International Law Institute

Mission of The International Law Institute

"To raise levels of professional competence and capacity in all nations so that professionals everywhere may achieve practical solutions to common problems in ways that suit their nations’ own needs. The ILI conducts research, provides practical training and education in Washington its regional campuses, and elsewhere; advises governments and private entities internationally; and publishes books and scholarly articles."

History of the International Law Institute

The Institute was founded in 1955 at the Georgetown University Law Center A sister institute, the Insitut für Ausländisches und Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht, was founded at the same time at Johannes Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany; it continues its work today. Professor Heinrich Kronstein, the Institute's first director, fled Germany in the 1930s and spent more than a decade studying and teaching at the law schools of Columbia University and Georgetown University. Following World War II he returned to Germany to work for the reconstruction of legal education. Professor Kronstein believed that closer ties between European and American legal systems would facilitate business and trade. The Institute's early years were marked by scholarly work and academic exchanges.

Beginning in the early 1970s—under the leadership of a new director, Professor Don Wallace, Jr., of Georgetown - the ILI expanded its focus to include professional training in the legal, economic, and financial problems of developing countries. An early collaborator in this work was Professor Robert Hellawell of Columbia University Law School.

The earliest courses offered were Foreign Investment Negotiation and International Procurement. Since then the curriculum has evolved to reflect, and promote, the centrality of the private sector and an enabling role on the part of the public sector in promoting the conditions for economic growth. This direction was heightened in the early 1990s when the Institute's work expanded to include the problems facing nations formerly part of the Soviet Union as they began to make the transition to market economies and the rule of law.

Today the International Law Institute is an independent, not-for-profit organization. It continues to work closely with Georgetown University, as well as with numerous corporations, international organizations, and governments.

Publications

The International Law Institute publishes numerous publications. The most notable is The Digest of United States Practice in International Law, covering developments in U.S. International Law annually, published with the assistance of the US State Department and the Oxford University Press. The Digest is available both in print and on the State Department's website. The posting on the web is the Department of State's Office of the Legal Adviser and the International Law Institute's attempt to make the historical record of U.S. practice of international law accessible.

The Digest traces its history back to an 1877 treatise by John Lambert Cadwalader, which was followed by multi-volume encyclopedias by Francis Wharton (1886), John Bassett Moore (1906), Green Hackworth (1940–1943) and Marjorie Whiteman(1963–1971), and an annual Digest beginning in 1973 under the editorship of Arthur Rovine and later Marion Nash Leich, which concluded with cumulative volumes for 1981–1988. Although publication was temporarily suspended after 1988, the office resumed publication in 2000 and has since produced volumes covering 1989 through 2008. A cumulative index covering 1989-2006 was published in 2007, and an updated edition of that index, covering 1989-2008 will be published in 2010.

In addition, the ILI publishes books on international and transnational commercial law, trade, litigation, commercial dispute resolution, and foreign legal systems. Recent and ongoing ILI publications include Introduction to Legal English, by Mark Wojcik, now in its third edition, designed to introduce legal English to law students and lawyers whose first language is not English; and International Judicial Assistance, by Bruno A. Ristau and Michael Abbell, a seven-volume work designed as a practical guide for attorneys engaged in transnational litigation.

Training Courses

The International Law Institute offers courses which cover topics relating to national and international business, investment, and governance. These topics include procurement, privatization, arbitration and mediation, negotiating and implementing trade agreements, The World Trade Organization(WTO) rights and obligations, project management, legislative drafting, judicial administration, corporate governance, bank restructuring, and borrowing & debt management.

In addition, for foreign lawyers and law students preparing for graduate legal(L.L.M) study in the U.S, and others whose jobs require an understanding of the U.S. legal system, the ILI runs the longest continually running U.S. legal orientation program. Two courses are offered- introduction to Legal English and Legal Writing and Orientation to the U.S. Legal System. Participants are introduced to the U.S. legal methods and process, central U.S. judicial doctrines and the basic research skills needed in the study of the U.S. law and for communicating with the U.S. colleagues and clients.

Technical Assistance

The ILI serves as an advisor to governments and multilateral organizations in many areas, including among others, specific negotiations, problems, and special assignments, such as drafting of agreements, legal education (Russia), focused studies, revision of regulations, contract standardization, legislative drafting, procurement, and project management. Some projects on which the ILI has worked are Central Banking Reform (China), Judicial Reform (Commonwealth of Independent States), Transportation Infrastructure to Support Trade (Ukraine), Administrative Law Reform (Ukraine), WTO Judicial Training (China), and Procurement Reform (Honduras).

