News - Washington & Lee University, School of Law, Transnational Law Institute
Established in 2006, the Transnational Law Institute oversees pedagogical innovations, a speaker's series, externships, internships, and visiting faculty to help prepare students for the increasing globalization of legal practice. The Institute is committed to the integrated study of international and comparative law, as well as those aspects of U.S. law that involve cross-border issues.
The Institute has introduced an exciting International Law Practicum to the W&L curriculum. In the Practicum, a select number of upper-year students will have the opportunity to work directly with lawyers engaged in matters of international law in faculty supervised research, legal drafting, and client matters. The initial focus of the Practicum, taught by Professor Thomas Rice, will involve assisting the Defense Support Section of the Khmer Rouge Trials in Cambodia and implementing a public defender program in Liberia.
The Institute assists students in assuming internships involving international or comparative law matters in organizations of their choice. Through the Institute, students have worked with the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials, the International Missing Children's Division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, legal counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee in Washington D.C., African and Mid-East Refugee Assistance (a not-for-profit association in Cairo, Egypt), and several students have served at the Human Rights Department of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. There are ongoing developments to place students in Kosovo.
The Institute also coordinates visiting faculty who come to W&L for short periods of time to teach intensive courses. So far, global scholars include Prof. Jose Marcos Domingues, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who offers an intensive course on Latin American Law and Prof. Martin Matthews of Oxford University, who offers a course on comparative tort law. In 2006, Aneta Spaic, Associate Professor of Law in Montenegro, visited and undertook research, and a public lecture, on the doctrine of fundamental breach in international contract law.
Through the offices of Professor Russell Miller, the now Institute houses the German Law Journal, a leading academic periodical.
Through the Institute, leading scholars and policymakers come to campus in an invited lecture series. So far, lecturers have included two ASIL Presidents, Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter and Professor Jose Alvarez, along with Professors Cherif Bassiouni and David Crane (coming January 29, 2008), and Helena Cobban, a celebrated journalist and author (coming February 25, 2008).
Mark A. Drumbl, the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law, serves as the Institute's Director. More information can be obtained from him at drumblm@wlu.edu. |
