IU McKinney Announces Seventh Master of Laws Track in World Trade Law
10/10/2019
World Trade Law is the latest Master of Laws (LL.M.) track available for graduate students at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. The new track is part of an agreement the law school has with World Trade Center (WTC) Indianapolis.
“This groundbreaking new LL.M. track demonstrates the law school’s commitment to global and community engagement," said Vice Dean Karen E. Bravo, "and to preparing its graduates for the practice of law in the globalized 21st century.”
IU McKinney and WTC Indianapolis first teamed-up in 2017 to offer LL.M. students a chance to provide pro bono service and take advantage of experiential learning opportunities. Greg Zoeller, former Indiana Attorney General who has taught constitutional law for LL.M. students as an adjunct professor at IU McKinney, is chair of WTC Indianapolis. He knew from working with IU McKinney's LL.M. students previously that they would be interested and capable of working with WTC.
"This World Trade Law track is at the heart of the partnership between our World Trade Center Indianapolis and the McKinney School of Law," Zoeller said. "It will provide students from around the world an opportunity to do research from within the global trading system and expands the potential for our World Trade Center."
Professor Frank Emmert, an expert in World Trade Organization law, is the director of the new LL.M. track.
"As a global first, the new track in World Trade Law is offered in close cooperation with the World Trade Center Association and the WTC Indianapolis," Professor Emmert said. "Every student in the new track - in addition to 18 credits of subject relevant courses - has to complete a supervised internship of no less than six months at the WTC or one of its partners for another six credits. In this way, the students will receive a solid foundation in World Trade Law at IU McKinney, and enjoy unique experiential learning and networking opportunities right where trade law is happening every day."
Working with WTC Indianapolis has resulted in at least one LL.M. student realizing her goal of employment at the World Trade Center in her home country. Lin Zhu, LL.M. '17, works at WTC Shanghai. It was her second WTC job; her first was with the organization in Harbin in the Nangang District in Heilongjiang Province, China. She attended a trade fair in China the summer after she graduated IU McKinney as part of her work with WTC Indianapolis.
IU McKinney and WTC Indianapolis signed a memorandum of understanding in late 2018 to provide IU McKinney students with opportunities to build legal skills in the area of international trade and commerce. The new LL.M. track in World Trade Law is part of that agreement.
World Trade Center Indianapolis connects Indiana businesses to a global market place through a network of more than 300 World Trade Centers across the world. As the only World Trade Center licensed in Indiana, the organization is uniquely situated to offer opportunities to law students interested in building practical skill sets in international trade.
In a successful pilot of the track during the Fall 2018 semester, IU McKinney law students gained experience serving in pro bono roles with WTC Indianapolis, working with business leaders in other countries to bring foreign trade opportunities to Indiana. Students helped lead trade missions to China, coordinated inbound trade missions with officials from foreign business, and assisted in organizing an agreement between WTC Indianapolis and WTC Harbin alongside Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch.
Students interested in being among the first to study the new track in the Spring 2020 semester may learn more about the program at the law school's website, and contact Director of Graduate Programs Miki Pike Hamstra. Those who have questions regarding the new track should contact Professor Emmert, who also is the Executive Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at IU McKinney.
