"When I joined my first CUSL courses in 2015, I would have never imagined that this would take me so far. I cannot find strong enough words to express what a precious support the CUSL program has been in this entire journey. It complemented my LL.M. courses to build a good knowledge basis in U.S. law even before the start of my bar preparation, which was a tremendous asset given the brevity of the bar preparation and that I also had to devote time to the master’s degree I was pursuing in France at the same time.
Most importantly, I see my four CUSL semesters as the defining moment that sparked off my interest in U.S. law and gave me enough confidence and passion to engage in an LL.M. degree and in taking the New York bar exam. Thank you very much for all of that!"
Léa Dreidemy
Attorney-at-law (New York), CUSL-Alumna
Certificate in United States' Law
Since the winter term of 2009 the University of Cologne Law Faculty has been offering an optional qualification in US American Law, running parallel to the regular German Law Degree.
Please note that the CUSL-program is not a qualifying degree, i.e. not a Bachelor's degree nor an LL.M. or the like. You need to be matriculated in another degree at the University of Cologne Law Faculty to be able to take part in CUSL.
The program's structure comprises 16 semester hours (1 semester hour = 45min/week during the semester) of classes in total. It is designed to be completed within four semesters that means we guarantee that all compulsory classes are offered at least once during a period of four semesters. You can also spread the necessary exams out over a longer period of time. It might be possible to pass all necessary exams in order to attain the CUSL Certificate in less than four semesters, yet we definitely cannot guarantee such a possibility.
Having completed all required courses successfully, students will receive a certificate issued by the Law Faculty.
Structure of the Program
In order to obtain the certificate, students must pass 16 semester-hours of CUSL classes. That is eight CUSL courses overall. To complete the program, a time period of four semesters is recommended.
Ten semester-hours are covered by compulsory subjects. A further six semester-hours can be chosen by the student from either compulsory or elective classes offered. That is five compulsory courses and three elective courses. In order to have an overview of the offered compulsory and elective courses please click here.
