International Law Concentration

The Concentration in International Law recognizes the growing globalization of the practice of law. Virtually all fields of law have been influenced by this trend: international and foreign law rules often affect US policy, legislation, and the claims of litigants in US courts and elsewhere. As US lawyers transact business and litigate across borders, they increasingly find it valuable to possess the knowledge and skills required to use international and foreign law to further the commercial, intellectual property, human rights, and other interests of their clients. Lawyers in the 21st century also increasingly need, or find it advantageous, to resort to international, regional, or foreign courts, arbitral tribunals, and other transnational dispute-settlement procedures.

Submit an Intent to Concentrate Form

Requirements

A student may be certified as having completed the Concentration in International Law by meeting the following requirements:

1) Satisfactory completion of two of the three following classes:

2) Satisfactory completion of substantial written work on an international, foreign, or comparative law topic. This requirement can be satisfied by the same written work that satisfies the School of Law’s upper-class writing (certification) requirement or by written work that satisfies the requirements of a course or seminar for which credit is given towards the concentration. With the approval of one of the concentration advisers, this requirement may also be satisfied by written work completed in a context other than a course or seminar for which credit is given towards the concentration. If the candidate student wrote the paper for a course or seminar other than the foregoing, or for another purpose, or if the supervising professor is an adjunct (part-time) faculty member, then a faculty concentration advisor must review the paper and confirm that it satisfies the concentration paper requirement.

3) Satisfactory completion of a minimum of five (5) additional courses from the following courses and seminars in international, foreign, and comparative law, as well as, to a limited extent, graduate-level courses in international, foreign, or comparative law (see paragraph 4 below). This list may be updated periodically to reflect changes in course offerings.* Please be aware that some of these courses are not regularly offered. At least three (3) of the remaining courses must come from the following Law School courses or seminars in international, foreign or comparative law.

* The School of Law may not offer all of the enumerated courses every academic year, although it offers most regularly. Some of these courses are offered through the Graduate Banking & Financial Law Program or the Graduate Tax Program. Consequently, please note that subject to availability, students wishing to take courses offered by either (a) the Graduate Banking and Financial Program or (b) the Graduate Tax Program must obtain permission from and register through these respective programs.

** In order for the Independent Study to qualify as one of the required courses, the Independent Study topic must be approved in advance in consultation with one of the Concentration Faculty Advisors.

4) Students who wish to receive concentration credit for course offerings not listed above in satisfaction of any of the above requirements may do so with the approval of one of the faculty concentration advisers. Approval for course offerings taken outside of the Law School is limited to graduate-level courses in international, foreign, or comparative law. Such courses may include those taken in the dual degree program with the Department of International Relations, courses taken in one of the Law School’s overseas program, and courses taken at other law schools, in other graduate programs at Boston University, or elsewhere. A maximum of two course offerings may be approved for any student under the provisions of this paragraph. To ensure maximum flexibility for students in their future career decisions, transcripts of students who elect the Concentration in International Law will not reflect the concentration. Rather, the BU Law Registrar’s Office will record completion of the concentration and the award of honors in the concentration and will make available official documentation of these accomplishments at the student’s request.

5) Students who receive at least a 3.5 grade point average in School of Law course offerings taken to satisfy the requirements of the concentration will be awarded Honors in the Concentration in International Law. To be eligible for Honors, a minimum of five concentration courses comprising at least 15 credit hours must be in Law School course offerings. In accordance with the Law School’s regulations, only Law School courses will be included in calculating a student’s grade point average, and only such courses will be used to determine whether a student has earned Honors.

6) The transcripts of students who elect to complete the Concentration in International Law will not reflect the concentration. Rather, the School of Law’s Registrar’s Office will record completion of the concentration and, if relevant, the award of Honors in the Concentration, and will make available official documentation of these accomplishments at the student’s request.

Faculty

BU Law’s award-winning faculty includes numerous scholars and teachers with expertise in international business and finance to comparative law and European law. Our faculty offers students a wide breadth of specialized skills in virtually all areas of international and transnational law.

Professors William Park, Daniela Caruso and Robert Sloane are faculty advisors for the Concentration in International Law. Students who have questions about the substantive aspects of the concentration should contact one of them.

Questions concerning administrative details should be directed to Associate Dean Gerry Muir.