Just as the topic reads.

Not taking financials into consideration, what use is a LLM abroad? I'm tempted to apply just because I want to go live abroad for a year. I have no intention to settle down there, fully intend to practice in India. Also after meeting some tier 2 UK LLM returnees, I don't see they're acquired a skillset which isn't available for free on the internet.

What am I missing?

if you do your llm from top russel group of unis in the uk or the top ivies in the us, you will find that the academic style is quite different from typical nlu lectures, more focus is given on self directed learning, tutorials and coursework, so the critical writing skills would definitely improve, research skills would also improve as you would have to submit a dissertation and turnitin is applied more rigorously, so overall the intellectual ability of the student should also increase

however, one should only do llm if they have a clear plan as to what they are going to do next and how llm is going to aid in that respect

if you want to practice when you return to india, then i would suggest doing your llm from us as the courses there are more practice oriented than in the uk which in my opinion has more academic oriented llm

PS: based on my personal experience, one should do llm only if they fit somewhere in the following circumstances:

1. want to join academia and would pursue phd in the next couple of years (talk to a senior who has taken this path and preferably have some tuition scholarship)
2. worked in a domestic law firm for 4-5 yrs and want to have a foreign tag to ease move upwards (talk to colleagues on the higher band and preferably a managing partner)
3. worked in a domestic law firm for 2-3 years and want to move to foreign firm (talk to foreign firm HR and research like crazy, this is one of the most uncertain routes in the list)
4. got tc but the firm has deferred joining date (talk to the firm HR and get the degree funded by them, several uk firms have this deal, last happened wholesale in 2008, may happen next year again)
5. someone who is sufficiently privileged (annual family income upwards of 1 crore) wants to spend 50 lakhs for the postnominals (and has a cushion to land once they are back)

one should not do llm if they fit somewhere in the following circumstances:
1. you want to experience a foreign country
2. you want a job in the foreign country (see 3 in the previous para)
3. you want to network
4. want an extended holiday
5. everyone is doing it, you think it might help but dont know how

After graduating from a top NLU, I did my LLM from KCL and UCL, back in the day when they offered joint courses. I certainly benefited from it. Apart from being taught by excellent professors and spending a year enjoying London, I was hired by a well-known MNC on the basis of my specialisation and my degree. I later went into litigation in my specialised field and felt that my degree helped in various ways. I also made helpful contacts during the course and met my eventual wife in London :)

Certainly, LLMs don't matter if your life's ambition is to join CAM after graduation and become a partner there, but not everyone wishes to pursue that path. So I'm sceptical on the repeated negative comments on LI discouraging people to do LLMs abroad, very often by people in their early twenties with very little life experience and no ambition in life beyond working for CAM.

The fact that Paridhi Shroff Adani herself went to GLC and did not do a foreign LLM suggests that the Shroff family don't value foreign degrees much. But there are other law firm owners whose children did go abroad, such as Suhail Nathani' son (LLB Jindal, MBA Harvard), Zia Mody's daughter (JD Fordham) and Pravin Anand's son (LLM GWU). So perhaps in these law firms foreign degrees may be valued more than in CAM?

The BCL was a good topping to my NLS degree cake. I got a scholarship for the fees and my parents are affluent, so I had no issues sustaining a certain lifestyle in the UK. That helped me network among the barrister sets in London, so I think I came back a bit more polished when I joined my senior's chambers in Delhi.

But honestly, it was a vanity project - sure, the academic experience was very good, challenging and so on. But that learning is not really needed for litigating in India. If money is no object, go right ahead. But the quantifiable gains for this may not be value for money if you're taking a loan/stretching your family finances.

@8.1, (8 here): In my time, anyone 5.5 CGPA and above was a guaranteed admission to the BCL (either on the first in 5th yr or second attempt after picking up 1-2 years experience). That would have at least 7-10 people per batch who would have been admitted. I am given to understand that Oxford spreads its offers out across more Indian colleges these days, even in that case someone in the top 5-7 of the batch should make it without much trouble. The problem lies in paying for the degree. Scholarships are quite competitive. If I had not received one, I would not have gone. Personally, I do not see value for money in the BCL degree (at least value for my family money). But if you're from a family that can pay for this degree without batting an eye, then I suppose its worth it. But by no means should someone stretch their finances (my parents could have paid, but I had a rule to not ask them for that much money) or, God forbid, have to take a loan for this.

