and systems to back them up, or they leave themselves vulnerable to potential fines, increased scrutiny from regulators and damage to their reputations, which can lead to a loss of customers.

Given recent increases in the regulatory landscape for non- and for-profit companies, the call for leadership in the areas of ethics and compliance is growing. It’s a crucial field for industries such as banking, finance and health care.

The J.D./LL.M. in Organizational Ethics and Compliance dual degree, offered in partnership with the St. Thomas Opus College of Business, allows you to complete both the Juris Doctor and the LL.M.—two degrees in a shortened time period.

St. Thomas Law also offers a J.D. with a concentration in Organizational Ethics and Compliance for students who are interested in the field and want to go further in depth in the subject area, but do not want to pursue the full LL.M. The concentration is noted on your transcript, and you can tell future employers of your concentration in law school toward this skill set.

Contact

Admissions Office

lawschool@stthomas.edu

Phone Number

(651) 962-4895

J.D./LL.M. in Organizational Ethics and Compliance

Subject to change. The University of St. Thomas reserves the right to amend the degree requirements and to add to or delete from the list of courses that satisfy the degree requirements at any time.

J.D./LL.M. in Organizational Ethics and Compliance students must complete all of the graduation requirements for their J.D.—31 credits in first-year courses and no fewer than 57 credits in the second and third years, completing a minimum of 88 credits.

After completing the 88 credits required to earn the juris doctor, some J.D./LL.M. students graduate with their class and take the bar exam in the summer, and then return and complete the LL.M. in just one more semester.

The LL.M. program requires 24 credit hours, including 3 required courses (9 credit hours) and 15 credit hours of electives. But as a J.D. student, if you plan your coursework with the LL.M. in mind, up to 12 credits of electives from your J.D. program can be applied to the LL.M.

Required LL.M. Courses (9 credits)

Compliance Programming: Design, Operation and Performance (3 credits)
Ethical Culture (3 credits)
Executive Perspectives on Ethics and Compliance (3 credits)

Examples of LL.M. Electives (15 credits)

Several colleges and schools within the university offer electives, some of which require preapproval.

SCHOOL OF LAW

Administrative Law
Compliance Externship
Corporate Governance
Employment Discrimination
Employment Law
Environmental Law
Health Law I & II
Information Privacy and Data Protection law
International Anti-Corruption Law
Investigations
Privacy Law
Securities Regulation
White Collar Crime and Compliance

OPUS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Competitive Strategy
Global Risk Leadership
Leading Organizational Change
Legal Strategy for Global Business
Negotiation Skills
Project Management
Reputation and Stakeholder Management
Risk Management

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

International Regulatory Affairs for Medical Devices
Data Analytics and Visualization

J.D. with a Compliance Concentration

To earn the compliance concentration and have it noted on your transcript, in addition to completing the requirements for your J.D., you must take 12 or more credits of compliance courses, including the three required courses below and one or more elective courses.

Required compliance courses:

Compliance Programming: Design, Operation, and Performance
Ethical Culture OR Ethical Leadership in Organizations
Executive Perspectives on Ethics and Compliance

Compliance electives within the school of law can be chosen from the list above. Several colleges and schools within the university also offer electives for Organizational Ethics and Compliance students.

Opus College of Business

Competitive Strategy
Global Risk Leadership
Leading Organizational Change
Legal Strategy for Global Business
Negotiation Skills
Project Management
Reputation and Stakeholder Management
Risk Management

School of Engineering

International Regulatory Affairs for Medical Devices

Subject to change. Preapproval for courses may be required. The University of St. Thomas reserves the right to amend the degree requirements and to add to or delete from the list of courses that satisfy the degree requirements at any time.

The exterior of the Opus College building in the evening

Highly Principled, Global Business Leaders

St. Thomas Opus College of Business

Opus College of Business offers a comprehensive, relevant business education that combines leadership, technical skill building and experiential learning. Its mission is to unlock the talent of future problem solvers and prepare students to be highly principled business leaders.

The Opus Advantage

Meet our Compliance Alumni

Lawyer Search is St. Thomas Law’s online directory of alumni. It is available to those with legal needs, for attorney networking and referrals and so current and prospective law students can meet attorneys working in their area of interest—like compliance and risk management. Click below to connect with one of our alums!

Explore Lawyer Search

Hands-on Experience

Compliance Externship

St. Thomas Law offers a compliance externship to provide students interested in the field an opportunity to see “compliance in action.” Our externs have worked at companies such as Target, Medtronic, Thomson Reuters, U.S. Bank and CHS, Inc.

More about externships

Featured Faculty and Staff

Neil Hamilton

Professor Hamilton is a founding director of the St. Thomas Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions. His scholarship focuses on the formation of both students and practicing professionals into ethical leaders.

Colleen Dorsey

Colleen Dorsey is an adjunct faculty member who teaches the compliance externship course. She is the chief ethics and compliance officer at Cognovi Labs.

Christopher Michaelson

Professor Michaelson is the Opus Distinguished Professor of Principled Leadership. His work focuses on Business ethics, humanities and business, and meaningful work.

J.D./LL.M. in Organizational Ethics and Compliance Alumni

Conor Marrinan ‘16

"As a student at St. Thomas, you will learn from and work with nationally recognized legal and compliance experts. Additionally, St. Thomas does not apply a 'one size fits all' approach in the J.D./LL.M. experience; rather, students can be selective in what their preferred experiences may be."

Josh Matushin ‘20

"Having the combined education allowed me to develop the mindset of an attorney but the ethical compass and awareness of a compliance professional. The J.D./LL.M. program can broaden the range of opportunities students can find after graduation and jumpstart their career in either field."

Carrie Rydeen '17

"The program opened doors for me that my J.D. alone would not have. The dual degrees working together have been extremely crucial in the forward progression of my career."