SAL Ukraine Announces an Additional Selection Round for the 2025–2026 Program

Despite already forming two groups of participants, the Center for American Law, in collaboration with Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT, is offering a limited additional selection for this year’s SAL Ukraine program. This decision was made in response to the strong interest and the number of applications that continued to arrive after the main selection closed.

“Each year, we see growing interest among Ukrainian lawyers in the SAL program. This year, after the main selection round, we received a significant number of strong applications, so we decided to give a chance to several more candidates. For us, it is important that the program brings together the strongest and most motivated participants,” said Taras Polianskyi, Director of the Center for American Law.

SAL Ukraine is the first and only program in Ukraine that offers the opportunity to obtain a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in the USA with a 70% scholarship, and without requiring the TOEFL exam.

This special offer applies to any Ukrainian legal professional who is qualified to participate and successfully complete the SAL program during the upcoming 2025-2026 year, and also to those SAL Ukraine program graduates who completed the first phase of the SAL program within the previous three years.

The SAL Ukraine program is also open for students and professionals of non-legal specialties from Ukraine, primarily economists, specialists in applied sciences and information technologies, management and administration, political scientists, historians, sociologists, journalists, etc.

The program consists of two interlinked parts:

• Pre-LL.M. (mandatory) — online (October 2025 - May 2026);
• LL.M. (optional) — on campus at the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, USA) after successfully completing studies at the Pre-LL.M stage and receiving a diploma of 10 academic credits signed by the dean of the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Lecturers of the SAL program are among the best legal practitioners, including: 

• Prof. Adam Weber, a former prosecutor at the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Associate Dean of International Programs at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• Prof. Jonathan Decatorsmith, Director of Clinical Education at the C-K Law Group, Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT, civil litigator and tax specialist, supervises the CK Tax Clinic;
• Prof. Douglas Godfrey, Professor of Legal Research and Writing at Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT;
• Prof. Graham Dutfield, Professor of International Governance at the School of Law, University of Leeds (Leeds, UK);
• Prof. Edward Harris, Associate Professor of Legal Research and Writing, Former Associate Dean of International Programs at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• Prof. Richard Warner, SAL Worldwide Director, Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT (Chicago, USA), member of the U.S. Secret Service's Electronic and Financial Crimes Task Force, member of the U.S. Secret Service's Cyber Fraud Task Force;
• Prof. Geoffrey Mazullo, Professor of law, ESG Expert in Emerging Markets Organization, adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT.

After completing the first (Pre-LL.M.) stage of the SAL Ukraine program, participants of legal majors will be able to continue their studies at the following master's (LL.M.) programs of the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology:

• LL.M. in Trial Advocacy
• LL.M. in Global Business and Financial Law
• LL.M in International Intellectual Property Law 
• LL.M. in Legal Innovation and Technology
• LL.M. in U.S., International and Transnational Law

Instead, participants of non-law majors will have the right to continue their master's studies in one of the following majors: 

• LL.M. in Global Business and Financial Law
• LL.M. in Legal Innovation and Technology
• LL.M. in U.S., International and Transnational Law
• LL.M in International Intellectual Property Law (for applied science and information technology professionals with prior approval from the LL.M. program director at Chicago-Kent)

Graduates of the SAL Ukraine program who successfully complete the program are provided with:

• 3 years after graduation from the SAL Program, students have a guaranteed right to continue their LL.M. studies at Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT;
• 100% guarantee of admission to Chicago-Kent College of Law IIT (Chicago, USA) after successful completion of the SAL Program and meeting the admission requirements;
• 70% tuition waiver for the LL.M;
• No need to take the TOEFL exam;
• Support with obtaining an American student visa.

Program duration:

• Pre-LL.M. — 10 weekends (2 times a month) from October 2025 to May 2026
• LL.M. in Chicago, USA — 5 or 9 months (depending on the chosen specialty)

*During the Pre-LL.M. stage, classes are held twice a month via Zoom, only on Saturdays and Sundays. Sessions will begin at 4:00 PM Kyiv time and last 5–6 hours with breaks.

**During the LL.M. stage, it is possible to study for 5 months (one semester) only at the LL.M. in U.S., International and Transnational Law program. All other programs are designed for one academic year (two semesters).

Who can apply?

• Practicing lawyers, attorneys, judges, and prosecutors, regardless of age
• Bachelor's, Master's of Law, Doctor's of Juridical Science
• Law students (3rd or 4th year)
• Professionals of non-legal specialties (primarily economists, specialists in applied sciences and information technologies, management and administration, political scientists, historians, sociologists, journalists, etc.)

All applicants must be proficient in English at the Intermediate level or above.

Opportunities after receiving an LL.M. in the USA: 

• Work in international companies that require quality international legal education 
• Obtain the right to take the NY bar exam in the USA
• Start legal practice in the USA (provided LL.M. graduates meet immigration and work authorization requirements)

Tuition fee for the SAL Ukraine Program for the 2025-2026 academic year is as follows:

• Pre-LL.M - $3,000 (tuition can be divided into two parts)
• LL.M - $14,000 (9-month program)

Admission process

All applicants are required to submit the following:

• CV with 1 paragraph of the cover letter (in English)
• Copy of diploma or university statement for LL.B degree students

*Your first and last names in your CV must be indicated as in your foreign passport.

Documents should be submitted in PDF format (copies of the diploma may also be sent in JPEG) through the application form (https://salkentlaw.com.ua/apply) or on e-mail hello@salkentlaw.com.ua

Admission to the program is decided by the SAL Ukraine Faculty and Chicago-Kent College of Law. All candidates will receive a decision on enrollment within two weeks from the date of document submission.

SAL program partners in Ukraine are: Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), Elsa Ukraine, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukrainian Catholic University Law School, Lviv University of Trade and Economics, West Ukrainian National University, National University Odesa Law Academy.

Details

In 2011-2025, more than 470 students from Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, and other cities of Ukraine graduated from the SAL Ukraine program. More than a hundred enrolled in the LL.M program at Chicago-Kent College of Law (IIT) which they successfully completed. Among the graduates are founders, partners, senior lawyers from TOP-50 law firms in Ukraine, as well as judges and heads of legal departments of well-known international companies.

The School of American Law (SAL Program) is associated with the Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, USA). SAL successfully functions in different European and Asian countries. The program is based on Chicago-Kent's experience offering American Law studies in Europe since 1998. The School of American Law is the first and only program in Ukraine to provide an LL.M. in just 5 or 9 months.

Chicago-Kent College of Law, part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, is the second-oldest and one of the most prestigious law schools in Illinois. Chicago-Kent’s intellectual property law program is ranked as the ninth (#9) program in the U.S., and its trial advocacy program is ranked as the twelfth-best program in the U.S. by the U.S. News and World Report 2025 rankings.