Study in Rome Summer 2023

Legal Research
Professor Courtney Selby
1 Credit; 2 Weeks
In first year Legal Research and writing, students are introduced to foundational legal research sources and methods.  In this class, students will build on that knowledge to learn how effectively and efficiently conduct state and federal legal research in a variety of free, fee-based, print and online sources.  Students will gain an understanding of legislative, judicial, and administrative sources of legal information.  Students will learn how to develop and execute research strategies to answer practical and scholarly legal questions. Grades will be based on short exercises completed outside of class during the semester and a final research project.

International Litigation in U.S. Courts 
Professor Robert Ruescher
2 Credits; 4 Weeks
The course will explore selected procedural issues arising out of transnational transactions and events that are litigated in U.S. courts. The topics that will be examined include jurisdictional issues involving foreign nationals; service of process abroad; discovery abroad; recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States, and of United States judgments abroad; forum non conveniens dismissals; and parallel proceedings. Because of the overlap between this course and “International Litigation & Dispute Resolution,” students who take one of these courses may not also take the other. Grades will be based on a final examination.

Professional Responsibility: Global Context
Professor Eric Shannon
3 Credits; 4 Weeks
This course addresses the history, goals, structure, values and responsibilities of the legal profession and its members in the United States and the European Union. While it focuses on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the course takes a comparative approach to issues such as the lawyer’s responsibilities in civil and criminal matters, confidentiality and privilege, representation of entities, and the lawyer’s duties to improve the administration and availability of justice. Special attention will be paid to issues that arise in multijurisdictional practices and the distinctions between common law and civil legal systems. Grades will be based on written and oral in-class exercises, and a final examination. This course satisfies the Professional Responsibility Requirement.

Law & Literature
Professor Rachel H. Smith
1 credit; 2 weeks
Students in this course will read works of literature by such authors as Aeschylus, William Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf to study various topics including the moral and ethical dimensions of law, law's connection to the fate of individuals, and the connections among law, authority and humanity, using principles of traditional, modern and post-modern literary criticism. Short weekly nongraded responses are required. Grades are based upon attendance, participation in class discussions, and either three short papers or one long research paper.  Students may use course to complete Scholarly Writing Requirement (SWR).

Comparative Social Justice: Civil Rights in Italy and the United States
Professor Renee Allen
2 credits; 2 weeks
This seminar explores social justice movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s through a comparative examination of the law and legal systems of Italy and the United States. After a brief examination of the historical origins and conceptual differences between legal systems, we’ll study movements for equality under the law with a focus on four questions: What economic, political, social rights, and opportunities were the focus of each movement? How have social justice movements produced legal change? What legal solutions have been the most and least effective? What can legal institutions do to produce social change? 

Professor Rachel H. Smith
In addition to serving as the Vice Dean for Student Success, Rachel H. Smith teaches Legal Writing, Legal Research, and Law & Literature. 

Rachel is the author of two legal writing books: The Handbook for the New Legal Writer (with Jill Barton) and The Legal Writing Survival Guide. Both books aim to demystify the process of legal writing and serve as a source of encouragement for beginning and more experienced legal writers. Rachel has presented at national and regional legal writing conferences on topics including teaching with positivity, using popular non-fiction in the legal writing classroom, and the pedagogy of using examples. In 2009, Rachel received a grant from the Association of Legal Writing Directors to prepare a series of legal writing podcasts called “Perk Up Your Pens.”

Before coming to St. John’s, Rachel was a founding member of the Legal Communication and Research Skills faculty at the University of Miami School of Law. In addition to teaching the first-year legal writing course, she developed a popular course on Advanced Techniques in Written Persuasion. Before that, she was part of the Legal Analysis Research and Writing Faulty at Santa Clara University School of Law, where she was twice awarded the Legal Writing Teacher of the Year Award.

Rachel received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. After graduation, she worked as a litigator in the San Francisco office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP where she worked on a variety of intellectual property disputes for toy, tech, and casino gaming companies. 

Professor Robert A. Ruescher
Professor Ruescher is a Professor of Legal Writing and Director of the law school's LL.M. in U.S. Legal Studies Program. He currently teaches Applied Legal Analysis, Civil Prodedure, Introduction to Law, and U.S. Legal Analysis and Writing for foreign trained lawyers. Before joining the law faculty in 2001, Professor Ruescher taught first-year writing, introductory research, and various upper-class writing courses at New York Law School. He also helped develop and administer that school's Writing Program courses and served as Assistant Director of the Program in 1999-2000. In addition, he has practiced banking, corporate, and securities law at several law firms, principally Moses & Singer in Manhattan.

Professor Ruescher presently serves as faculty advisor to the St. John's Law Review and Director of the law school's U.S. Legal Studies Program.  He has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching, most recently for First-Year Professor of the Year (2012-2013) and Professor of the Year (2013-2014).  He is a co-author of The Lawyer's Craft (Anderson Publishing Co. 2001), a first-year legal writing text.

Professor Renee Allen
Professor Renee Nicole Allen  is an Associate Professor of Legal Writing and Founding Faculty Director, for the Center for Race and Law which launched in the fall of 2022. She teaches Legal Writing I & II, The Music & The Movement: Race, Rhythm, and Social Justice, Public Interest Drafting, Comparative Social Justice, and Race and the Law. 

Professor Allen’s scholarship focuses on race, social justice, and legal education. Her recent scholarship examined structural racism in legal academia and defined the academic terror marginalized students experience in the law school white space. Her work has also explored the ways Black women are silenced by systemic gendered racism in the law school white space and encouraged law schools to reevaluate academic norms to create positive experiences for Black women. Her articles and essays have been published in several journals, including the UCLA Law Review, Rutgers Law Review, and William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice. She has presented her scholarship at national conferences, including AALS, SEALS, SALT, LWI, the Institute for Law Teaching & Learning, and the National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference. 

