Please click this link to watch the recording of the recent ILS career panel: information on how to obtain domestic and international internships in international law, as well as information on the GW-Oxford and GW-Munich summer programs!

http://128.164.132.16/wmvideo/watch2.asp?directory=public&filename=297034

ILS Career Panel Flyer

ILS Speaker Bio Sheet

Also, below find information that was given to students who attended the panel on other resources to use when searching for internships.

Private Sector Opportunities

There can be an international aspect to almost any area of law.  Law firms and corporate legal departments will quite often deal with matters that have an international aspect.  For example, an intellectual property attorney can file a trademark application in Canada, a corporate lawyer can perform due diligence for the merger of a U.S. company with a Japanese entity, and a family law practitioner can handle an international child abduction case.

• The NALP Directory can be used to research large law firms that have international practices.  Select “International” in the Practice Areas drop-down menu: http://www.nalpdirectory.com.
• Martindale can be used to identify medium and small law firms that have international aspects to their work.  Choose the Law Firms and Organizations tab after selecting Advanced Search and enter “International” in the Practice Area field: http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers-and-Law-Firms.aspx
• To research large law firms outside the United States, visit Chambers and Partners, and select one of the country or region guides (including UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America): http://www.chambersandpartners.com/.
• For a listing of law firms and lawyers worldwide, visit HG.org (previously Hieros Gamos) and hover over “Law Firms” to select “By Country” for links to practice area and city directories for 142 countries.
• ABA Section of International Law keeps a listing of law firms across the globe who are seeking interns: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/international_law/about_us/internships/law_firm_internships.html.
• The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) has information, events, and job postings related to in-house legal departments in various regions.  Simply select a particular region from the home page: http://www.acc.com/.  To look for job postings in other countries, visit http://jobline.acc.com/jobs, click Advanced Search and select the Country tab.

Public Interest Opportunities

Increasingly, law students and lawyers are drawn to the burgeoning number of opportunities to make a public interest impact in the international arena.  In addition to the many opportunities to do so abroad, because the U.S. and Canada are host to many large nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other international advocacy groups, opportunities also present themselves here at home.

• PSJD (formerly PSLawNet) provides an extensive number of resources that provide background on searching and applying for international public interest opportunities, including internships: http://www.psjd.org.
• Search Organizations on Idealist to identify organizations that have operations abroad or domestic work that is related to the international sphere: http://www.idealist.org.
• ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono & Public Service and the Center for Pro Bono provides a list of International Pro Bono Opportunities: http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/probono/international.html.
• The American Society of International Law (ASIL) maintains a list of Pro-Bono Opportunities in International Law: http://www.asil.org/probono.cfm.

Fellowships

Postgraduate fellowships enable recent graduates to secure entry level positions with a variety of organization and employer types.

• The PSJD (formerly PSLawNet) job database (create an account and then select Search Opportunities once logged in) includes over 300 fellowship listings.  The site also includes Information and Resources related to Fellowships: http://www.psjd.org/Postgraduate_Public_Interest_Fellowships:_Background_Info_&_Resources.
• Yale Law School has created, and maintains, a Guide to Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships, many of which are international in nature: http://www.psjd.org/Yale_Law_School_Guide_to_Postgraduate_Public_Interest_Fellowships.
• The American Society of International Law (ASIL) provides a list of Fellowship and Research Opportunities: http://www.asil.org/fellowships.cfm.

Clerkships with International Tribunals

Law students and graduates seek short-term positions with courts outside of the U.S. for a variety of reasons. For some, it is an opportunity to work in an international setting and have a clerkship experience.   Others have an interest in the particular issues that these courts hear, such as the arbitration of commercial intellectual property disputes by the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration & Mediation Center or violations of humanitarian law by the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda. Gaining experience with these issues may also fit in with their long-term career plans.

• Yale Law School Opportunities with International Tribunals and Foreign Courts includes information on the various tribunals and courts, availability of clerkships, and application procedures: http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/CDO_Public/CDO-10-IntlTribunals-PUBVer.pdf (note this is the most recent version of this document available online).
• The United Nations website lists, and links to information about, International Courts and Tribunals and Principal Legal Bodies of the United Nations: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/specil.htm.

International Law-related Job Postings

The following are a few websites that list internships and full-time positions related to international law or international legal issues.

• The American Society of International Law (ASIL) Career Center includes listings for internships in Criminal Law, Development Law, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration, Economic & Trade Law, Environmental Law, Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, Migration Law, International & National Security, and Private International Law: http://www.asil.org/internships.cfm.
• The United States Government often has jobs abroad, and they are required to look first for U.S. Citizens to fill them.  Using the Advanced Search on usajobs.gov, in the Location Search section, change the drop-down menu in “Show locations for this region” to a region of interest: http://www.usajobs.gov/JobSearch/Search/AdvancedSearch.
• Foreign Policy Association Career Center has a Job Board for foreign policy-related positions: http://www.fpa.org/jobs/.
• NYU Law International Job Search Sites is a great clearinghouse: http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestlawcenter/careerresources/internationaljobsearchsites/index.htm.

International Law-related Bar Associations

Bar Associations are great resources for conferences and programs where you can not only hear people talk about issues in international law, but where you can also meet—and network with!—practitioners who work in the field.

• Washington Foreign Law Society: http://www.wfls.org/
• American Society of International Law: http://www.asil.org/
• ABA Section of International Law: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/international_law.html
• DC Bar International Law Section: http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/sections/international_law/index.cfm
• International Bar Association: http://www.ibanet.org/
• International Law Association: http://www.ila-hq.org/

Other Volunteer Opportunities Abroad

A great way to gain experience abroad, improve your language skills, and help others is volunteering. your time, skills, and energy in any country other than your own with any one of thousands of global organizations, issues, or causes, all to help make a difference in communities around the world.  These opportunities can be non-legal, quasi-legal, public policy-related, or legal in nature.

• Idealist provides great information on international volunteerism in its International Volunteerism Resource Center: http://www.idealist.org/info/IntlVolunteer.
• Other websites that provide information, and opportunities, related to volunteering abroad:
  • Global Volunteers: http://www.globalvolunteers.org/
  • Peace Corps: http://www.peacecorps.gov/
  • United Planet: http://www.unitedplanet.org/
  • World Volunteer Web: http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/

Improving Your Language Skills

Having language skills is a great way to distinguish yourself from other candidates.

• If you are interested in learning another language, The Global Language Network is located in Foggy Bottom and offers affordable language classes in more than 60 languages taught by dedicated native speakers who volunteer their time and energy to teach their language and share their culture: http://thegln.org/.
• If you already speak a language and want to continue to improve your skills, you can join a Meetup: http://www.meetup.com.  For example, if you want to maintain your Italian language skills, you can join the Italian Language Meetup Group of Washington, DC: http://www.meetup.com/passatempo/.