Amicus Partners

First Person Accounts (FPA’s) are meant to provide a first-hand account of law graduates who have pursued, or are pursuing, a post-graduate course (an LLM or otherwise) from different universities across the world.

Stella James recently completed an Environmental Law Master’s from Melbourne Law School, a decade after completing her undergraduate law from India. In this FPA, she discusses the pros and cons of studying at MLS, the LLM experience itself, and a whole lot more. 

Melbourne Law School is such an interesting choice – what prompted you to pursue an LLM here?  And given your specific interest in environmental law, were there any other schools that you applied to?

My choice was partly personal and partly professional.

Personally, I did not want to live in either the US or the UK, so the obvious choice of countries was eliminated.  Professionally, while there are environmental law courses in many Universities, MLS is one among only a handful of law schools in the world that have a specific focus on marine ecosystems as well as indigenous rights, which are my core areas of interest.

Also, I had lived in Melbourne for a couple of months when I was younger and absolutely loved the city.

So, all my preferences seemed to align well.

I didn’t apply to any other places but some of the other Universities with interesting programmes that I was considering were the UN University for Peace in Costa Rica, Utrecht University in the Netherlands and University of Cape Town in South Africa.

What were some of the expectations you had from the LLM? 

Honestly, my expectations were quite modest. Having worked for 10 years, I mostly wanted to get a better theoretical foundation in environmental law. I was also excited to live and learn in a different country.

Early days yet, but how was the LLM experience at MLS? Looking back, do you think your expectations were met?

To be honest, it was a mixed bag.

There was a lack of transparency in course structure beforehand (more in the next question), which was a very deep disappointment. I was quite unhappy with the subject availability in 2023, and because of visa restrictions, I ended up in a position of being compelled to take a few subjects online from India just to be able to study subjects of interest.

This has affected how well I’m able to learn and also affected my grades. Despite the extreme frustration with that, the faculty and my cohort were so amazing that they made my time there completely worth it.

Every single one of my classes was absolutely excellent!

Classes have a quota of 30 students, so they were small, participatory and fun. The knowledge and understanding that I gained was tremendous. I also loved experiencing different pedagogical methods. And I absolutely loved that the MLS culture celebrates cooperation and support in academics and discourages unnecessary competition between peers.

While all of the faculty were very good, there were two professors who completely transformed my world view. Having done my LLM after a decade of working in the environmental justice space, I truly did not expect that such a massive intellectual shift could still happen.

Also, is there anything about the LLM experience that you wish you had known before you enrolled?

Several subjects are shown on the website as part of the Environmental Law Masters, but they are not all available every semester. The subject handbook for each year is only released at the beginning of each calendar year in January.

Of approximately 25 subjects that are listed on the website, only about 10 subjects were actually available in 2022-2023. This was very disappointing as it meant that I was very limited in the subjects that I could choose and was interested in.

I wish I had understood this structure earlier and planned my joining date and subject selections accordingly.

The other aspect that I wish I had known about the teaching format of ‘intensives’, which is the most common format at MLS. The intensive format involves only one subject taught at a time. The teaching of the subject lasts only one week, from Wednesday to Tuesday. The subject is taught for the entire day from 10am to 4pm approximately.

This structure has a lot of advantages as it concentrates the learning period and gives a lot of time for research for papers, but can also be extremely difficult and tiring during the teaching week.

Could you tell me a bit about your cohort at MLS? Were their members from a diverse set of backgrounds and work experience? And how did you find yourself utilising your own work experiences as an LLM candidate?

The cohort was my favourite part of being at MLS!

I got to study alongside judges and judicial assistants, litigators, company sustainability advisors and environment and human rights activists from South and SE Asia, South America and the Pacific Islands, and of course Australia. Discussions, both in class and outside, with people working in environmental and human rights law in Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Fiji and Tuvalu, among others, has expanded my understanding of environmental law much beyond my expectations.

During class, all the faculty strongly encouraged comparative analysis of law between different countries, both on paper and in practice. This was true even in subjects that were focused on Australian domestic law.

I was able to contribute a fair bit to these discussions from my own work, and exchanging notes from our work experiences with other students. I also wrote papers based on Indian law for a few subjects. For these, I was able to draw strongly on my experiences in shaping my analysis.

Not to put you in a spot, but are there any specific learnings you made during the LLM that you now find yourself implementing in your work now? I suppose what I am asking is whether the LLM has helped you in a professional capacity?

I’m still finding my way professionally after the Master’s. But soon after I came back, I taught a few classes on environmental law to conservation science students. One class was on climate change, which was drawn entirely from what I studied in my master’s.

For the other classes, although I didn’t use the content, I relied very heavily on the teaching techniques that my professors at MLS had used. It guided the readings I picked as well as the structure of my class activities.

I had taught the same classes a couple of years ago and personally, I felt that this time went much better for both the students and me. I hope to figure out soon whether the Master’s will be useful for me in a non-academic setting.

Lastly, any advice for the Indian lawyer who is considering a master’s abroad?

I would say that firstly, spend some time to be clear and honest to yourself about why you want to do a Masters, professionally and personally. I strongly suggest getting at least 4-5 years of work experience before applying for one.

The master’s can be a transformative experience if done right.

Secondly, do your research. Don’t pick schools based only on rankings. Universities have history, context and values. Think of your interests and whether the law school has enough space for them (both in their curriculum and extra curricular spaces) and figure out if your values align with the values of the law school you will go to.

Thirdly, if you haven’t lived abroad (even if you have traveled), it is going to be a difficult experience. So think about if the country/city that you choose is one that you want to make your home for a year. Again, countries and cities  have history, context and values and it helps a lot if you feel like you belong.

Also, figure out what support the University provides for international students because that can be crucial in easing your transition.

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