SLS’s Third Global Quarter Delves Into Cutting-Edge Legal and Business Issues in Latin America – SLS News and Announcements

Professor Diego Zambrano Appointed Associate Dean of Global Programs and Curtis Milhaupt Named Faculty Director of Global Quarter, an Only-at-SLS Offering

The Stanford Law School (SLS) Global Quarter annually admits a small cohort of second- and third-year SLS students, called Franke Fellows, to an immersive program featuring seven weeks on campus studying the legal, economic and cultural challenges facing global businesses, followed by a three-week field study experience in business and financial centers around the world. 

The 2024 SLS Global Quarter, which wrapped up at the end of the spring quarter, marked the third year of this only-at-SLS program. It was the first year the Global Quarter program brought participating students to Latin America, with stops in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The field study portion of the 2025 Global Quarter also will be based in Latin America. The first two Global Quarters offered field studies in Europe. The 2026 and 2027 programs will be focused on Asia. Alice Schneider, director of the Global Law Program, is responsible for overseeing the application and selection process, as well as coordinating the curriculum and field study.

While new destinations and cross-border travel add a layer of enrichment and excitement for the participating students, the countries visited are somewhat secondary to the overarching goals of the program, said Curtis J. Milhaupt, William F. Baxter-Visa International Professor of Law and the recently appointed faculty director of Global Quarter. Milhaupt led the Mexico portion of the 2024 field study and has been integrally involved in structuring the program since its inception in 2020.

“The first priority is to immerse students in what it means to be an international business lawyer and to teach the skills necessary to practice law in an increasingly complex global environment, no matter the region of the world we visit in any particular year,” he said. 

While in Mexico, the students worked on a complex case study focused on supply chain nearshoring (the practice of relocating business operations to a nearby country), among other deep dives into Mexican law and business. 

“Mexico has become a major friendshoring destination for U.S. companies looking to move their supply chains, particularly from China, and we had the opportunity to visit a law firm that specializes in this kind of work,” said Milhaupt, referring to the practice of manufacturing in and sourcing from countries that are geopolitical allies.“This gave the students the chance to delve into some very challenging questions about land acquisition, and access to water and energy, as well as tax and corporate law issues. The students really did a terrific job.”  

Zambrano Takes Reins of SLS’s Global Programs

The 2024 Global Quarter also marked Professor Diego Zambrano’s first as SLS’s new Associate Dean for Global Programs, the umbrella for all of the law school’s international offerings, including the Global Quarter, as well as other cross-border programs such as visiting international scholars and study abroad. Zambrano also serves as the faculty director for SLS’s Neukom Center for the Rule of Law. He led the Colombia portion of the field study, which involved, among other activities, private meetings with judges from the Colombian Constitutional Court and collaborations with tech startups. 

Zambrano describes the field study as akin to a “boot camp” and an intense bonding experience for the participating students. It is also a lot of work, he said. 

“In the field study portions of the program, no matter where we go, the students are working very hard on case studies and problem sets before they go into their meetings,” Zambrano said. “This is not a program where they are sitting through presentations for three weeks. It is a commitment to working hard and often fighting through jet lag—all skills necessary to develop if you want to be a global transactional lawyer.”

‘An Amazing Opportunity’

Participating student Stephen Oh, JD ’25, said he applied for Global Quarter to further his interest in transactional legal work. “I’d never been to Latin America before and Global Quarter seemed like an amazing opportunity,” said Oh, who intends to eventually practice corporate transactional law. A case study with a fintech startup in Brazil proved to be a highlight, he said. “It was a completely different experience from talking about corporate and business issues in a classroom setting. We drilled down into so many fascinating issues, from how the company should think about attracting investors to the pros and cons of incorporating in different jurisdictions.”

One of the focuses of the Brazil portion of the trip, led by Michael Klausner, Nancy and Charles Munger Professor of Business, involved exploring issues of inequality in Latin America’s largest country, as well as the relationship between business interests and the environment.   

The students met with the CEO of Viva Rio, an NGO that works in Brazil’s favelas, to provide health care, dispute resolution, and athletic training for young people. “We continued the theme of inequality in a meeting with Marcos Pinto, the Secretary of Reforms in the Finance Ministry, who discussed with us ways in which Brazil is working to reduce poverty by enhancing incentives for education and improving market forces,” Klausner said. “Another theme was business and the environment. We met with Vale, a mining company that experienced two mining disasters in the past several years and has reformed its corporate governance to address them and to avoid further disasters.”

Global Quarter is funded by the Franke Global Business Law Fellowship, which William Franke, LLB ’61 (AB ’59), established in 2018 with a $25 million gift to the law school.  

While the Global Quarter allows students to experience the legal and business systems of other countries, it also helps develop their understanding of U.S. systems, Zambrano said. “This is always true about comparative law in general,” he said. “One of the more valuable aspects is that it helps you get a different perspective on your own system.”

For additional information about the Global Quarter click here.

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective, and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.