Message from the Co-Directors

In 1969 Arthur T. Von Mehren stated that: “The realities of legal practice in a shrinking world may ultimately render obsolete the lawyer trained to practice only within a single legal system” (Arthur T. Von Mehren, An Academic Tradition for Comparative Law, 19 AM. J. COMP. L. 624, at 625 (1969).

Forty years passed since then and law schools have tried to figure out a way to teach a subject (the law) that has been predominantly rooted within national borders.

However, as history as showed, the transnational component of the law is nowadays unavoidable and unstoppable. This is the first time in which St. John’s and ISDE join their forces to create a teaching project designed to keep the pace with the globalization of the legal profession. The project was conceived approximately 2 years ago, and around the idea of giving students a global perspective of the law. Today, even if the law is still (and will mostly) remain rooted within national environment, the transnational component is developing and constantly playing a crucial role.

After long projects and plans, finally the 2010 Barcelona Summer Program is a reality. It represents a unique opportunity for future generation of attorneys to acquire legal skills from internationally well known scholars and professionals involved daily in the global practice of law.

If students are going to incommensurably benefit from this unique teaching experience, from an academic standpoint, this program is also a wonderful occasion to see how scholars and professionals interact in a legal environment in which the legal barriers are becoming more elastic and complex.

In realizing this program, we envisioned an “a-national” environment where the law could be approached from different angles. We wanted to overcome our barriers, give hope and invest in the minds of the future generation of transnational attorneys.

We hope you will be part of it.

Luca C.M. Melchionna                                                Rocio Guijarro Kelham
Director of LL.M. and Transnational                               Programs Manager
Programs St. John's University                                     ISDE