International Litigation and Arbitration, Course Offerings
Foundational Course
International Litigation and Arbitration, as it is sometimes referred to, is a foundational course for students interested in federalism, international relations, and transnational litigation.
The four-hour course explores the legal consequences of transactions touching on more than one state or nation. The material covers the rules governing choice of law, judicial jurisdiction, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments as developed in the interstate context. The course will touch on a few issues in the transnational setting as well, including the reach of U.S. securities and antitrust laws and the recognition and enforcement of foreign country judgments. It will also examine several of the EU Regulations to provide a comparative perspective.
Although not a prerequisite for other courses in the private international law field, Conflict of Laws does provide a useful backdrop for the following courses:
Advanced Courses
International Litigation/Arbitration
This course (co-taught by Professors Linda Silberman and Andreas Lowenfeld) explores issues of transnational litigation as well as international arbitration. Among the topics covered are the extraterritorial reach of U.S. laws, judicial jurisdiction, forum non coveniens, parallel litigation, forum-selection clauses (both court and arbitration), recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, human rights, including the Alien Tort Statute, and foreign sovereign immunity. Comparative regimes, particularly that of the European Union, are also discussed.
The class is evenly divided between J.D. students and LLM students (most of whom are non-U.S. trained). As part of the course, students prepare a written brief and deliver an oral argument in one problem case, and then act as a judge in a second case.
JD students register in the usual fashion. Prior to registering, LLM students must secure permission of the instructor in order to ensure a diverse group of students from different legal traditions.
This course is highly recommended for students interested in transnational litigation and arbitration.
International Commercial Arbitration
There are two offerings in international commercial arbitration, a course in the fall (taught by Donald Donovan) and a seminar in the spring taught by Richard Hulbert and Professor Linda Silberman). The material covered in these offerings is substantially the same, so students must choose between them. However, both the course and the seminar in International Commercial Arbitration differ from the International Litigation/Arbitration course in that they focus not only on the relationship of courts to arbitration but on the arbitration process itself and the role of arbitrators. Students who take either the course or seminar in international arbitration may still take the International Litigation/Arbitration course.
Other Related and Specialized Courses and Seminars
There are other related and specialized courses and seminars that touch on private international law issues. They include:
- Investment Arbitration
- International Business Transactions
- Forum-shopping and International Commercial Law
- International Commercial Agreements in Practice
- Rulemaking Process in a Global World
It is also recommended that students interested in private international law take at least one course in the public international law field.
For students particularly interested in interstate conflicts of laws problems, the course in Federal Courts is recommended.
NYU also offers students interested in improving or developing foreign language skills a variety of options. For more about these opportunities, click here.