The Law Faculties of Columbia
University in the City of New
York, the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University
announce that the thirty-seventh Summer Program in American
Law will be offered at the University of Amsterdam
from
July 5 through July 31, 1999.
Since 1963 these summer courses are held alternately at the Leiden Law School and at the Amsterdam Law School and are designed to provide a general introduction to the American legal system with emphasis on areas of particular interest to European lawyers.
Preface Introduction Sponsors Curriculum Class Schedule Faculty Enrollment
For a foreign lawyer, not trained in the common law, studying law in an
American law school is a most rewarding experience. As I was fortunate enough to discover
many years ago, it is a tremendous opportunity to get acquainted with a totally different approach
to both legal education and legal thinking, and to arrive, by an almost subliminal process of
comparison, at a more profound understanding of one's own law. The next best thing to those
interested in American law, but unable to study in the United States, is participation in the
Leyden-Amsterdam-Columbia Summer Program in American Law.
Now in its 37th year, the Program is a joint project of the law schools of
Columbia University, based in New York City, the University of Amsterdam and the University
of Leyden. It is sponsored by a number of American and Dutch law firms, foundations and
corporations; additional funding comes from the participants' tuition fees. The Program is
designed to introduce non-American law graduates to the methodology and contents of American
law. Its courses are taught by members of the Columbia faculty and cover a broad range of legal
topics. Instruction is based on the American case method, an interactive process between teacher
and student, which can only be fruitful if the assigned cases and materials have been thoroughly
studied in preparation of classroom discussion. Extensive reading is therefore required and a
readiness to engage in legal debate is expected. The success of the Program is predicated on the
participants' total immersion in the American approach to law and legal thinking. A basic
knowledge and a true understanding of the principles of American law will be the reward for four
demanding weeks of condensed legal education.
To balance the seriousness of the working sessions, the Program also
features a number of (mandatory) extracurricular activities. Several excursions will give the
participants an impression of the city and country hosting the Program. There will be many
opportunities for friendly association with co-students, faculty, and other members of the legal
profession. Living and learning amidst some sixty lawyers from many different countries is a
unique way to get acquainted with new ideas and different opinions. Getting in touch with people
from various cultures, both in the classroom and outside, will contribute to a better understanding
of the views held in other parts of the world and to a new appreciation of contrasting cultural
values. In this respect, the Program has much more to offer than a crash course in American law.
Not only does it provide lawyers with an opportunity to learn more about a foreign legal system
and to broaden their professional horizon, but also, by offering a setting for a multinational
exchange of thoughts, ideas and friendship, it purports to foster harmony, goodwill and a spirit of
international co-operation among the participants and the nations they represent.
Arie Landsmeer
Executive Director
Since 1963 the faculty of Columbia Law School, in cooperation
with our partners in the law faculties of Leiden and Amsterdam,
have offered this Summer Program in American Law to introduce
our legal system to students from the world over. We have
learned a great deal in thirty-six years about how to present a
combination of basic material and advanced legal analysis to
young lawyers from other systems. They, in turn, have taught us
a great deal about our craft of teaching and, through their
questions and discussions, about our law.
This coming summer my colleagues will return to
Amsterdam with an extraordinary program of offerings. In addition to
our required introductions to constitutional law, civil litigation,
statutes and administrative practice, we will present a newly-
redesigned introduction to researching American law. This course,
which has been under development for several years and has been
refined through presentation in a variety of settings, offers what we
at Columbia believe is the most effective route to rapid mastery of
the materials of our law. Through explanatory lectures and hands-on
training we can afford students and practitioners who need the ability
to find US law a range of skills that we think are available nowhere
else in a short course. For those considering an LLM degree in a US
law school, whether at Columbia or elsewhere, we believe these
offerings provide an invaluable foundation to make your LLM study more
successful and rewarding.
Along with this expanded basic curriculum, we
will present a wide range of elective courses exploring
fast-developing areas of US law. From the fundamentals of contracts
law to to the legal revolution sparked by the Internet, scholars
studying and participating in current legal change will be bringing
you the newest developments, and the context in which to understand
them. Students and young practitioners interested in these areas will
find both a comprehensive survey of US law as it stands, and also an
opportunity to discuss forthcoming developments with professors who
are among those best placed to observe and affect them.
