By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Ananya Kanoria LL.M. ’25 came to UC Berkeley Law expecting top-notch academics and prime opportunities to bond and network with students from around the globe.
She wasn’t anticipating spending much time inside an American courtroom — but she got plenty, thanks to her pro bono work and her choice to pursue the Practical Lawyering Certificate.
“I would recommend it to anyone exploring a legal career in the U.S.,” Kanoria says. “It was one of the most formative and rewarding experiences of my LL.M. journey.”
The Practical Lawyering Certificate is on pause for a time, but J.D. and LL.M. students have plenty of other wide-ranging certificate options. The Race and Law Certificate requires two of the foundational courses Race and American Law, Critical Race Theory, Federal Indian Law, and Race, Sexuality and the Law, and also has experiential and writing requirements, as does the Certificate in Consumer Law & Economic Justice.
The LL.M. Certificate of Specialization in AI Law and Regulation — introduced this summer for the school’s Executive Track LL.M. students and the first of its kind — helps busy professionals grapple with real-time legal issues introduced by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Several of the other certificates are affiliated with some of the school’s biggest research centers: the Berkeley Center for Law and Business (BCLB), Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, and Center for Law, Energy & the Environment.
At their core, certificates let students immerse themselves in facets of the law that interest them most. BCLB Executive Director Angeli Patel ’20 says the Business Law Certificate programs for J.D. and LL.M. students enable them to go beyond the basics and build true legal and strategic expertise.
“It allows them to use their time at Berkeley Law with precision to chart a path toward becoming not just sharp legal advisors, but impactful business leaders,” she says. “In the process, it puts students in company with professors, practitioners, and peers who are shaping — and who will go on to lead — the future of business law.”
Sparking interest
The new AI certificate was a big influence on Luis Guillermo Ibarra Garrido LL.M. ’26 deciding to attend law school at UC Berkeley Law. He’s also pursuing the Business Law Certificate.
“Berkeley Law was one of the first top-tier schools to offer a certificate of specialization in AI and Tech Law,” he says. “AI is the future and a growing market, and this certificate helped me understand how important the impact of AI is on the law and institutional design.”
The LL.M. Program’s flexibility, he adds, lets students tailor their studies to their interests.
“If you plan your schedule, you can specialize in business law and AI at the same time with top-tier professors who are the tipping point in those fields,” Ibarra says. “The certificates of specialization allowed me to study in-depth, complicated areas of the law that will help me further my practice.”
To get the AI certificate, LL.M. students must complete 11 units from a list of courses, including The Law and Governance of Artificial Intelligence, Making AI Work for the People, Trust and Safety, and Antitrust and Emerging Technologies.
When it’s offered, the Practical Lawyering program builds hands-on skills through classes and, in the second semester, an externship. Kanoria worked with Alameda County Superior Court Judge Sharon Djemal, a UC Berkeley Law lecturer who had spent 20 years with the East Bay Community Law Center.
After spending the fall semester working with two Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects, the Contra Costa Reentry Project and the International Refugee Assistance Project, Kanoria found her externship with Djemal especially rewarding.
“Judge Djemal was truly the kindest judge I’ve met — and her courtroom placement within the criminal division couldn’t have been more ideal,” Kanoria says. “Since I was hoping to work closely with the public defender’s office, this externship gave me the perfect vantage point to observe how the courts operate at every level.”
Each program involves significant work, but Kanoria says it pays off handsomely.
“Having never lived in the U.S. before, I knew I wanted to gain practical courtroom exposure. The certificate gave me exactly that — a chance to immerse myself in the legal system, build meaningful connections, and learn by doing,” Kanoria says. “The return on that experience was immeasurable, both personally and professionally.
“The kind of reward you get in terms of experience, contacts, networking, and just learning how it all works, is amazing.”
Ibarra calls the LL.M. program “a tipping point in my career.”
“The flexibility of the program and the possibility to specialize in AI, tech law, and business give you a competitive advantage over your peers, making you a more attractive lawyer in a highly competitive market,” he says. “It’s the first step to open new areas of practice in my home country at a moment when AI is starting to affect the public, private, and social sectors.”