Centers and Programs
Center Spotlight
Center for International & Comparative Law
Launched in 2006, Duke Law School’s Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL) coordinates and supports the School’s programs, resources, and events in the areas of international law, comparative law, and U.S. foreign relations law. A reflection of the Law School's extensive commitment to international studies, CICL deepens the already rich curriculum through the initiative of the Global Law Workshop, enhances the intellectual life of the Law School through an ambitious roster of speakers and panel discussions, and promotes the development of international and comparative law scholarship by hosting faculty roundtables for academics from around the world.
Center Spotlight
Center on Law, Ethics and National Security
Founded in 1993, the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security is an internationally recognized program devoted to public education and open discussion of the complex issues involved in this important area of law and policy. Working both independently and with other local, national, and international organizations, the Center brings together scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and the public to consider issues of critical importance to national security, such as the legal and policy implications of the war on terror; U.S. relations with the International Criminal Court; humanitarian interventions; and role of contractors in military operations.
Center Spotlight
Center for the Study of the Public Domain
The Center for the Study of the Public Domain is the first university center in the world devoted to the "public domain": the realm of material — ideas, images, sounds, discoveries, facts, texts — that is unprotected by intellectual property rights and free for all to use or build upon. Founded in 2002, the Center's mission is to advance research and scholarship on the contributions of the public domain to speech, culture, science and innovation, to promote debate about the balance needed in our intellectual property system, and to translate academic research into public policy solutions.
Center Spotlight
Center for Genome Ethics, Law and Policy
The Center for Genome Ethics, Law and Policy is one of seven centers housed in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, an organization dedicated to the study of life through scientific inquiry involving interdisciplinary research. The Institute supports and facilitates campus-wide research and scholarship that explores the impact of genome sciences on all aspects of life, human health, and social policy. As part of the Institute, the Center for Genome Ethics, Law, & Policy (GELP) focuses on the ways to foster ethically responsible and socially beneficial uses of genome science, while addressing the complex ethical, legal, social, and policy impacts of the Genome Revolution.
Center Spotlight
Global Capital Markets Center
Since its founding in 1998, the Global Capital Markets Center has been a forum for intellectual exchange on issues of law, regulation, and policy that shape capital markets. Close relationships with the business and legal communities allow the Center to focus on rapidly shifting issues of the day, including changes in corporate governance standards, director compensation issues, relationships between chief executive officers and boards, and corporate valuation. Through innovative business law and finance courses, research and conferences, the Center plays a vital role in encouraging dialogue and fresh thinking among corporate leaders, and helps prepare both students and leaders in the international business and law for the challenges facing the global economy.
Program Spotlight
Public Interest & Pro Bono Programs
The Public Interest and Pro Bono Programs underscore Duke Law School’s commitment to provide students with experiential learning opportunities that not only contribute to their professional development, but also stress the value of service. Students provide law-related services in a broad array of areas, including, criminal law, tax law, and civil rights, and work with Legal Aid, non-profit advocacy groups, government agencies, and private attorneys in their pro bono work.
Program Spotlight
Program in Public Law
The Program in Public Law aims to promote a better understanding of our nation’s public institutions, of the Constitutional framework in which they function, and of the principles and laws that apply to the work of public officials. Through conferences, workshops, informal brown bag lunches on topical public law issues, and visits by elected officials and public lawyers, the Program seeks to raise the visibility of public lawyering as an option for law students. The Program also supports, encourages, and disseminates public law scholarship and commentary by Duke Law faculty and others.
Center Spotlight
Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility
The Duke Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility is devoted to the promotion of justice in criminal cases. By educating students, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and the general public, the Center aims to identify, remedy, and prevent the wrongful conviction of innocent people.