Maritime law is a fascinating blend of commercial law and environmental law, of private law and public law, of national law and international law. Characters include salvors and scuttlers, pirates and pilots, treasure hunters and tug owners. Maritime law unfolds against the most dramatic of backdrops, such as war and invasion, storms and pollution disasters. It addresses issues as diverse as the liability of carriers of goods to the exploitation of fish stocks, the legal response to stowaways to the insurance response to smuggling. The LLM in Maritime Law is headed by Professors Howard Bennett and Sarah Dromgoole. Howard Bennett holds the Hind Chair in Commercial Law. Interested in international trade and maritime law generally, he is an internationally renowned expert on marine insurance. He has published extensively, is the author of the prize-winning The Law of Marine Insurance (awarded the British Insurance Law Association annual book prize for 2007), and is joining the team of contributing editors to the authoritative Benjamin’s Sale of Goods with responsibility for international trade finance. Sarah Dromgoole, Professor of Maritime Law, is one of the world's leading experts on the law relating to shipwrecks, a topic that has come into sharp focus in recent years as a result of the opening up of the oceans by advances in deepwater technology. She has published extensively on this subject, is regularly consulted by governments and other organisations, and is much in demand to give conference papers and seminars. Sarah also has many years of teaching experience in the international trade law field. Students on the LLM in Maritime Law at the University of Nottingham benefit not only from the expertise of all the Nottingham academics who contribute to the programme, all of whom are actively engaged in high quality research, but also from the insights provided by visiting speakers. In 2007-2008, the Maritime Law programme will be enriched by contributions from leading members of the commercial bar who have appeared before the courts in maritime law litigation and from Mans Jacobson, former Director of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds. Since its introduction in 1987, our LLM programme has continued to grow in popularity and prestige. Offering a wide and diverse range of over 50 options, the programme now attracts some 150 to 180 candidates each year, from more than 50 countries, confirming its status as one of the leading and most exciting LLM programmes available.

Postgraduates in Law find themselves faced with a range of choices when it comes to selecting a career. Some will have a very clear idea from an early stage as to what employment path they wish to pursue, while others may take some years to find the role that is right for them. No matter what your initial choice may be, you will find that the abilities that you have developed during your time at the University of Nottingham will have equipped you well for the demanding and often highly changeable nature of the twenty-first century workplace. Our postgraduate students move into an extraordinarily wide range of careers following their time in the School of Law. Many graduates either go into the legal profession or return to their previous legal careers with their experience and prospects enhanced by their experiences on the course. A large number work with NGOs or return to their countries with the skills and experience that will help them add to the future development of that country. Of course, some students decide to remain in academe and begin a PhD programme, often remaining at the University of Nottingham, and some use the skills they have acquired to teach.