The University of Buffalo Law School has launched two new programs for international students.

Both programs -- the Double LLM program and the Advanced Standing Two-Year JD for Internationally Trained Lawyers program -- are the university's effort to continue to develop its presence in global legal educationt

"Buffalo has long been a center for innovative, international legal education, and we are most pleased to build on this tradition with Lyon," UB Law School Dean Makau Mutua said in a statement. "It will be a wonderful and valuable experience for students."

The Double LLM program gives students the chance to earn two masters of law degrees - one in Buffalo and one in Lyon, France.

It is presented in conjunction with the private Catholic University of Lyon (Université Catholique de Lyon or UCL), in east-central France. Students will enroll in UCL's master of laws program in international business law and study there during the fall semester, then come to Buffalo for the spring semester as part of the law school's general LLM program.

The Advanced Standing Two-Year JD for Internationally Trained Lawyers program gives international law students who already hold a law degree from a non-U.S. jurisdiction the opportunity to apply for advanced standing at UB. This allows them to earn a Juris Doctor degree in two years, rather than the standard three-year period.

This program is for international law students interested in earning a law degree from an American law school a year quicker than normal. The students completing this program would usually go on to take the New York State Bar Exam. So far, two students have been admitted to the UB program, which accepted its first students this September.

The two programs add to the law school's existing international presence and offerings, including a joint program with UB and the University of Glasgow School of Law.