What do ‘LLB’ and ‘LLM’ stand for?
LLB
‘LLB’ is the abbreviation for the Bachelor of Laws. The degree abbreviates to ‘LLB’ in place of ‘BL’ because of the conventional name of the qualification in Latin, ‘Legum Baccalaureus’.
‘Legum’ is the plural of ‘lex’, which means regulation, whilst ‘Baccalaureus’ is the foundation of the time period ‘Bachelors diploma’. As Latin plurals frequently abbreviate via doubling the first master of law letter (e.G. ‘pp’ for ‘pages’), it abbreviates to ‘LLB’.
LLM
‘LLM’ is the standard abbreviation for the Master of Laws. The abbreviation is derived from the call of the qualification in Latin, ‘Legum Magister’, with ‘legum’ because the plural of ‘lex’, meaning regulation.
As with the ‘LLB’, Latin pluralises the Master of Laws to ‘LLM’.