1. Completion within six years. Every LL.M. student must successfully complete the LL.M. requirements for the student's major within six (6) years of the date that the student first enters the program.  
   1. Extensions. In extraordinary cases, the Director, with the consent of the Dean, may exercise discretion to grant an extension to complete the degree. If the Director makes this determination, a written explanation of the extraordinary circumstances justifying the decision and the length of the extension shall be provided to the student, the Records Office for inclusion in the student's file, and, as necessary, to the University's Graduate School. The Director will report such extensions to the Graduate Committee and Dean in the annual report on the status of the LL.M. program.
2. Credit hour requirements.
   1. Credit hour determinations. Credit hours are assigned to each course and announced in the course listings published on the Wayne Law website, in the registration materials, and in the Graduate Bulletin. In general, one semester credit hour is awarded for each hour of class per week for an academic term of approximately thirteen weeks, the preparation for the class, and the passing of an examination with a grade of "C" or above. A student may not earn credit for any course before the last day of classes for the academic semester. Some courses continue for the entire academic year, and for these courses no credit or grade is determined until both semesters are completed.
   2. Graduate plan of work.
      1. "Plan of Work" forms that cover the requirements for each LL.M. major set out in this Part III.B. shall be available on the LL.M. website and shall be updated to conform to any changes made in these regulations within 30 days of the approval of the changes.
      2. Each LL.M. student shall consult with the Director about the student's Plan of Work during orientation week (or the first week the student is in attendance, if not in the fall semester orientation week), outlining the tentative course sequencing (course and term) that the student intends to undertake and determining the courses for which the student shall register in the first semester of the student's LL.M. coursework.
      3. At the end of each semester thereafter, each student shall review the Plan of Work with the Director before registering for courses for the following semester.
   3. Minimum 24 credits of courses other than master's thesis. Every LL.M. student must complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework in an appropriate combination of required, approved-elective and approval-required elective courses^[1] as mandated for the student's LL.M. major.
      1. Required courses are:
         1. The basic course in the major (see III.B.5); and 
         2. Additional required courses in the major (see III.B.6):
            1. An additional specified course that must be taken for the major (e.g., Taxation of Partnerships for Taxation LL.M.s), and/or
            2. An additional course that must be selected from a small set of options within a specific category from which a course must be taken to complete the student's major (e.g., either Taxation of Corporations or Business Planning for Taxation LL.M.s).
      2.  Approved-elective courses are any course, seminar, clinic or externship offered at Wayne Law or in other departments in the University that is listed as a course approved by the faculty for credit towards the student's major, as set out in Part VI of these regulations.
      3. Approval-required elective courses are elective courses that require the Director's prior approval for credit towards the student's LL.M. degree, including 
         1. Directed studies (see III.B.9);
         2. Special topics (see III.D);
         3. Externships and live-client clinics (see III.B.10);
         4. Approved-elective courses set out in Part VI that are offered by other university departments;
         5. Advanced courses offered at other law schools or universities that are taken on a transfer-credit basis after enrollment in Wayne Law's LL.M. program (see III.B.12); and 
         6. Courses, not currently on the approved-elective list of courses for the student's major, that the student successfully petitions the Director to have credited towards the degree for that student, including upper-level J.D. courses offered at Wayne Law and law-related graduate-level courses offered by another department of the University if such other department course is (a) numbered 5000 or higher and (b) treated as permitted for graduate credit in that department; but not including first-year J.D. courses unless extraordinary circumstances apply (preparation to take a bar exam is not such a circumstance).
   4. 2-credit master's thesis requirement for non-U.S. Law majors. LL.M. students with majors other than U.S. Law must complete a minimum 2-credit Master's Thesis requirement in addition to the 24 credits of required, approved-elective, and approval-required elective courses, in accordance with the master's thesis guidelines set out in Part III.E, below.
      1. Enrollment options. Students may complete the Master's Thesis requirement either through the stand-alone option or in conjunction with a seminar.
         1. Stand-alone option. Students register for 2 credits of Masters Thesis (LEX 8999).
         2. Seminar option. Students register for 2 credits of Masters Thesis (LEX 8999) and 1 credit of directed study (LEX 7990) in connection with attendance and full participation in a 3-credit seminar requiring a substantial paper taught by the professor who serves as adviser on the thesis and directed study. Students will pay for 3 credits total and will not register for the seminar, but must complete all of the work for the seminar. If the student adopts this seminar option, the 1-credit directed study is not counted against the directed study 4-credit maximum (see III.B.9).
