Gain an International Perspective in One of the Most Global Cities in the United States
With one of the largest number of faculty members who teach or do scholarly research in the area of international law of any American law school, the University of Miami School of Law is renowned for its Global and International Law Program. With an extensive course catalog in international, foreign, and comparative law, you can prepare to work in a transnational global environment and in international commercial and investment arbitration, and to address significant issues of international law and practice and engage with global policy issues relating to climate change, migration, trade and finance and health.
Positioned at the gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, Miami’s tremendous diversity makes it a laboratory for issues brought on by globalization, which allows Miami Law students to study in one of the most dynamic cities in the U.S. For students looking to study and work overseas, our multiple externship and study abroad options provide unique opportunities to broaden legal perspective, study transnational and interdisciplinary law, and build international networking contacts.
“We are in a unique position with the depth of our practices worldwide to be the adviser of choice for clients who need their lawyers to be tuned into the financial, commercial, regulatory, and political dynamics of their industries and markets.”
Miguel A. Zaldivar, Jr., J.D. ‘95 Global CEO Hogan Lovells Washington, DC
International Moot Court Program: The only one of its kind in the U.S., Miami Law offers a unique and comprehensive program in which students travel and compete, in Spanish and English, in competitions around the world. Some have included:
Foreign Direct Investment Arbitration Moot
Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court
Inter-American Human Rights Competition
International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Competition
The International and European Tax Moot Court
Willem C. Vis Arbitral Moot
La Competición Internacional de Arbitraje y Derecho Mercantil (Moot Madrid)
La Competencia UBA-Rosario International Commercial Arbitration
International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot
International Exchange / Study Programs: The law school offers 25+ study abroad options in 13 different countries, including:
Barcelona, Spain - ESADE Law School
Berlin, Germany - Free University
Bogotá, Colombia - University of Los Andes School of Law
Buenos Aires, Argentina - University of San Andrés
Cali, Colombia - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Florence, Italy - Faculty of Law at the University
Dublin, Ireland - University College Dublin
Ghent, Belgium - Ghent University
Haifa, Israel - University of Haifa
Hamburg, Germany - Bucerius Law School
Hong Kong - Department of Law, University of Hong Kong
Madrid, Spain - Comillas Pontifical University
Madrid, Spain - Instituto Empresa IE
Paris, France - Université Paris Descartes
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Fundacão Getulio Vargas School of Law
São Paulo, Brazil - University of São Paulo Law School
Segovia, Spain - Instituto Empresa IE
Shanghai, China - Fudan Law School
Shenzhen, China - Peking University School of Transnational Law (STL)
Versailles, France The University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Faculty of Law and Political Science
Zurich Seminar Program – This program promotes the scholarly exchange of ideas between students and faculty from Miami Law and the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Students and faculty members from both law schools meet twice a year (January or February in Miami and May in Zurich) to discuss transnational and comparative law issues in business and finance.
Leipzig-Miami Program – This program promotes the scholarly exchange of ideas between students and faculty from Miami Law and the University of Leipzig, Germany. Students and faculty members from both law schools meet twice a year (January or February in Miami and May in Leipzig) to discuss ten topics relating to law or policy incorporating both German and U.S. legal perspectives.
International & Comparative Law Review - this law reviews sponsors the Andrew P. Vance Memorial Writing Competition with The Customs and International Trade Bar Association to encourage law students who are interested in careers in customs and international trade law.
Inter-American Law Review – this scholarly legal periodical provides a forum in which major international and inter-American legal developments are discussed.
Externships and Internships**
Abolish153 (Kuwait City, Kuwait)
Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante (Mexico City, Mexico)
Centurion Law Group, Oil and Gas Divsion (Malabo, Equatorial New Guinea)
De Dios & Goyena (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Gonzalez de Cossio Abogados, X.C. (Mexico City, Mexico)
International Bridges to Justice-IBJ (Beijing, China)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes-ICSID (DC)
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda-ICTR (Arusha, Tanzania)
Legal Assistance Centre (Windhoek, Namibia)
Miami Law African Neutral Trial Observer Initiative (Windhoek, Namibia)
Ministry of Justice (Kigali, Rwanda)
Núñez Muñoz Abogados - Mining Environmental law division (Santiago, Chile)
One-Stop Career Center of Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Puerto Rico)
Southern Africa Litigation Centre-SALC (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Squire Patton Boggs (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
The Movement for Quality Government (Jerusalem, Israel)
Timap for Justice (Freetown, Sierra Leone)
United Kingdom Legal Intern, Quadrant Chambers (London, United Kingdom)
United Nations Development Fund for Women-UNIFEM (London, United Kingdom)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon-UNHCR (Beirut, Lebanon)
United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (New York, NY)
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Office of Legal Counsel (DC)
U.S. Department of Justice Counterterrorism Section (DC)
U.S. Embassy (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
**List is not exhaustive and is intended to provide examples of past externships and internships.
Faculty Experts
Paula Arias is an expert in dispute resolution in Latin America, leads the International Moot Court Program.
