International and Global Opportunities
To make a difference in the world, choose a law school that cultivates global competency.
We live in an increasingly global world. Every day more goods, services, ideas, and people cross legal borders. This creates new challenges for businesses and governments. 21st century lawyers are increasingly likely to face transnational legal problems and will therefore need to engage with people, legal systems, businesses, governments, and multi-lateral institutions from around the globe.
- One in three goods crosses national borders, and more than one-third of financial investments are international transactions.
- International data flows and trade are exploding and are projected to grow by another nine times in the next five years.
- The US represents only 4% of the global population and about 15% of global GDP.
- Problems like climate change and the refugee crisis require increasing multilateral cooperation between governments, businesses and local communities.
We have taken the lead in cultivating global competency with a robust array of international learning experiences for SLS students, whatever their career interests. Because world perspective is essential to any path in law, core courses increasingly integrate global points of view. If you seek even greater expertise, opportunities include specialized courses, seminars and practicums with leading faculty, experiential learning, and joint or advanced degrees that prepare you to make a difference in the world.
Signature Offerings
Because experience matters, SLS offers unique immersion opportunities that provide authentic global perspective, often giving you impact even before you graduate from law school.
Course Sampler
Faculty with Global Perspective
Joint and Advanced Degrees Build International Expertise
SLS offers joint and advanced degrees that prepare you for significant impact in global law. Choose from 21 existing joint degrees — including a Stanford JD/MA in Law and International Policy Studies or a JD in Global Studies — orinvent your own program. For graduate students who have earned a primary law degree outside the United States, there are four the Master of Laws (LLM) tracks to choose from, plus the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies (SPILS). Both bring brilliant thinkers with international perspective to campus.
Joint Degrees
Law and International Policy Studies
Stanford Global Studies
Student Organizations & Student Journals
International Public Interest and Public Service Law
All avenues of public interest law — environmental, criminal, public health, national security, human rights — converge in the international arena. The John and Terry Levin Center serves the growing number of students who seek to understand law’s role in global social change by providing opportunities for mentorship, career counseling and connections to leaders and organizations engaged in human rights and rule of law work abroad. Offering additional resources, the International Public Interest Law Foundation (SPILF) enables like-minded students to connect and work together for greater impact.