To earn a Certificate in International & Comparative Law, a student must complete the eighty-six semester hours required for the Juris Doctor degree and must satisfy all JD requirements. Within the elective course work required for the JD, a student must complete six (6) hours of required courses and nine (9) hours of elective courses from the listed International & Comparative Law courses. All courses are three (3) credits unless otherwise indicated.
An applicant must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00 in the Certificate courses. If a student takes more than the 15 hours required for the Certificate, all of the international law courses will factor into the final GPA. A student must declare on the Certificate application form all of the international law courses taken, even a grade is not yet known. A student may earn a maximum of one Certificate while enrolled in law school.
Course Requirements
Electives, Seminars and Practicum
Choose three from the list below:
LAW 250
SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR
(3 hrs) Required for JD. The student must write an in-depth paper of Law Review quality on a topic of the professor's choosing.
LAW 422
PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
(3 hrs) Covers the general principles of international relations, including such topics as what is a state, the elements of state responsibility, jurisdiction and nationality, the Law of War, the United Nations and certain international organizations.
LAW 428
INDEPENDENT STUDY
(3 hrs) Students who have earned at least a 3.00 g.p.a. after completion of at least 40 credits may undertake independent study under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. The student must produce an indepth research paper of publishable quality not substantially covered by a currently offered course. Fulfills the Seminar requirements. Instructor's permission required.
LAW 502
JEWISH LAW
(3 hrs) Introduces students to the structure and methodology of Jewish law, examines how substantive Jewish law principles are employed to resolve difficult social and ethical issues in a variety of legal contexts, and considers the extent to which such processes may inform a thoughtful dialogue regarding resolution of similar questions in secular society.
LAW 208
HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICUM: CHIAPAS
(2 hr) A 3 week program for functional Spanish speaking students in Mexico where students develop their "legal" Spanish and learn about the inter-American and Mexican legal systems.
LAW 349
INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
(3 hrs) An introduction to the regulatory structure of global economic relations, focusing on the theoretical and substantive foundations of multilateral systems such as the IMF, GATT, NAFTA and the European common market. The course also analyzes the legal and constitutional framework for the treatment of international trade questions in the US, the European Union and Japan, and explores how this framework accommodates selected issues of global trade policy.
LAW 429
LEGAL CLINIC I
(3-6 hrs) Students work in one of the clinic modules under the supervision of a clinical attorney concentrating on real life problems with real clients and organizations. Instructor's permission required.
LAW 444
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
(3 hrs) A survey of federal and state remedies for the protection of the environment.
LAW 448
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
(3 hrs) Examines the foreign law aspects of establishing American business abroad, including international investment and finance relations, and problems posed by treaty, convention and trade practice between the United States and foreign countries.
Prerequisites:
LAW 102 is a prerequisite for this class.LAW 454
INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Examines the growing importance of intellectual property in the international context. Covers the scope of protection granted trademarks, copyrights and patents in foreign jurisdictions so that effective comparisions can be made between foreign and demestic law. Explores the scope and substance of international treaties. Strategies for obtaining cost effective intellectual property protection in the global economy will be examined. 3 credit hours.
Prerequisites:
LAW 271, LAW 344, LAW 447 or LAW 489 is a prerequisite for this class.LAW 482
INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS I
(3 hrs) Surveys and analyzes the legal aspects of protecting human rights through international action. Relevant treaties, conventions and international practices are discussed.
LAW 514
LEGAL CLINIC II
(3-6 hrs) Students work in one of the clinic modules under the supervision of a clinical attorney concentrating on real life problems with real clients and organizations. Instructor's permission required.
LAW 516
IMMIGRATION LAW AND POLICY
(3 hrs) Gives the students an understanding of the complexities of current US. immigration law and policy and the opportunity to develop and complete a research project on a related topic. Topics of discussion include: current legislative proposals, sources of immigration power, role of the federal courts, family immigration, grounds of exclusion, deportation, Mexican community concerns, asylum and refugee problems and citizenship.
LAW 517
ASYLUM AND REFUGEE LAW AND POLICY
(3 hrs) Examines the substantive asylum law based on the Refugee Act of 1980 and the United States response to refugees within the context of the United Nations Convention and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
LAW 537
INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION
(3 hrs) Students who are selected for the International Moot Court Team must register for the course. The competitions are an advanced problem-oriented study of appellate brief writing and oral advocacy.