Human Rights Institute | Columbia Law School

Continuing Legal Education Programs

HRI works to build the capacity of the BHRH Lawyers’ Network members through an annual continuing legal education program focused on human rights in the United States. Past trainings have focused on the Inter-American Human Rights System; Human Rights and State Courts; Ethics and Domestic Human Rights Lawyering; and Engaging with UN Human Rights Mechanisms. The CLE trainings are open to all.

This years CLE training "Bringing Economic & Social Rights Home: The Right to Adequate Housing in the U.S." will take place on April 26.  Registration is now open.

Past CLE Trainings

The U.S. & the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: 20 Years After Ratification

Friday March 16, 2012
Skadden, Arps

Co-sponsored by:
Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute
American Civil Liberties Union
University of Pennsylvania School of Law Transnational Legal Clinic

The United States ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1992. As the U.S. government and civil society prepare for the fourth periodic review of the United States’ compliance with its obligations under the covenant, this program will examine the history and impact of U.S. ratification and engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Committee, which monitors its compliance with the covenant, and will look ahead at the possibilities for ensuring U.S. accountability for its human rights commitments.

Click here to view the conference agenda.

Engaging with UN Human Rights Mechanisms

Friday June 3, 2011
Skadden, Arps

Co-sponsored by: 

Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute
Human Rights Watch
American Civil Liberties Union
United Nations Association of the USA

This program explored strategies for U.S. lawyers
to effectively engage with UN human rights mechanisms as a means of furthering domestic social justice advocacy efforts. Participants received a grounding in the international human rights system and mechanisms as well as an understanding of strategies for engagement
with civil society and government and challenges of local implementation and follow-up.

Click here to view the conference agenda.

Ethics & Domestic Human Rights Lawyering

Friday June 4, 2010
Skadden, Arps

Co-sponsored by:
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative

This training explored whether and how adoption of a human rights framework in the domestic advocacy setting shapes a lawyer’s ethical responsibilities.

Click here to view the conference agenda.

The United States and the Inter-American Human Rights System

April 7, 2008
Skadden, Arps

Co-sponsored by:
Center for Justice and International Law
American Society for International Law

When advocacy in civil and human rights cases is unsuccessful in U.S. courts, lawyers sometimes turn to the Washington, D.C. based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) as an alternate forum to air their clients’ grievances. This CLE training focused on how this tribunal affects U.S.-based advocacy.

Click here to view the agenda.

Human Rights & State Law: New Strategies for Economic Justice Advocacy

April 17, 2009
Skadden, Arps

Co-sponsored by:
Northeastern Law School, Program on Human Rights in the Global Economy
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Social Welfare Committee
The American Society of International Law

This training explored the use of transnational standards in developing state law jurisprudence to protect economic and social rights such as health and housing, as well as non-litigation human rights legal strategies in advocating for economic justice. Lawyers who practice in state court and/or engage in non-litigation economic justice advocacy efforts at the state and local level benefited from attendance. Under New York State CLE regulations, this transitional and non-transitional program provided in aggregate a maximum of 7.5 credit hours, of which 6.5 credit hours can be applied toward the Areas of Professional Practice requirement and 1.0 toward the Ethics requirement.

Click here to view the conference agenda.

Please see below for copies of the PowerPoint presentations used at conference.

Kyle Courtney, Session V: 'Introduction to International and Foreign Legal Research'

Comparative Foreign Law in US Courts & Advocacy

April 19, 2007
Columbia Law School

Co-sponsored by:
Northeastern Law School, Program on Human Rights in the Global Economy
The American Society of International Law

Over the past few terms, the Supreme Court and other U.S. courts have shown a growing interest in comparative foreign law arguments. This all day CLE program was designed for domestic public interest lawyers considering when and how to incorporate foreign sources into domestic litigation and advocacy. The program provided an overview of the Supreme Court’s use of foreign law, considered the controversy and debate around the use of such sources arguments, and examined case studies of legal strategies using foreign sources. The session concluded with a skill-building session on how to conduct foreign law research.

Experts on the use of foreign legal sources led the sessions, providing insight into judicial attitudes towards such sources and strategic considerations in their use in different U.S. forums. Click here to view the conference agenda.