In today's global economy, parties to cross-border commercial transactions increasingly choose international arbitration to resolve their disputes. This summer lawyers and law students trained outside of the U.S. can study international arbitration law at Penn State Law. Taught by arbitration scholar and expert Professor ThomasCarbonneau, “Arbitration Workshop – Legal Counselling in International Arbitration” will run from June 30 to July 11.
Students who complete the Arbitration Workshop will learn the terms and concepts of arbitration law and will practice applying the law through mock transactional experiences. This three-credit course, primarily clinical in character, will introduce students to an international commercial venture involving construction or the sale of goods.
Students will take an active part in the counselling process by playing roles as the clients, the lawyers, and third-party guarantors. The simulation will involve defining the commercial project, assessing the risks of the venture, and determining how the contract can attenuate these risks. With the help of teaching assistants, the students will prepare the traditional parts of the contract. Each phase of the counselling process will involve in-class presentations by designated students and assessments by the other students and instructors.
“Transborder litigation requires that lawyers address and cope with a wide variety of national, juristic, cultural, and systemic issues that render effective adjudication challenging and sometimes virtually impossible,” explained Carbonneau. “Arbitration in a clinical form both raises and provides an opportunity to resolves these difficult issues.”
Arbitration Workshop is suitable both for incoming LL.M. students and the more experienced legal professionals seeking to improve their legal knowledge and improve their legal English skills. Credits earned for successfully completing the course may be counted toward the Penn State LL.M. degree. For more information on this and other legal English skills courses offered this summer, visit Penn State Law online.