Two Week Summer Session in Costa Rica
Next Program Summer 2009
Thank you for your interest in our two-week summer session in Costa Rica. The dates of the session this year make it particularly attractive, as students may take the program when the spring semester ends and still have almost the entire summer for work. Evening students in particular may find the possibility of a two- week session inviting. The hotel is inexpensive, has a swimming pool, and there are many one-day excursions around San Jose (rain forests, etc.) to occupy the family while the students is in class or studying. This combined law school session and family vacation is feasible for part-time as well as full time students.
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is enthusiastic about adding Costa Rica to our Latin America Summer Session locations, along with Mexico and Brazil. There is no more effective way to study Latin America’s legal system than to be able to experience the courts, law offices, law schools, etc., at the same time that we read and discuss these topics in class. We have excellent ties with the legal community in Costa Rica and will be able to profit from that during our session. As a law school in the only civil code jurisdiction in the United States, with both a civil code and common law curriculum, Loyola is uniquely qualified to introduce American law students to the civil law tradition of Latin America.
Program Highlights
- Housing in the Villa Tournon Hotel, located one and one half blocks from San Jose’s
Entertainmaint Center. See website at www.costarica-hotelvillatournon.com for a view of the hotel. - Welcome Party at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 19
- Tour of San Jose, Sunday Morning, May 20
- Crafts market on Sunday afternoon, May 20
- Weekend excursion to Manuel Antonio National Park and beach or the active Arenal Volcano
Academic Component of the Program
One two-credit course and three one-credit courses are offered during the session. Because of American Bar Association regulations regarding classroom hours, students may enroll for up to three credits. Students should understand that scheduled class hours will have to be changed on occasion to accommodate visits to local institutions.
Please Note: Students may enroll in up to three credit hours but are allowed to enroll in less than three credit hours. Because of A.B.A. regulations regarding classroom hours, in order to schedule 3 semester hours students can only enroll in the following choices:
1. Latin American Legal Systems (2 credit hours)
International Commercial Arbitration (1 credit hour)
OR
2. International Commercial Arbitration (1 credit hour)
Comparative Products Liability (1 credit hour – scheduled in the first week of the program)
Comparative Marital Property Regimes (1 credit hour – scheduled in the second week of the program)
LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS
(2 credit hours) (Monday to Friday, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m, May 21 – June 1)
Professor Keith Vetter
This course focuses on all elements of the legal system, the substantive private law, the judicial method, the judiciary, the legal profession, legal education, governmental structure, and public law. Naturally, it will be taught from a comparative perspective. Our classroom instruction will be enhanced by trips to one of Costa Rica’s leading law firms, the University of Costa Rica Law School (where we will hold our classes), as well as various courts in the Costa Rican judicial system. Loyola has excellent ties with Costa Rica’s legal community; this gives us the opportunity to interact with Costa Rican attorneys, law students, and judges at the same time we read and discuss the topics in class. For example, our class in legal education in Latin America will be attended by students of the University of Costa Rica Law School, who will express their views concerning the Costa Rican system. Similarly, during our visit to a leading Costa Rica law firm, one of the partners, who studied and practiced in the U.S., will give his perspective on law practice in Latin America.
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION
(1 credit hour) (Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., May 21 – June 1)
Professor John Rooney
The course will cover the regulation and use of international commercial arbitration from the perspectives of United States and Costa Rican law. We will discuss the application of the principle instruments of public international law in the area (Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration) and the Federal Arbitration Act and Costa Rica's national arbitration law. After general treatment of the major sources of law, the class will cover the enforceability of the agreement to arbitrate, interim measures of protection, rules for the conduct of international arbitrations (International Chamber of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration, Inter-American Commission on International Commercial Arbitration, and UNICTRAL International Arbitration Rules);development and use of evidence in the international arbitration; and the recognition and enforcement of the international arbitral award. The class will close with a general discussion of Investor-State Arbitration, in particular, its role in Bilateral Investment Treaties, Free Trade Agreements and the ICSID arbitration facility.
COMPARATIVE PRODUCTS LIABILITY LAW
(1 credit hour) (Monday – Friday, 2-4:30 p.m., May 21 – May 25)
Professor Mike Whipple
This course will explore theories of liability used in defective manufacture, design defect, and failure to warn cases in a variety of jurisdictions including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and South Africa. Transnational choice-of-law issues in products liability actions will also be addressed, as will recent trends in damage limitations.
COMPARATIVE MARITAL PROPERTY REGIMES
(1 credit hour) (Monday – Friday, 2-4:30 p.m., May 28 – June 1)
This course will compare civil law community property principles to those employed in common law distribution jurisdictions. The course will analyze the historical and social factors contributing to the development of each system’s principles of ownership, management, and distribution. Emphasis will be placed on the treatment of career assets, such as pensions and goodwill.
Examinations
Examinations are scheduled on Saturday, June 2: Latin American Legal Systems from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.; International Commercial Arbitration from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.; Comparative Products Liability from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.; Comparative Martial Property Regimes from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.; Students who wish to leave on Saturday should not schedule a flight leaving before 2 ½ hours after their last exam. Unfortunately, because of classroom space these times cannot be adjusted for individual students to adjust flights.
Faculty
Professor Keith Vetter of the Loyola faculty teaches Comparative Law and Latin American Legal Systems at Loyola; he has written numerous articles and books and has lectured on comparative law topics at law schools in Japan, Yugoslavia, Slovenia, France, Holland, England ( Oxford), Mexico, Costa Rica, and Brazil. He has taught at the Institut de Droit Compare, Faculte de Droit, Universite-Jean Moulin, Lyon, France, the Vytatus Magnus University School of Law in Kaunas, Lithuania and the State University of Rio de Janeiro Law School in Rio, Brazil. He was the first director of Loyola’s Foreign Summer Sessions.
