The Law Faculties of Columbia University in the City of New York, the
University of Amsterdam and Leiden University announce that the thirty-seventh
Summer Program in American Law will be offered at the University of Amsterdam
from July 3 through July 28, 2000.
Since 1963 these summer courses are held alternately at the Leiden Law School and at the Amsterdam Law School and are designed to provide a general introduction to the American legal system with emphasis on areas of particular interest to European lawyers.
Preface Introduction Sponsors Curriculum Class Schedule Faculty Enrollment
For a foreign lawyer, not trained in the common law,
studying law in an American law school is a most rewarding experience. As I
was fortunate enough to discover many years ago, it is a tremendous
opportunity to get acquainted with a totally different approach to both legal
education and legal thinking, and to arrive, by an almost subliminal process
of comparison, at a more profound understanding of one's own law. The next
best thing to those interested in American law, but unable to study in the
United States, is participation in the Leiden-Amsterdam-Columbia Summer
Program in American Law.
Now in its 37th year, the Program is a joint project
of the law schools of Columbia University, based in New York City, the
University of Amsterdam and the University of Leiden. It is sponsored by a
number of American and Dutch law firms, foundations and corporations;
additional funding comes from the participants' tuition fees. The Program is
designed to introduce non-American law graduates to the methodology and
contents of American law. Its courses are taught by members of the Columbia
faculty and cover a broad range of legal topics. Instruction is based on the
American case method, an interactive process between teacher and student,
which can only be fruitful if the assigned cases and materials have been
thoroughly studied in preparation of classroom discussion. Extensive reading
is therefore required and a readiness to engage in legal debate is expected.
The success of the Program is predicated on the participants' total immersion
in the American approach to law and legal thinking. A basic knowledge and a
true understanding of the principles of American law will be the reward for
four demanding weeks of condensed legal education.
To balance the seriousness of the working sessions,
the Program also features a number of (mandatory) extracurricular activities.
Several excursions will give the participants an impression of the city and
country hosting the Program. There will be many opportunities for friendly
association with co-students, faculty, and other members of the legal
profession. Living and learning amidst some sixty lawyers from many different
countries is a unique way to get acquainted with new ideas and different
opinions. Getting in touch with people from various cultures, both in the
classroom and outside, will contribute to a better understanding of the views
held in other parts of the world and to a new appreciation of contrasting
cultural values. In this respect, the Program has much more to offer than a
crash course in American law. Not only does it provide lawyers with an
opportunity to learn more about a foreign legal system and to broaden their
professional horizon, but also, by offering a setting for a multinational
exchange of thoughts, ideas and friendship, it purports to foster harmony,
goodwill and a spirit of international co-operation among the participants and
the nations they represent.
Arie Landsmeer
Executive Director
Since 1963 the faculty of Columbia Law School, in
cooperation with our partners in the law faculties of Leiden and Amsterdam,
have offered this Summer Program in American Law to introduce our legal system
to students from the world over. We have learned a great deal in thirty-six
years about how to present a combination of basic material and advanced legal
analysis to young lawyers from other systems. They, in turn, have taught us a
great deal about our craft of teaching and, through their questions and
discussions, about our law.
This coming summer my colleagues will return to
Amsterdam with an extraordinary program of offerings. In addition to our
required introductions to constitutional law, civil litigation, statutes and
administrative practice, we will present a newly- redesigned introduction to
researching American law. This course, which has been under development for
several years and has been refined through presentation in a variety of
settings, offers what we at Columbia believe is the most effective route to
rapid mastery of the materials of our law. Through explanatory lectures and
hands-on training we can afford students and practitioners who need the
ability to find US law a range of skills that we think are available nowhere
else in a short course. For those considering an LLM degree in a US law
school, whether at Columbia or elsewhere, we believe these offerings provide
an invaluable foundation to make your LLM study more successful and
rewarding.
Along with this expanded basic curriculum, we will
present a wide range of elective courses exploring fast-developing areas of US
law. From the fundamentals of contracts law to to the legal revolution sparked
by the Internet, scholars studying and participating in current legal change
will be bringing you the newest developments, and the context in which to
understand them. Students and young practitioners interested in these areas
will find both a comprehensive survey of US law as it stands, and also an
opportunity to discuss forthcoming developments with professors who are among
those best placed to observe and affect them.
