LLM Areas of Focus
While a specialization is not required, many ILSP students choose to focus their studies on one of the seven areas of international law listed below. To earn a Specialization Certificate for the ILSP LLM degree, students must complete 16 credits of course work within their specialization and must write a 20-25 page paper on their area of study. To apply for a Specialization Certificate, please click here.
International Business Law
The International Business curriculum is designed both to give students the technical skills and knowledge required of international business lawyers and to educate them about the responsibilities lawyers have to their clients and communities. Course topics include: international business transactions, multinational enterprises, international antitrust, international and comparative tax policy, national export/import regulations, international telecommunications, domestic and international banking, the international monetary system, international financial law, international arbitration, international conflicts of law, foreign investment in developing countries, and development assistance.
International Human Rights Law
Courses in the Human Rights specialization, focus on the continuing process of defining international rights and the creation of global and regional supervision. International humanitarian law courses address the international principles and rules regulating the conduct of armed conflicts as well as tracing their historical development. Students interested in specializing in human rights are strongly encouraged to take courses during the Summer Program of the Academy in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
International Environmental Law
Environmental courses address the legal aspects of sustainable development, introducing students to the work of both practitioners and policy makers in the field. The intellectual focus of the curriculum is on the development of practical legal strategies for addressing such problems as climate change, ozone depletion, air and water pollution, the loss of biodiversity, the extinction of species and how to balance the environmental, social and economic aspects of international transactions. Students interested in specializing in international environmental law are strongly encouraged to take courses during the Environmental Law Summer Session.
International & Comparative Protection of Intellectual Property
The specialization in International and Comparative Protection of Intellectual Property is designed to expose students to the full range of legal and policy problems and conflicts that arise from domestic and international regulation of copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Increasingly, minimum protections in these areas are being established in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, including the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Accordingly, the specialization involves significant exposure to international trade law, as well as the legal history and comparative analysis of domestic intellectual property regimes.
Gender and the Law
Students specializing in Gender and the Law can pursue a course of study that incorporates international, comparative, and domestic approaches to legal issues related to gender. The program integrates an understanding of the ways that gender permeates the structure and operation of law with the study of legal systems throughout the world. Topics include: feminist jurisprudence; comparative family law; sex-based discrimination; gender and cultural differences and international human rights; work and parenting; women’s legal history; battered women and the law; law and poverty; and economic, social, and cultural rights. In addition, students write a thesis as part of a seminar focused on gender and legal scholarship. For more information, please click here.
Free Trade Agreements & Regional Integration
The Trade specialization is designed to train lawyers in the technical and policy aspects of negotiating, drafting and implementing international trade agreements. Classes familiarize students with the process, structure, and rationale for trade negotiations through classroom instruction and simulation exercises. In addition, courses address technical issues, using individual regional trade agreements as case studies, and also raise issues that are relevant and can be applied to all regional trading agreements. Course work is supplemented by seminars, workshops, and internships to broaden students’ experiences.
International Organizations
Students specializing in International Organizations focus on the study of the internal processes, law-making functions, and general activities of selected regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the World Bank Group, the World Trade Organization, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The curriculum also includes the analysis of the relationship between organizations, their member states and non-state actors.