Professor John Rooney is an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and the University of Miami Law School. He has written numerous articles and has practiced extensively in Latin America as counsel to Pan American Life Insurance Company and as vice president/assistant general counsel for John Alden Life Insurance Company. Rooney is now in private practice centered almost exclusively in Latin America.
Professor Dian Tooley-Knoblett is the Jones Walker Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University College of Law. For over twenty years, she has taught a broad spectrum of civil code courses, in addition to conflict of laws and common law property. She has been involved with the Louisiana State Law Institute for twenty years on over a dozen law revision projects, including the revisions of the civil code sections on sales and of lease. She has also been a member of the council of the Louisiana State Law Institute for thirteen years.
Professor Philip M. Whipple served for 10 years as director of the law library at the University of Puerto Rico prior to becoming a member of the Loyola Law faculty and Director of Loyola's Law Library. Before that appointment, he was a member of the faculty and a law librarian at Pepperdine University and the University of Toledo. Immediately after law school, Professor Whipple practiced with the Phoenix law firm of O'Connor, Cavanagh, Anderson, Westover, Killingsworth & Beshears, where he concentrated in the areas of general commercial litigation, products liability, and professional negligence with an emphasis on special motion and appellate practice. He has taught civil procedure, torts, and seminars in community property, and civil disobedience and the law.
Program Expenses
We are able to offer a relatively inexpensive package. Our tuition is $1,200 for the session. A program fee of $150 covers the welcome reception, insurance, and all transportation in Costa Rica, and all printed materials. We have been able to obtain double rooms for approximately $32 per person, at the beautiful Villa Tournon Hotel. Visit the website at www.costarica-hotelvillatournon.com for a view of the facility and information on the location. We will coordinate the reservations. We estimate that living expenses should be about $48 a day including both food and lodging for the time we are in San Jose. If you add $150 in expenses for an optional weekend excursion (and no trip to Costa Rica is complete without a trip to a volcano and rain forest or one of Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches), the total living expenses should be approximately $800 for the session (double occupancy). Of course, cost of transportation is a factor, but with judicious searching one can obtain a very reasonable fare.
Students should note that our package reserves the hotel room from Saturday, May 19 to Sunday, June 3, so anyone leaving on Saturday will be responsible for Saturday night’s room charge.
The Host Country and Accomodations
The main feature of our program of course is the opportunity to be exposed to the fascinating foreign experience of Costa Rica. The oldest democracy in Latin America and the only country in the region without a standing army, Costa Rica is a place of economic dynamism and enormous natural beauty. San Jose itself has cultural centers, theaters that are historic monuments, and museums that highlight the country’s colorful past.
The main attraction of Costa Rica, however, lies in its exceptional natural beauty, manifested in the extraordinary variety of ecosystems, all fairly accessible, because of the small size of the country. From volcanic rain forests to sunny Atlantic and Pacific coast beaches, Costa Rica has it all. We take advantage of this by offering an optional weekend trip to a rain forest and volcano or Costa Rica’s most beautiful beach resort. By experiencing the busy tempo of San Jose as well as some of the natural beauty of the countryside, we will sample the diversity of this compact, fascinating land.
The site of our program will be San Jose, the economic heart of Costa Rica. San Jose is home to the largest industries, law firms, and universities. We’ll be lodging at the Villa Tournon Hotel, near the heart of San Jose and a few steps away from one of the main shopping districts with numerous restaurants, movie theaters, and clubs.
Registration Procedures
To apply, please fill out the Secure Online Application Form or the Print Application Form and return it us along with a $25 application fee (nonrefundable) and $100 (nonrefundable) registration deposit. Credit cards are accepted. You are required to have your law school to certify that you are in good standing so the credit earned in this summer program will be accepted by your school. A second payment of $100 will be due January 30, 2007. The remainder of tuition is due April 1, 2007, and because of the advance financial preparations necessary to conduct programs abroad, tuition cannot be refunded after April 1, 2007.
It is unlikely that participation in foreign summer programs may be used to accelerate graduation. Students interested in acceleration should be referred to their home schools to review this issue in light of Standard 305, Interpretation 4.
In the unlikely event of insufficient enrollment or civil unrest which would make it dangerous for students in Costa Rica, our program could be cancelled. In such a case, students registered in the program will be notified by letter or telephone and all money will be refunded.
* If you do not have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader it is available as a download from the Adobe web site.
Cancellation Policies
Loyola does not anticipate the need to cancel the program. However, ABA regulations require a disclosure that certain events such as war, natural disaster, or insufficient enrollment could cause cancellation. Should this occur, all deposits and funds paid for the program would be refunded. Furthermore, Loyola would make every effort to find you a comparable program sponsored by another law school.
Also, should any changes occur in the course offerings or other significant aspects of the program, applicants who have paid a deposit for the program will be given the opportunity to obtain a full refund of all fees paid.
Disabilities
Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend as the law school and hotels are modern, but interested students who request special accommodations should contact program coordinator Judy Corcoran to discuss availability. This measure is taken to ensure that facilities comparable to those in the United States are available for the disabled.
For more information please contact:
Judy Corcoran
International Programs Coordinator
Loyola University College of Law
7214 St. Charles Avenue - Box 901
New Orleans, LA 70118
Tel. (504) 861-5563, Fax (504) 861-5480
E-mail address: corcoran@loyno.edu
Photo Gallery
Our photo gallery contains pictures taken on past trips.