One of the unique features of American legal
education has always been the give-and-take of classroom discussion. My
colleagues from the Columbia faculty volunteer to participate in the Program
because of the excitement it offers them as teachers, giving them a chance to
bring their style of class discussion to a different and fascinating range of
students. We urge you to come to meet us in Amsterdam in July 2000, to be part
of a Program that is in its second generation of achieving extraordinary
results, for participants and faculty alike.
Eben Moglen
Executive Director
For many years, substantial financial contributions
to our Program have come from American foundations and major American law
firms active in the international area. Their support confirms their
dedication to law and legal education and testifies to their belief in the
importance of fostering intellectual and professional ties among persons
trained in diverse legal systems.
We are also most grateful for the financial support we receive from Dutch law firms. Their contributions have introduced in the Netherlands a new form of sponsorship which, traditionally, is one of the most important means of financing legal education in the United States. The contributing law firms are:
Boekel de Neree
Derks Star Busman Hanotiau
Loeff Claeys Verbeke
Pels Rijcken Droogleever Fortuijn
Stibbe Simont Monahan Duhot
The example given by our American contributors has prompted generous support by a number of European foundations and corporations as well. We are indebted to the following organizations for their financial support in 1998:
Metaalcompagnie Brabant B.V.
Rabobank Nederland
The constant support we receive is evidence of the truly international spirit of our Program. The organization, instruction and financial support all come from American and European sources. The Program is thus in its very essence a most promising testimony to what truly international co-operation can achieve.
To assure a shared basic knowledge, Statutes, Civil
Procedure and Constitutional Law are compulsory courses for all participants.
In addition, each participant is required to enroll in at least three elective
courses in Legal Research, Contracts, Internet Law, Lawyering in The Digital
Age or International Business Transactions.
As the number of participants in an elective course
may be limited, applicants are requested to list on the registration form all
available electives in order of their preference.
Civil Procedure
Professor Phil Genty
This course provides an overview introduction of the
private-law litigation system in the United States. Primary topics are: the
structure and interrelation of U.S. state and federal courts, procedural
mechanisms of litigation control, and the unique civil procedure associated
with the distinctively American institution of the civil jury trial. Intensive
attention will be paid to the analytical process of reading American case
decisions.
Statutes &
Regulations
Staff
This course will consider some fundamental
structural characteristics of the American political and legal system having
particular importance for public law. We will examine American approaches to
the materials of public policy: statutes, regulations, and the institutions
that create and administer them. Topics will include Congress, the President
and the administrative agencies: the process for forming statutes and
regulations and current disputes about the proper materials and techniques of
interpretation.
Constitutional Law
Staff
This is the basic course in constitutional law, a foundation for more specialized courses on the Constitution and for public law courses generally. The course locates the Constitution in the life of the United States. It explores: the theory of the Constitution and its antecedents, judicial review, its justification and development, and its legal and political significance; the nature of our federal system, the growth of national power and of limitations on state authority, and the abiding significance of the states; the separation of the powers and varieties of checks and balances in the U.S. government; and the theory and content of individual rights under the Constitution, the development of the principal rights during 200 years by Constitutional amendment and judicial interpretation, and the jurisprudence of the Judiciary in its role as the guardian of rights under the Constitutions and civil rights act.
Lawyering in The Digital Age
Professor Conrad Johnson
Learn how cutting edge lawyering is practiced in the
U.S. Experience the ways in which digital technology, the Internet,
knowledge management systems, electronic mail, teleconferencing and video
conferencing have changed what lawyers do and how they do it. Explore how
technology has and will reduce the barriers created by distance or culture and
how practice across borders is made increasingly possible. Understand the
ways in which technology is changing expectations and how you can prepare to
meet those expectations.
