February 28, 2012
St. John’s School of Law recently expanded its
Global Programs with two new LL.M. (Masters of Laws) programs
and courses designed to provide its graduate and J.D. students with
a broad 
exposure to the practice of law in a transnational setting
and the opportunity to explore diverse legal systems across the
globe.
The new initiatives were developed and guided through the approval
process by
Jeffrey K. Walker, who joined the Law School in July 2011 as
Assistant Dean for Transnational Programs and Adjunct Professor of
Law. Dean Walker, who holds a J.D. cum laude from
Georgetown University and an LL.M. from Harvard University, brings
a range of experience in the global legal and business marketplace
to St. John’s. He served for eight years as founding and managing
partner of BlueLaw International LLP, an international law and
development firm. His international development practice spanned
civil society, human rights, rule of law, security sector reform
and anticorruption projects in over 35 countries, including serving
for one year in Baghdad as chief of party for the largest rule of
law project ever funded by the U.S. Government.
Prior to working in the private sector, Dean Walker served in the
United States Air Force. During his military career, he flew over
1,200 hours as a navigator/bombardier on B-52 bombers, served as
legal advisor to NATO’s air operations center for the Balkans,
deployed to Bosnia after the Dayton Accords in 1995, practiced as a
US Government lawyer in Italy and served as chief prosecutor and a
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the federal district of
Wyoming. His military legal practice included air and space law,
foreign criminal and civil litigation, international agreements,
law of war, peacekeeping operations, cyber law and anti-terrorism.
Dean Walker has published extensively on international, comparative
and legal historical topics and has taught European legal history
and international criminal law at Georgetown and law and ethics of
war at The College of William & Mary.
“As a New York City academic institution, St. John’s School of Law
sits at the commercial, cultural and legal crossroads of the
world,” said Dean
Michael A. Simons. “With his experience as a practitioner and
as an educator, Dean Walker is uniquely qualified to build on the
Law School’s already strong foundation in international and
comparative law. Our J.D. and graduate students now have
unparalleled opportunities to prepare themselves for the practice
of law in an increasingly interconnected global legal
market.”
The two new LL.M. programs are the:
LL.M. in International and Comparative Sports Law A joint
degree program offered with the Madrid-based Instituto Superior
de Derecho y Economia (ISDE), this unique LL.M. program is
designed specifically for lawyers with a passion for sports and a
strong desire to practice in this challenging and dynamic area of
the law. Taught by the international sporting community’s top
lawyers, agents and managers, the program unites two of the globe’s
great sporting communities ―New York and Madrid ―giving you access
to the top talent in both U.S. and international sports law.
Students engage in a unique course of study consisting of a
semester of highly focused and intensive academic courses at St.
John’s New York City campus and a semester working full time in a
practice placement with a sports law firm, agency, team, league or
regulatory body, either in the U.S. or overseas.
LL.M. in Transnational Legal Practice This degree program is
designed to train U.S. and foreign attorneys in the rapidly
expanding cross-border practice of law and to educate global
attorneys within the New York City legal community ― the center of
global legal practice. Non-native English speaking attorneys also
gain important skills in practicing law in English, the lingua
franca of the global legal profession. The program offers
tracks in public international legal practice, cross-border
transactions and transnational dispute resolution. Students may
also design their own course of study to meet their professional
needs and personal interests.
These new programs complement the Law School’s established
LL.M. in U.S. Legal Studies, a highly focused program designed
specifically to prepare foreign-trained lawyers with the knowledge
and skills necessary to qualify for and pass the New York Bar
Examination. This program offers the keys to a rewarding legal
career in New York and to the world of practice opportunities you
can access as a New York lawyer.
“Our transnational LL.M. programs reflect the Law School’s
commitment to giving students an excellent education,” said
Christopher J. Borgen, a Professor of Law who, as the Associate
Dean for International Studies, heads the Law School’s Global
Programs and oversees the Office of Transnational Programs. “Not
only is our faculty composed of experts in subjects as diverse as
public international law, international business transactions,
complex litigation, bankruptcy, corporate law, and intellectual
property, to name only a few subjects, but we also take legal
education beyond the classroom through an array of experiential
learning opportunities.”
This hands-on learning is central to the Law School’s new
International Practica for J.D. students. For the 2012-2013
academic year, two students will be doing five-month practicum
placements with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in
Mons, Belgium. Additional overseas practica will be added in future
semesters. Students with an interest in international and
comparative law – or simply wanting to expand their legal education
experience overseas – can also enroll in the Law School’s
month-long
Summer Study Abroad programs. Taught by St. John’s law faculty,
these summer programs are held at the University’s beautiful Rome
and Paris campuses, each located in the heart of one of the Great
Cities of Europe.
Rounding out the offerings administered by Dean Walker and the
Office of Transnational Programs is the
Global Law Fellows program. Each semester, the Law School
welcomes up to 12 visiting foreign research fellows who are in
their final year of undergraduate, masters or doctoral law studies
at foreign universities.
“I am very excited about the programs and courses that are now
under the Office of Transnational Programs umbrella and look
forward to seeing them grow and thrive,” Dean Walker said. “With
these initiatives, St. John’s School of Law is charting new
pathways to the practice of international law in its many forms at
a time when the legal profession is becoming more and more
globalized. It is an exceptional time in the history of St. John’s
Law and I am very proud to be a part of it.”