Study content and objectives
The field of digitalization gained in importance in almost all professional fields. The rapidly advancing technical development creates new possibilities but also increasingly produces legal problems. Due to the complexity of the subject, cross-juricical knowledge is an indispensable prerequisite for dealing with digitalization from a legal perspective. The master’s program builds on the legal knowledge already acquired and enables you to specialize in the field of digitalization. The program starts where general legal education reaches its limits due to technological progress. It aims to provide important knowledge in the areas of IT law, legal tech, AI, computer science and data protection law, among others. Thus, graduates of the master’s program will acquire crucial expertise and additional qualifications compared to their competitors. Upon successful completion of the program, the University of Würzburg awards graduates the academic degree of "Masters of Laws" (LL.M.) and for lawyers admitted in Germany a certificate for the theoretical part of the specialization in IT Law (Fachanwalt IT-Recht, § 14k FAO). This specialist lawyer title is awarded by a german Bar Association, for which further requirements must be met, in particular a 3-year licence to practise as a lawyer in Germany (§ 3 FAO) and the acquisition of special practical experience (§ 5 para. 1 lit. r FAO).
The module catalogues for the subject Digitalization & Law can be found here under the section Digitalization & Law.
Learning Outcomes
1 Scientific qualification
Digitalization & Law is an application-oriented program leading to the degree "Master of Laws" (LL.M.). The degree "Master of Laws" is an advanced degree that is part of a non-consecutive continuing educa- tion. Graduates of the master's program will be enabled to work in a – primarily English-speaking – professional legal environment with a specialization with regards to problems of digitalization, especially in the field of IT law. The students will acquire interdisciplinary knowledge in the areas of informatics, the digital dimension of fundamental rights and data protection, procedure law and cybercrime. They will reflect on the impact of human activity in the context of digitalization and the ethical issues related to digitalization (e.g. machine ethics). They can select additional courses, including company law, compe- tition law, IP law, AI law, E-commerce, legal tech and labor law in which they will broaden their knowledge in these fields. In addition, graduates gain the ability to work independently through their academic master’s thesis. This will enable them to phrase a question from one of the subject areas precisely, analyze it theoretically and present it scientifically and methodically. The students will apply the acquired knowledge and skills both orally and in writing in the respective module examination.
2. Ability to take up employment
The interdisciplinary courses, e. g. in the fields of informatics and machine ethics, enable the graduates to solve problems from different disciplines scientifically and methodically. Both the interdisciplinary expertise and the specialization in the respective fields of law give graduates a decisive advantage in the professional field of IT-Law. Compared with conventional theoretical university courses Digitalization & Law is more closely connected to law practice. The participating practitioners offer their view on practical problems and thereby improve the understanding of the practical aspects. Furthermore, during the program graduates will get in touch with law firms that practice IT law. Moreover, they acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge for the certificate of specialization in IT law. Lastly, courses will be taught in English. This improves the communicative and the foreign language skills of the graduates, enabling them to solve problems in a foreign language comfortably and precisely, which is a necessity in the international field of digitalization.
3. Ability for social engagement
Graduates will be able to analyze current developments in the field of digitalization critically and under- stand their effects on society and environment. This enables them to reflect on ethical issues regarding the digitalization, especially regarding the use of artificial intelligence, and to claim a substantiated po- sition on current problems.
4. Personality development
As an English-language program the LL.M. addresses people from all over the world. Thereby, people from different legal cultures will discuss different solutions to identical problems in their respective countries in a comparative law context. Therefore, the participants will not only broaden their legal horizons, but can also establish contacts to other countries. This will be a valuable asset in their professional environment but will also make a decisive contribution to their personal development. In addition, graduates are naturally able to argue in English and discuss and solve various problems in a team. Finally, the master’s thesis improves the ability to structure tasks in the field of digitalization and to solve the respective problems independently.
