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Course Catalog
International and Comparative Law Clinic (11)
Course Description
The International and Comparative Law Clinic will be offered for the first time in the spring semester, 2010, for 11 credits. Students also may register for Independent Written Work for either one or two credits; with instructor approval that writing may be used to satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement. Thus, students may earn a total of 13 credits.
Although this is an “instructor approval” course, students who wish to take this Clinic must submit the Clinic/LTP/Cardin Preference Form according to the normal schedule. Proficiency in a foreign language, see below, is required. This Clinic satisfies the law school’s Cardin requirement. Students who have taken International Law and/or Comparative Public Policy and Law Reform prior to taking the Clinic will receive an admission preference for the Clinic.
Once a student is accepted for and enrolls in the Clinic, a student may drop the course after October 1 only with the permission of the Clinic professors and only for extraordinary cause.
Students will spend a substantial part of the semester in a foreign country, working in a placement with a local partner of the law school. All students will spend the first part of the Clinic in an intensive classroom component of the Clinic (30-40 hours of classes). The students will travel to and work in their placements during the semester. They will return for at least the last week of the semester, during which they will make a presentation based on their legal work and experiences. The paper will be due by the end of the exam period.
While working in their international placements, students will participate in weekly classes through video-conferencing or online internet classes; will post all of their legal work through Blackboard; and will communicate with each other and their Clinic professor through the BB Discussion Board to the extent these technologies are available. Scholarship assistance may be available to pay for some of the costs associated with the foreign placement.
The following are the planned placements and related legal work for spring, 2010:
1. Mexico/Latin America: Students will need to speak Spanish. Students will work in Mexico City under the supervision of a local lawyer or lawyers. Students will work on Mexican legal issues, comparative law issues, as well as legal issues based on international law, including provisions of international law providing for economic, social and cultural rights. The Clinic also will explore public interest, social responsibility, and professional responsibility issues that arise in international practice.
2. China: Students who speak Chinese (Mandarin) will be given a preference. Students will do clinical work in China as part of an exchange program with the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing (“CUFE”). See http://www.law.umaryland.edu/academics/program/cufe/documents/2009_brochure.pdf. Students will work on Chinese legal issues and issues involving international and comparative commercial law. The Clinic also will explore public interest, social responsibility, and professional responsibility issues that arise in international practice. All exchange program courses at CUFE are conducted in English. Students may be able to take a course or courses in addition to the clinical course as part of the semester’s work, e.g., the foundation course Introduction to the Chinese Legal System Seminar and/or a comparative law or business related course.
Selection Process
We will follow the same process as that for the international externships. This means you will submit a Cardin preference form and a separate application (with your resume and grade report), and be interviewed. Specifically:
A. Complete and submit your Cardin Preference form to the Office of Registration and Enrollment listing the ICLC as your first choice. These are due on April 6th in the Office of Registration and Enrollment.
B. Before or by April 6th, also do the following:
i. Submit to both of us by email your application for the ICLC on the application form. Our email addresses: mmillem@law.umaryland.edu and srana@law.umaryland.edu
ii. Attach to your email both your completed ICLC application form and your resume.
iii. Ask Janice Dixon or Robin Stewart in the Registration and Enrollment Office to provide your grade report to us. Do this as follows: Go to law school website, then go to current students, then registration and records (on left), then forms, then student request form (Class rank/Good Standing request). Check “unofficial transcript (grade report).” Write after “Indicate below the manner in which you wish to receive the requested item(s),” Provide to Professors Millemann and Rana. Sign your name. Submit it to Janice Dixon or Robin Stewart in the Office of Registration and Enrollment in person, by email (after you sign it and scan it), or by fax (706-2103). They will provide the reports to us. Note: Your grade point average will NOT be a major factor in making the selection decision.
Note: If you would prefer to hand-deliver your application, resume, and grade report to us, do so by delivering copies to both Michael Millemann (Room 338 or faculty mailbox, second floor faculty lounge) and Shruti Rana (Room 444 or faculty mailbox, second floor faculty lounge).
C. Sign up for an interview with Professors Millemann and Rana for April 7th or 8th. The sign-up sheet will be on Professor Millemann’s door (Room 338) by April 6th. Pick a time and sign up on that form. We will make our decisions by the end of April 8th if possible.
Cost
A grant will cover the costs of traveling to the foreign country and a substantial part or all of the housing costs.
Journals
We have talked to several students who have asked whether they can be on a journal and take the ICLC. We have talked to several faculty members about this as well. We think that the answer is “yes” to this question, especially for those who do not have the major responsibilities, and will work with students to find ways to allow them to do both.
Legal Work
We will have placements in both Mexico and China. Indicate your preference on the application form in three ways: a) the legal work/country that is your first preference, b) whether you would accept your second preference if you do not get your first preference, or c) whether you would prefer not to take the clinic if you do not get your first preference.
Wild Card
You can use a wild card to express your strong desire to take the ICLC but if you are not selected, the Dean’s Office will consider your 2d wild card choice to be your 1st wild card choice.
Number of Students
We will determine this based in part on student interest, bur hope to have 8-10 students in the clinic.
Language Proficiency
We expect proficiency in Spanish for students going to Mexico (can speak Spanish) and hope students going to China will have some proficiency in Mandarin as well (although this is not required). We will provide some form of language course refresher for students who once spoke Spanish but have not used it for a while. We do not expect that you can write the language perfectly or that you can understand and handle legal terms in Spanish.
Prerequisites:
If you have had International Law or any similar course, please indicate that in the application form. But, since we will not be offering International law in the fall, we are not making International Law a prerequisite.
Current & Previous Instructors:
Michael Millemann; Shruti Rana;
| 538Q (CRN: 25216) Credits: 11 Millemann; Rana. Spring, 2010 (Day). Mon thru Fri: 9:00-5:00 Room 300A/B. 0 openings. (Limit 12). |
Key to Codes in Course Descriptions
P: PrerequisiteC: Prerequisite or Concurrent Requirement
R: Recommended Prior or Concurrent Course
