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Georgia Law at top in international law, Center-administered NATO externship featured in national preLaw magazine

The just-released issue of preLaw magazine places the University of Georgia School of Law among the United States’ top international law curriculums; in so doing, it features an initiative of our Dean Rusk International Law Center.

In an article entitled “25 Most Innovative Law Schools,” author Michelle Weyenberg reports (page 42) on a valued partnership which Georgia Law entered several years ago with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Georgia Law’s “NATO externship,” she writes, “is a full-time, semester-long externship in the legal department of the NATO Allied Command Transformation.” She then describes experiences by our most recent extern, 3L Davis Wright, who worked in-person in Norfolk, Virginia, throughout the Fall 2021 semester (prior post):

“Third-year law student Davis Wright said his experience in the program last semester challenged him and provided an opportunity to make a substantial impact with the intergovernmental military alliance. Wright said he had the opportunity to work on an overhaul of general term and conditions throughout HQ SACT and in its subordinate commands, and to research whether NATO information is protected under U.S. laws against espionage.”

The NATO externship is one of many with international components in Georgia Law’s D.C. Semester in Practice initiative, directed by Georgia Law Professor Jessica Heywood, and also one of our Center’s many Global Externships Overseas and At-Home (GEO/GEA), administered by Sarah Quinn, our Center’s Associate Director for Global Practice Preparation.

Summer 2018 GEOs & Summer School: Georgia Law Students take off around the globe

Globe (002)_kdIn the weeks ahead, 13 rising 2L and 3L students at the University of Georgia School of Law will depart for Global Externship Overseas (GEO) and Global Externship At Home (GEA) placements all around the world. Administered by the Dean Rusk International Law Center, the GEO and GEA initiatives place Georgia Law students in externships lasting between four and twelve weeks, and offer students the opportunity to gain practical work experience in a variety of legal settings worldwide.

This summer, GEO students will undertake placements in law firms, in-house legal departments, nongovernmental organizations, and intergovernmental organizations across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Practice areas include: dispute resolution, corporate law, international trade law, intellectual property law, international human rights law, refugee law, cultural heritage law, and international environmental law.

This year’s GEO class includes the following students, who will complete placements in private law settings:

  • Brooke Carrington (2L) – Buse Heberer Fromm, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Brad Gerke (3L) – Ferrero S.A., Luxembourg
  • Ashley Henson (2L) – PwC, Turin, Italy
  • Maddie Neel ­(2L) – GÖRG, Cologne, Germany
  • Nicole Song (2L) – Araoz y Rueda, Madrid, Spain

Additionally, the following students will work in public interest law placements:

  • Zoe Ferguson (2L) – War Child, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Drew Hedin (2L) – Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Apia, Samoa
  • Hanna Karimipour (2L) – No Peace Without Justice, Brussels, Belgium
  • Matt Isihara (3L) – Boat People SOS, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Devon Pawloski (2L) – Documentation Centre of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  • Frances Plunkett (2L) – Open Society Justice Initiative, The Hague, Netherlands

Last, but certainly not least, two students will undertake GEA placements in Washington, D.C.:

  • Casey Callahan (3L) — International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Caroline Harvey (2L) – The Antiquities Coalition

Finally, during the first ten days of July, eight Georgia Law students will gather in Leuven, Belgium for the Global Governance Summer School, which the Center again co-presents with the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. Students will spend several days in classroom sessions at Leuven, and then spend two days in Brussels: one to attend a high-level policymaking event, and the other on professional development visits at a law firm, a nongovernmental organization, and an intergovernmental organization.  The group will then proceed to The Hague, Netherlands, for several days of briefings at international courts and tribunals and other cultural excursions.

Join us in wishing these students an unforgettable summer, and stay tuned for travel updates in the coming months!