      2. Continuing residency requirement. An LL.M. student who has enrolled under either the stand-alone or seminar option for the Master's Thesis and who has completed all the other requirements of the seminar or stand-alone option as set by the faculty adviser but has not yet finalized the Master's Thesis will be required to register for at least one credit of thesis direction until such time as the student:
         1. completes the requirements for the degree;
         2.  declares him/herself no longer a candidate for the degree; or
         3. exceeds the time limit, including any extensions approved by the Director, allotted for securing the degree.
            
            For these credits, the student will be assessed customary tuition and fees and will register as an auditor. This requirement may be waived only in extraordinary circumstances by the Director with the consent of the Dean. No degree credit will be granted for these additional credits beyond the required credits for the Master's Thesis or seminar. A mark of "Z" (Auditor) will be recorded on the student's record for these additional semesters.
   5. Basic course(s) in the major. All students must complete the basic course(s) in their respective majors, unless the requirement for one or more such courses is waived by the Director in a written statement to the Records Office outlining the basis for the waiver. Basis for waiver consideration includes completion with a grade of B or higher of an equivalent course at a U.S. law school within 5 years of enrollment in the Wayne Law LL.M. program, two or more years of professional work in the field requiring substantial knowledge of the material covered in the course, or exceptional circumstances demonstrating likely command of the material. A waiver does not diminish the credit hour requirements set forth in other sections of this Part III.B. Students in non-U.S. Law majors for whom the basic course requirement is not waived will register for, pay tuition and fees for, and receive only 2 credits towards the LL.M. degree for the basic course in those majors. The basic courses for the majors are as follows:
      1. Corporate and Finance Law Majors. Corporations (LEX 7156).
      2. Labor and Employment Law Majors. Labor Law (LEX 7501).
      3. Taxation Majors. Taxation (LEX 7816).
      4. U.S. Law Majors.
         1. Survey of United States Law (LEX 8875);
         2. Introduction to the Legal System of the United States (LEX 7424);
         3. U.S. Legal Practice Skills for Foreign Law Students (LEX 8890); and
         4. Fundamentals of U.S. Legal Research (LEX 8815).
   6. Additional required courses in the major. All non-U.S. Law majors must take additional required courses (in some cases, by selecting an option among a small group of courses in a required category of courses), as follows:
      1. Corporate and Finance Law Majors. 
         1. Taxation (LEX 7816);
         2. At least one finance course from the following options:^[2] 
            1. Corporate Finance (LEX 7141); or
            2. International Finance: Transactions, Regulation and Policy (LEX 7406); and
         3. At least one corporate tax course from the following options (some may require prerequisites in addition to Taxation, or admission by the instructor):
            1. Taxation of Corporations (LEX 7821);
            2. Taxation of Corporations: Mergers and Restructurings (LEX 7014); or
            3. Business Planning (Lex 7060 or LEX 7061).
      2. Labor and Employment Law Majors.
         1. Employment Law (LEX 7221); and
         2. Employment Discrimination (LEX 7216).
      3. Taxation Majors.
         1. Taxation of Partnerships (LEX 7311);
         2. At least one corporate tax course from the following options:
            1. Taxation of Corporations (LEX 7821);
            2. Taxation of Corporations: Mergers and Restructurings (LEX 7014); or
            3. Business Planning (Lex 7060 or LEX 7061).
   7. Minimum required credit hours in LEX courses. Students must complete a required number of hours towards their majors in courses offered at Wayne Law (LEX courses) and approved for that major, as follows:
