International Human Rights Law Inquiry

[ZineZ]

2 minutes ago, writeandread said:

If I don't necessarily want to be a lawyer, what are some (international human rights-focused) paths I could take instead after a JD? Any organizations I should do research on? I appreciated the advice @BHC1 gave, so anything similar of that sort, I am interested in it. 

OP, you're likely looking at policy roles. I think that your questions here have been largely answered and we're likely going to go in circles (which will lead to further dogpiling). There isn't much more here to discuss. 

I'd encourage you to go on LinkedIn and check out where alumni from schools are working. 

[CleanHands]

9 minutes ago, writeandread said:

If I don't necessarily want to be a lawyer, what are some (international human rights-focused) paths I could take instead after a JD?

Don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer, barring some incredibly specific and rare plan you are dead set on and have thoroughly researched. 99% of the time it doesn't make sense. It is not as versatile a degree as people outside the profession tend to think, and "JD advantage jobs" are largely a marketing ploy by law schools to inflate the perceived value of the degree and pretend that grads obtained relevant jobs when they didn't.

[ZineZ]

3 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

Don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer, barring some incredibly specific and rare plan you are dead set on and have thoroughly researched. 99% of the time it doesn't make sense. It is not as versatile a degree as people outside the profession tend to think, and "JD advantage jobs" are largely a marketing ploy by law schools to inflate the perceived value of the degree and pretend that grads obtained relevant jobs when they didn't.

Agreed 100%. The primary purpose of a JD is to become a lawyer and practice the law.  

This has been said before - but there are many different and better avenues related to your goals. Please think through them.

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

31 minutes ago, writeandread said:

If I don't necessarily want to be a lawyer, what are some (international human rights-focused) paths I could take instead after a JD? Any organizations I should do research on?

Don't get a JD if this is your intent. The lawyers in this thread have repeated this point ad nauseum, but I'll chime in to add that there are programs outside of a JD that can get your foot in the door doing foreign work. The most obvious (and accessible) program that comes to mind are the international relations and public policy MA programs offered by NPSIA through Carleton University. If you're hell-bent on doing foreign service work, then going through NPSIA and taking some publicly offered French courses in Ottawa in your free time will serve you better than leveraging yourself to get a degree that won't aid you in your endgame objectives. 

NPSIA has an excellent Co-Op program that I've had friends go through, and they'll usually line you up with a job in the government even if you don't know French. However, two senior foreign service workers that I am acquainted with have told me that French is a hard requisite for career advancement along the foreign work path. 

NPSIA is also cheaper than law school, and if you had solid undergraduate grades, you can mitigate tuition costs with entry scholarships and TA work. 

Edited February 28 by MyWifesBoyfriend
Double checked tuition costs.

[Byzantine]

Since this is a very particular field, you are probably better reaching out to someone already working in it for a gut check / advice. I go to UBC so Nicole Barrett springs to mind. 

[goodisgood]

One person that comes to mind from my university who practices in the kind of area you're interested in is James Yap. I encourage you to take a look at his storied credentials and maybe try and reach out. He's someone who has worked in the field, teaches at the university, and has a real passion for international human rights. 

[Rashabon]

Kind of lines up with what BQ was saying. Dude has was the silver medalist at Osgoode (for whatever that's worth 😉), an LLM at Yale and clerked for the SCC. Definitely a repeatable path for many.

I know one other person who has worked somewhat in this space and he doesn't have the same credentials but also had a pretty solid background and a lot of involvement in it in law school:

https://ihrp.law.utoronto.ca/ihrp-alumni-spotlight-lane-krainyk

[Lawboi]

On 2/26/2024 at 10:02 PM, CleanHands said:

The thing about bureaucratic institutions is that they don't promote idealists who want to effect change from within to any positions where they would be able to do that. The people who get promoted to positions where they are able to effect change are the yes men who the old guard are confident won't rock the boats they built. Just put any fantasies about single-handedly reforming the UN out of your mind now.

I sympathize. This is a nearly universal truth about the world that I wish I learned sooner so I would have wasted less time and energy.

Now, if you want to help Eritrean religious minorities, Iranian sexual minorities, etc, flee their oppressive countries by doing some refugee law work, that's fairly realistic--even easy and uncompetitive--work to get. You can help marginalized individuals from across the world quite easily and early in your career, after attending any law school in the country. It is unglamorous, it pays shit, and half the time not even your clients will thank you. But if helping marginalized people from far-flung places is your goal, that's the attainable version of it.

I do refugee work.  It's uncompetitive and easy to get.  Though I don't agree it pays shit. And in my experience, the clients are drop-to-their-knees thankful.  

Find a firm with a busy client base, a commission/fee-split payment structure, and you can make quite a bit.  I'm at ~$130,000 as a first-year call with mostly Legal Aid files.   

Edited March 26 by Lawboi

[BHC1]

On 2/28/2024 at 11:36 AM, writeandread said:

If I don't necessarily want to be a lawyer, what are some (international human rights-focused) paths I could take instead after a JD? Any organizations I should do research on? I appreciated the advice @BHC1 gave, so anything similar of that sort, I am interested in it. 

As others have written, other forums will give you more relevant information.

Here is a link to a job posting for a UN Human Rights Officer in Sudan. This link should give you a sense of what type of education, language, and work experience is required for entry to mid level positions for major international organizations. Keep in mind that successful candidates often have qualifications far exceeding the minimums. Bonne chance.