You've answered your own question - in the long run will you regret having spent a year of your life in another country, making friends, learning a ton of new stuff (course and non-course related) and perhaps developing some new facets to yourself?
And that's just the stuff we can reasonably anticipate. Over and above that, allow life to surprise you a little :)

Those who are promoting foreign LLMs on the basis of the 'experience' alone (or some variant of it) are likely doing so on the basis of generational privilege which at least a sizeable number of NLU (heck, even JGLS) students lack. Those who are emphasizing upon the learning are coming from a more reasonable position. The issue with that, unfortunately, is that the marginal benefits are often just not going to outstrip the huge marginal costs involved with pursuing a foreign LLM (lost earning + seniority + fees and living costs abroad). To the person who said that one should let life surprise them a little, I would like to remind you that surprises can often be unpleasant as well, especially when the opportunity cost is over 1 crore rupees and the prospect of better earnings extremely slim to none, depending on one's specialization and practice area.

The OP specifically stated: "not taking financials into consideration."
So if that is the basic premise, I am not sure what value the whole privilege/marginalisation argument is adding.
If they had said finances were an issue, my answer might have been different. Your 'reminder' of unpleasant surprises to me, an entirely self-funded LLM, is presumptuous :)

I (Comment 8) do come from a family that was doing alright, so a foreign masters would not have paupered them. Other than the money, the opportunity cost for doing a foreign LLM after a top tier Indian LLB is negligible (especially if you do it immediately/soon after LLB). I have peers in litigation as well as transactional work from similar profiles who have not lost out on anything due to the year spent abroad. In fact, most of them are at par professionally with their undergrad batchmates or even ahead of them by a year.

To summarise commenter 10: " I couldn't do an LLM abroad as I couldn't afford it, so I don't want others to do so".

Of course, what commenter 10 won't tell you is that not all LLMs cost 1 crore as he says, only US programmes do. Plus, there are lots of scholarships available in less popular places like the EU, Australia, Singapore and Canada: all countries with very good law schools. Yes, you need good marks for a scholarship, but surely commenter 10 doesn't expect people to play computer games 24x7, get low grades in exams and then get a scholarship?

Commenter 10 also won't tell you that some EU colleges are affordable even with full costs. At Oslo University in Norway (QS law rank 83 and QS overall rank 100) the fees is ZERO Euros for International students. Yes, ZERO. You pay only for living costs and even there you have scholarships. The programmes are in English . Alumni of this law school include a former UN Sec Gen, a former ICJ President and a former ECHR President.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Oslo_Faculty_of_Law_alumni#International_lawyers

Commenter 10 also won't tell you is that doing an LLM even in India can be pretty expensive, especially at private law schools.

Commenter 10 thus exemplifies the typical LI commenter. [...]

Commentator 10 here.

Firstly, I couldn't care less whether anyone here decides to spend their money on an LLM or not. The only reason I'm responding is because OP put this question up for discussion. Your insinuation that my response is bourne out of some deep rooted insecurity about my financial status is therefore laughable.

Coming to the merits of your response. It is interesting to me that despite calling me out for taking financials into consideration, you fail to explain any 'use' of an LLM degree yourself. The wording of the question makes it clear that OP is looking for a functional use of the degree and even if financials do not matter in the isolation to them, it is still important to bring them up if only because the advantages bourne out of an LLM are negligible to nil.

As for your bringing to light my supposed ignorance about the existence of scholarships and the lower cost involved in pursuing an LLM in another jurisdiction, I'll readily admit that my figures were stated taking into account a US LLM only. The reason for that is simple: A US LLM gives you the best chance to secure a BigLaw role, often in Singapore or the UK (compare the number of NYU/Colombia grads working abroad as opposed to even Oxbridge, there's a study done by Amicus in this regard). These are perhaps the ONLY jobs that can give you any substantial return on a foreign degree, save for certain niche IMF/WB roles (often again, bourne out of a US LLM). With or without scholarship, or even tuition fees, what use does an LLM from the University of Oslo serve? The lakhs of rupees I'll spend on living costs should get me more than just the experience of looking at the northern lights. The cheaper colleges in Continental Europe that you speak about often have zero brand recognition in india so pray tell how exactly would they add anything whatsoever to one's resume even here.

In conclusion, if all that an LLM gives you is a cathartic experience, I believe you might as well spend that money on a world tour, which is about the same functionally and would bring greater bbreadth to your life experiences.

(Am exception to my answer would be pursuing a Canadian LLM after getting a PR. The local education can be of help once you don't have visa sponsorship to worry about)

I don't think phoren LLM has much value in terms of job prospects. Does not provide you any new skill that you did not in LLB or could not get through PQE. Just look at this - 3 columbia LLM grads are joining NDA! Phew what kind of ROI is that? Columbia is one of the best and yet if after LLM from that kinda school one has no better option than to join a firm that not many in India want to join or stay in, then LLM is evidently a waste from the monetary/career perspectives. But yes there might be other benefits like personality growth, finding love or just having a longish vacation. Those with a Mastercard can do LLM, for everyone else don't do it.