How BYU’s Master of Laws Program Is Blessing Individuals, Communities, the Church and Nations

This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.

By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

When Cristina Ortega’s friends encouraged her to apply to Brigham Young University’s Master of Laws program, she laughed. “I joked that I would do it in 100 years — as soon as I saved enough money.”

Not that she didn’t want to attend. As a Latter-day Saint growing up in Colombia, attending BYU was a dream. But she was a single mom working full time as an attorney to provide for herself and her daughter. The idea of affording a prestigious program in the United States — where she would need to pay in dollars and not Colombian pesos — seemed impossible.

“I had zero intentions of applying,” she told the Church News.

One of her best friends, however, scheduled her to take the English test she needed for the application, saying, “You have to apply, and God will take care of the rest.”

Ortega remained unconvinced until the judge she was working for called to say he had heard she was applying to BYU and he would like to write a letter of recommendation.

With his encouragement, she completed the application and was interviewed over Zoom by BYU law professor Eric Talbot Jensen, the program's director.

When she received an acceptance letter from BYU, she was jubilant to see another letter offering her a full scholarship — tuition, housing and a relocation stipend for her and her daughter.

“I’ve come to understand that when you do what you can, God really takes care of the rest, and it is way better than anything you ever imagined,” said Ortega, who completed her master’s degree at BYU in 2021.

Looking back, Ortega said completing BYU’s Master of Laws, known as the LL.M. program, “was without a doubt the best year of my life.”

Not only did it improve her professional opportunities, but it also increased her ability to serve, she said.

At her home in Colombia, Ortega has a photo of her and her daughter posing in front of one of the signs at the entrance to BYU’s Provo, Utah, campus that reads, “Enter to learn, go forth to serve.”

“I guess that is the idea: Go to the LL.M. and learn as much as you can, so you can be better, but also so you can serve better,” Ortega said.

What Is BYU’s LL.M. Degree?

The LL.M. degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU is a master’s degree for lawyers. Whereas most other areas of study start with a bachelor’s degree and progress to a master’s and then a doctoral degree, an LL.M. is only available to practicing lawyers or those who have already earned their Juris Doctor.

Think of an LL.M. degree as a specialization, explained David H. Moore, dean of BYU law school.

Many will earn their Juris Doctor or law degrees and then find an LL.M. program in a specialty such as taxation, criminal law or immigration law. For many law schools, the LL.M. program is a funding source.

BYU’s LL.M., however, is completely donor-funded and designed for attorneys like Ortega, who could never afford the program on their own. It is available only to non-U.S. attorneys.

“Our effort is a global leadership program. Our desire is to help advance leadership in countries around the world,” said Moore.

In some ways, it is similar to the model proposed for the upcoming BYU medical school, Moore said. “The medical school is unique and special because it’s going to try to focus on humanitarian efforts around the world and people around the world, and our LL.M. program is seeking to do the same thing.”

The expectation is these students will return to their native countries, added Jensen, the program’s director.

“Our program, unlike many other programs, is not designed for people to stay here in the U.S. Instead, our program is designed for them to return to their home countries, take that education, that credentialing, and become much more active members in their legal community, in the Church community, in their governing community, and to help us, as BYU, have an influence on the world in a greater way,” said Jensen.

Since it began in the 1980s, more than 200 students from more than 50 countries have completed BYU’s LL.M. degree. This year’s cohort includes attorneys from Argentina, China, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Many of the students are members of the Church, but some are not, noted Moore.

For example, through the years, the program has welcomed 36 Jordanian judges who appreciate BYU’s Honor Code and that the university upholds similar values to what is taught in their Muslim faith.

The program is rigorous and lasts one year or two semesters, with the option to take an additional year to work or serve an internship.

The program can accommodate an average of 10 students per year, but Jensen and Moore said they feel driven to increase that to 15 or more.

As program administrators, they realize none of the students would be able to enroll without the generous support of donors who cover the roughly $60,000 cost of tuition, housing and living expenses, Jensen said. “We take that very seriously. We try very hard to think, ‘Who are the people who are going to make a difference in the world? We have a limited number of funds. We have a limited capacity. Who are the people who are going to make an impact?’”

Jensen said that’s how they get such high-caliber students, like D. Blamo Kofa, who is currently in his second semester of the LL.M.

A Liberian’s Story

D. Blamo Kofa met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while attending university in his native Liberia and was soon baptized. He served a mission to Nigeria in Lagos and Ibadan, which taught him discipline, Kofa said, and “how to manage my time well and set my priorities right.”

