ORIENTATION IN THE U.S. Legal System
July 19 - August 6, 2010

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Guide to LL.M Study

Teaching US Law

American Law Schools

Legal English & Writing

Online Application Form

contact e-mail address:
orient@ili.org

 

The first US program designed to introduce foreign law students to the American legal system was conducted in the 1960's by the American Association of Law Schools with funding from the Ford Foundation. Since 1971 the program has been run by the International Law Institute. Now in its 40th year, the program continues its original purpose of introducing foreign attorneys and law students to the American legal system.

The Orientation provides students with:

  • an introduction to legal methods and thought process of American law;
  • knowledge of the basic institutions of the American legal system and their interrelationship;
  • an initial exposure to major judicial doctrines central to American law;
  • the basic analytic and research capabilities needed in the study of law;
  • an opportunity to meet lawyers from the private and public sectors and see the practice and administration of law through observations at court;
  • a period of adjustment to living and studying law in the United States.

For the past seventeen years, the orientation program has been directed by Professor Charles F. Abernathy of the Georgetown University Law Center. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Professor Abernathy was a co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971. He has written casebooks on civil rights, constitutional litigation and on the law of equal employment opportunity. One of his more recent works is Law in the United States: Cases and Materials, which also serves as the basic text of the orientation seminar

Please follow these hyperlinks for detailed information about the program:

Tuition fee: $2600 (discount applies if attending the the two summer courses, or one other seminar during 2010. See Application Process)

 

Contact Email: orient@ili.org

   

SINCE 1971 . . .
over 3700 participants from over 80 countries
have attended the Orientation in the US Legal System