International and Comparative Law

GW’s  International and Comparative Law Program shares the benefit of our location in the heart of D.C. Located across the street from the World Bank and blocks from the U.S. Department of State, GW Law maintains strong ties with those and other nearby institutions. GW’s International Law Program, for instance, co-sponsors Live from L each year with the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, and the State Department hosts an annual meeting on our campus that is open to students. The International Law Program also participates in the World Bank Global Forum on Justice and Development.

Our students earn academic credit through the Field Placement Program for externships at the State Department and at the World Bank, among other international institutions. They participate in the GW-Oxford Program in International Human Rights Law, held each summer in Oxford, England. In addition, our graduates have a track record of clerking at the International Court of Justice, with three selected in the past five years. The Gruber Foundation established a fellowship in support of GW Law graduates selected for the clerkship.

The faculty includes experts in comparative privacy law, Chinese law, law of the European Union, international taxation, and international human rights, among other topics. The Special Rapporteur for Crimes against Humanity at the U.N. International Law Commission, Professor Sean Murphy, often takes students with him to Europe in his work for the United Nations.