Classes
June 30 - August 2
International Litigation ------------------------------------Prof George Bermann
Planning and litigation problems confronting dispute resolution with int'l elements, such as parties from or activities in different countries. Focusing on U.S. suits and the availability of arbitration, it includes jurisdiction, proof of foreign law, forum-selecting agreements, enjoining suit abroad, service of process, taking evidence (in the light of blocking measures), currency conversion, extraterritorial application of U.S. law (including Act of State & Sovereign Immunity), forum non conveniens, and recognition of judgments and arbitral awards.
Exam: 8/1 (3 cr) MTWThF 9:00am - 10:35am
International Contracts------------------------------Prof Herbert Lazerow
Legal aspects of contracts for the int’l sale of goods, including contract formation; choice of forum and choice of law; implied and express warranties; different methods of shipment, such as f.o.b. or c.i.f.; risk of loss; excuse from performance; letters of credit; tax aspects of sales transactions; and the settlement of int’l business disputes by self-help, alternative dispute resolution, or litigation, including the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. The Uniform Commercial Code and the UN Convention on Contracts for the Int'l Sale of Goods (now ratified by the U.S.) will be compared, as well as the domestic contracts law of other countries.
Exam: 8/1 (3 cr) MTWThF 9:00am - 10:35am
International Business Transactions-----------------------------Prof Paul Stephan
National and international laws applying to typical cross-border transactions like the sale of goods, distributorship agreements, licensing of technology, franchising, direct investment, construction agreements and joint ventures, including dispute resolution options.
Exam: 8/2 (3 cr) MTWThF 10:45am - 12:20pm
Public International Law---------------------------------------Prof Allen Weiner
This course examines what diplomats and scholars once referred to as the "law of nations," as it has matured and evolved to adapt to today’s complex and interdependent world. We will begin by considering fundamental questions about the nature of international law – the sources and subject of international law, the origins of international law in the sovereign equality of states, and the absence of comprehensive mechanisms for the authoritative interpretation or enforcement of international law. We will explore core international law concepts and issues such as state responsibility and the bases for states to exercise jurisdiction. We will consider the operation of international law in the U.S. legal system. We will then look at a series of international law topics and issues, including some of particular interest today, such as mechanisms for the settlement of international disputes, the law governing coercion and the use of armed force, the development of international human rights, the law of armed conflict, and the emergence of a body of international criminal law and international criminal tribunals for its enforcement. Throughout, we will consider current issues and problems arising in the international arena and the extent to which international law actually affects the behavior of states.
Exam: 8/2 (3 cr) MTWThF 10:45am - 12:20pm
Exams are never given in advance.
Clinic/Internships
International Business lnternship----------------------------Prof Herbert Lazerow and Howard Shelanski
Students participate in practicing law related to international business transactions, including contract, financial, commercial, tax, European Union Law, labor, securities, etc. After being prepared to function in the legal environment, each student will work for a law firm in Paris. The experience depends on the work in the office in which (s)he is placed. (S)he may participate in client interviews, negotiating sessions, meetings with government representatives, strategy sessions, and arbitration or litigation. The student may gather facts, and may draft, review, or translate contracts, opinion letters, trial or arbitration documents, and the like. Seminars integrate the work experience. Internships with international organizations are possible.
(Graded HP, P, LP, F). No exam (4 cr) MTWThF 9-6+pm
Clinic/Internship Application Process
Early Clinic application is strongly suggested. Preference is given to students who have completed at least two years of law school or who are alumni of our summer program. In recent years, there have been enough places to accommodate everyone who applied, even first year students, in one internship or the other.
If you indicate that you would like to work for a French speaking firm and to give the Paris firms an accurate evaluation of your French-language ability, we will arrange a telephone conversation in French with a French speaking individual. This individual does not work for any French firm. Based on that test and your documents, USD will estimate whether you are able to do the work required in French. If not, USD will do its best to place you with a firm where the French language is not required to do your work for the Clinic.
1) Each Internship applicant should submit a complete resume
2) An informal letter to our office with any job or clinical experience, linguistic abilities or foreign travel, also telling us if we are unable to find a firm for you, which classes would you like to take instead.
3) A formal letter (with your signature) (think of this letter as a job interview letter, addressed to - To Whom it may Concern) and send to our office, explaining why you would like to work with a firm and stating what type of work you would be interested in doing for a firm. Please give at least 2-3 choices of the type of work you would like to do in this formal letter (Int'l Business Contracts, Int'l Human Rights, Constitutional Law, etc.).
4) Two law faculty letters of recommendation that are on letterhead and signed. If you work for a law firm and would like to submit a letter from them as well, that is fine. Also professor's know what to say, they have done this before. This letter should at least address your classroom interaction, any activities the professor knows of that involve you, type of student you are, etc..
