Parker School Recognizes Graduating Students’ Commitment to Mastering Foreign and Comparative Law

New York, May 28, 2015—The Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School celebrated more than 100 students’ commitment to the study of foreign and comparative law at the school’s annual certificate award ceremony on May 20. The gathering at Columbia University’s Faculty House, on the eve of the Law School’s graduation ceremony, gave students, their families, faculty, and staff the opportunity to celebrate the group’s impressive academic accomplishments.
 

 

After welcoming attendees, Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt ‘89, director of the Parker School and the Center for Japanese Legal Studies, honored 113 students from Columbia Law School’s Class of 2015 who earned a J.D. or LL.M. degree and at least ten academic credits in the fields of international or comparative law. As Tatyana Gourov, assistant director of the Parker School, recited students’ names, Milhaupt presented them with certificates recognizing their devotion and diligence.

 

Five students—Kathleen Benner ’15, Stephan Byeff ’15, Yael Naggan ’15, Stephanie Persson ’15, and Jason Schnier ’15—received the Parker Prize in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and extraordinary dedication to foreign, comparative, and international law studies based on the recommendations of faculty.
 

In remarks to the awardees, Dean Gillian Lester highlighted Columbia Law School’s longstanding preeminence in foreign and comparative law and the increasingly global nature of practicing law.

 

Dean Gillian Lester addresses the gathering.

“As global actors, in your diaspora you will change the world,” Lester said.

The Parker School was created when Edwin B. Parker, a leading international lawyer in the early decades of the 20th century, provided in his will for the establishment of a school devoted to the teaching and study of subjects related to the international commerce and foreign relations of the United States. The school’s association with Columbia Law School began in 1931 and was facilitated by Harlan Fiske Stone, an 1898 graduate of the Law School who served as dean from 1910 to 1924 and later as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Milhaupt took the helm of the Parker School in 2013, after Professor Lance Liebman had served as director for nearly two decades. Previously, the school was directed by the late Professor Hans Smit ’58 LL.B. Since 1975, the Parker School has recognized students for work in foreign and comparative law.

Columbia Law School offers an array of courses in comparative and international law. The Parker School’s financial and programmatic support for the study of non-U.S. legal systems has played an important role in the Law School’s strength in these fields. Because of a vibrant LL.M. program, nearly 25 percent of students come from outside the U.S., and the Law School offers a broad selection of regional centers and programs on European, Japanese, Chinese, Israeli, and Indian law. Students also have the opportunity to study abroad at leading universities all over the world.