Seattle University School of Law has been lauded in the winter issue of the National Jurist’s preLaw magazine for its strength in international law, employment law, and diversity.
“This important recognition is a testament to our law school’s success in cultivating a teaching and learning environment insistent on rigor and excellence, where students from richly diverse backgrounds can thrive and excel,” said Dean Anthony E. Varona.
The law school has achieved an “A” ranking in international law, earned for a third year in a row, besting law schools at Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Boston University.
Seattle U Law has developed a strong reputation on the world stage by forging partnerships abroad and offering unique opportunities for law students to study in foreign countries as well as for international students wishing to study in the U.S.
Over the past two years, the law school has welcomed a record number of LLM students from countries spanning every inhabited continent. Earning an LLM allows graduates with law degrees from other countries to sit for licensing exams in many U.S. states without having to earn a JD degree.
Seattle U Law has also launched a new, highly competitive Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree, designed primarily for international students who have already earned JD degrees and who wish to earn a research-focused, Ph.D.-level scholarly degree.
Partnerships with overseas higher education institutions, primarily in India, have established LLM program pathways, exchange programs, guaranteed scholarships for students, joint degree programs, and more.
“Located in the heart of an international city, Seattle University School of Law is home to a high caliber faculty in international law, attracts students from all over the globe for its degree programs, and has exchange programs and collaborations with many foreign universities,” said Professor Sital Kalantry, associate dean for International and Graduate Programs, and director of Seattle University’s Roundglass India Center.
For American students wishing to study law abroad, the school offers a Germany Exchange Program, where students can study international and business law at Hamburg’s Bucerius Law School for a semester. There are also nearly 40 externship opportunities in 16 foreign countries.
The school boasts an impressive roster of international-focused administrators and faculty. Varona, born in Cuba, is multilingual, with a long record of lecturing around the world in several languages, most recently at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao.
Faculty with international law expertise include: Kalantry; Professor Laura Spitz, who serves as Seattle University’s vice provost for Global Engagement and is a visiting professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School; Professor Russell Powell, an expert in comparative law in the Middle East; Professor Ronald Slye, an expert in international criminal law, international law of human rights, and public international law; Professor Tayyab Mahmud, an expert in international law; Professor Steven Bender, an expert in international migration; and Professor Thomas Antkowiak, an expert in international human rights and international law.
The International Human Rights Clinic, directed by Antkowiak, offers opportunities to make a difference in human rights cases around the globe. Last year, the clinic scored a victory in the case of an American man wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua, obtaining a decision from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights affirming that his rights had been violated.
This Friday, Seattle U Law welcomes Harold Hongju Koh, the Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, one of several distinguished speakers in international law who visit Sullivan Hall throughout the year.
Seattle U Law also ranked highly in employment law in the magazine, placing in the top 14 schools nationally for this area of study, among law schools such as American University and the City University of New York.
Students in the school’s Workers’ Rights Clinic have collaborated with lawmakers in the Washington State Legislature to craft groundbreaking legislation supporting some of the state’s most vulnerable employees. One recently passed bill increased penalties for employers who engage in wage theft, while a bill currently under debate, for which students are regularly testifying in Olympia, aims to prevent coercion of undocumented workers to accept illegal treatment from employers, such as withholding of wages.
“I am so proud of the work that we are doing here to amplify the importance of work law, including regulation governing the individual relationship between workers and employers and the law of collective rights in the workplace,” said Professor Elizabeth Ford, who directs the clinic. “Laws such as the $15 minimum wage, minimum pay requirements for rideshare drivers, and government-facilitated sectoral bargaining between domestic workers and hiring entities make Seattle a national center for the future of work law.”
The magazine also placed Seattle U Law among the top 24 schools nationwide for diversity, coming in ahead of law schools such as Harvard, Stanford, American University, Northwestern University, and the University of California Berkeley. The ranking was based on how a school’s proportion of students and faculty of different races and ethnicities compare with national averages.
In fall of 2023, the law school admitted its most diverse class ever and the most academically accomplished in 15 years. This past fall’s class was also notably academically gifted and diverse, with more than a third of the class made up of students of color. Female students constitute nearly two-thirds of the class, and LGBTQ+ students comprise 28%. Additionally, 36% are the first in their families to attend college, an all-time high for Seattle U Law.
“One of the reasons we excel in this area is because diversity is an integral part of our institution as a whole, not just our law school,” said Kristin DiBiase, associate dean of Student Life, Diversity & Inclusion. “Seattle University prioritizes creating an environment that encourages educating the whole person, and diversity of thought, opinion, background and lived experience is critical to our social justice mission. In the law school in particular, those values are what enrich the legal profession and best position us to serve our communities.”