International Dispute Resolution

This course explores the different methods available for resolving international disputes and their relative advantages and disadvantages.  At the outset the course examines various ways in which U.S. civil litigation changes when there is an international element involved, covering such issues as personal jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, the act of state doctrine, and taking discovery from foreign parties and witnesses.  The focus then turns to international arbitration, covering both commercial and treaty-based proceedings.  This phase of the course examines legal, strategic and practical issues that arise at each stage of an arbitration, including the drafting of pleadings, the selection of arbitrators, discovery, and witness examinations.   These issues are made more concrete by applying them in the context of a hypothetical case, in which students play the role of counsel for the parties.  Students have the opportunity to develop practical skills via exercises involving the drafting of discovery requests, a mock hearing on discovery and interim measures (featuring oral argument by volunteers), and simulated cross-examinations.  The course also covers the international enforcement of court judgments and arbitral awards and the drafting of dispute resolution agreements.