Contracts
Professor Kellis Parker
This course is an introduction to the central themes of American contract law and a presentation of modern issues affecting contracts in entertainment industries with particular emphasis on issues arising from developments in technology (videos, electronic mail, CD Rom, and cable television). Special attention is paid to those aspects of contract law that distinguish U.S. contracts law from the commercial law systems of West Europe.
Internet Law
Professor Eben Moglen
Legal Research -
Beginning to Advanced Instruction in Finding U.S. Law
Chris Knott
This course uses print and electronic research
practices to introduce participants to the textual sources of American law.
Focusing on the processes that produce statutes, case reports and regulations,
as well as their dissemination in print and electronic forms, the course shows
how to become a proficient researcher in American legal material. Students
will learn the basic tools of the practicing attorney and the skills of
finding and merging texts in particular situations to provide an accurate
basis for analysis and decisionmaking. The course will also review lawmaking
and publishing from a comparative viewpoint, so that the distinctive
requirements of American legal research can be emphasized.
International Business Transactions
Prof. Alejandro Miguel Garro
| first week July 3 |
second week July 10 |
third week* July 17 |
fourth week** July 24 |
|
| 09.30 - 10.30 | Civ. Pro. | Civ. Pro. | Int'l Bus. | Int'l Bus. |
| 11.00 - 12.00 | Statutes | Statutes | Law. Dig. Age | Law. Dig. Age |
| LUNCH | ||||
| 2.00 - 3.00 | Research | Research | Contracts | Contracts |
| 3.30 - 4.30 | Con. Law | Con. Law | Internet Law | Internet Law |
* On Monday, July 3, 2000, there will be an inaugural session followed by a
reception, starting at 4:30 p.m.
** On Wednesday July 19, 2000, a simulated jury trial will be
conducted.
*** On Friday July 28, 2000, a farewell dinner will conclude the
Program.
B.A., Colorado College, 1977; J.D., New York University, 1980. Worked as an
attorney at Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, for the New York City of
Housing, Preservation and Development, and for the Bedford-Stuyvesant
Community Legal Services Corporation. Joined the faculty of Brooklyn Law
School in 1987, where he taught legal writing, and a seminar on the rights of
prisoners. Was the top individual winner of the 1986 Mayor's Volunteer Service
Awards for his implementation of the Rikers Island Parents' Legal Rights
Clinic. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1989. Has written on family law and
prisoners' rights.
Conrad Johnson
Professor of Law
B.A., Columbia, 1975; J.D., Brooklyn, 1978. Upon graduation from law
school, worked as staff attorney in Harlem office of Legal Aid Society; civil
Division named attorney-in-charge in 1983. Joined the faculty of the City of
University of New York Law School in 1987; taught courses in lawyering,
professional responsibility; and civil procedure, and supervised students in
simulation program. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1989, where he co-founded
the School's Fair Housing Clinic. Named Director of Clinical Programs at
Columbia, 1992. Member Mayor's Committee on the Judiciary, 1990-94; member,
Professional Education Project by appointment of the Hon. Judith Kaye, member,
board of directors, Clinical Legal Education Association.
B.A. North Carolina (Chapel Hill), 1964; J.D., Howard, 1968. Was
editor-in-chief of the Howard Law Journal. Clerk for Judge Spottswood W.
Robinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia,
1968-1969; acting professor, University of California (Davis) Law School,
1969-1975; associate professor, Columbia University School of Law, 1972-1975;
Professor 1975-present. Special areas of interest: remedies, contracts, jazz
Roots: The Laws the Slaves Made; music industry contracts; Volunteer Lawyers
for the Arts. Executive committee board member, The City Club of New York;
member of the following: Society of American Law Teachers; Law and Society
Association; The Lawyers Guild; Committee for Fairness in Banking and Finance,
National Rainbow Coalition; African-American Historical and Genealogical
Association. Publications include Modern Judicial Remedies (1975).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Alejandro Miguel Garro
Professor of Law
J.D. (abogado), National University of La Plata (Argentina), 1975; LL.M., Louisiana State, 1979; J.S.D., Columbia, 1990. Engaged in private practice in Argentina until 1977. Research assistant to the Louisiana State Law Institute, 1979-80 and subsequently joined the LSU faculty. Came to Columbia in 1981 as lecturer in law and associate research scholar of the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law. In 1983-85 was collaborateur scientifique at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne; visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg, 1993; and visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico, 1992, SMU, 1995, and Fribourg, 1996, National University of Buenos Aires, 1997, and University Torcuato Di Tella (Argentina), 1998-1999. Member of the panel of international arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, National Futures Association, and Federación Argentina de Arbitraje y Conciliación. Member of the American Academy of Foreign Law and Asociación Argentina de Derecho Comparado. Consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development on administration of justice in Latin America, to the World Bank and the Academia de Legislación y Jurisprudencia of Puerto Rico on secured financing, and to the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law on international commercial contracts. Also serves as a consultant to Human Rights Watch/Americas, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Center for Justice and International Law. Principal areas of teaching and research interests include comparative law and international business transactions, Latin American law, and inter-American system for the protection of human rights. Publications include The Louisiana Public Records Doctrine and the Civil Law Tradition (1989); Labor and Commercial Arbitration in Central America (ed., 1990); Compraventa Internacional de Mercaderías (with A. Zuppi, 1990); and numerous articles on international protection of human rights.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Eben Moglen
Professor of Law
B.A., Swarthmore, 1980; J.D., M.Phil., Yale, 1985; Ph.D., 1993. Articles editor, Yale Law Journal. Law clerk to Judge Edward Weinfeld, Southern District of New York, 1985-86, and to United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1986-87. Joined the Columbia faculty, 1987. Principal areas of interest are Anglo-American legal history, constitutional law, computers and free expression, and intellectual property.
Admission Requirements
Eligible for the Summer Program are law graduates, who
are professionally active in the practice of law, industry, commerce,
government, international organizations or related activities. Advanced
undergraduate law students may be admitted in exceptional cases.
Applications for admission and scholarships
are invited before April 15th, 2000:
Columbia Summer Program, attn. Mrs. M. Oosterom
University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 1030
1000 BA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Language and Method of Instruction
Proficiency in English is required of all participants.
Classes will be conducted in English, in the manner customary at the Columbia
Law School. Participants will be called upon in class to discuss the materials
previously assigned to them. In describing in your application your schooling
and proficiency in the English language, you are requested to be as specific
as possible and to give a frank evaluation of your ability to study and
discuss American legal materials. Your objectivity in this respect will avoid
subsequent disappointment. Having passed a TOEFL test is one of the ways in
which you can indicate your proficiency in English.
Classes
Participants will receive due notice of any changes in
the curriculum that may prove to be necessary. Each participant is required to
take courses in Introduction to US Litigation, Statutes & Regulations and
US Legal Research, and at least three elective courses. Since the number of
participants in each elective course may be limited, applicants are requested
to state four elective courses in order of their preference. Ten hours of
classroom discussion are scheduled for each course. Participants are required
to attend all classes in the courses for which they have registered. Adequate
preparation is expected of each participant. Upon completion of the Program, a
certificate of attendance will be issued to all participants who have met
these requirements. There will be no final examination.
Attendance
Attendance of classes is compulsory. Failure to attend
classes will result in withdrawal of the right to receive the certificate, at
the discretion of the Board of Directors.
Study materials
In most courses, participants will be provided with
casebooks of the kind used in American law schools. In some courses, only
mimeographed materials will be distributed. Study materials will be
distributed upon registration on Sunday, July 2, 2000.
Preliminary reading
If available, a copy of A. Farnsworth, An
Introduction to the legal System of the United States (Oceana
Publications, New York, will be provided free of charge to each
participant.
Reading room and libraries
At the faculty building, where all classes will be
held, a special reading room is available to all participants. Participants
may consult the American law collection.
Expenses
Fee
A fee of three thousand Dutch guilders (Fl. 3,000)
covers tuition, study materials for six courses, and all administrative
expenses, including those of the extra curricular activities and the farewell
dinner. Participants who have not yet graduated will pay a reduced fee of Fl.
1,500. Meals and lodgings will be charged separately.
