About the Program

Michigan Law School boasts a deep tradition in the study of international economic law and transnational business law, serving as a home to generations of scholarly leadership and a distinguished worldwide alumni network in these fields. 

The Program on Law and the Global Economy serves as a hub for these interests in Ann Arbor, bringing together collaborative research, teaching, and policy-oriented outreach relating to globalization and economic affairs.

Our faculty expertise spans a wide range of legal systems, from treaty-based institutions like the international trade and investment regimes, to transnational corporate and private law. The program provides a forum for scholarly engagement across these fields, and for dialogue among academics, students, practitioners, and policymakers. 

The program organizes an annual conference, and co-sponsors a number of lectures and student-enrichment events at the law school throughout the year. It also serves as a locus for global scholarly exchange, drawing on the diverse group of visiting scholars in residence in collaboration with the Center for International and Comparative Law. 

For students interested in international economic law, cross-border transactions, and international dispute resolution, the Program on Law and the Global Economy can be a valuable resource.

Conferences and Events

  • The International Law of Money (February 2024)

    The Transnational Law Conference: The International Law of Money was sponsored by Michigan Law’s Center for International and Comparative Law. 

    The two-day event featured a number of panel discussions on topics including international trade, sanctions, banking crises, central banking, and the future of monetary system design.

    Participants

    • Mona Ali, SUNY New Paltz

    • Hilary Allen, American University Washington College of Law

    • Julian Arato, University of Michigan Law School

    • Dan Awrey, Cornell Law School

    • Michael Barr, Federal Reserve

    • Jared Bernstein, White House Chief Economic Adviser

    • Felix Chang, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

    • Kathleen Claussen, Georgetown Law

    • Kristina Daugirdas, University of Michigan Law School

    • Kathryn Dominguez, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

    • Barry Eichengreen, University of California, Berkeley

    • Andrea Gacki, U.S. Department of the Treasury

    • Anna Gelpern, Georgetown Law

    • Jim Hines, University of Michigan Law School

    • Robert Howse, NYU Law School

    • Kathryn Judge, Columbia Law School

    • Jeremy Kress, Michigan Ross School of Business

    • Naomi Lamoreaux, University of Michigan Law School

    • Josh Lipsky, Atlantic Council

    • Kyle Logue, University of Michigan Law School

    • Saule Omarova, Cornell Law School

    • Gabriel Rauterberg, University of Michigan Law School

    • Morgan Ricks, Vanderbilt Law School

    • Catherine Schenk, University of Oxford

    • Brad W. Setser, Council on Foreign Relations

    • Hyun Song Shin, Bank for International Settlements

    • Graham Steele, Stanford Law School

    • Margaret Tahyar, Davis Polk

    • Mark Van Der Weide, Federal Reserve

    • David Zaring, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

    • Jeffery Zhang, University of Michigan Law School

  • Academic Forum on ISDS (September 2023)

    International law scholars from around the world gathered at the University of Michigan Law School in September 2023 to focus on improving the system of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). 

    The gathering at Michigan Law was a plenary meeting of the Academic Forum on ISDS, conducted in cooperation with the newly launched University of Michigan Program on Law and the Global Economy. 

    At the two-day meeting, international investment law scholars from six continents presented and discussed a variety of academic papers related to ISDS and particularly the UNCITRAL reform process. 

    View the Conference Papers

    Participants

    • Anne van Aaken, University of Hamburg

    • Julian Arato, University of Michigan Law School

    • Simon Batifort, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP

    • Andrea Bjorklund, McGill University

    • Jonathan Bonnitcha, UNSW Sydney

    • Rachel Brewster, Duke University

    • Chios Carmody, Western University

    • Julien Chaisse, City University of Hong Kong

    • Richard Chen, University of Hawaii

    • Kathleen Claussen, Georgetown Law

    • Dominic Dagbanja, The University of Western Australia

    • Diane A. Desierto, The Law School, University of Notre Dame

    • Georgios Dimitropoulos, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

    • Katerina Florou, University of Liverpool

    • Oliver Hailes, London School of Economics and Political Science

    • Ben Heath, Temple University

    • Mélida Hodgson, Arnold & Porter; President-Elect of the American Society of International Law

    • Safaa Jaber, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

    • Vera Korzun, University of Akron

    • Huaxia Lai, Peking University School of International Studies

    • Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo

    • Joanna Langille, Western University

    • Junianto James Losari, City University of Hong Kong

    • Mark Maffett, University of Miami

    • Jean Michel Marcoux, Carleton University

    • Julianne Marley, Debevoise & Plimpton

    • Mario Milone, UC San Diego

    • Csongor István Nagy, University of Szeged

    • Stratos Pahis, Brooklyn Law School

    • Ladan Mehranvar, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

    • Cui Mingjie

    • Kehinde Olaoye, City University of Hong Kong

    • Erman Özgür, Max Planck

    • Joshua Paine, University of Bristol

    • Weijia Rao, George Mason University

    • Steven Ratner, University of Michigan Law School

    • Mavluda Sattorova, University of Liverpool

    • David Schneiderman, University of Toronto

    • Elizabeth Sheargold, Monash University

    • Günes Ünuvar, Max Planck

    • Rene Uruena, Universidad de Los Andes

    • Andrew van Duyne, Debevoise & Plimpton

    • Jarrod Wong, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific

    • Jason Webb Yackee, University of Wisconsin

    • Yanwen Zhang, University College London

    • Ying Zhu, University of Hong Kong

Who We Are

Julian Arato

Julian Arato

  • Professor of Law
  • Director, Program on Law and the Global Economy
  • Faculty Director, Center for International and Comparative Law

Also of Interest

Center for International and Comparative Law
European Legal Studies Program
Program in Law and Economics

News