Session One - May 20 - June 15, 2012 (classroom courses) – 5 units
Session Two - June 25 - July 20, 2012 (Practicum Component field placement or courses) – 2 units
Session One is mandatory; Session Two is optional. 
 
Applications are due by March 30, 2012. Enrollment is limited so act early!

The Chile Summer Program places students in the heart of Latin America’s quest for justice and the struggle over globalization. Whether it is human rights litigation, legal reforms, or economic development, Chile has long been a leader in Latin America. After emerging from the Pinochet dictatorship, the country consolidated its democracy with a new judicial system. In Santiago, a city of more than six million people, students will experience the reform process first-hand with leaders from the legal sector, including human rights advocates, senior police officials, and Supreme Court judges. Workshops and site visits will introduce students to new trends in social justice and the role that expanding free trade has played in Latin America. Courses in international and comparative law, taught by U.S. law professors and leading Chilean scholars and practitioners, will provide frameworks for understanding the globalization of law and legal practice – in the laboratory that Santiago and its environs provide. Excellent ski resorts, thermal baths, wineries, coastal getaways, and top-end hiking are within a ninety-minute drive from Santiago.

Since 1997, California Western School of Law has been the U.S. site for Proyecto ACCESO, a leading rule of law skills training and public education program for Latin America (www.proyectoacceso.com). Proyecto ACCESO has trained thousands of legal professionals in over fifteen countries around the region, placed students in internships in private law firms, law enforcement agencies and public institutions throughout Latin America, and produced legal and public education programs for the Bolivian, Chilean, Costa Rican, German, Peruvian, Paraguayan, and U.S. governments, among others.

The Chile Summer Program is divided into two sessions. Session One features three courses that explore the challenges that come with globalization and Session Two is comprised of two short intensive courses and an option of a mini-internship – the Practical Component field placement. The faculty from the four members of the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education (www.cile.edu) are involved as instructors, supplemented by local law professors, international development experts, practicing lawyers and sitting judges who provide occasional lectures. There will also be several trips as well as extra-curricular activities that take advantage of Chile’s natural beauty and proximity to winter sport activities. Non-program, optional trips to countries in the region may also be organized.