When he returned from his mission there was no clear path for him to finish his university studies, so he taught seminary. At that time, the position was unpaid, but he was given a transportation stipend to help cover the cost of travel. Kofa said he would pay tithing on his stipend, about 20 Liberian dollars, which converted to less than 1 U.S. cent. “I realized that the Lord would provide a way for me to go through university.”

He received a government scholarship. Before his mission, he had been a “C” student, but after his mission, he became an “A” student and earned a bachelor’s degree in law.

During his childhood, Kofa witnessed the havoc a 14-year civil war wreaked across his country: a crumbled economy, infrastructure damaged and hundreds of thousands of lives lost, all caused by “rampant corruption and nepotism.”

Membership in the Church had reinforced the principles and importance of integrity, honesty and ethics, Kofa said. “I wanted to dedicate my life to fighting corruption.”

He joined the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and worked his way from a junior investigator to the chief investigator in the country, prosecuting public officials for corruption. Eventually, the commissioner general called and offered him the position of an assistant commissioner for compliance and customs. Initially, he declined, having no prior education in customs. “But,” the commissioner general told him, “you have integrity,” so Kofa accepted the position.

Graduate programs are not available in Liberia, so only a “privileged few” are able to raise the money to attend a Western university. Kofa said he always wanted to pursue a higher degree in order to confidently face the senior lawyers in his country. “If you want to advocate against ills within the legal system, you have to have that confidence,” he said.

So he put his life on hold to attend BYU’s LL.M. program, leaving in Liberia his family, his calling as a stake president and his job as the assistant commissioner of customs.

But as Professor Jensen often says, “It will all be worth it.”

“Coming to BYU has really reenergized me to go back and confront some of the challenges there in customs, but particularly in the judiciary,” Kofa said.

The LL.M. program gives foreign lawyers an “opportunity to build their capacity, enhance their knowledge and skills, [and] make very good networks with seasoned professionals that can help them in the rest of their career journey,” he added.

The program is also giving him confidence and strengthening his voice as an authority in anti-corruption. “Staying close to the principles of the gospel and to the Savior have brought enormous blessings,” Kofa said of his journey to BYU.

Blessing Nations and the Church

Almost every LL.M. student has a story like Kofa’s, Jensen said.

Julie Khouri is another current student who experienced miracles before attending the program. A Palestinian Christian, Khouri had to navigate several military checkpoints just to make it to the embassy and apply for her visa.

“When we hear their stories, it’s just incredible what they’ve gone through to do this,” Jensen said. “But that’s where the power of the program is — it’s the Blamos and the Julies and the people like that. It’s not in BYU law school but in the impact that those people will have through generations.”

And that impact is cascading down, not only through generations but to communities, the Church and nations.

Ortega, for example, returned to Colombia and opened her own law firm. She now provides legal counsel for the Church in the South America Northwest Area and is the area chair for the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, which champions vulnerable populations, constitutionalism and religious freedom.

Another BYU LL.M. alum has become a member of the Mongolian Supreme Court. Another is serving as an Area Seventy in Brazil.

A student in the current cohort has been working as a magistrate judge in Tanzania championing women’s equality in that legal system.

“She’s going to go back and change her piece of the world in Tanzania,” Jensen said. “And we think every one of our alums are going to do something like that to benefit the world.”

Working with these students is “an incredible blessing and privilege,” he added.

LL.M. alumni who are Church members are that much more prepared to be Church leaders in their countries, while those who aren’t Church members will become leaders in countries around the world who understand the Church and its principles of religious freedom, Jensen said.

Lily Mott, BYU law school’s director of global programs, noted that there are many important things to be done in governments and organizations around the world, but sometimes people, like Kofa, don’t feel like they can speak up.

Getting the LL.M. credential through a highly ranked U.S. law school like BYU, participating in and practicing principles taught in the program “helps give them the tools and confidence to take action,” Mott said.

Spiritual Underpinnings

In the same way that Ortega, Kofa and other students shared stories of divine guidance to the program, Jensen, Mott and Moore said they have felt the Savior’s influence in administrating the program.

“We pray over this whole application process. We truly feel the hand of the Lord in this program. I am absolutely convinced that it’s in the Lord’s best interest that we bring these people to BYU law school,” Jensen said.

Mott added, “I really do feel God’s love for all of His children through this program, and I see how He is blessing the world.”

Ortega, who has now worked on several cases where the Church was the client, said she has seen how the Lord leads His work and puts individuals in the right places at the right times. “I have witnessed how the Lord protects His Church and its members, and I have experienced the Lord’s tender mercies,” she said.

Copyright 2025 Deseret News Publishing Company.