This program leads to the degree of “J.D. with Honors in International Legal Affairs”, henceforth referred to as the JD-ILA Program.

Admission to the Program

You may apply for the program any time after the completion of your first year of law school and prior to your thirds year of law school, by completing a request for admission to the JD-ILA program. To apply, you need only complete the short form linked below. Provided you are able to satisfy the requirements, admission is automatic for students who have attained a grade point average of 2.7. The Committee will find it helpful, however, if you will also state your language qualifications (if any) and briefly mention any foreign travel, work, military, or study experiences you have had, and any courses of study you have taken that were “international” in nature. To apply, please complete the application form lined below. Please note you will need to provide a copy of your CV and transcript.

Program Requirements

Students in the program must complete 89 credit hours (rather than the traditional 84 required of J.D. students).1 The 89 required credit hours must include:

  • Two specifically designated “Group 1” courses.
  • One specifically designated comparative law course that is general in scope and includes instruction in civil law systems. The course may have a regional focus. Students may satisfy this requirement by taking Comparative Law: Civil Legal Traditions or one of the other “Group 2” courses listed below.
  • At least three additional international or comparative law electives totaling a minimum of 7 credit hours, from the list provided under “Group 3” below.


With the approval from the International Programs Office, a course in the Law School’s Semester Abroad Program may be taken as a substitute for one of the required Group 1 or Group 2 courses. The course must be at least two credits. In the case of a proposed substitute for Public International Law or Conflict of Laws, the course must be substantially similar to the course that would have been taken at Cornell. In the case of a Comparative Law course, it must meet the criteria for such courses set out above.

Please note that in deciding whether you can complete the program requirements, JD/ILA program students will be allowed to take a maximum of 18 credits per semester during the second and third years. No exceptions can be made to the 18-credit maximum.

With the approval of the Assistant Dean for External Education, a student may receive 2 credit hours towards the 89 credits by making a substantial contribution (as defined below) to the Cornell International Law Journal.

With the approval of the Assistant Dean for External Education, a student may receive up to 2 credit hours toward the required 89 credits by serving as a teaching assistant for an international or comparative law class taught at Cornell Law School. The student must demonstrate that the teaching assistant position will involve substantial academic work related to international law.”

Also, with the approval of the International Programs Office, a student may receive 1 credit hour toward the required 89 credits by participating as a member of the Cornell team in one of the international moot court competitions. Such a student must make a substantial contribution to the team brief and to oral argument in the competition. All requests seeking approval must be emailed to the International Programs Office at international.law@cornell.edu.

Courses

Students interested in the J.D. with Specialization in International Legal Affairs will have the following courses to choose from during the 2022-23 academic year. The Director for International Programs, in consultation with the Chair of the International Committee and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, will update the courses in Groups 2 and 3 annually, in advance of the fall pre-registration period. Students are encouraged to speak with the Director for International Programs, to discuss course selection before doing their pre-registration.

Review these courses in the Course Catalog.

Group 1

  • 6192 Conflict of Laws
  • 6561 International Human Rights
  • 6791 Public International Law

Group 2 (one of the following courses is required)

  • 6161 Comparative Law: Civil Law Traditions*
  • 7440 Law and Social Change: Comparative Law in Africa

*The Comparative Law requirement also may be satisfied by taking 6177 at the Cornell-Paris 1 Summer Institute, together with a supervised writing on a comparative law topic during the following Fall semester.

