L.L.M in International Business Law: Markets and Behavior

Curriculum

Understand the implications of law in the international arenaInternational Business Law is a full-time, one-year graduate programme in law (LLM). It is taught in English and consists of several compulsory courses and optional courses that explore different fields of international business law.
The courses are taught by both legal practitioners and academics. Many lecturers at the Law School of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam also work in practice as lawyers or as business counsels. The curriculum is structured to form a comprehensive programme. The initial mandatory courses provide you with a general legal foundation, and the following courses develop your knowledge in more specific areas of law.
You will complete the IBL Master's programme by writing and defending 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 Law School. 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.
Some students opt for a student internship at an international company or law firm located in the Netherlands. Normally, such internship is extracurricular (i.e. no ECTS credits are awarded).
International classroom The IBL Master’s programme is designed as an international and dynamic graduate programme. 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 cultures strongly contribute to a special and a truly global character of the IBL Master’s programme. 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 programme is an internationally oriented programme which attracts students from all over the world, this programme is also very attractive to Dutch students. First of all, together with a Dutch bachelor in law degree the IBL Master’s degree provides for the so called civiel effect. Moreover, seen 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.

The start date of this programme is September 1st.

Which specialisation do you choose?

Find out what the different possibilities are within the master's programme

Climate Change & Sustainability

Summary

It's the climate, stupid!
Climate change threatens humanity. The purpose of law is to protect legitimate human interests. You want to join the new generation of lawyers who engage constructively with these problems. They see practicing law in the context of the wider developments in society -- such as climate change and sustainability -- as the way forward for the legal profession.
Anyone running a business successfully today, cannot ignore sustainability. And, anyone wanting to devote themselves to tackling climate change must have knowledge of how businesses function.
VU Amsterdam is the first university in Europe to offer an International Business Law degree that combines an outstanding, all-round Master’s programme in Business Law with a specific focus on one of the most complex legal challenges of our day: climate change.
During this Master's programme, you will be seeking answers to highly important, yet complex, questions such as: What are the legal means to fight climate change? What rights and responsibilities do businesses and governments have in terms of sustainability? Can states be forced to bring their policies in line with the Paris 2015 Agreement? How can corporate law facilitate green startups?
Climate change provides a clear lens through which we can study a range of fundamental legal concepts. In the process of studying law and climate change, you will become an all-round lawyer. The programme concentrates on private law (company law, contract law and liability law) but will also address financial regulatory law, administrative law (European legislation in particular) and international public law.
Investors, company boards, governments and society are all demanding more sustainable business models. This creates a need for more professionals versed in sustainability, including lawyers.
A study of the law’s role in climate change means looking at how the law functions. To build up a picture of the law in action, you will meet practicing professionals during this Master's programme. Lawyers, but also experts from regulatory authorities, banks and environmental organizations. These experts give guest lectures and provide input on the content of the curriculum.

Finance and behavior

Summary

The law is not enough! Financial and corporate law in a wider moral perspective -- the road to Lawyer 2.0
In the wake of the global financial crisis and today's economic upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increasing awareness that finance and corporate law should not only be studied in terms of its doctrine, but include a wider perspective of its social function.
You are well aware of these new legal schools of thought. You want to become a "T-shaped lawyer" also known as Lawyer 2.0. That means someone with a deep legal knowledge (the upright in the T) combined with soft skills and broader business knowledge (the crossbar of the T).
Clients today demand lawyers who are both fully versed in the letter of financial and corporate law, but also have a broader view on the context of that law: society itself. This demands a multidisciplinary approach. The innovative curriculum of International Business Law: Finance and Behavior at VU Amsterdam answers that call.
This LLM Master's programme aims to train you to become an excellent lawyer who has a broader knowledge of the economic and behavioural context of financial and corporate law. You will therefore gain new insights, provided by experts with knowledge of other disciplines such as behavioural economics, psychology, sociology and political science. It has been designed for students taking their first LLM degree. This is one of the only financial and corporate master’s programmes in the Netherlands offering a multidisciplinary approach.
The courses in English will be taught jointly by lawyers and researchers from the VU Faculties of Economics and Behavioral Sciences. In addition, professionals from sectors such as banking, insurance, pension funds and government regulators will also be involved as guest lecturers and providers of practical cases studies.
Although this master’s programme is modern in its approach, you will still study the legal basics of Corporate Law, Contract Law, Tort Law, Insolvency Law and Financial Law. This course in international in its outlook, therefore it focusses on the principles of these various tools, and not Dutch positive law. This makes the curriculum equally interesting for Dutch and international students

Transactions and Trade

Summary

Brokering deals as a world-class lawyer

The legal challenges facing today's international companies are more complex than ever before. More global interconnectedness means more international communication and commerce. Do you want to be among the world's sharpest legal minds, crafting deals with the latest knowledge at hand to navigate your clients through transactions and trade in this dynamic juridical landscape?
Today's organizations -from tech scale-ups to multinational corporations and governments- need legal advisors with a deep understanding of the laws governing global transactions and trade. As their legal counsel, you need to comprehend both the legal requirements of those operations, and the impact which the rule of law has upon them in order to negotiate the best agreements.
This International Business Law (IBL) Master’s programme in Transactions and Trade is a thorough legal education of the black letter law of international trade and commercial transactions. You will study the main legal areas and the interaction between the parties involved in business transactions.
In addition, you will develop skills to anticipate, analyze and address legal problems that may arise in practice. The courses are taught by both legal practitioners and academics. Many lecturers at the Law School of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are also practicing lawyers, so they can help anticipate the challenges your will face in your future work.
This IBL Master’s programme opens the gateway for you to begin a career path anywhere in the world at the crossroads of law and international commerce or public service. It will arm you with the skills to create legal solutions and communicate with counterparts all over the world in English with your colleagues and your competitors alike.