California Western is a member of CILE, an innovative educational service organization for independent law schools. CILE draws on the combined resources of its member institutions to provide expanded opportunities for international programs. CILE offers summer abroad programs in London, Galway, Prague, and Malta, as well as in Chile. For more information about the CILE programs, please visit www.cile.edu
At the foot of the Andes mountains in Santiago, a bustling metropolis with six million inhabitants, the Chile Summer Program provides students with a first-hand look at how Latin America’s most dynamic economy is adjusting to a new era of democratic governance and human rights. With classes at the Heidelberg Center for Latin America, internship opportunities, and workshops throughout the region, students learn comparative and international law while enjoying the natural wonders and culture of the region. For more information, please visit www.cwsl.edu/chile
Students interested in international law may be invited to join the California Western International Law Journal, which is one of the oldest international law journals in the country. In December 2012, a symposium edition, funded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in resolving Intellectual Property Disputes is being published. Students may also participate in the interscholastic Jessup International Law Moot Court team, which has competed successfully for many years.
As a third -year law student at California Western School of Law, interned with the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. She worked in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the department of anti-human trafficking. Through her internship with the United Nations Sarah experienced a wide range of opportunities such as attending summit meetings for the UN.GIFT (Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking) project, participating in seminars at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna for the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), attending a concert and anniversary event for the IAEA, sitting in the front row at an award ceremony for Kofi Annan, and meeting UN staff members and interns from all over the world.
Sarah’s work in the anti-human trafficking unit included researching existing case law on criminal prosecutions for human trafficking cases, drafting briefs outlining the agendas and discussion topics for the regional events under the UN.GIFT program, brainstorming legal issues to be discussed at the working group meeting in Bangkok regarding information sharing and inter-regional cooperation of law enforcement agencies, and helping to design a case law database for international human trafficking cases. Not only was Sarah’s internship rewarding, but she has also enjoyed the opportunity to live in a new city and culture. Vienna is a vibrant city full of museums, amazing architecture, and history. Given Austria’s central location in Europe, it is easy to take weekend trips outside the country. Sarah has already spent a weekend in Bratislava, Slovakia and is now planning a trip with other UN interns to Prague and Budapest. Sarah received school credit for the internship through the Clinical Internship program offered at California Western. She now practices immigration law in San Diego, California.