One of the unique features of American legal education has
always been the give-and-take of classroom discussion. My
colleagues from the Columbia faculty volunteer to participate in
the Program because of the excitement it offers them as teachers,
giving them a chance to bring their style of class discussion to a
different and fascinating range of students. We urge you to come
to meet us in Amsterdam in July 1999, to be part of a Program that is
in its second generation of achieving extraordinary results, for
participants and faculty alike.
Eben Moglen
Executive Director
For many years, substantial financial contributions to our Program
have come from American foundations and major American law firms active in the international
area. Their support confirms their dedication to law and legal education and testifies to their
belief in the importance of fostering intellectual and professional ties among persons trained in
diverse legal systems.
We are also most grateful for the financial support we receive from Dutch law firms. Their contributions have introduced in the Netherlands a new form of sponsorship which, traditionally, is one of the most important means of financing legal education in the United States. The contributing law firms are:
Boekel de Neree
Derks Star Busman Hanotiau
Loeff Claeys Verbeke
Pels Rijcken Droogleever Fortuijn
Stibbe Simont Monahan Duhot
The example given by our American contributors has prompted generous support by a number of European foundations and corporations as well. We are indebted to the following organizations for their financial support in 1998:
Metaalcompagnie Brabant B.V.
Rabobank Nederland
The constant support we receive is evidence of the truly international spirit of our Program. The organization, instruction and financial support all come from American and European sources. The Program is thus in its very essence a most promising testimony to what truly international co-operation can achieve.
To assure a shared basic knowledge, Statutes, The U.S. Litigation
System and Constitutional Law are compulsory courses for all participants.
In addition, each participant is required to enroll in at least three elective courses in Legal Research, Contracts,
Civil Rights, Remedies, or Computers and Law.
As the number of participants in an elective course may be limited,
applicants are requested to list on the registration
form all available electives in order of their preference.
The U.S. Litigation System:
Institutions & Procedure
Professor Ph. Genty
This course provides an overview introduction of the private-law
litigation system in the United States. Primary topics are: the structure and interrelation of U.S.
state and federal courts, procedural mechanisms of litigation control, and the unique civil
procedure associated with the distinctively American institution of the civil jury trial. Intensive
attention will be paid to the analytical process of reading American case decisions.
Statutes & Regulations
Professor Arthur Murphy
This course will consider some fundamental structural characteristics
of the American political and legal system having particular importance for public law. We will
examine American approaches to the materials of public policy: statutes, regulations, and the
institutions that create and administer them. Topics will include Congress, the President and
the administrative agencies: the process for forming statutes and regulations and current disputes
about the proper materials and techniques of interpretation.
Constitutional Law
Professor K. Thomas
This is the basic course in constitutional law, a foundation for more specialized courses on the Constitution and for public law courses generally. The course locates the Constitution in the life of the United States. It explores: the theory of the Constitution and its antecedents, judicial review, its justification and development, and its legal and political significance; the nature of our federal system, the growth of national power and of limitations on state authority, and the abiding significance of the states; the separation of the powers and varieties of checks and balances in the U.S. government; and the theory and content of individual rights under the Constitution, the development of the principal rights during 200 years by Constitutional amendment and judicial interpretation, and the jurisprudence of the Judiciary in its role as the guardian of rights under the Constitutions and civil rights act.
Computers & Law
Professor Conrad Johnson
Learn how cutting edge lawyering is practiced in the U.S. Experience
the ways in which digital technology, the Internet, knowledge management systems, electronic
mail, teleconferencing and video conferencing have changed what lawyers do and how they do it.
Explore how technology has and will reduce the barriers created by distance or culture and how
practice across borders is made increasingly possible. Understand the ways in which technology
is changing expectations and how you can prepare to meet those expectations.
Contracts
Professor Marvin A. Chirelstein
This course is an introduction to the
central themes of Amercian contract law
and a presentation of modern issues
affecting contracts in entertainment
industries with particular emphasis on
issues arising from developments in
technology (videos, electronic mail, CD
Rom, and cable television). Special
attention is paid to those aspects of
contract law that distinguish U.S.
contracts law from the commercial law
systems of Western Europe.
Legal Research -
Beginning to
Advanced Instruction in Finding U.S.
Law
K. McKeever
This course uses print and electronic
research practices to introduce
participants to the textual sources of
American law. Focusing on the
processes that produce statutes, case
reports and regulations, as well as their dissemination in print and electronic
forms, the course shows how to become a
proficient researcher in American legal
material. Students will learn the basic
tools of the practicing attorney and the
skills of finding and merging texts in
particular situations to provide an accurate
basis for analysis and decisionmaking.
