J.D. International Law Emphasis Area Requirements

Admission Requirements

After their first year, students may be admitted to the International Law Emphasis.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from this program will:

  • Students will demonstrate mastery of core doctrinal knowledge within emphasis area
  • Students will demonstrate mastery of skills necessary for objective legal analysis. This is a general student learning outcome for the JD degree and is assessed through essay examinations graded using rubrics in required courses and through performance on licensing examinations.
  • Students will demonstrate mastery of the skills necessary for effective legal research in the emphasis area.
  • Students will demonstrate mastery of legal writing in the emphasis area.
  • Students will demonstrate mastery of the duties of attorneys as members of the legal profession.
  • Students will demonstrate ability to work with people in a professional environment
  • Students will demonstrate competency in professional work habits
  • Students will demonstrate entry-level proficiency in lawyering skills especially relevant to the emphasis area.

Program Requirements

Courses:

Student will have to take a total of 16 credit hours from the below mandatory and elective courses.

Required Course
LAW 8753International Law2-3
Additional Required Courses (must take one of the following):1-4.5
Global Legal Systems
International Business Transactions
Chinese Law
Comparative Criminal Law
Law Of The European Union (Part I)
Law Of The European Union (Part II)

Electives:

The remaining credit hours (10) must be satisfied from the following courses (note: not all below are offered every year):

LAW 8702Conflict of Laws1-3
LAW 8704ALawyering Skills Competition-Appellate1-4
or LAW 8704I Lawyering Skills Competition
LAW 8738PImmigration Law and Policy2-3
or LAW 8738 Immigration Law And Process
LAW 8753LTransnational Litigation & Arbitration2-3
LAW 8754International Business Transactions2-3
LAW 8831RInternational Human Rights Law1-3
LAW 8832Law of International Trade and Finance3
LAW 8883Seminar In National Security Law2-3
LAW 8904Multicultural Lawyering and Spanish for Lawyers1-2
International Law2-3
Courses offered as part of an approved overseas experience (while typically only one approved overseas experience will count towards the emphasis, the International Law Faculty may, in his or her discretion, count additional credits earned from other overseas experiences. Other Courses may be approved by the International Law Faculty to count towards the Emphasis. Where a course includes a substantial component of comparative and/or foreign law, part or all of that course may count towards the 16 hour requirement with advance approval from the International Law Faculty.

Required Overseas Legal Experience

This would include such experiences as:

  • The Ireland, China, Oxford or other law summer programs; or

  • An overseas Mini-Term course (if offered); or

  • Another experience approved in advance by the ICF advisor.
    These experiences may constitute a “skills” component, depending on the specifics of the experience. 

Required Writing Project:

  • A paper satisfying the R&W requirement or an equivalent independent study writing project (including Law Review Comments) must be undertaken by writing on an international or comparative law subject (subject to be approved by the International Law Faculty advisor).

  • This requirement may also be satisfied through participation on the Jessup International Moot Court Team or other equivalent international competition with approval of the International Law Facultyadvisor.

  • Class papers do not satisfy this requirement, but may be expanded as an independent paper or the R&W paper, and with approval of the International Law Faculty advisor, the expanded paper may satisfy this requirement.  Any credits earned through satisfaction of this writing requirement will NOT be counted towards the 16 hours.

Graduation Requirement

To graduate with the International Law Emphasis, students must have a minimum GPA within the emphasis area of 3.0.

Important Note: Because the School is committed to keeping up with changes in the practice of law, the requirements for emphasis areas may change during the course of a student's enrollment at the School. The requirements at the time a student is granted admission into the emphasis area are the requirements that govern completion of the student's emphasis requirements. For possible revised requirements that will take effect with the next academic year, ask the emphasis area advisor for the most recent iteration of requirements.  A course not listed above can meet emphasis area requirements if approved by the emphasis area advisors Timothy Lynch,Jeffrey Thomas, and Rana Lehr-Lehnardt.