      1. Corporate/Finance majors. At least 16 credit hours of LEX courses for that major;
      2. Labor/Employment Law majors. At least 16 credit hours of LEX courses for that major;
      3. Taxation majors. At least 18 credit hours of LEX courses for that major; and
      4. U.S. Law majors. At least 24 credit hours of LEX courses for that major.
   8. Maximum number of credit hours in approval-required elective courses. Each major limits the number of credit hours that a student may take of approval-required elective courses other than directed study courses for which separate limitations apply. Registration for additional courses in other departments at the University beyond the maximum permitted will not be credited towards the LL.M. degree. Registration for courses in other universities or law schools without prior approval by the Director for credit towards the degree will not be credited towards the LL.M. degree. In extraordinary circumstances, the Director may provide prior written approval to the student and the Records Office for the student to enroll in, and receive full credit towards the degree for, a course that will cause the student to exceed the applicable cap. The cap for each major is as follows:
      1. Corporate/Finance Law majors may apply no more than 8 credit hours of approval-required elective courses (other than directed studies) towards their LL.M. degree;
      2. Labor/Employment Law majors may apply no more than 8 credit hours of approval-required elective courses (other than directed studies) towards their LL.M. degree; 
      3. Taxation majors may apply no more than 6 credit hours of approval-required elective courses (other than directed studies) towards their LL.M. degree; and
      4. U.S. Law majors generally may not apply approval-required elective courses (other than directed studies) towards their degree; however, in extraordinary cases, a student with a U.S. Law major may petition the Director for permission to take an elective course outside the approved list for the U.S. Law major to be credited towards the degree; if the Director approves, a written statement shall be filed with the Records Office stating the rationale for the course approval. A student with a U.S. Law major may also petition the Director for approval to take a course at the graduate level in other departments of the University that will be recorded on the student's transcript but will not be counted towards the 24-credit requirement for the U.S. Law LL.M. degree.
   9. Maximum credit hours of directed study: With the Director's prior approval for each directed study course, an LL.M. student may apply up to four (4) credit hours of directed study courses towards the degree in any major. A student may seek directed study direction from professors, visiting professors, and part-time faculty at Wayne Law as well as from professors in other University departments.  Directed studies are treated as a LEX course that is not subject to the limitation on credit hours of approval-required elective courses under Part III.B.8. The single credit-hour of directed study for the master's thesis, when done in connection with a seminar, shall not be counted towards the four-credit directed study maximum.
   10. Maximum credit hours of clinics and externships: No more than 4 credit hours of externships or clinics shall apply towards satisfying the credit requirements of the LL.M. degree (even if the clinic or externship in which the student is enrolled is listed as 5 or more credits). A student may enroll in additional externships or clinics during the student's LL.M. studies with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Clinics, but no additional externship or clinic credit will count towards satisfying the credit requirements of the LL.M. degree.  A student may not enroll in more than one externship or clinic per term. The Directors shall consider the following criteria:
       1. whether there is sufficient space in the externship program or clinic;
       2. whether the student understands the fundamental aspects of the American legal system well enough to represent clients competently with supervision and is able to obtain significant educational benefit from the experience;
       3. whether the student's oral and written language skills are adequate to such representation; and
       4. whether the student's course selection and grade point average reflect appropriate progress toward completion of the LL.M. degree, with the understanding that an LL.M. student with a grade point average significantly below the 3.0 required for graduation generally shall not be eligible.
   11. Credit for courses duplicating courses taken in first law degree program: No credit will be given for courses as part of the LL.M. program if the student took an equivalent course in a J.D. or equivalent program unless the course is 
       1. approved for credit as part of a Wayne Law J.D./LL.M. joint degree program, 
       2. the basic course for the student's non-U.S. Law LL.M. major for which the Director has not waived the requirement, in which case only 2 credits will be applied towards the LL.M. degree.
       3. approved by the Director for credit prior to registration for the course, with a written statement to the Records Office stating the basis for the approval.
   12. Credit and grades for transfer courses: Upon petition to and prior approval by the Director, a student may in exceptional cases take as an elective for transfer credit an advanced course offered at another university. The course must be one that is not offered in that academic year at Wayne Law or other Schools and Colleges of Wayne State University but is highly relevant to the student's major and career aspirations and must be taken in the year to which the petition applies. If the student earns a grade of B or above, the transfer credit will appear on the student's Wayne Law transcript, but the grade will not appear on the transcript or be a part of the student's GPA determination. If the student earns a grade below B, however, no credit toward the degree will be recorded for that course. Courses that a student has taken elsewhere after the completion of a J.D. or LL.B. degree and before enrollment in the LL.M. program at Wayne Law cannot be counted as transfer courses towards the student's Wayne Law LL.M. degree unless the student is admitted as a transfer student pursuant to the special provisions in Part II.C.2.
3. Grade and cumulative grade point average (GPA) requirements:
   1. Four-point system. Final grades and associated grade points for LL.M. students are recorded under the following four-point system: A = 4.00; A- = 3.67; B+ = 3.33; B = 3.00; B- = 2.67; C+ = 2.33; C = 2.00; C- or below = 0.00. 