The course will also review lawmaking
and publishing from a comparative
viewpoint, so that the distinctive
requirements of American legal research
can be emphasized.
Remedies
Professor Kellis E. Parker
A paradigm shift has occurred in the ideas that undergird "judicial
activism" in the United States. This course traces the contours of this shift by examining
Supreme Court precedents and opinionsAlong with private law remedies in contracts, torts, and
restitution, remedies in public law actions (actions for the enforcement of federal and state
statutory and constitutional rights) will be examined. The course will also consider the counter
revolution (caps on damages, limits on civil rights remedies, punitive damages, settlements in
mass torts, reforms in jurisdiction, sovereign immunity and class actions).
Theories of Equal Protection
Professor Kimberle Crenshaw
This course will consider the role of the courts, particularly the Supreme
Court, in responding to demands for social and constitutional equality by racial and sexual
minorities and women in recent decades. Our goal is to understand both the various conceptions
of equality that are used to support and oppose these demands, and the competence of courts to
resolve politically polarized social conflicts. We will discuss affirmative action, the death
penalty, pregnancy discrimination, gay marriage, among other topics, from a variety of
theoretical perspectives, both traditional and non-traditional.
|
first week July 5 |
second week July 12 |
third week* July 19 |
fourth week** July 26 |
|
| 09.30 - 10.30 | US Litigation | US Litigation | Equal Protection | Equal Protection |
| 11.00 - 12.00 | Contracts | Contracts | Const'l Law | Const'l Law |
| LUNCH | ||||
| 2.00 - 3.00 | Statutes | Statutes | Computers & Law | Computers & Law |
| 3.30 - 4.30 | Legal Research | Legal Research | Remedies | Remedies |
B.A., California (Berkeley), 1950; J.D., Chicago, 1953. Was editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. After practicing in Washington, D.C., and New York City, joined the Yale Law School faculty in 1965 and remained at Yale as William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law until 1981. Visiting professor as Harvard, 1976-77, and at Columbia, 1981-82. Returned to private practice in 1982. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1984. Has taught federal taxation and corporate finance and written on both subjects. Publications include Federal Income Taxation: A Law student's Guide (6th ed., 1991); Cases and Materials on Corporate Finance (3rd ed., 1987); and Concepts and Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts (1990).
J.D. Harvard, 1984; LL.M., Wisconsin, 1985. Has lectured and written extensively on civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race and the law. A founding member of the Critical Race Theory workshop; co-editor of Critical Race Theory: A Reader. Her work has appeared in Harvard Law Review, National Black Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, and Southern California Law Review. Serves on the governing board of the Law and Society Association and the Society of American Law Teachers. As a specialist on legal issues confronting Black women, assisted the legal team that represented Anita Hill. A frequent commentator on political and cultural issues and an international lecturer. Twice honored as Professor of the Year at UCLA Law School; lectured throughout the national and international community with recent visits to South Africa, Brazil, Spain, France, German, and Holland.
B.A., Colorado College, 1977; J.D., New York University, 1980. Worked as an attorney at
Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, for the New York City of Housing, Preservation and
Development, and for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services Corporation. Joined
the faculty of Brooklyn Law School in 1987, where he taught legal writing, and a seminar on the
rights of prisoners. Was the top individual winner of the 1986 Mayor's Volunteer Service Awards
for his implementation of the Rikers Island Parents' Legal Rights Clinic. Joined the Columbia
faculty in 1989. Has written on family law and prisoners' rights.
B.A., Columbia, 1975; J.D., Brooklyn, 1978. Upon graduation from law school, worked as staff
attorney in Harlem office of Legal Aid Society; civil Division named attorney-in-charge in 1983.
Joined the faculty of the City of University of New York Law School in 1987; taught courses in
lawyering, professional responsibility; and civil procedure, and supervised students in simulation
program. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1989, where he co-founded the School's Fair Housing
Clinic. Named Director of Clinical Programs at Columbia, 1992. Member Mayor's Committee
on the Judiciary, 1990-94; member, Professional Education Project by appointment of the Hon.
Judith Kaye, member, board of directors, Clinical Legal Education Association.