5) (S)he should also send an unofficial transcript containing this fall's grades.
6) Also, please provide a sample of your legal writing.
7) Please bring/mail/fax or send as an e-mail attachment all this information to cking@sandiego.edu Ms Cindy King, USD, 5998 Alcala Pk LS 310, San Diego CA 92110-2492; 619-260-2230-fax
8) Once you have provided USD-San Diego with all the required paperwork for the Clinic and proper payment, all your information will then be forwarded to the Clinic Director. From that point on you will deal directly with the Clinic Director and not with our office.
As decisions must be made in both San Diego and Paris to obtain an internship, your prompt action in submitting documents (within 2 weeks - depending on when you apply for the Clinic) and payments is helpful, as available internships are very limited and no movement can be put forward until we have all the required documents and the appropriate payment.
USD will make every effort to place each internship applicant in an appropriate office. Sometimes these placements are not finalized until the students arrives in Paris. Occasionally, it is not possible to place an intern because the final decisions rest with the law offices. If that eventuates, the student should be prepared to take courses as alternates to the Internship. Appropriate refunds of the extra tuition paid will be made to either you or back to your lender.
If you decide to withdraw from just the Clinic and take classes instead, because USD could not find you a placement, a total refund of all extra monies paid for this Clinic will be refunded either back to you or back to your lender, with no deductions.
If you decide to totally withdraw from the Clinic and not take classes, because USD could not find you a placement, a total refund of all extra monies paid for this Clinic will be refunded either back to you or back to your lender, with no deductions.
If you decide to totally withdraw from the Clinic program on your own before April 1st, then the regular Paris refund policy applies. If you totally withdraw from the Paris Clinic program on or after April 1st, there is no refund of any monies already paid.
If you decide to take classes in another USD program, all your clinic payments, except for the first $200, will be applied to this change for the new program's classes. It would also depend on when you withdraw from the Clinic to determine if you still have time, and if space is available, to take either the Russia, Barcelona or London Clinic. Please discuss this change with Ms Cindy King at cking@sandiego.edu
Applications for Internships will be accepted as long as places remain. Applications should be accompanied by either proof of a Wire Transfer or a US dollar check payable to USD and sent to Ms King at the address below to enroll you. If applying before March 10th, a non-refundable payment of $200 is due; if applying between March 10th and April 1st, the payment amount should be $400. Full tuition is due with your application if applying after April 1st, and you should e-mail Ms King at cking@sandiego.edu to ascertain that a post-April 1 application will be entertained.
French Language Class
Two French courses are offered MTWThF 1:30pm -2:20pm: a beginning conversation course, Survival French, and for those with a year of college French, Intermediate Conversational French. Both are open to accompanying persons; neither is for college credit. Cost: $85 per person.
Advanced French courses are given by the Alliance Francaise, Institut Catholique , or the Sorbonne is Cours de Civilisation Francaise If interested in their advanced courses, please contact them directly.
Faculty
George Bermann, Professor Columbia and Paris Director; former faculty Tulane, USD, Paris I, Rouen, and Visiting Scholar, Conseil d'Etat, Max Planck Institute, Legal Service of the European Communities Commission. Author: Transnational Litigation; International Commercial Arbitration; French Law; European Community Law. Marshall Scholar. BA, JD Yale; LLM Columbia.
Herbert Lazerow, Visting Professor Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Boalt Hall School of Law, Univ of California Berkeley; Professor, USD, Co-founder & Director of the Institute and 2008 Paris Director. Former faculty Louisville, Paris X Nanterre. Author: OECD Draft Influence on U.S. Income Tax Treaties; Droit Fiscal Americain. Former editor-in-chief, International Tax Journal. AB Penn, JD Harvard, LLM GWU, DESS Paris 1.
Howard Shelanski, Professor UC Berkeley; former Chief Economist FCC & clerk to Mr Justice Scalia. Author: Telecommunications Law & Policy; Merger Remedies in American & European Competition Law. BA Haverford; MA, JD, PhD UC Berkeley.
Paul Stephan, Professor, Virginia; Formerly clerk to Justice Powell and visiting faculty, Lausanne, Paris II. Author: International Law and International Security; International Business and Economics; Law Reform in Post-Communist Europe. BA, MA Yale; JD Virginia.
Allen Weiner, Senior Lecturer, Stanford Law School, and Co-Director of the Stanford Center on Int'l Conflict and Negotiation. Formerly law clerk to Judge John Steadman (D.C. Cir.) and Counselor to the U.S. Department of State. both in Washington and the Hague, where his responsibilities included the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, the Int'l Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, and the Hague Conference on Private Int'l Law. Author: International Law, and numerous articles on the operation of joint claims tribunals and on the interplay of the law of war and the needs of national security. AB Harvard, JD Stanford.
Add/Drop / Wait list Information
Application Form & Personal Data Sheet