Overview

International Arbitration and Commercial Litigation

Penn State Dickinson’s Summer Program in Arbitration Law is approved by the American Bar Association and fulfills all academic and accrediting requirements. Your law school must be consulted concerning acceptance of credits or grades and its residency requirements and the possibility of accelerated graduation. Upon request, the Transcript Department of The Pennsylvania State University will forward a transcript to your law school.

The program events include group dinners, a visit to a court, and lectures by renowned Canadian jurists. Judges from the Québec Court of Appeal, Québec’s highest court, participate in the program. The wonderful city of Montréal in Québec, Canada, offers much of the culture, history, and excitement of Europe at substantially lesser cost. From the ornate Notre-Dame Cathedral, Old Montréal, and the Port to the museums, nightclubs, and fine restaurants of all gastronomic persuasions, Montréal is a major center of tourism, recreation, and bilingual culture. The city blends its heritage, history, and geographical location into a unique living experience.

Prices are lower than those in other North American cities. The cost of visiting Montréal is many times less than a comparable stay in London, Paris, or Madrid. The U.S. and Canadian dollar are roughly at parity. Moreover, the city of Montréal is beautiful, rich in character, and well-maintained. The city is safe and people are helpful, polite, and considerate. English is spoken everywhere; there are, however, plenty of opportunities to practice your French. Montréal is the second largest French-speaking city in the world — second only to Paris, France. July and August are eventful times in Montréal. It is the festival season throughout the province of Québec.

The summer program follows the International Jazz Festival in which free public concerts are given nightly in a central public square by internationally renowned jazz artists. During the program, the Comedy Festival, the African Music Festival, and the Contemporary Asian Film Festival offer numerous cultural events for the visitor of the city. The Musée des Beaux Arts is a worldclass facility. In addition, there are a wide variety of concerts and other recreational activities offered each day throughout the summer season.

The McGill Summer Program takes place in Chancellor Day Hall (the Law Faculty building at 3644 Peel Street) on the McGill University campus in the heart of downtown Montréal. The McGill campus is a composite of older and modern buildings that reflect the importance of McGill’s historical and contemporary status as a distinguished North American institution of higher learning. The university has recently completed building a law library and atrium adjacent to Chancellor Day Hall. Students in the Summer Program have access to the law library facilities and to the Law Faculty’s computer facilities, including e-mail, assorted law databases, Lexis-Nexis (with own ID), WordPerfect, MS Word, and Internet access (Netscape & Explorer). The program pays the cost of registration in the computer lab for the students (but not for printing charges or credits). The program classroom is located on the second floor of New Chancellor Day Hall and is air-conditioned and comfortable, permitting active interchange between students and the program faculty. The faculty, both American and Canadian, are recognized experts in their academic fields and are also excellent classroom teachers. Several faculty have won teaching awards. The students who have participated in the program have all given their experience in the McGill Summer Program high to excellent marks. All classes are conducted in English. McGill Law Faculty will participate in the program for credit. The teaching methodology ranges from lectures to discussions to simulation.

The program consists of three ten-day sessions that take place at the very beginning of the summer. Students can earn up to six credits. Students earning six credits qualify to receive a certificate in the study of arbitration law.

The two Introductory Courses are taught in the first part of the session in a block of teaching periods. The four Specialized Courses are taught in the second part of the session in 55-minute class periods. There is a one-day examination period at the end of the session that covers all of the courses. Examinations are 60 minutes in length. Unless there are special circumstances, the tuition applies no matter how few or how many courses are taken for credit.