Earlier this year, the School of Law was counted among the top 24 international law programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
The school’s influence in international law stems from the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s leadership team: Director Sarah Quinn and faculty co-directors Christopher M. Bruner (Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law) and Desirée LeClercq (Associate Professor).
Participants in the 2026 Global Governance Summer School pose for a photo in front of the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, as part of their international learning experience.
Chief among the center’s activities this past academic year was the “Crimmigration as Paradigmatic Migration Control in the United States” conference held in partnership with the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. Organized by Hosch Professor & Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Director Jason A. Cade, this full-day symposium brought together scholars and advocates to explore crimmigration’s legal foundations, real-world impacts and reform opportunities across the South.
In the fall, LeClercq designed and led an independent study focused on international trade. Fifteen students, including J.D., LL.M. and Graduate Certificate in International Law students, spent the semester examining potential trade and investment opportunities between the state of Georgia and the United Kingdom from an interdisciplinary perspective. They researched and wrote a paper examining key export and import sectors of the two locales and then drafted a legal instrument between the two. At the end of the semester, they traveled to Atlanta to present their draft instrument to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Eversheds Sutherland and to the British Consulate General in Atlanta.
To strengthen the law school’s strategic academic partnerships abroad, two faculty were selected to serve as Rusk Scholars-in-Residence. Bruner and Wilson Associate Professor in Business Law Laura Phillips-Sawyer traveled to and spoke at KU Leuven and Oxford University, respectively.
The school furthered its partnerships with the Atlanta International Arbitration Society, the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association. A total of eight students received Sohn Professional Development Fellowships to attend conferences sponsored by these groups in Atlanta, New York City and Washington, D.C.
In conjunction with the Washington International Trade Association, the center organized a second annual webinar about careers in international trade and law. Other featured speakers throughout the year included representatives from the U.S. Department of State, the former senior advisor to the deputy secretary of defense, the consul general of Germany in Atlanta and a former ambassador, among others.
Fourteen foreign-trained lawyers came to Athens for the 2025–26 academic year to earn a Master of Laws. These legal professionals hailed from 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The group included one judge and two Fulbright scholarship recipients.
UGA Law students remain excited about international experiences. Nine students opted for semester-long externships overseas, including two recipients of a grant from the Halle Foundation supporting externships in Germany.
This past summer, the highest number of students in the past 10 years participated in global practice preparation offerings. Twenty-four secured Global Externships in public and private law placements in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malta, Morocco, New Zealand, Romania, Spain and Vietnam. Two students received the Asia-Georgia Internship Connection Scholarship to support their externships with KPMG in Vietnam and the Kuribayashi Sogo Law Office in Japan.
Fifteen law students and five graduate students, including three others pursuing the Graduate Certificate in International Law, traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands to participate in the Global Governance Summer School. This summer study abroad is conducted in partnership with the KU Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies.
Additionally, one student enrolled in the 2025 University of Liverpool School of Law & Social Justice Summer School in partnership with the Council of Europe.
—Sarah Quinn