Center for Public Procurement Law and Policy

The International Law Institute established the Center for Public Procurement Law and Policy to strengthen its program of legal training and technical expertise to developing and transition countries in public procurement law and policy. The Center offers a variety of seminars focused on procurement and project life cycle including: “International Public Procurement”; “Procurement of Consulting and Technical Services”; “Project Preparation, Analysis, and Financing”; “Project Management”; “Contract Administration”; and “Project Monitoring and Evaluation".

International Trade Law Center

The ILI has established an International Trade Law Center to assist countries in participating effectively in the WTO and the markets it creates. The Center provides advice to national governments on establishing the legal and administrative structures necessary to comply with their obligations under the WTO agreements, as well as advice on issues relating to dispute resolution. The Center provides training to participants in government, in business, and in professional practice with respect to the WTO rules, procedures, and practices.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Center

The Center is chiefly a teaching institution. It offers the following arbitration and mediation seminars at the ILI's Washington headquarters: "Arbitration and Mediation", "Advanced Arbitration and Mediation", and “Negotiations in International Development". The seminars cover the legal structures that underlie arbitration and mediation, as well as an opportunity for participants to take part in mock arbitration and mediation. The Center has developed special programs for judges, to assist them in their critical tasks of overseeing and supporting ADR regimes in their countries.

Private Investment in Infrastructure Center (PII Center)

The Private Investment in Infrastructure Center (PII Center) of the International Law Institute provides training and technical assistance related to the policy, financial and legal aspects of private participation in the creations and maintenance of infrastructure.

Center for Comparative Legislative Management

The International Law Institute's Center for Comparative Legislative Management offers advise to legislatures at the state, national, and international levels on both strategic and operational issues. The main focus of the Legislative Management Center is to assist lawmakers and staff in being more effective in their oversight and legislative responsibilities.

International Investment Law Center

The International Law Institute's International Investment Law Center provides training and technical assistance relating to international treaties and investor-state arbitration, as well as custom training programs. The Investment Center offers two intensive seminars: “Fundamentals of Investor-State Arbitration” and “Investment Treaties and Investor-State Arbitration”.

International Judicial Academy

The International Judicial Academy (IJA), as a newly added center of expertise at the International Law Institute, specializes in providing high-level raining in all areas relating to a modern judiciary. In 2017, the International Judicial Academy is offering a number of training seminars including: "The Fair and Effective Trail Judge: Methods & Techniques"; "Effective Prosecution of Financial Crimes, Human Trafficking, and Cybercrime"; "Judicial, Court, and Case Management for Judges”; and "Court and Case Administration for Court Administrators". Through its work, the IJA center emphasizes the importance of a fair, efficient, accessible, and transparent judicial system.

Board of Directors

Professor Don Wallace, Jr. (Chairman) Professor of Law Georgetown University Law Center

Charles O. Verrill, Jr., Esq.(President) Former Partner, Wiley, Rein & Fielding Board of Visitors Duke University Law School

Kim Phan Executive Director - International Law Institute Former Asian Development Bank US-AEP Representative/ US Mission to ADB Foreign Commercial Service/US Embassy

Robert Sargin Deputy Director - International Law Institute; Director of the ILI's Asia Initiatives. Board Member of Friends of the Law Library of Congress; Board Member of United Rule of Law Appeal [Non-ILI Board Member]

Spencer S. Griffith, Esq. (Vice Chairman) Partner - Akin Gump, LLP Former Managing Partner of Akin Gump's Beijing Office

Hongxia Liu Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Operating Officer, New York University, Shanghai Formerly Executive Director at the World Justice Project Director of Legal Research at the US Law Library of Congress Representative and Director, Asia Pacific at International Law Development Organization (IDLO)

Umit Herguner, Esq. Founding Partner - Herguner Bilgen Ozeke Attorney Partnership, Istanbul Former President of the Turkish Corporate Governance Association Formerly Special Counsel, Reid & Priest, New York Former Asst. Professor of Public International Law, Istanbul University School of Law

Foster De Reitzes Former Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, 30 years private practice - litigation, administrative law, energy

Swithin Munyantwali Executive Director - African Centre for Legal Excellence - (ILI Uganda) Non-Executive Director - Barclays

Eli Whitney Debevoise II Partner - Arnold & Porter LLP

Russell Carpenter, Esq. (Counsel to the Board of Directors) [Non-Board Member] Senior Counsel - Covington & Burling

Stuart Kerr Jones Day