Lodgings
Accommodation is available at a students' residence
hall within the vicinity of the faculty of law. Upon acceptance students will
be informed about their location in Amsterdam during the course. They are
offered at the rate of approx. Fl. 600 for the duration of the course. Under
no circumstances will payment for lodging be refunded. On special request,
hotel accommodation (at a rate of approximately Fl. 250 per day) may be booked
through the Program.
Meals
On days on which classes are given, all participants
are expected to attend the lunches organized by the Program. The total amount
charged for 20 lunches is Fl. 500. As a rule, friends or relatives cannot be
admitted to the lunches. No other meals will be provided. Upon registration
each participant will be supplied with a list of suitable restaurants in
Amsterdam.
The total amount charged for tuition, lunches and
lodging will be approximately 3825 Dutch guilders (students Fl. 2325).
Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships is available for participants unable
to raise the necessary funds on their own or with the help of their employer,
family or friends. The scholarships may cover a) tuition, b) lodging, c)
lunches, or d) combinations of these, but on no account do they cover travel
or personal expenses. When applying for a scholarship, please indicate the
absolute minimum amount necessary to enable you to participate, and the
reasons why you have no alternative but to apply to the Program for financial
assistance. Applicants eligible for scholarships under arrangements between
their respective governments and the government of the Netherlands must
address themselves directly to the appropriate authorities in their own
country.
Moreover, please note that students from certain
countries (e.g. Germany) may apply for scholarships in accordance with
arrangements between their respective governments and the government of The
Netherlands. In such cases applicants must address themselves directly to the
appropriate authorities of their own country.
Hans Smit
Scholarship
In honor of Hans Smit, Stanley H. Fuld Professor of
Law, Columbia University, who initiated the Leiden-Amsterdam-Columbia Summer
Program in American Law in 1963, a special scholarship has been established.
Each year one promising candidate will be selected who would not be able to
attend without financial assistance. The Hans Smit Scholarship covers tuition,
lodging, meals, and pocket money.
Administrative matters
Arrival and registration
It is imperative that all participants arrive on
Sunday, July 4, for the purpose of registration and allocation of housing,
between 12.00 - 6.00 p.m. The location of the registration desk will be
announced in due course. In the evening from 8.00 p.m. onwards an informal
gathering will take place for the participants, the Directors of the Summer
Program, faculty members and staff. All participants are requested to attend
this meeting.
Inaugural session
The inaugural session will take place on Monday, July
3, 2000, from 10.00 - 11.00 a.m. The inaugural session will be followed by a
reception for participants, faculty members, and invited guests.
Extra Curricular activities
(Subject to change)
Saturday, July 10 Excursion
Friday, July 16 Excursion
Wednesday, July 21 Moot Court
Saturday, July 24 Excursion
Friday, July 30 Farewell
Directors of the Amsterdam Session
During the Program Professor Arie Landsmeer is in
charge of all administrative matters. He may be consulted by special
appointment to be made through his secretary, tel. 020-525 3421 or 525
3359.
Leiden session 2000
For information regarding the 2000 Leiden session,
please refer to:
Leiden University, Faculty of Law
Columbia Summer Program
Attn. Mrs. B. Zaaijer
Hugo de Grootstraat 27
2311 XK Leiden, the Netherlands
tel. +31.71.527.76.32
fax: +31.71.527.77.32
email:
columbiasc@law.leidenuniv.nl
Amsterdam Law School
Mrs. Martha Oosterom
University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 1030
1000 BA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel. +31.20.5253421
fax: +31.71.5277600
email: oosterom@jur.uva.nl
Executive Directors
Arie Landsmeer, Professor of Law
University of Amsterdam
Eben Moglen, Professor of Law
Columbia University
Coordinator
Mrs. Martha Oosterom
Board of Directors
E.A. Alkema (Leiden)
G.A. Bermann (Columbia)
L.H.A.J.M. Quant (Amsterdam)
Th.M. de Boer (Amsterdam)
M.V. Polak (Leiden)
C. van Raad (Leiden)
J.W. Zwemmer (Amsterdam)
E. Moglen (Columbia)