Course | Columbia Law School

This seminar focuses on both (i) the substantive law governing the international sale of goods and (ii) the law and practice of international arbitration. Whereas both fields of study have been traditionally treated as distinct subject matter areas, the integrated approach offered by this seminar has the advantage of focusing not only on the doctrinal context of international sales, but also on the actual application of the CISG at the initial stage of contract drafting and negotiation, as well as at the subsequent stage of enforcing the sales contract in case of breach. The educational value of this approach is centered on the interaction between the skills required for problem solving, drafting, legal research, analysis and reasoning at the initial stage, and those skills called for in case the transaction does not go as anticipated, calling for the investigation of facts, counseling and negotiation, as well as the management of an arbitration. The first part of the seminar shall focus on the study of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, whereas the second part shall focus on the operation of the major multilateral conventions, model law and national laws, as well as major arbitration rules.

Registration Limitations: In order to provide a veritable international context to the learning of the CISG and international arbitration, enrollment in this seminar shall be limited to a maximum of 8 JD and 7 LLM students whose basic legal training (JD or equivalent) was obtained in different jurisdictions.

Evaluation method: Students' performance shall be based on a term paper. However, the final grade may be adjusted, at the discretion of the instructor, according to the level of class participation.

Writing Credit will be automatically granted upon submission of a satisfactory term paper.