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Posted June 10, 2026

What studying an international LLM actually means…

Studying an LLM in International Business Law

Jaanvi Singh is student at the University of Birmingham Law School. In this blog, she explains what studying a Master of Laws in International Business Law as an international student is really like

“When I left India for Birmingham to begin my LLM in International Business Law, I had a clear picture of what the year would look like: rigorous modules, long library hours, an LLM dissertation, and so on. What I did not picture was standing in a courtroom in France arguing EU law before an international bench; or sitting in a roundtable alongside judges and practitioners debating the future of cross-border commercial disputes; or writing original research on AI regulation in a legal space that barely existed five years ago.

The LLM gave me all of that and it can give you more than you are currently imagining too. If you are weighing up whether to apply for a Master of Laws or trying to work out what the experience actually looks like from the inside, this is what I wish someone had told me before I started.

On scholarships: apply, even if you are not sure you will get one

I am a recipient of the Harding International Legal Scholarship at the University of Birmingham, awarded for academic excellence and outstanding performance. I will be honest: I was not certain I would receive it when I applied. But the process of applying forced me to articulate, clearly and seriously, what I wanted from the LLM and why my background made me ready for it. That clarity alone was worth the effort.

The scholarship itself has opened doors in ways that compound over time. It signals to practitioners and academics that your ability has been independently assessed and publicly recognised. If you are considering an LLM in the UK, research the funding options available at your institution and apply early. The institutional endorsement carries genuine professional weight long after the year ends.

What I brought from India – and why it mattered more than I expected

Before arriving in Birmingham, I completed internships at District and High Courts in India, observing hearings, supporting legal research, and gaining direct exposure to legal aid delivery and dispute resolution across high-volume judicial environments. At the time, I thought of these experiences as background – useful, but not especially relevant to an international LLM degree program.

I was wrong. When you have observed a legal system working in practice, with its pressures, its procedures, and its gap between doctrine and delivery, comparative legal study becomes something entirely different. You are not just reading about how different jurisdictions approach arbitration or enforcement of judgments. You are drawing on systems you have actually seen. That comparative perspective is genuinely valued in an international classroom, and it becomes a professional asset in a legal market that increasingly demands cross-border fluency.

If you are an international student hesitating about whether your background translates: it does. More than you think.

The Moot that took me to France

One of the highlights of my year was representing the University of Birmingham Law School at the EUniWell Moot Court Competition, hosted by Nantes University, and winning the first place. The case centred on EU law questions around discrimination and annual leave, requiring rapid legal interpretation and sustained oral advocacy before judges and experts in the field.

What surprised me most was not the competition itself, but how much the preparation changed the way I think. Mooting forces a specific discipline: you cannot be approximately right. You have to know what the law says, what it means in practice, and how to hold your position when someone who knows it better than you pushes back. Those are skills that no amount of essay-writing fully develops, and they are exactly what legal employers are looking for.

Seek out mooting opportunities early in your LLM year. They are more demanding than you expect and more valuable than they appear on a CV.

The dissertation: where everything connects

I am currently beginning my dissertation, which explores the intersection of the EU AI Act and trade secrets, a space where regulatory frameworks, commercial doctrine, and technology policy collide in ways that are still being worked out in real time. It is one of the most intellectually demanding pieces of work I have undertaken in my legal education, and also the most exciting, precisely because the answers are not yet settled.

Prior to this, I worked as a Legal Research Assistant at Birmingham Law School, where I translated complex legal concepts into creative formats that non-specialist audiences can understand. I also volunteered in a pro bono project at St. Philips Chambers on family law matters and child arrangement orders. Each of these roles has fed the others. The research work sharpened how I communicate law. The pro bono work grounded the theory in human reality. The dissertation gave everything else a conceptual anchor.

Choose your dissertation topic with genuine curiosity. The modules matter, but the dissertation is where you find out what kind of legal thinker you actually are.

The room where it became real

Earlier this year I attended a roundtable at Birmingham Law School on building global competitiveness in commercial conflict of laws, that brought together senior academics, practising lawyers, and members of the judiciary from Singapore, China, Qatar, the Netherlands, and the UK. What had been a doctrinal subject in my lectures became, over the course of a single afternoon, a live discussion on the evolving landscape of global commercial dispute resolution.

No textbook replicates that. Attend the conferences, seminars and panels your institution offers and when you attend, do the reading beforehand. The conversations you are able to have when you arrive prepared are a different category of experience entirely.

What you are actually signing up for

The LLM degree is not simply a qualification. Pursued seriously, it is a year of professional and intellectual formation that compounds long after it ends. I came in hoping to deepen my knowledge of international business law. I am leaving with an international moot court victory, original research in AI regulation and trade secrets, legal experience across two jurisdictions, and a considerably clearer sense of the legal professional I am working to become.

If you have the intellectual curiosity and the willingness to engage beyond the comfortable, the LLM degree program will give you more than you are currently planning for. That, I think, is the most honest thing I can tell you.”

Interested in studying an LLM degree program? Use our course search to find your perfect Master of Laws.

Jaanvi Singh University of Birmingham LLM StudentAuthor’s bio: Jaanvi Singh is an LLM International Business Law student at the University of Birmingham and a Postgraduate Student Ambassador for the College of Arts and Law.

She is a recipient of the Harding International Legal Scholarship and winner of the EUniWell Moot Court Competition 2026.

Connect with Jaanvi on LinkedIn.

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