»International Law Certificate

International Law and Organizations (3)

This introductory course in international law, surveys the sources of international law and some contemporary global issues and challenges. The course introduces concepts of international law and how they achieve legitimacy through United Nations organizations and conferences, the International Court of Justice, the International Law Commission, treaty bodies, and state practice, as well as through other actors. The law of foreign sovereign immunity and the act of state doctrine are considered along with the role of international law in the U.S. legal system and the allocation of foreign affairs powers between the President and Congress. Selected topics that may be explored include international claims (including expropriation law), human rights, norms governing the use of force, and the law of the sea and environmental issues.

International Business Transactions (3)

This is a three-credit survey course designed to acquaint students with some of the issues involved in the conduct of international business transactions. We will examine the various methods of doing business abroad, moving from relatively simple to progressively more involved transactions -- for example, beginning with a basic sale and financing of goods across national borders to the establishment of a productive operation abroad through foreign franchisees, technology licensing arrangements and finally, direct investment in foreign enterprises. The last part of the course will focus on the resolution of international commercial disputes.

We will study these transactions in a variety of political and economic settings -- economically developed nations, developing-country markets and non-market economies in transition. Even though there will be some discussion of national controls and international regulation of trade, for example, the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement, the primary focus of the course is on private international business law (sales contracts, trademark licenses, intellectual property infringements, investment contracts, etc.). We will touch on an extensive range of substantive laws, such as the law of corporations, commercial transactions and the uniform commercial code, antitrust, intellectual property (copyright, trademark, patent), conflict of laws, civil procedure, contracts, international trade as well as public international law. Any knowledge or background in some of these areas will be helpful. However, there are no prerequisites for this course.

The course is designed to help students become “practice-ready.” That is, students will learn transactional skills and work with actual contracts. In addition to learning substantive laws and legal doctrine, students will also learn different strategies of negotiation. Negotiation skills will be incorporated into and seamlessly mesh with the substantive laws in different sections of the course. In this respect, students will not only learn how to draft and mark up different types of contracts but will also be exposed to different approaches to negotiation by engaging in simulated negotiations. These simulated negotiations play out in different settings – transactions, dispute resolution and other situations lawyers encounter in practice.

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International Business Litigation (2)

This course deals with the litigation process in the United States when the subject of the litigation involves a transnational business transaction. We will examine the following topics: U.S. jurisdiction and other aspects of forum selection and forum non conveniens; service of process of a U.S. lawsuit abroad; international discovery; sovereign immunity; act of state; and enforcement of foreign judgments in American courts. Emphasis will be on acquiring practical skills in both prosecuting and defending international business litigation suits.

Specific offerings will vary from year to year, depending on the periodic rotation of electives, instructor availability, student interest, and scheduling dynamics. Additional courses may be added in the future. Visit the course descriptions page for more information.

• Advanced Topic: Art Law
• Advanced Topic: Islamic Law
• Advanced Seminar: The Holocaust, Genocide and the Law
• Climate Change and the Law
• Comparative Law
• Comparative Law and Religion
• Environmental Justice Seminar
• International Business Litigation*
• International Business Transactions*
• International Comparative Law
• International Criminal Law
• International Criminal Law Ukraine War
• International Energy Security and Climate Change
• International Environmental Law
• International Intellectual Property
• International Trade Law
• Laws of War
• National Security Law
• Selected Topic: International Trade Development
• Trade and Environment
• Ukraine War Law Practicum 
• U.S. Taxation of International Income

* International Business Transactions and International Business Litigation are both core courses but also qualify as approved electives. However, the same course cannot be counted for both purposes.

For example, students who take International Business Transactions as one of their core courses cannot elect to use that same course as an approved elective. Thus, the three credits in the course cannot count both as a core course and as one of the eight credits required for approved electives.