Cornell-Paris 1 Summer Institute

Applications are no longer being accepted for the Summer of 2022. 

However, our application for Summer 2023 will open tentatively in late January of 2023 and we would love to receive your application then!

Returning applicants can sign in here.

To be admitted into the Program, you must:

• Complete the application
• Pay the nonrefundable Application Fee (US$150)
• Submit a current Résumé/CV
• Submit a Letter of Good Standing or a recommendation from your educational institution
  • For international students: In the event that your home institution does not offer a traditional Letter of Good Standing, please upload your undergraduate and graduate transcripts and indicate in your application that your institution does not provide a Letter of Good Standing.

Please note that the files names for all documents uploaded in our application portal should only contain letters and numbers. The system will reject file names with special characters.

All application materials should be submitted in English. If materials are submitted with another language, please provide a certified translated copy.

If you would like to make changes to your application after you have submitted it, please contact the Cornell Summer Institute for International Law program office at paris.law@cornell.edu.

The Cornell-Paris 1 Summer Institute, which is open to both U.S. and international students, provides a unique opportunity for career advancement, personal growth and development, and networking on a global level. The program emphasizes the study of international law and institutions, as well as U.S. and other legal systems in a comparative context.

Students attend classes in the Sorbonne’s Pantheon and Lourcine Centres at the heart of the Paris 1 University near the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg, in the vibrant “Quartier Latin,” the Paris home of university students for almost a thousand years.

Pending COVID restrictions in July, the program sponsors private guided tours to the Palais de Justice (the site of France’s highest court in the ordinary court system), the Conseil d’État (the “supreme court” in the French administrative court system), the French National Assembly, the French Senate, and the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration in Paris.

The Cornell-Paris 1 Summer Institute is open to:

• J.D. students and non-U.S. law Students who have completed at least one year of law studies and are in good standing
• Students preparing to study for an LL.M. degree in the United States
• Graduate students in good academic standing who demonstrate an interest in the law
• Attorneys who have been licensed or admitted by the appropriate professional entity in their respective home countries
• Academics, practitioners, and other professionals seeking knowledge of American, international, and comparative law

Junior and senior undergraduate students are welcome to apply through this portal with our partners in Cornell’s Office of Global Learning.

If you feel that you don’t fall into the above categories but are still interested in the program, please reach out to paris.law@cornell.edu to discuss if the program is an option for you.

• The program takes place over three weeks, from July 4th to July 22nd, 2022, with in-person classes in Paris.
• Programming will occur Monday through Friday, with weekends free to students.
  • Exception: There will be no programming on Thursday, July 14th due to a public holiday (Bastille Day).
• Programming will take place for a total of 14 days and includes:
  • 3 days of mandatory not-for-credit orientation lectures at the beginning of the program
  • 7 class days
    • Your class day schedule will vary depending on your course selection and how many credits you enroll in. Two classes will be taught in the morning, followed by a lunch break, and then two classes will be taught in the late afternoon.
  • 2 study days
  • 2 exam days

• Each course carries 1 credit (except for the mandatory not-for-credit orientation lecture taught by Professor Lasser [Introduction to the Laws of Europe]) .
• Each of the for-credit courses meet 7 times over the program’s 7 class days (see Program Schedule section above).
• Each class meeting will be 90 minutes in duration.
• Cumulatively, each for-credit course will have 630 minutes of class time (90 minutes x 7 days).
• Pending COVID restrictions in July 2022, we anticipate 120 minutes of mandatory court visits per class.
• International students hoping to determine credit equivalence should reach out to their home institution’s Registrar’s Office.

The following courses are confirmed for the Summer 2022 program.

Introduction to the Laws of Europe (Required Orientation Lectures) (Non-credit, mandatory) – Taught by Professor Mitchel Lasser:

These lectures examine the origins and development of the national legal systems of Europe, viewed in relation to their common law equivalents. They also present the key features of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights.  These lectures do not carry separate credit, but attendance by all enrolled students is required, as part of the regular courses.

