BYU Law Establishes Geneva and London Law Seminars
"The Washington Law Seminar has been extraordinarily successful and has provided BYU Law students with unique opportunities to leverage their experience to land preferred jobs in Washington, D.C.," said D. Gordon Smith, Dean, BYU Law.
PROVO, Utah, Oct. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BYU Law, a global law school focused on preparing the next generation of leaders in legal practice, today announced it will offer Law Seminar programs in Geneva and London beginning in winter 2022. The semester-long programs enable well-qualified students to earn credit through a combination of externships and coursework, while gaining valuable international experience to enhance their career preparation. The London and Geneva programs will be fashioned after BYU Law's Washington Law Seminar, a successful applied learning experience launched in fall semester 2016.
"The Washington Law Seminar has been extraordinarily successful and has provided BYU Law students with unique opportunities to leverage their experience to land preferred jobs in Washington, D.C.," said D. Gordon Smith, Dean, BYU Law. "In keeping with the mission of BYU Law to provide a graduate program that prepares students for meaningful careers and contributions in a global legal market, we are pleased to extend our Law Seminar offering to include international locations." Dean Smith sees the Geneva and London programs as a natural next step to expanding its international leadership identity.
The Geneva Law Seminar will focus on International Trade and Human Rights while the London Law Seminar will introduce students to complex cross-border transactions and corporate governance issues. BYU Law Professor Matthew Jennejohn will direct the London Law Seminar, and Professors Cree Jones and David Moore will direct the Geneva Law Seminar. Associate Professor Carl Hernandez will supervise the externship component of both new programs, aiming to help the students gain important experience and forge relationships that may lead to full-time employment.
Home to the United Nations, the Human Rights Committee, the World Trade Organization and a long list of prominent nonprofit organizations, Geneva is a global hub for public international law. Geneva Law Seminar participants will experience classroom instruction, distance learning and externship experience with the U.S. Embassy and other notable employers. Students will have the opportunity to live at the Geneva Government Relations Office, a facility owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that provides housing at a reasonable cost in Geneva.
"Tying these programs to the unique global qualifications of BYU, and the vast international and foreign language experience of its students and alumni network provides law school students with opportunities that go well beyond a study abroad program to offer invaluable experience and readiness to make an impact internationally," said Moore, a human rights expert and associate director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. "As we grow these programs, we are optimistic that the positive experiences of students and partners will enable us to expand the depth of partners to build out our network and subsequent international graduate placement."
The London Law Seminar builds upon the significant investments BYU Law School as made recently in its corporate faculty, research and curriculum. For instance, in the corporate space, the Law School has launched a New York-based Deals Academy in cooperation with Kirkland & Ellis; hosts the Annual Winter Deals Conference in Park City, Utah, sponsored by leading organizations such as Wilson Sonsini, PwC, and Bloomberg; and regularly places its graduates at top law firms in New York, Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley. The London Law Seminar extends the Law School's growing presence in North American financial centers to the international stage.
The London Law Seminar comprises three parts: an externship experience at a leading financial institution or law firm in the City, in-person classes, and a distance-learning component covering topics such as mergers & acquisitions, initial public offerings and other cross-border deals. London Law Seminar students will have the opportunity to live at the BYU London Centre, a BYU-owned facility that provides housing at a reasonable cost in central London.
"This program is much more expansive than a traditional study abroad program in that, in addition to their coursework, our students will be immersed in the day-to-day work of a top private equity fund, investment bank, or corporate law firm at the heart of one of the world's most vibrant financial hubs," said Jennejohn. "Students will gain experiences, skills and a perspective from working 'on the ground' in a fast-moving international market that will prepare them for a lifetime of professional and personal service."
BYU is taking applications now for both new programs, which are open to BYU Law students. The law school anticipates offering the Geneva and London Law Seminar programs each semester going forward, COVID-19 travel permitting.
About BYU Law School
Founded in 1971, the J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law) has grown into one of the nation's leading law schools – recognized for innovative research and teaching in social change, transactional design, entrepreneurship, corpus linguistics, criminal justice and religious freedom. The Law School has more than 6,000 alumni serving in communities around the world. In its most recent rankings, SoFi ranked BYU Law as the #1 best-value U.S. law school in their Return on Education Law School Ranking. For more information, visit https://law.byu.edu.
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