Loyola University New Orleans College of Law’s emphasis on comparative and international law has generated curricular innovation and numerous programs offering students and faculty opportunities to study and develop expertise in this growing field. In addition to its many summer legal studies programs, the College of Law now annually sponsors:
This burgeoning activity produces many opportunities for the study of international and comparative law, including frequent scholarly events, such as public addresses and faculty colloquia, and many faculty publications in comparative and international law journals.
Loyola’s summer legal studies programs are an important component of Loyola College of Law’s international focus. Loyola currently sponsors programs in six foreign countries: Austria (in cooperation with the University of Vienna Law School); Hungary (in cooperation with the Eötvös Loránd University College of Law in Budapest); Spetses, Greece; Panam City, Panama (in cooperation with Universidad Latina de Panamá - pending approval by the Accreditation Committee of the American Bar Association); and Russia (in conjunction with Moscow State University).
These sessions offer a broad selection of comparative and international law courses, with particular emphasis on those relevant to the host countries’ legal systems and cultures. In summer 2013, 103 students from throughout the United States and the world participated in these programs. Loyola’s summer legal studies programs are open to students in good standing from any ABA accredited law school; Loyola students must hold a cumulative GPA of 2.20 in order to study abroad.
Vienna, Austria
The University of Vienna Law School is the site of Loyola’s largest foreign summer program. Three one-credit-hour seminars and one three-credit-hour comparative law course are taught by University of Vienna and Loyola College of Law faculty. Side trips to Salzburg, Prague, and Venice enhance the weekends during the program. In 2013, 44 students studied at Loyola’s Vienna program.
For more information on the Vienna program, please visit our website: www.loyno.edu/ip/vienna-austria.
Moscow, Russia
Loyola College of Law, in cooperation with Moscow State University, sponsors a three-week summer program in Moscow, Russia. The program affords students the opportunity to study law in a historic country whose legal, economic, social, and cultural institutions are undergoing a dramatic transition. Witnessing the evolution of the new Russian legal system and economy provides firsthand experience in comparative law. Courses, supplemental lectures, and tours allow students not only to study substantive legal issues, but also to compare the emerging Russian legal system with options from the United States and other common law and civil law jurisdictions. In 2013, 5 students participated in the program.
For more information on the Russia program, please visit our website: www.loyno.edu/ip/russia.
Budapest, Hungary
In conjunction with the Eötvös Loránd University College of Law, the Budapest Summer Legal Studies Program presents a two-week, two-course comparative law offering for those interested in the evolving political and legal landscape of central Europe. Participants have the opportunity to witness firsthand the dramatic evolution of this dynamic Central European country. The comparative law curriculum is complemented by visits to key legal institutions in Budapest, including the Supreme Court, the Parliament, and an international law firm. Classes are conducted at the distinguished Eötvös Loránd University law facility, conveniently located in the downtown area of the city, and students reside nearby in the university neighborhood. In 2012, 16 students participated in the Budapest program.
For more information on the Budapest program, please visit our website: www.loyno.edu/ip/budapest-hungary.
Spetses, Greece
Positioned strategically between East and West, near the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and being a member of the European Union since 1981, Greece is ideally situated as a microcosm of current legal issues. Spetses is the ideal place to observe the gap between rich, represented by wealthy Greek weekenders, and working class, exemplified by the year-round residents who are struggling with newly imposed austerity measures.
This program has been designed to examine legal, economic, and social issues in both an academic and experiential way. In addition to dealing with approaches to the choice-of-law process, students will have the opportunity to explore fundamentals of the constitutional system, examine immigration issues, explore legal issues in the protection of cultural property, and explore the health policy in a nation that has one of the most progressive policies regarding assisted reproduction.
Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a series of legal visits (including the mayoral office of Spetses), cultural tours, and festivals in Spetses and beyond. Additionally, students will have the option to participate in a service learning experience at Monastery of Aghioi Pandes.
In 2013, 25 students participated in the program.
For more information on the Spetses program, please visit our website: http://loyno.edu/ip/spetses-greece.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loyola's program in Brazil, offered in cooperation with the State University of Rio Faculty of Law, features two two-credit-hour courses and two one-credit-hour courses. Classroom instruction is enhanced by visits to one of Brazil's leading law firms, the State University of Rio de Janeiro College of Law (where select classes are held) and various courts in the Brazilian judicial system. These visits allow opportunities for interaction with Brazilian attorneys, law students and judges, and give an overview of the entire Latin American legal system. Side trips to Angra Dos Reis and Petropolis further enhance the program. In 2013, 29 students participated in the Brazil program.