Comparative Legal Studies (1 credit) – Taught by Professor Mitchel Lasser:

This course introduces students to the study of foreign legal systems. It will provide a broad overview of the institutional and conceptual organization of “civil law” legal systems, comparing them to their “common law” equivalents in the United States.  Substantively, the course will focus on the different approaches to private law and procedure, criminal procedure, administrative law and constitutional law that characterize most contemporary European civil law jurisdictions.  Methodologically, the course will teach the most important approaches for engaging in comparative legal analysis, so that students will be in a position to practice and critique them effectively.

Litigating Across Borders (1 credit) – Taught by Professor Maggie Gardner:

How should domestic courts handle transnational disputes that implicate the citizens or laws of different countries? This course will survey the international treaties, domestic law, and doctrines of comity that help domestic judges coordinate such cross-border cases. Topics may include choice of law, limits on adjudicatory power (personal jurisdiction), judicial assistance treaties, the treatment of parallel litigation, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, extraterritorial application of laws and remedies, and the growing competition among domestic authorities to draw transnational disputes. Our focus will be on the practice of U.S. courts, with comparisons to European approaches. Class time will be divided between lecture and guided discussion.

Globalizing Constitutional Law (1 credit) – Taught by Professor Elizabeth Anker:

Constitutions have long represented the bedrocks of many national legal cultures. Yet the late 20th century also witnessed what many term the globalization of the constitution, and in recent years the academic field of “comparative constitutional law” has also burgeoned. This Course examines constitutional law from the perspective of these contemporary developments. What can we learn about constitutional jurisprudence when studied internationally? How has the writing of constitutions in the global South and in regions like Eastern Europe impacted the evolution of that form? And how should we understand recent efforts to craft supranational constitutions (such as the breakdown of the movement for a formal European constitution); how do those efforts relate to the constitution’s much longer legal and political history?

Corporate Governance: Corporate Acquisitions and Capital Structure (1 credit) – Taught by Professor Charles Whitehead:

Corporate governance has time and again been the subject of extensive scrutiny. This course will focus on the U.S. approach to corporate governance, control, and accountability, in particular in two contexts—corporate acquisitions (hostile and friendly) and capital structure.  Both acquisitions and capital structure provide a means to improve corporate governance.  A principal focus will be on large, publicly-traded corporations, in particular, the potentially conflicting interests that the corporate form must mediate. The problems faced by businesses around the globe – raising and deploying capital, allocating rights and responsibilities among owners and managers, and combining two or more businesses, to name just a few – are much the same; but the solutions developed in different legal systems can be different.  I will focus principally on the U.S. approach, but in the process, I expect to touch on some of the other solutions to these problems.  Topics to be covered include basic fiduciary obligations, shareholder voting rights, the impact of capital structure on corporate governance, and corporate control transactions.

Application Fee (non-refundable): $150

Course fees:

• 2 credits – $2200
• 3 credits – $3100
• 4 credits – $4000

Students must enroll in at least 2 credits and up to the full 4 credits.

Program fees only cover tuition.

Travel-related expenses such as housing, transportation to and from Paris, and meals are the responsibility of the student.

Cornell students should apply for loans through law.financialaid@cornell.edu

Students at other American law schools should consult the financial aid office at their own school. If a financial consortium agreement is required, financial aid officers are welcome to consult Cornell Law School’s Financial Aid Office for guidance.

Non-American participants are encouraged to apply to foundations and other sources of funding in their home countries for scholarship assistance.

Students are required to provide their own health insurance. The Institute is not responsible for medical or dental expenses incurred by the students during the operation of the program. Be sure to include health insurance information on the application.

Cornell Law School complies with the “Cancellation, Change, or Termination of Programs” as set forth in the American Bar Association’s Criteria for Approval of Foreign Summer Programs.