During the 2011 summer and fall, 46 Vanderbilt students will have the opportunity to work in international law placements as part of Vanderbilt's International Legal Studies Program.
To date, 46 Vanderbilt Law students have accepted externships, stipends or paid positions with 41 different international organizations, diplomatic missions, international firms and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 18 foreign countries and in the U.S. "Our students are serving in organizations in all sectors and providing a significant amount of public service, "said Professor Michael A. Newton, who coordinates a broad range of international and other externship opportunities for students and teaches Vanderbilt's International Practice Lab. "Several students are serving externships associated with complex projects they also worked on in the Practice Lab. These opportunities demonstrate the global reach of Vanderbilt and provide students with invaluable work experience and networking opportunities. This is an impressive array of public service and experiential learning, due in large part to the substantive preparation of our students and the intellectual daring it takes to follow their convictions into demanding legal environments.”
Vanderbilt students can receive critical financial support to help defray their costs through the Vanderbilt Summer Stipend Program, Vanderbilt's Public Interest Law stipends, and the Ones Polk Fund, a donor-supported fund that provides financial support to students pursuing international projects.
Summer and Fall Semester 2011 externships and placements to date include the following:
Summer 2011 – placements accepted to date
- Section Crimes Contre l'Humanite et Crimes de Guerre/Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section Justice, Ottawa Canada
- American Bar Association, Center for Human Rights, Washington, D.C. [3 students]
- U.S. State Department, International Organizations Bureau, Office of Peacekeeping, Sanctions, and Counter-Terrorism, Washington, D.C.
- Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands
- International Criminal Law Network, The Hague, Netherlands
- Office of Harmonization in Internal Markets, Trademarks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union, Alicante, Spain
- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Legal Development Office, Rome, Italy
- Centro para el Desarrollo de la Justicia y la Seguridad Ciudadana, Lima Peru
- Special Tribunal for Lebanon, The Hague, Netherlands
- European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Berlin, Germany
- Uganda Law Society, Kampala, Uganda
- Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway, Ireland [2 students]
- World Intellectual Property Organization, Copyright and Related Rights Sector, Geneva, Switzerland [2 students]
- U.S. Court of International Trade, New York, New York
- Oxford University Press, Legal Editor, New York, New York
- Department of Justice, Southern District of New York, and the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Air Force
- U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Fort Lewis, Washington [2 students]
- Association of Defense Counsel, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, The Hague, Netherlands
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution practice group, Tilleke & Gibbins, Bangkok, Thailand
- Summer associate, Wyatt Tarrant and Combs, Nashville, Tennessee [international development]
- International Bar Association, IBA/ICC Monitoring and Outreach Programme, Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pristina, Kosovo [2 students]
- Hammond Bogaro and Associates, Bucharest, Romania
- No Peace Without Justice, Brussels, Belgium
- Liaison Officer, International Security Assistance Forces, Kabul, Afghanistan
- The LIST Project to assist Iraqi Refugees, Immigration Law practice of Mayer & Brown, Washington, D.C.
- Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Lily of the Valley HIV Clinic, South Africa
- Kitahama Law Offices, Osaka, Japan
- Center for Law and Military Operations, U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Center and School, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Human Rights Law Centre, Nottingham, England
- Bass Berry & Sims, Foreign Corrupt Practices Office, Nashville, Tennessee
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. [2 students]
- PricewaterhouseCoopers, Global Human Resources Department (transnational tax work), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Salans, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Fall Semester 2011 – placements accepted to date
- International Bar Association, London, England
- U.S. State Department, Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Private International Law, Washington, D.C.
- Office of the Legal Advisor, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, New York, New York
- Uganda Law Society, Kampala, Uganda