International Law Center Curriculum

Our New Approach to the International Law Curriculum

Over a dozen Case Western Reserve School of Law professors teach in the area of international law; together, they offer more international law electives than all but a handful of U.S. law schools. We call our three-year learning arc "Core, Concentration, Capstone."

Core

In the first year, students who will undertake a Cox Center-funded summer internship take "Fundamentals of International Law," a one-credit course in the spring semester that introduces them to norms of customary international law, rules of treaty interpretation, basics of researching international precedents, and the principles that govern international dispute resolution and international criminal trials.

Concentration

In the second year, students pursuing an international law concentration begin to focus on one of four areas, by taking a sequence of electives that continue into the third year related to public international law, international business law, national security law, or immigration law.

Altogether, we offer 40 specialty courses in these areas, including our

  • "War Crimes Research Lab," where students work on legal issues outsourced by five international tribunals,
  • "World Intellectual Property Law Lab," where students work on international IP issues assigned to us by the World Intellectual Property Organization, and
  • Immigration Law Practicum, where students work on real asylum and refugee cases for real clients.

Capstone

In the third year, students take a semester-long, full-time international law capstone experience. Options include our new Human Rights Law Clinic or over 30 externships around the world. Or you can spend your third year abroad earning a foreign LLM degree at one of our partner universities while concurrently earning our JD degree in no extra time.

International Law Courses

Public International Law Focus

  • Archeological Relics
  • Contemporary Issues in International & Comparative Law
  • Chinese Law
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Cyberlaw
  • European Union Law
  • Health Care & Human Rights
  • Immigration Law
  • Immigration Law 2: Asylum
  • Immigration Law 2: Business Immigration
  • Immigration Law Clinic
  • International Law
  • International Criminal law & Procedure
  • International Environmental law
  • International Humanitarian Law
  • International Human Rights Law
  • International Human Rights Law Clinic
  • International Law Research Lab
  • International Perspectives on the Death Penalty
  • National Security Law 1: Counterterrorism Law
  • National Security Law 2: Foreign Affairs Law
  • National Security: Surveillance
  • Transnational Litigation
  • War and Morality

International Business Law Focus

  • Admiralty
  • Archeological Relics
  • Contemporary Issues in International & Comparative Law
  • Chinese Law
  • Comparative Corporate Governance
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Cyberlaw
  • European Union Law
  • Financial Institutions Regulation
  • Financial Systems Integrity
  • Government Contracts (National Security Procurement Law)
  • International Arbitration
  • International Business Transactions
  • International Humanitarian Law
  • International Intellectual Property
  • International Law
  • International Real Estate Transactions
  • International Tax
  • International Trade and Policy
  • Transnational Litigation
  • World Intellectual Property Organization Lab

National Security Law Focus

  • Archeological Relics
  • Contemporary Issues in International & Comparative Law
  • Chinese Law
  • Cyberlaw
  • Health Care & Human Rights
  • Homeland Security Lab
  • Immigration Law
  • Immigration Law 2: Asylum
  • International Criminal Law & Procedure
  • International Environmental Law
  • International Humanitarian Law
  • International Human Rights Law
  • International Law
  • International Law Research Lab
  • International Perspectives on the Death Penalty
  • National Security Law 1: Counterterrorism Law
  • National Security Law 2: Foreign Affairs Law
  • National Security: Surveillance
  • War and Morality

Immigration Law Focus

  • Administrative Law
  • International Law
  • Immigration Law
  • Immigration Law 2: Asylum
  • Immigration Law 2: Business Immigration
  • Immigration Law Clinic
  • International Human Rights Law

*Courses offered 2016-2018; some courses offered every other year. Does not include courses offered at our 22 foreign exchange programs or 4 concurrent degree programs.