First International TLP Student Studying at Law School

Dorsey D. Ellis, Jr., academic director of the Transnational Law Program, discusses study abroad opportunities with TLP exchange student Zahra Biniaz, second from right, and Washington University TLP students Kathryn Kuznitsky and Maggie Wichmann, right. Photo by Mary Butkus.

Washington University Law began hosting its first international Transnational Law Program (TLP) student this fall. An Iranian national, Zahra Biniaz is a senior at University College Utrecht. After spending a semester as an exchange student here, she will obtain her undergraduate degree in law and economics in December from Utrecht. Biniaz then plans to study at Washington University Law for an additional year and pursue an LL.M. in U.S. Law.

Biniaz, who also spent a summer interning for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the comparative and international law aspects of TLP were a major selling point for her.

 “My primary interest has been corporate law, which, by its very nature, is not confined to one jurisdiction,” Biniaz said. “Many corporations are incorporated in America and hence an understanding of the American legal system appears to be essential.

“On the other hand, the activities of corporations certainly extend to other parts of the world, including Europe and countries that follow the European tradition of civil law,” she continued. “For this reason, during my studies at University College Utrecht, I decided to attend an exchange program with an American university in order to deepen my understanding of corporations and corporate law.”

Founded in 2008, TLP is an international and inter-university effort to cultivate a growing class of lawyers and professionals who are trained to practice across international borders. The collaborative effort pairs Washington University with four European schools: Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the University of Trento in Italy, Catholic University of Portugal, and Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Students who are accepted into the program have several unique opportunities, including an extended study-abroad experience, a degree from each university attended, foreign language instruction, and the ability to participate in the law school’s Summer Institute for Global Justice.

“TLP is geared toward meeting the demands of globalization through training professionals that are both good common law and civil law lawyers,” Biniaz noted. “Moreover, while lawyers have been mostly confined to practicing law in the country where they studied law, I believe that the TLP increases the mobility of law professionals.”

As Biniaz immerses herself in legal studies here, four Washington University Law students are preparing to head to Europe next semester. Having spent their first five semesters in St. Louis, they will now attend their final three semesters at Utrecht University Faculty of Law.  Future classes of Washington University Law students will have the opportunity to study at one of several EU partner schools.

Through TLP, these graduates will be prepared, in the words of Biniaz, to “seize a variety of professional opportunities on a more global scale.”

By Brent Mueller