For more information on the Brazil program, please visit our website: http://loyno.edu/ip/brazil.
Panama City, Panama
Offered in cooperation with Universidad Latina de Panamá, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is pleased to present this dynamic and experiential two-week program in Panama City, Panama. This program is ideal for students who wish to study abroad and still have almost the entire summer for work. Panama is a particularly appropriate jurisdiction for a summer law program. Panama’s privileged geographic position, its dynamic financial sector, and the presence of the Panama Canal have combined to foster the development of a sophisticated legal sector.
Sharing features of Louisiana’s civil law system, Panama also shares some of the same unique characteristics as New Orleans – such as a rich Spanish colonial heritage, storied maritime history, flourishing economy, and copious natural resources. These characteristics make Panama City an excellent choice as a venue for the examination of comparative and international issues associated with environmental law, maritime law, and arbitration law. In addition to being the first U.S. law summer abroad program in Panama, the Panama City program will continue Loyola’s tradition of offering quality Spanish language programs to our students.
Students will have the opportunity to participate in legal visits to the Supreme Court of Panama, the Panama Canal Authority, Morgan & Morgan, the Mediation and Arbitration Center of the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce; the Panamanian Bar Association, and the Panama Maritime Tribunal. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in a service learning experience at the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge).
For more information on the Panama City program, please visit our website: http://loyno.edu/ip/panama-city-panama.
Each December since 1998, Loyola has offered a field study of the principal institutions of the European Union (EU) for students studying this developing area of transnational law. Arriving in Brussels, the group participates in lectures and tours at the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, as well as an evening reception hosted by an American law firm. The group then travels by rail to Luxembourg to witness an oral argument at the European Court of Justice (with a preliminary case briefing and instruction in the court’s procedures). The field study then travels to Strasbourg, France, featuring tours and instruction at the European Parliament and the Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights. The group then travels to Paris for a final weekend and return flights home. For more information on the EU Field Study, please visit our website: www.loyno.edu/ip/eu-seminar-tour.
Each May since 2004, Loyola has offered a nine-day Field Study of Istanbul and Athens which explores the theme of "Legal History and Current Legal Events in Turkey and Greece." The group travels to Istanbul, the former “Constantinople,” which was the capital of the Roman/ Byzantine Empire from 330 AD to 1453 AD. There are guided walking tours of the magnificent church of Hagia Sophia, (built by the Emperor Justinian, whose massive compilation of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis, has inspired codification efforts up to the present era), the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and the Basilica cistern. The Field Study continues with presentations on the contemporary legal system and legal education in Turkey and a leisurely cruise up the enchanting Bosphorus, the boundary between Europe and Asia Minor. The group then travels to the coastal city of Kusadasi and visits the famous archaeological site of Ephesus. The Field Study continues with a ferry trip to the Greek island of Samos, birthplace of Pythagoras and home to the tunnel Eupalinos. The program concludes with a two-day stay in Athens, where students will visit the American Embassy and the Acropolis Museum. For more information on the Istanbul Seminar/Tour, please visit our website: http://www.loyno.edu/ip/istanbul-seminar-tour.
Since 1995, Loyola’s Commercial Law Arbitration students have been invited to compete in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition at the University of Vienna School of Law in Austria. The invitational competition features teams from 135 universities and 42 countries.
As described further in this bulletin, Loyola law students may also pursue special certification in the area of international law.
Loyola College of Law has enabled our students to benefit from having visiting professors from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Additional faculty exchanges have placed Loyola faculty around the world in places including Australia, Canada, China, Finland, France, Greece, South Korea, Lithuania, Brazil, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Speakers from Egypt, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica and South Africa have also graced the portals of the law school. In addition, Loyola faculty members have published books, articles, and papers with presses and learned journals in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and Malaysia.
A special advisory board of foreign law scholars and practitioners has for several years offered guidance to Loyola students and faculty in pursuing studies and research in international and comparative law. For more information about the Advisory Board, please visit our website: http://loyno.edu/ip/advisory-board.
« back to Programs of Study home