A new edition of the International Law at KU newsletter is now available. Catch up on the events, research and people that make up the International and Comparative Law Program at KU.
International Law and Business
Why study international law, international business, and comparative law?
The answer turns partly on your own vision and partly on the world in which we live. Some students start their law school careers knowing they want to “go international.” Maybe they see a career negotiating international commercial and financial transactions, or serving in the diplomatic corps, or working with an international aid agency, or teaching in a cross-cultural, multilingual setting. KU Law offers a broad and vigorous program to help them prepare for such careers.
But the value of studying international law, international business and comparative law extends far beyond that class of students keen to “go international.” In today’s world, most practicing lawyers – even solo practitioners or members of small firms far from large cities – confront international issues in their work. The reason is simple: Many clients, especially business clients, have dealings that are international in scope. Maybe a small manufacturer needs to import components from Thailand. Maybe an agricultural cooperative wants to investigate grain markets in Mexico. Maybe a woman going through a divorce believes her husband has placed assets in a Belgian bank account. And of course large companies frequently engage in overseas sales, investments, and licensing transactions. Law students need to prepare themselves to assist clients with the issues that can arise in such cases.
Beyond being prepared to address these issues relating to private business transactions, lawyers also have a responsibility to the larger community – to be intelligent participants in, or leaders in, the formulation of policy at a national and international level. For this, law students should have at least some exposure to the principles and processes of the international legal system and should know something about how different cultures view the relationship between law, government and society.
Curriculum
The KU Law curriculum offers a variety of ways for students to get the preparation they need in these various areas. Specifically, KU offers courses that fit into three related “tracks” or disciplines: (1) public international law, (2) (private) international business law, and (3) comparative law. The first of these disciplines focuses mainly on the legal side of international relations involving nation-states and intergovernmental organizations. The second focuses mainly on the legal aspects of carrying out transnational transactions by private-sector parties The third focuses on foreign (non-U.S.) legal systems by studying the most important legal traditions.
KU Law covers all three of these “tracks” by offering a mix of courses designed to meet the needs of both generalists and specialists in these areas. The courses offered on a regular basis include:
Public International Law: a general survey of the legal system governing the behavior of states and public international organizations.
International Commerce and Investment: examines the transactional aspects of the sale of goods and direct investment across national borders.
International Trade Law: studies the regulatory aspects of the sale of goods across national borders, focusing especially on the GATT-WTO system.
Advanced International Trade Law: builds on the International Trade Law course to study vexing questions of trade policy and law.
International Economic Law and Development: concentrates on key institutions of international economic regulation and their role in development.
Comparative Law: a general introduction to and comparison of major legal traditions in the world (focusing on civil law, common law and Chinese law).
Islamic Law: examines the history, doctrine, texts and role of Islamic law throughout the world, and basic legal principles in key substantive areas.
International Human Rights: a study of the objectives, provisions and institutions of international human rights law, including regional regimes.
In addition to these regular courses, other courses and seminars are offered on an occasional basis, especially by visiting faculty members, in international and foreign law. Moreover, numerous other courses in the KU Law curriculum include substantial international components (for example, those on commercial arbitration or on Native American law and governance).
Planning your Studies
What background do law students need in order to take courses such as these? Unlike some other parts of a law school curriculum, the international law and business curriculum is almost exclusively upper-class and elective in character. Hence, most of the students wishing to study international law, international business, and comparative law do so after completing the “building block” courses of their first year.
This is especially helpful in the case of the International Commerce and Investment (ICI) course, because the basic Contracts course prepares students to consider international commercial contracts, and the Civil Procedure course helps students deal with international dispute resolution issues discussed in ICI class. In addition, some of the upper-class business law courses, such as Business Associations and Commercial Law, also help students understand international business law. Such courses are not prerequisites for taking the ICI course, but students interested in international business law will benefit from taking those courses sometime in their law school career.
The courses in International Trade Law, Public International Law, and Comparative Law likewise have no formal prerequisites. They do, however, require that students take a different perspective from the one offered in nearly all other courses in the law school. Most of the school’s courses concentrate on U.S. law; the courses in international and comparative law do not. Numerous students enroll in these courses for that very fact – that is, to get an opportunity to study non-U.S. systems of law – and thereby gain a deeper understanding of their own legal system and their place in the world.
Certificate Program
The International Trade and Finance Certificate Program assists J.D. students in preparing for the increasingly global practice of law, emphasizing the business nature of that practice.
Other Opportunities
Students in any year of law school can participate in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (2 credit hours for team members). There are also two other international law moot court competitions in which KU students participate, one focusing on international trade and the other on international environmental issues.
The law school sponsors several study-abroad programs, including opportunities in London and Cambridge, England; Limerick, Ireland; and Istanbul, Turkey.
The International Law Society hosts speakers, career days, international dinners and other events, and ILS members regularly participate in activities of the world-wide International Law Students Association.