Kent McKeever has been the Director of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library of the Columbia Law School since 1996. Before that he had served as the Acting Law Librarian, the Head of Technical Services, and the International, Foreign and Comparative Law Librarian at Columbia, and as a Reference Law Librarian at the Fordham Law School Library. He received his Juris Doctor and his Masters in Library Science simultaneously from Louisiana State University in 1980. He has also served as a Lecturer at the Columbia University School of Library Service from 1986 through 1991, and has taught in a variety of professional development programs ranging from Fudan University in Shanghai to a US AID program in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
B.A., Harvard, 1943; LL.B., Columbia, 1948. Was articles editor of the Columbia Law Review. After some nine years as a litigator in private practice and with the Department of Justice, Civil Division, joined the Columbia faculty in 1963, teaching legal method, trusts and estates, and administrative law. In 1969 was visiting professor at the University of Delhi on a Ford Foundation grant designed to improve legal education in India. Major extracurricular activities have been in the area of science and law. Has served on the Atomic Safety Commission the Special Committee of Science and Law, the Special committee on Electric Power and the Environment of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Atomic and Space Development Authority, and the Presidential Commission on Catastrophic Nuclear Accidents. Publications include Gratuitous Transfers (with Clark and Lusky), Legal Method: Cases and Text Materials (with Jones and Kernochan); and The Nuclear Power Controversy.
B.A., North Carolina (Chapel Hill), 1964; J.D., Howard, 1968. Was editor-in-chief of the
Howard Law Journal. Clerk for Judge Spottswood W. Robinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia, 1968-1969; acting professor, University of California (Davis) Law
School, 1969-1975; associate professor, Columbia University School of Law, 1972-1975;
Professor 1975-present. Special areas of interest: remedies, contracts, jazz Roots: The Laws the
Slaves Made; music industry contracts; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Executive committee
board member, The City Club of New York; member of the following: Society of American Law
Teachers; Law and Society Association; The Lawyers Guild; Committee for Fairness in Banking
and Finance, National Rainbow Coalition; African-American Historical and Genealogical
Association. Publications include Modern Judicial Remedies (1975).
B.A., Yale, 1978; J.D., 1982. Joined the Columbia faculty in 1984. Principal areas of interest: constitutional law, theory and history, law and sexuality, and Critical Race Theory.
Admission Requirements
Eligible for the Summer Program are law
graduates, who are professionally active in
the practice of law, industry, commerce,
government, international organizations or
related activities. Advanced undergraduate
law students may be admitted in
exceptional cases.
Applications for admission and scholarships are invited before April 15th, 1999:
Columbia Summer Program, attn. Mrs. M. Oosterom
University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 1030
1000 BA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Language and Method of Instruction
Proficiency in English is required of all participants. Classes will be
conducted in English, in the manner customary at the Columbia Law School. Participants will be
called upon in class to discuss the materials previously assigned to them.
In describing in your application your schooling and proficiency in the English language, you are
requested to be as specific as possible and to give a frank evaluation of your ability to study and
discuss American legal materials. Your objectivity in this respect will avoid subsequent
disappointment. Having passed a TOEFL test is one of the ways in which you can indicate your
proficiency in English.
Classes
Participants will receive due notice of any changes in the curriculum that
may prove to be necessary. Each participant is required to take courses in Introduction to US
Litigation, Statutes & Regulations and US Legal Research, and at least three elective courses.
Since the number of participants in each elective course may be limited, applicants are requested
to state four elective courses in order of their preference.
Ten hours of classroom discussion are scheduled for each course. Participants are required to
attend all classes in the courses for which they have registered. Adequate preparation is expected
of each participant. Upon completion of the Program, a certificate of attendance will be issued to
all participants who have met these requirements. There will be no final examination.
Attendance
Attendance of classes is compulsory.
Failure to attend classes will result in
withdrawal of the right to receive the
certificate, at the discretion of the Board
of Directors.
Study materials
In most courses, participants will be provided with casebooks of the kind
used in American law schools. In some courses, only mimeographed materials will be
distributed. Study materials will be distributed upon registration on Sunday, July 4, 1999.
Preliminary reading
If available, a copy of A.
Farnsworth, An Introduction to the legal
System of the United States (Oceana Publications, New York, will be provided free of
charge to each participant.
Reading room and libraries
At the faculty building, where all
classes will be held, a special reading
room is available to all participants.
Participants may consult the American
law collection.
Expenses
Fee
A fee of three thousand Dutch guilders (Fl. 3,000) covers tuition, study
materials for six courses, and all administrative expenses, including those of the extra curricular
activities and the farewell dinner. Participants who have not yet graduated will pay a reduced fee
of Fl. 1,500. Meals and lodgings will be charged separately.