      1. The University does not recognize the grade of A+.
      2. The mark of "I" (Incomplete) is given to an LL.M. student who has not completed all of the course work as planned for the term when there is, in the judgment of the instructor, a reasonable probability that the student will complete the course successfully without again attending regular class sessions. The faculty member must determine whether the student is passing the course at the time the grade of "I" is given. A written contract specifying the work to be completed should be signed by the student and instructor. Responsibility for completing all course work rests with the student.
         
         The mark of "I" will be changed to a letter grade when the student completes the course work as arranged with the instructor or, if the instructor has left the University, with the Director. Work must be completed within one calendar year. There are no extensions. If regular attendance is necessary to complete coursework, the mark of "I" will not be awarded and the student must register for the class for the semester in which attendance is planned. The student will be assessed tuition and applicable fees for the second registration. If a student decides to re-register for a course subsequent to the assignment of an "I," then the mark of "I" will be changed to a mark of Withdrawal/Passing ("WP"), and the student will be responsible for tuition and applicable fees for the second registration. Students must notify the Records Office and the Director (if the course is in the Law School) and the department office (if the course is in another University department) that they have re-registered for a course for which an "I" was marked, so that the "I" is not changed to an "F." Any unchanged mark of "I" will, within one calendar year from the time it was received, be changed to a grade of "F" (failing).
      3. The mark of "WF" (Official Withdrawal/Failing) is given when the student drops the course in accordance with University policy and the student had earned a failing grade as of the date the withdrawal is approved.
      4. The mark of "WN" (Withdrawal/Non-Attendance) is given to students who did not attend any classes and/or did not complete any assignments and/or did not participate in credit-earning activities by the withdrawal date.
      5. The mark of "WP" (Official Withdrawal/Passing) is given when the student drops the course in accordance with University policy and the student had earned a passing grade as of the date the withdrawal is approved
      6. The mark of "Y" (Deferred) is given when the student is up-to-date in the work of a course planned to continue beyond the semester (i.e., in the case of a Master's Thesis and certain courses taken in sequence).
      7. The mark of "Z" (Auditor) is given when the student has formally registered for the course for audit. The Director must provide written audit authorization to the student at the time of registration unless the credit is for continuing work on the master's thesis.
   2. First semester GPA requirement. If an LL.M. student fails to attain at least a 1.67 GPA on the work taken during the first semester of enrollment in the Wayne Law LL.M. program, the student shall not be permitted to continue at Wayne Law. Students are also subject to the academic eligibility standards set forth in the Wayne State University Law School Academic Regulations.
   3. Cumulative GPA requirement. In order to graduate, an LL.M. student must have a cumulative GPA in courses counted towards the LL.M. degree of 3.00 or higher. No rounding is permitted in determining whether the student satisfies this GPA requiremente.g., a cumulative GPA of 2.98 will not be sufficient for graduation.
   4. Probationary status. Students whose cumulative GPA as of the second semester of classes falls below 3.00 shall be treated as on probationary status. Further enrollment shall require a detailed Plan of Work review with the Director and approval of the Director. A student whose GPA remains in probationary status for another semester shall not be allowed to continue unless an exception is granted by the Director based on significant though incomplete improvement and realistic expectations of ability to achieve a 3.00 GPA.
   5. Grades below "C" for Wayne Law and other University courses. No credit towards the degree will be given for courses at Wayne Law or other departments in the University in which an LL.M. student earns a grade below "C" (i.e., grades of C- or below). Accordingly, a grade of F and zero credit hours will be entered on the transcript for grades of C- or below.
   6. Grade replacement by repetition of courses. An LL.M. student may petition the Director to repeat up to three courses credited toward the LL.M. degree in which the student earned a grade of B- or below. If the student makes a C or higher in the retake of a course, the student will receive credit towards the degree for the course, both grades will appear on the transcript, and only the higher grade will be taken into account in the student's cumulative GPA. Students will be assessed tuition and fees for the repeated course and generally will not receive University financial aid for such course repetition.
   7. Pass/fail grade option not permitted. Courses at Wayne Law and other departments in the University to be credited towards the LL.M. degree must be taken for a grade, and the grade and credit hours will be entered on the Wayne Law transcript. LL.M. students may not take any courses credited towards the LL.M. degree on a pass/fail basis.