Group 3: Elective Courses

SemesterCourse NumberTitleCreditsProfessor
Fall6193The Practice of International Arbitration3Hay/Ziyaeva
Fall6632Transnational Corruption and the Law3Alonso
Fall6344International Labor Law3LeClercq
Fall6451Federal Indian Law3Porter
Spring6465Global M&A Practice1Kihira
Fall6514Foreign, Comparative, and International Legal Research2Shea
Fall6584International Trade Law – Short Course1Lee
Spring6625Law and Society in North Korea1Hong
Spring6661Constitutional Law of the European Union3Lasser
Spring6681International Law and Foreign Direct Investment3Ndulo
Fall6745Middle East Business Law and Practice3Elsaman
Fall7018Advanced Topics in Transnational Labor Law3Blackett
Fall7267Comparative Contract Law1Cerchia
Spring7282Gender and International Human Rights3Babcock/ Greenfield
Spring7295Global Labor and Employment Law3Sander
Fall7311Immigration and Refugee Law2Yale-Loehr
Spring7321International Criminal Law3Ndulo
Spring7358International Environmental Law3Chatrchyan
Fall7360International Financial Regulation2Emmenegger/ Zulauf
Fall7440Law and Social Change: Comparative Law in Africa4Ndulo/Hackett
Fall7589Seminar in National Security Issues & Policy3Pepper
Fall7785Law of Genocide and War Crimes Trials3Rosensaft
Spring7801Asylum and Convention Against Torture Appellate Clinic4McKee/Yale-Loehr
Fall/Spring7805Advanced Labor Law Clinic3Cornell
Fall/Spring7814Advanced Transnational Disputes Clinic6Kysel
Fall7832Externship – Full Time*12Azemi
Fall7834Externship – Part Time*4Azemi
Fall/Spring7842Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic II2Kelley-Widmer
Fall/Spring7843Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic III4Kelley-Widmer
Fall7855International Human Rights: Litigation and Advocacy Clinic I4Babcock
Fall/Spring7857Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic I4Lyon
Fall/Spring7858Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic II2Lyon
Fall/Spring7859Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic III2Lyon
Spring7860International Human Rights: Litigation and Advocacy Clinic II4Babcock
Fall/Spring7864Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic IV2Lyon
Fall7871Labor Law Clinic4Cornell
Fall/ Spring7878International Human Rights: Litigation and Advocacy Clinic III4Babcock
Fall7914Gender Justice Clinic I4Brundige/Lee
Fall/Spring7915Gender Justice Clinic II4Brundige/Lee
Fall/Spring7916Gender Justice Clinic III4Brundige/Lee
Fall/Spring7917Gender Justice Clinic IV4Brundige/Lee
Fall/Spring7959Transnational Disputes Clinic6Kysel

*If externship is outside the U.S. or with an international organization in the U.S. or a domestic organization in the U.S. practicing international law.

With the approval of the Assistant Dean for External Education, a student may satisfy an elective requirement by:

  • taking a similar course in other divisions of the University;
  • taking an approved course in the law school’s Semester Abroad Program;
  • taking a course offered by the Paris Summer Institute;
  • completing a supervised writing project in international or comparative Law (provided the student is able to make arrangements with a supervising professor for such a project);
  • taking Professor Lasser’s Research Colloquium (provided the student is admitted to the class);
  • receiving up to 2 credit hours toward the required 89 credits by serving as a teaching assistant for an international or comparative law class taught at Cornell Law School. The student must demonstrate that the teaching assistant position will involve substantial academic work related to international law” or
  • making a substantial contribution to the Cornell International Law Journal. Work on the Journal can alternatively be applied to the program total hours requirement, as explained above, but these are alternative options – if a student elects to have Journal work counted towards his or her credits hours, he or she cannot use the work in substitution for an elective from Group 3. Similarly, if a student elects to use Journal participation as one of his or her Group 3 electives, he or she must complete an additional 89 credit hours. In either case, for Journal work to be used as credit hours or a Group 3 elective, the student must make a substantial contribution to the work of the Journal, under the following ground rules (worked out between Journal editors and the faculty of the International Committee). Generally, a student will be deemed to have done sufficient work if he or she does a fair share of prelims, cite checking, proof-reading and the like, and, in addition, (1) serves a year’s term as one of the principal officers of the Journal, or (2) completes the Journal’s writing requirements, or (3) performs the substantial equivalent of such work over the student’s second and third years in law school.

Degree Credit Review, Program Change, or Withdraw Form

Please complete this form to start the process to receive a degree credit review, change your program, or withdraw from a program.

If you have any questions, please contact us at international.law@cornell.edu.