Caroline Bettinger-López is a Professor of Law and Director of the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law. She also serves as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and is a recipient of a Roddenberry Fellowship for her COURAGE in Policing Project.
Caroline Bradley is the Associate Dean for International and Graduate Programs, coordinating and overseeing all of Miami Law's efforts in its Global and International Law Program – including all LL.M. programs. She is also the Chair of the LL.M. in International Law, writes about comparative and transnational financial law and securities regulation, and teaches in the areas of European community law and international finance.
Kathleen Claussen’s primary teaching areas and interests include: international economic law, dispute settlement & procedure, foreign relations and international security issues, and other areas of public and private international law.
Tamar Ezer is the Acting Director and a Lecturer in Law with the Human Rights Clinic and the Faculty Director of the Human Rights Program.
Jonathan C. Hamilton is Distinguished Faculty Chair of the of the University of Miami School of Law’s International Arbitration Institute and Lecturer in Law. He is a leading authority on international disputes and investment, complex negotiations and crisis management.
Carolyn Lamm is the Distinguished Faculty Chair of the the chair of the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program and is a prominent practitioner in international arbitration and dispute resolution, trade matters and cross-border commercial federal court litigation.
Denisse Córdova Montes is a Practitioner in Residence in the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law.
Bernard H. Oxman, Richard Hausler Professor of Law is Chair of our Maritime Law LL.M. Program. A graduate of Columbia Law School and former attorney for the Navy and the State Department, Professor Oxman is the one of the world's leading experts on the Law of the Sea. He is the only American to serve as a Judge ad hoc on both the International Court of Justice (the "World Court") and on the Tribunal of the Law of the Sea. Oxman was honored with 2021 Manley O. Hudson Medal by The American Society of International Law and is ASIL’s highest honor.
Jessica Owley is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director for the Environmental Law Program.
Ileana Porras is a Senior Lecturer and teaches international Law and international environmental law.
Alejandro Portes is a Professor of Law and Research Professor & Distinguished Scholar, College of Arts and Sciences and an expert in international migration.
Pablo Rueda-Saiz is an Associate Professor of Law with expertise in international and comparative law.
Other Faculty with Interests in International/Comparative Law and Human Rights Law
Ricardo J. Bascuas has had extensive criminal law experience as a law clerk to a Federal Judge, in private practice and as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. He has taught international criminal law.
Charlton Copeland served as a law clerk to Justices Richard J. Goldstone and Catherine O'Regan of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. His research interests include comparative constitutional law.
A. Michael Froomkin is globally regarded as a leading expert on Internet law including the Internet's international implications and its governance, on which he has lectured and written extensively. He has served as an advisor to the U.N.'s World Intellectual Property Organization, and has taught international law.
Frances R. Hill received a Ph.D. from Harvard, having done extensive research on law and politics in Africa, and a J.D. from Yale and an M.A. in African history and politics from the University of Birmingham (England) as a Fulbright Fellow. She practiced in the D.C. and London offices of Jones Day and has written on cross-border transactions and cross-border philanthropy.
Elizabeth M. Iglesias, a co-founder of the LatCrit movement (the legal, economic and other difficulties facing the Latina/o community), also has taught international criminal law and international economic law. She has written, lectured and produced documentaries on the adverse effects of globalization.
Stanley I. Langbein has served as attorney/advisor in the Office of International Tax Counsel of the U. S. Treasury Department. He has taught international tax and is the author of a leading textbook on the subject.
Lili Levi's scholarship deals with a variety of communications law matters including broadcast regulation and copyright. She has taught international copyright law.
Stephen J. Schnably received his J.D. from Harvard Magna cum Laude and studied at Oxford on a Knox Fellowship. Before he joined the faculty, he worked for the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, gaining extensive experience in the field of international arbitration. He writes in the fields of international human rights law, the OAS human rights system, comparative constitutional law, and the relationship of international law to constitutional law. He has taught international law, international human rights, and comparative constitutional law.
Irwin P. Stotzky graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, and was a Visiting Scholar at Yale. As Fulbright Scholar to Argentina, he later served as an advisor to then Argentine President Alfonsin on human rights matters during the critical years of that country's transition from a military dictatorship to a democracy. He has also worked over three decades to improve human rights in Haiti and the status of Haitian immigrants in the U.S. He has served as an attorney advisor to Haitian Presidents Aristide and Preval.
Stephen K. Urice received a master's degree in Biblical Archaeology, a Ph. D. in Fine Arts, and a J.D., all from Harvard. A co-author of the leading textbook on art law (including its international aspects), he has taught cultural property & heritage law. He serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Cultural Property.
Francisco Valdes, co-founder of the LatCrit movement, uses that perspective to explore human rights and, constitutional issues in America's relations with, among others, Cuba, Spain and Chile. He has also taught comparative law.
“We are in a unique position with the depth of our practices worldwide to be the adviser of choice for clients who need their lawyers to be tuned into the financial, commercial, regulatory, and political dynamics of their industries and markets.”