4. Special topics. In exceptional circumstances when the Wayne Law Records Office and Director agree, a student may register for a "special topic" for credit towards the LL.M. degree. The student must complete a "Special Topics Form" (available in the Records Office) for a course of 2-4 credits. The supervising professor and Director must sign and date the form before the Records Office will register the student for the course. The Special Topics category includes transfers of courses from outside the University for which Wayne State University does not offer an equivalent course, work similar to a Directed Study that does not involve a written paper, or other special circumstances requiring unique arrangements with the supervising professor (such as an unavoidable overlap of part of a session of a desired course with a session of another required course because of different schools scheduling periods, which otherwise does not permit the student to register for both courses). Students who think their situation may require a Special Topics designation should discuss the matter with the Director and with the supervising professor.
5. Master's thesis. Every LL.M. student other than U.S. Law majors must complete a master's thesis within the time allotted for completion of the LL.M. degree. A student who is a U.S. Law major may opt to complete a master's thesis as an additional course credited towards the degree. The master's thesis must be an original work that demonstrates scholarly research and exploration of a noteworthy issue in the student's major field.
   1. Prerequisites for thesis registration.  Ordinarily, a student shall not be permitted to register for the master's thesis until (i) the student has participated in the Master's Thesis Workshop (held early in each fall term) and (ii) the student has successfully completed 12 credit hours of course work. The Director may waive the 12-credit-hour requirement in exceptional cases, with written approval filed with the Records Office.
   2. Registering for thesis. A student may register for the thesis under the options as specified in Part III.B.4, above. The student must secure a faculty adviser prior to registration, and may seek the assistance of the Director if help is needed. The "Authorization for Master's Thesis Direction" form must be signed by the faculty adviser and Director and filed with the Records Office no later than the end of the second week of classes for the term of registration.
   3. Thesis work and schedule. Students must devise a schedule with the faculty adviser that includes submission of a written outline, first and second drafts (and additional drafts as required by the faculty adviser), and final thesis. A copy of the schedule must be submitted to the Director no later than the third week of the term in which the student registers for the thesis. Any extension for submitting the thesis must be approved by the adviser and authorized by the Director.
   4. Expectations for thesis. A thesis must be an original work not previously submitted for other credit representing the student's own analysis, organization and writing. The work must conform to legal scholarship expectations, as discussed with the faculty adviser. In addition, it must conform to generally accepted standards of academic integrity, including the following:
      1. Another person's ideas or language cannot be used without acknowledgment, whether in the form of paraphrase, quotation, or use of footnote sources.
      2. Use of language directly from another's text must be shown with quotation marks, but a thesis should not rely excessively on quotations.  The primary text of the thesis should be original to the student.
      3. Close paraphrase (the appropriation of portions of the original author's text without quotation marks and with only minor word or syntactical changes) is not acceptable, even if the source is cited.
      4. Ideas of others also require citation, including doctrinal analysis, criticisms, commentary or proposals appearing in any published form (e.g., cases, books, articles, student notes, unpublished papers).
      5. Students must consult original sources rather than adopting a quotation of one author from another author's work. If a secondary source must be cited because the original is no longer available, the secondary source must be acknowledged, as well as the original author.
   5. Submission and approval of thesis. Students must submit one hard copy and one digital copy of the completed master's thesis to the faculty adviser for review. The faculty adviser must sign, date and grade the hard copy and submit it and the digital copy to the Records Office on or before the due date for grades for the term in which the master's thesis is completed. Any extension for submitting the thesis must be approved by the adviser and authorized by the Director. Final decision as to whether the paper satisfies this requirement rests with the faculty member supervising the work, except that in the case of a thesis supervised by part-time or non-tenure track faculty members, visiting faculty, or faculty in other University departments, the Director's approval is also required (not to be withheld lightly).
   6. Form and style requirements. The thesis should be approximately 25,000 to 35,000 words (not counting footnotes or table of contents) and of law review quality. Legal citations must be in accordance with the latest edition of "A Uniform System of Citation" published by the Harvard Law Review Association et al. (the Bluebook). The thesis must include as an appendix a bibliography of all relevant sources consulted in the course of research, whether or not such sources are cited in the text or footnotes. Required contents are: title page (see format requirements on next page), table of contents, text with footnotes (not endnotes), and bibliography. Appropriate chapter or section and subsection headings should be used throughout the text of the thesis. Title page format sample

1. The term "courses" herein refers to courses, seminars, directed studies, clinics, and externships, unless otherwise noted.  Specific restrictions or rules on seminars, directed studies, clinics or externships will be stated in direct reference to the type of course to which they apply.

2. If in any academic year neither of the corporate finance courses is offered in the Law School, a corporate and finance major may instead register to take FIN 7090 outside the Law School.