Parker School Recognizes Graduating Students for Commitment to Study of Foreign and Comparative Law
Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt '89, Director of The Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law, Awards Certificates to More than 100 Columbia Law School Graduates
New York, May 27, 2014—The Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School recognized more than 100 students for their commitment to the study of foreign and comparative law at the school’s annual certificate award ceremony on May 22.
The Parker School’s ceremony, which took place just a few hours before the Columbia Law School graduation ceremony on the South Lawn of Columbia University, offered students and their families a chance to celebrate the group’s collective academic accomplishments.
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| Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt '89 directs the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law. |
“This is the Parker School’s signature event during the academic year, held to recognize and congratulate students on their commitment to the study of foreign and international law,” said Columbia Law School Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt ’89, the Parker Professor of Comparative Corporate Law and the Fuyo Professor of Japanese Law who was named director of the Parker School last year.
In his remarks to attendees, Milhaupt recognized the contributions of Columbia Law School Professor Lance Liebman, the William S. Beinecke Professor of Law, who directed the Parker School for nearly two decades after succeeding the late Professor Hans Smit ’58 LL.B.
In order to be recognized by the Parker School, students must have earned a J.D. or LL.M. degree and have earned at least 10 academic credits in the fields of international or comparative law.
Four students were recognized at the 2014 ceremony for “extraordinary commitment” to the study of foreign and comparative law: Vipasha Bansal ’14 LL.M., Jessica L. Piquet ’14, Ramya Ravishankar ’14, and Guled Yusuf ’14 LL.M.
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| Parker School certificate winners applaud their classmates during the ceremony. |
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| Parker School students and their supporters after the ceremony. |
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(left to right) Professor Lance Liebman, who directed the Parker School for nearly two decades, |
The Parker School was created when Edwin B. Parker, a leading international lawyer and senior partner at Baker & Botts 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. Stone was one of the Parker School’s first trustees.
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 this field. Milhaupt plans to devote the Parker School’s resources to research and teaching on important new legal issues raised by contemporary global practices such as state capitalism, and to strengthen the Law School’s expanding contacts with top law faculties around the world, in particular Brazil and other developing countries.
Columbia Law School offers an array of courses in comparative and international law. 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.