Lodgings
Accommodation is available at a students' residence hall within the
vicinity of the faculty of law. Upon acceptance students will be informed about their location in
Amsterdam during the course. They are offered at the rate of approx. Fl. 600 for the duration of
the course. Under no circumstances will payment for lodging be refunded. On special request,
hotel accommodation (at a rate of approximately Fl. 250 per day) may be booked through the
Program.
Meals
On days on which classes are given, all participants are expected to
attend the lunches organized by the Program. The total amount charged for 20 lunches is Fl. 500.
As a rule, friends or relatives cannot be admitted to the lunches. No other meals will be provided.
Upon registration each participant will be supplied with a list of suitable restaurants in
Amsterdam.
The total amount charged for tuition, lunches and lodging will be
approximately
3825 Dutch guilders (students Fl. 2325).
Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships is available for participants unable to raise the
necessary funds on their own or with the help of their employer, family or friends. The
scholarships may cover a) tuition, b) lodging, c) lunches, or d) combinations of these, but on no
account do they cover travel or personal expenses.
When applying for a scholarship, please indicate the absolute minimum amount necessary
to enable you to participate, and the reasons why you have no alternative but to apply to the
Program for financial assistance.
Applicants eligible for scholarships under arrangements between their respective
governments and the government of the Netherlands must address themselves directly to the
appropriate authorities in their own country.
Moreover, please note that students from
certain countries (e.g. Germany) may
apply for scholarships in accordance with
arrangements between their respective
governments and the government of The
Netherlands. In such cases applicants must
address themselves directly to the
appropriate authorities of their own country.
Hans Smit
Scholarship
In honor of Hans Smit, Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law, Columbia
University, who initiated the Leyden-Amsterdam-Columbia Summer Program in American Law
in 1963, a special scholarship has been established. Each year one promising candidate will be
selected who would not be able to attend without financial assistance. The Hans Smit
Scholarship covers tuition, lodging, meals, and pocket money.
Administrative matters
Arrival and registration
It is imperative that all participants
arrive on Sunday, July 4, for the
purpose of registration and allocation of
housing, between 12.00 - 6.00 p.m. The
location of the registration desk will be
announced in due course. In the evening from 8.00 p.m. onwards
an informal gathering will take place for
the participants, the Directors of the
Summer Program, faculty members and
staff. All participants are requested to
attend this meeting.
Inaugural session
The inaugural session will take place on
Monday, July 5, 1999, from 10.00 -
11.00 a.m. The inaugural session will be
followed by a reception for participants,
faculty members, and invited guests.
Extra Curricular activities
(Subject to change)
Saturday, July 10 Excursion
Friday, July 16 Excursion
Wednesday, July 21 Moot
Court
Saturday, July 24 Excursion
Friday, July 30 Farewell
Directors of the Amsterdam Session
During the Program Professor Arie Landsmeer is in charge of all
administrative matters. He may be consulted by special appointment
to be made through his secretary, tel.
020-525 3421 or 525 3359.
Professor Kendall Thomas may be consulted
before July 2nd 1999, or during the
Program after his lectures, on all matters
concerning the instructional part of the
Program at: columbiasc@law.leidenuniv.nl
Leiden session 2000
For information regarding the 2000 Leiden session, please refer
to:
Leiden University, Faculty of Law
Columbia Summer Program
Attn. Mrs. B. Zaaijer
Hugo de Grootstraat 27
2311 XK Leiden, the Netherlands
tel. +31.71.527.76.32
fax: +31.71.527.77.32
email: columbiasc@law.leidenuniv.nl
Amsterdam Law School
Mrs. Martha Oosterom
University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 1030
1000 BA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel. +31.20.5253421
fax: +31.71.5277600
email: oosterom@jur.uva.nl
Executive Directors
Arie Landsmeer, Professor of Law
University of Amsterdam
Kendall Thomas, Professor of Law
Columbia University
Coordinator
Mrs. Martha Oosterom
Board of Directors
E.A. Alkema (Leiden)
G.A. Bermann (Columbia)
L.H.A.J.M. Quant (Amsterdam)
Th.M. de Boer (Amsterdam)
M.V. Polak (Leiden)
C. van Raad (Leiden)
J.W. Zwemmer (Amsterdam)
E. Moglen (Columbia)