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Welcome to the European Law Research Center

[ELRC Letterhead]

The establishment of the European Law Research Center in 1991 was part of an effort to solidify and expand Harvard Law School's position as a leader among American universities in European legal studies. In the years since we have broadened our mandate to embrace new thinking about the structures of international governance which affect Europe and North America alike. To that end we have strengthened our work in comparative and international law and have focused our mission on the work of younger scholars bringing new ideas and perspectives to comparative and international legal study. The ELRC encourages the development of progressive and alternative ideas about international law, society and political economy by supporting intellectual work which contributes to the emmergence of new approaches to international law and global social justice.

During the 2007-2008 academic year we are sponsoring an array of workshops, lectures and conferences in the fields of European law, international law, and law and development. In 2007-2008 we will also be introducing a number of new Initiatives including a Social Theory Working Group, a Reading Group on Philosophy and/of International Law, and with Unbound: Harvard Journal of the Legal Left an Everyday Radical Speaker Series. We will once again be hosting a workshop on “Up Against Family Law Exceptionalism” and a spring a workshop in Latin America on “Law and Development in Latin America: Legal and Institutional Innovation.” In June our annual Spring Conference will focus on "Governance Communities: Ethnic, Religious and Professional Networks in the International Legal Order"

We will continue to strengthen our Student Affiliates program in partnership with the international law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, and are currently accepting new applications. Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton will also join us in sponsoring our annual Workshop on EU and US Antitrust Law.   With the Real Colegio Complutense, we will hold our fifth annual Business Law Seminar. We will continue our dinner discussion series workshop on development and the politics of the global economy, and will continue to sponsor conversations about new directions in European Union law scholarship organized in cooperation with the student led Harvard European Law Association. The Center will also host one Senior Fellow, 4 Visiting Scholars, and 15 Visiting Researchers in 2007-2008.

The ELRC is particularly grateful to our Sponsors, who continue to show their faith in our efforts to provide a focal point for European, international and comparative law study at Harvard Law School.

Please check back often for updates on all our programs and initiatives.