The Winter 2025 preLaw magazine International Law Program rankings were announced last week, and for the seventh year in a row, Case Western Reserve University School of Law received the magazine’s top ranking.
CWRU was one of just 12 Law Schools to receive the coveted A+ ranking this year. CWRU School of Law was also among the top 13 International Law programs in the 2025 US News & World Report Law School Specialty Rankings, issued in April 2024.
So, what makes our International Law program stand out?
Talking Foreign Policy Radio Program
We are the only international law program with its own public radio program, “Talking Foreign Policy” on Cleveland’s NPR Station 90.3 FM. Archived broadcasts can be found on the CWRU Law website.
Launched in 2012, "Talking Foreign Policy" is a one-hour radio program, hosted by Michael Scharf, Associate Dean for Global Legal Affairs, in which an assembled panel of experts discuss the salient foreign policy issues of the day.
International Law MOOC
CWRU was the first law school in the world to offer an International Law MOOC. Over 190,000 students from 137 countries have taken this free online course.
From the Nuremberg trial to the case against Saddam Hussein, from the prosecution of Al-Qaeda terrorists to the trial of Somali pirates – no area of law is as important to world peace and security as international criminal law. Taught by one of the world’s leading experts in the field, this course will educate students about the fundamentals of international criminal law and policyand explore the contours of international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, terrorism and piracy.
Fundamentals of International Law Course
CWRU is one of the few schools that offer students the opportunity to begin to study international law in the first year of law school through its very popular Fundamentals of International Law course (taught by former dean Michael Scharf, President of the American Branch of the International Law Association), which is designed specifically to prepare 1L students for international law-related summer internships during their first summer. In addition, CWRU encourages 1L students to participate in our three international moot court teams, to be directors of our Yemen Accountability Project and to serve as editors of our e-newsletter, War Crimes Prosecution Watch which goes out to 9,000 subscribers every two weeks.
Certificate of Concentration and Honors
Law students who focus their studies on international law may graduate from CWRU with a Certificate of Concentration and Honors in International Law (with a focus on Public International Law, International Business Law, Immigration Law, or National Security Law), documenting their mastery of these subject areas. With over thirty international and comparative law courses to choose from, our upper-level international law curriculum is among the most extensive of any law school in the country, and few schools in the world have as many full-time faculty members engaged in teaching, research and the practice of international law.
Hands-On Experience
Our International Law program enables students to gain hands-on experience in a variety of ways. In addition to our many international law courses and seminars taught by leading international law experts, CWRU offers an Immigration Law Clinic, where students represent non-citizens before various governmental agencies with applications for relief from removal or deportation, asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture; assisting clients with applications for Naturalization and/or permanent residency applications; and various other immigration remedies. Students may also enroll in our International Law Research Lab, taught by Jim Johnson, the former lead prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, in which students undertake legal research assignments at the request of several international criminal tribunals and other international institutions. Or they can take our new International Development Law Lab, taught by Rumu Sarkar, the former Assistant General Counsel of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, in which students assist NGOs with legal issues related to social impact investing in the Global South.
Support for Internships
Internships are often the key to obtaining employment in international law. CWRU’s Cox International Law Center has a five-million-dollar endowment, enabling us to offer grants of $3,000 each to help cover travel and living expenses to over thirty students who undertake summer, semester-long and post-graduation internships abroad. While some students find internships in areas of their interest, CWRU has established permanent slots for Case students at several international organizations and tribunals across the globe. Everyone who obtains a foreign internship is guaranteed a grant, and we traditionally have more than enough internship slots for all students considering an international law internship.
International Tribunal Externship Program
In 2007, CWRU launched an International Tribunal Externship program, in which our students can earn a full semester’s worth of credit for externing abroad during the fall or spring semesters at one of several international tribunals. To date, 150 Case Western Reserve Law students have interned at the international tribunals, and seven of our graduates have gone on to work as Prosecutors and Legal Advisers to the Judges at the Tribunals. In 2014, our faculty voted to expand this very successful program so that our students can also extern for a semester at other international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Law of the Sea Tribunal, the Human Rights Council, INTERPOL and other international organizations and NGOs in fulfillment of the law school’s 3L experiential "Capstone" requirement.
Exchange Programs on Five Continents
CWRU has semester exchange programs with nineteen of the world's leading law schools on five continents. We also offer a year-long concurrent degree program with prominent universities in Paris, Lille, Halifax, Madrid and London. Under this unique program, students can spend their third year at a foreign law school, take LLM courses in English and graduate in three years with both our JD degree and the foreign LLM degree for just the cost of the JD.
Activities Outside of the Classroom
We offer a wide range of co-curricular and extracurricular activities, including one of the oldest and most prestigious international law journals in the country, three award-winning international law moot court teams (Jessup, ICC and Vis) and an active Student International Law Society which organizes career panels, a documentary film discussion series and a host of other activities throughout the year. Because of the relatively small size of our student body, our students are encouraged to participate in more than one activity -- for example, our student Editors of the Journal of International Law and Law Review often also compete on our International Moot Court Teams.
Reflecting the strength of our international law program, the Case Western Reserve Jessup International Law Moot Court team won the U.S national competition in Portland, Oregon in 2024 and the Best Speaker in the World Award in the International Rounds in 2022 and 2023. Also in 2023, the CWRU team reached the Finals of the North America Rounds of the International Criminal Court Moot Court competition, earning a berth in the International Rounds in The Hague. And in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 a member of the CWRU team won a Best Speaker Award in the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition in Vienna, Austria.
Outstanding Alumni Leaders
Our alumni are leaders in the field of international law. They include Francois-Philippe Champagne, who recently served as Foreign Minister of Canada; Duncan Gaswaga, who is a Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights; Austin Fragoman, founder of the world’s largest immigration law firm; Laura Quatella, General Counsel of the international tech giant, Lenovo Group; Michele Connell, Global Managing Partner of one of the largest law firms in the world, Squire Patten Boggs; Mohamed Chambas, African Union High Representative and formerly President of ECOWAS; John Sopko, Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction; Kevin Nealer, Principal in The Scowcroft Group; Jennifer Reiedthaler Williams, Immigration Judge at the Federal Courthouse in Cleveland; Richard Batson, the Judge Advocate General of the Coast Guard; Chris Rassi, Senior Executive Officer, International Federation of Red Cross in Geneva; Ahran McCloskey, Attorney Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State; Margaux Day, Executive Director of Accountability Counsel; George Kamada, Legal Adviser of the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations; and many more. Like our faculty, our alums are eager to help Case Western law students land internships, externships and jobs in the field. They are often on campus to participate in our four annual International Law Conferences, Expert Meetings, distinguished lecture series and career panels.
To learn more about CWRU School of Law’s top ranked International Law program, visit our website.