Professor Allen is a proud first-generation attorney and an accidental law professor. Prior to joining the St. John’s faculty, she held academic support and bar preparation positions at several law schools. Before academia, she practiced family law in metro Atlanta. She received her J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and her B.A. in English Literature from Mercer University. In 2019, she earned a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Tennessee.

Professor Eric Shannon
As Associate Dean of Students, Professor Eric Shannon is primarily responsible for the academic, intellectual, psychological, and personal aspects of student life at the Law School. Eric has also taught courses in both the J.D. and LL.M. programs at St. John’s as an adjunct professor. Before initially joining St. John’s as a career development counselor in 2018, Eric worked for several years as a litigator at an international corporate law firm. He is a graduate of Cornell University, Fordham’s Graduate School of Education, and NYU School of Law. Before obtaining his J.D., he spent two years in the Teach for America corps as a high school biology teacher.

Professor Courtney Selby
Courtney Selby is the Associate Dean for Library Services and Associate Professor of Legal Research at St. John’s University School of Law.  She received her B.A. in sociology from the University of Tulsa, a Master's of Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma, and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa. Following law school, she served as the Collection Development and Instructional Services librarian and Legal Research Instructor at the University of Tulsa. Thereafter, she served for 8 years as the Associate Dean for Information Services, Director of the Law Library, and Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School, earning recognition for her teaching, scholarship, and work in the field of law librarianship.

She is actively involved in the American Association of Law Libraries, serving in a number of leadership roles in several of the association's special interest sections, and continues to publish in the areas of legal research and law librarianship.  Additionally, she is involved with the Association of American Law Schools Section on Technology, Law & Legal Education and has developed student-centered programming to support curricular initiatives at the intersection of law and technology.

In addition to her work in the law library and in information technology, Professor Selby teaches advanced legal research courses for the law school with an emphasis in developing both strategy-based and practice-ready research skills for a new generation of legal professionals.

Tentative Schedule

May 29 – June 9 (Monday through Friday)

9:00 am – 10:50am/11:40 am Professional Responsibility: Global Context
11:00 am - 1:00 pm Legal Research
11:00 am - 1:00 pm Law & Literature
11:50 am – 1:00 pm International Litigation in U.S. Courts

June 12 – June 23 (Monday through Friday)

9:00 am – 10:25 am Professional Responsibility: Global Context
10:35 am – 12:20 pm International Litigation in U.S. Courts
10:35 am – 1:00 pm Comparative Social Justice: Civil Rights in Italy and the United States

The St. John's Office of Disability Services will work with any student who qualifies for a disability accommodation. Please be aware that many places in Italy and in the city of Rome may not have similar accommodations. The following information is available on the U.S. Department of State's website:

ACCESSIBILITY: While in Italy, individuals with disabilities may find accessibility and accommodation very different from in the United States. Many find Italy’s narrow cobbled streets and storied monuments charming; they can, however, be a challenge for physically impaired travelers. Many Italian sidewalks lack ramps, and some Italian streets lack sidewalks altogether or, as in Venice, feature stairs and narrow pedestrian bridges. While some major sights and hotels have put time and planning into ensuring accessibility, there are others that lack ramps, elevators, or handicap-accessible bathrooms. Advance planning can go a long way in making a difference in accommodation for disabled travelers. Inform airlines and hotels of your disability when making reservations as some time may be needed to prepare accommodation. Call ahead to restaurants, museums, and other facilities to find out if they are wheelchair accessible. Most, but not all, train stations in Italy have accommodations for those traveling in wheelchairs. With advance notice, personal assistance can be provided to a disabled person traveling through a particular station. More information is available at Trenitalia's website addressing disabled travelers. For those who wish to rent cars, hand-controlled vehicles are available in Italy from major car rental companies. You should contact the car rental company well in advance of your trip in order to reserve the vehicle. Remember that Italy functions on 220-volt current. To recharge an electric wheelchair motor, you may need a transformer to change the 220 current to 110 volts as well as an adapter to adjust the plug to fit Italian electrical sockets.

Guide dog owners must present the documentation required by European Union Member States in order to enter Italy with a dog.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

If changes in the course offerings or other significant aspects of the Program occur prior to the commencement of the Program, those changes will be communicated promptly by email and registrants who have paid a deposit or registered for the Program will be given an opportunity to withdraw, with a refund provided for any Program costs paid, less the non-refundable $500 deposit.

Students who wish to cancel their participation in the Rome Program for any other reason after registering must notify the Program Director Dean Eric W. Shannon ([email protected]) before April 7, 2023. In such cases, the student will receive a full refund, less the non-refundable $500 deposit.

Students who submit notice of cancellation after April 7, 2023, may receive a partial refund. The Program Director will make a decision on any partial refunds depending on the timing of, and reason for, the cancellation on a case by case basis.

In addition, St. John’s School of Law reserves the right to modify, amend, or cancel the Rome Program because of insufficient enrollment. St. John’s will make every effort to make any amendment/cancellation decisions by April 7, 2023. In the unlikely event the Program has to be cancelled prior to its commencement or during the course of the Program, students will receive communication immediately by email and notice of cancellation will be posted on this website. If the Program has to be cancelled for any reason, we will make every effort to assist students in finding a similar alternative program if the student sends the Program Director a written request within seven business days of the notice of cancellation

Online Application

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