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Updated: March 2007
The International Law Focus Area provides students with an opportunity to achieve a level of expertise in international matters. Traditionally, the study of international law has been divided into two areas: public international and private international law. Public international law was concerned primarily with the relations between countries. Private international law was concerned primarily with transnational relations among individuals and non-state entities. However, this distinction is becoming increasingly blurred: matters thought to be within the purview of public international law, such as treaties, have increasingly focused on non-state actors and, conversely, developments in international business and trade are reshaping the relations of states.
Accordingly, the focus area attempts to ground a student in both the public and private aspects of international law. Each student is required to take the basic Public International Law course and International Business Transactions course. Public International Law introduces students to the legal principles governing the relationships of countries, such as the sources of international law, international dispute resolution, international organizations, human rights, and the use of force. International Business Transactions introduces students to the legal and business issues that may arise when a client engages in business abroad.
The focus is designed for students who contemplate representing clients who operate in the transnational or international level. Most attorneys who practice in this area represent private clients who are engaged in transnational business transactions or who are involved in transnational disputes. Others (for example, those who practice in the area of human rights or international environmental law) represent clients or non-governmental organizations in their relations with the U.S. government or in their relations with the governments of foreign states or international tribunals. Still other attorneys assist governments in their foreign relations.
| Mark Chinen | International Trade, Public International Law |
| Margaret Chon | International Intellectual Property, IP Law & Globalization Seminar |
| Carmen Gonzalez | International Environmental Law, International Trade |
| Tayyab Mahmud | Humanitarian Law/Law of War |
| Susan McClellan | International Externships |
| Henry McGee | International Environmental Law, Comparative Law: Latin America |
| Bob Menanteaux | International & Foreign Law Research |
| Russell Powell | Comparative Law: The Middle East |
| Ron Slye* | International Law of Human Rights, International Criminal Law, Adv. Topics in International Law |
*Focus Area Chair
| Craig Beles |
Transnational Litigation and Arbitration |
| Jonathan Eddy | Afghanistan Legal Educators Project |
| Thomas Fischer | Conflict of Laws |
| Renee Giovarelli | Law, Economic Development, and Social Change |
| Robert Hedrick | Aviation Law |
| Robert Pauw | Immigration Law |
| Michael Shanahan | Admiralty |
| Gwynne Skinner | International Human Rights Clinic |
| Paul Soreff | Immigration Law |
Plan the completion of your focus area with a focus area tracking form.
Public International Law (3 cr); and
International Business Transactions (3 cr) or
International Trade (3 cr)
(If a student takes Public International Law and International Business Transactions as foundational courses, he/she can also take International Trade and count it as an elective. Likewise, a student who takes Public International Law and International Trade as foundational courses may count International Business Transactions as a focus area elective.)
Immigration Law Clinic (1 cr)
International Externship (variable cr)
International & Foreign Law Research (1 cr)
International Human Rights Clinic (4 cr)
Admiralty (3 cr)
Advanced Topics in International Law (2-3 cr)
Aviation Law (3 cr)
Comparative Law (2-3 cr)
Immigration Law (3 cr)
International Business Transactions (3 cr)
International Criminal Law (3 cr)
International Environmental Law (3 cr)
International Intellectual Property (2 cr)
International Law of Human Rights (3 cr)
International Trade (3 cr)
International Taxation (3 cr)
International Trade (3 cr)
Law, Economic Development, and Social Change (3 cr)
Transnational Litigation and Arbitration (3 cr)
The center furthers the mission of the law school by combining a justice-based approach to globalization with a commitment to academic excellence. Among the center’s projects are a speakers series, a student fellows program and internship possibilities. Student fellows work with the Center’s Director and related faculty members on research projects in the area of global justice. Recent fellows have worked on corporate accountability and human rights, and on globalization and intellectual property. The fellowships thus provide students with an opportunity to work more closely with the international law faculty; develop research skills and a specific substantive expertise; and in some cases help to plan events, including conferences, related to the research project.
In Summer 2007, the School of Law launches Global Justice Advocacy, a four-week course in Johannesburg, South Africa, co-sponsored by The Mandela Institute of the Wits Law School in South Africa offering courses in international humanitarian law, international criminal law and other topics. Courses will be taught by faculty from Seattle University and the Wits Law School. For the second year, the law school will cosponsor The Intersection of Law and Policy in Brazil, offering courses in international and environmental law in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The program is offered through a consortium between Seattle University School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law and the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Seattle University School of Law established the first international human rights clinic in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the few such programs on the West Coast. Students work with experienced human rights attorneys to represent individuals and organizations claiming violations of international human rights law. The clinic has worked with some of the premier international human rights law firms in the United States, including the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco and the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, on cases and projects involving violations in South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The law school provides generous funding to students for summer internship placements overseas. Students may secure their own placement or take advantage of dedicated placements the school has established in Cambodia and Nicaragua. The law school also has established externship programs with some of the premier international organizations in Europe in the areas of international criminal law and international environmental law. Students may work for these organizations and earn academic credit towards graduation.
A semester exchange program with Bucerius Law School allows up to two SU law students to spend the fall 3L or 4L semester in Hamburg, Germany, earning up to 12 credits. Up to two German students may study at Seattle University School of Law.
The Latin America-U.S. Program for Academic and Judicial Exchanges brings academics and judicial officers from Latin America to the United States and sends U.S. academics and judicial officers to Latin America to teach and learn about each other’s legal systems. The program exposes students to some of the most important scholars from Latin America, emphasizing the importance of transnational relationships in legal education and providing essential tools for the solution of bi-national challenges such as immigration, terrorism, environmental protection, and resource conservation.
All law students are allowed to cross-register for 6 quarter credits in the Albers School of Business and Economics, which translates into 4 semester credits at the law School. Examples of courses with an international focus are listed below. Please be aware that some of the courses have significant prerequisites that it may be difficult for law students to meet. Note also that the Albers School is run on the quarter system, so 3-credit courses in the business school translate into 2 law school credits.
Finance for International Business (FINC 546) (3 quarter credits / 2 semester
credits)
International Business Policy and Strategy (MGMT 589) (3 quarter credits / 2
semester credits)
International Economics (ECON 573) (3 quarter credits / 2 semester credits)
International Management (MGMT 573) (3 quarter credits / 2 semester credits)