Richmond Law Cambridge Summer Program

Details & Schedule for Summer 2025

Participants in the Program will reside, dine, and attend classes in Emmanuel College, which has been part of the University of Cambridge since 1584.

Administrative Deadlines

** Note that if a student is using financial aid to pay, they may delay full payment as long as we have adequate assurance that funds are expected to arrive before the Program begins. 

Program Schedule

Richmond Law students attending Cambridge may want to balance several priorities: a summer internship, the early-summer law journal competition, and the Cambridge Summer Program itself.

The Program is specifically designed to allow students to do all of the above in the same summer. There are eight weeks available for a summer internship between the end of the spring semester (May 9) and the beginning of the Cambridge Program (July 5). The journal competition for second-year students usually begins the week after the semester ends, but it does not require all of a student’s time, so it can be completed while working at an internship.

Note also that some prospective employers now conduct online interviews during the summer for job opportunities in the following summer. Should this occur for any Cambridge students, the Program administrators will work to accommodate interview schedules.

Housing. All rooms at Emmanuel College are single rooms, with bathrooms shared by a maximum of four people. Linens and housekeeping services are provided at no additional expense, and the Emmanuel College laundry service will wash one load of laundry per student for free each week.

Food. Prior experience has shown that students often travel on the weekends, and even when in Cambridge they prefer a mixture of meals in Emmanuel College and meals on their own in local pubs and restaurants. Therefore, to reduce unnecessary costs, the Program provides the following meals in the Emmanuel College dining hall, otherwise leaving students to forage on their own:

• • Breakfast Monday through Friday.
  • Lunch Monday through Friday.
  • Dinner two days a week, as follows.
    • Week One: Sunday (July 6) and Thursday (July 10).
    • Week Two: Monday (July 14) and Wednesday (July 16).
    • Week Three: Tuesday (July 22) and Wednesday (July 23).
    • Week Four: Monday (July 28) and Wednesday (July 30).
    • Week Five: Tuesday (Aug. 5) and Thursday (Aug. 7).

The dinners listed above are mandatory, so students should not make travel plans that would cause them to miss a scheduled dinner.

Living in Cambridge. Emmanuel College is located in the heart of historic Cambridge, within walking distance of shops, restaurants, pubs, theaters, the train station, and many scenic sights. Students particularly enjoy the town’s many museums, the open-air market, the outdoor Shakespeare festival, and punting on the Cam River. London is just fifty miles away and is served by frequent and fast train and bus connections. Despite its proximity to London, the Cambridge region retains an unspoiled character, and its villages and towns have a quiet charm that is typically English. Cathedrals, abbeys, castles, and prehistoric megaliths are all within easy reach.

Law students will earn four ABA-approved credits under Richmond Law’s credit system. Undergraduate students will earn one credit under the University of Richmond’s undergraduate system. Students from other schools should get advance approval from their schools regarding transfer of credits.

Classes are taught in two sessions per day, Monday through Thursday. 

For Session One, students can opt for either Selected Issues in Public International Law or Comparative Criminal Law & Criminal Justice.

For Session Two, undergraduates must take Law of the European Union. Law students can take Law of the European Union as well, but they also have the option of taking two one-credit courses instead: The English Roots of American Law and then either Comparative Capital Punishment or Comparative Corruption—The U.S. and U.K. In other words, for law students Session Two will comprise one of the following: (1) Law of the European Union, or (2) The English Roots of American Law and Comparative Capital Punishment, or (3) The English Roots of American Law and Comparative Corruption—The U.S. and U.K. The total credits are the same regardless.

Law of the European Union (two law credits; 0.5 undergraduate units)
Dr. Albertina Albors-Llorens, St. Johns College, University of Cambridge 

The European Union legal order stands as a model of supranationalism in Europe. As the Court of Justice of the EU explained in the landmark Van Gend den Loos decision, it constitutes a new legal order that transcends International Law by creating a supranational organisation for the benefit of which Member States have ceded sovereignty in certain fields to a set of institutions whose legally binding acts can have an impact not only on Member States but also on the citizens of those States. This course will explore the unique features of this legal order and will consider their application in two foundational areas of EU law connected to the creation of the single market: free movement of goods and free movement of persons and services.

 
The English Roots of American Law (one law credit)
Prof. Jack Preis, University of Richmond School of Law

Every generation writes its own story, but no generation writes on a blank slate.  This is true of art, science, religion—and law.  For centuries, American law has wrestled with its English roots—at times embracing them, at times shunning them, but never escaping them completely.  As a result, many parts of American law are a strange amalgam of past and present that cannot be fully comprehended without looking backwards into history. In this course, each class session will delve into an area of American law that has been profoundly shaped by English law and practices. Students will not only learn some fundamental building blocks of American law (e.g., policing, juries, equality, judicial power) but also will learn how these areas of law evolved from English legal principles and practices.  The course is not designed for history buffs (though they will likely enjoy it), but for anyone curious about why American law looks the way it does.

 
Comparative Capital Punishment (one law credit)
Prof. Corinna Lain, University of Richmond School of Law

This course explores the status and administration of the death penalty in various areas of the world. What does the death penalty look like in the United States, and how does it compare with that of other nations? Why have some countries abolished the death penalty but not others? How does the abolition movement abroad affect the administration of the death penalty in the United States? Our comparative lens will consider the socio-political and cultural influences that shape the death penalty (or its abolition) around the world.

Comparative Corruption—The U.S. and U.K. (one law credit)
Prof. Andy Spalding, University of Richmond School of Law

Corruption accusations are suddenly salient in U.S. law. Each political party accuses the other of being corrupt, executive orders have reversed longstanding anti-corruption policies, the Supreme Court is reinterpreting key federal laws, and our normative commitment to fighting corruption is strangely in doubt. But what exactly is corruption, and how much should we care about it? This course will start at the founding, asking whether the Declaration of Independence is properly understood as an accusation of British corruption, and the ensuing U.S. Constitution an anti-corruption instrument. From there we will survey the law on domestic bribery, international bribery, corporate speech and campaign finance, and corruption in sport, focusing primarily on U.S. law while bringing in U.K. laws for comparison. The course should help students to not only learn the law but to refine their personal views on the role of anti-corruption in democracy.

 
Selected Issues in Public International Law (two law credits; 0.5 undergraduate units)
Dr. Rumiana Yotova, Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge

This course will explore and critically examine the basic building blocks of international law, including how it is made and applied, who are its subjects, how they resolve their disputes and more broadly, how a decentralised legal system (i.e., one where there is no overarching sovereign) deals with change over time. The course will also look at some of the key areas it regulates, including the law on the use of force and the protection of human rights. Students will have opportunities to work together as a team and to step into the shoes of government legal advisers, international judges, advocates or representatives of the United Nations in order to apply international law to controversial situations inspired by current events.

Comparative Criminal Law & Criminal Justice (two law credits; 0.5 undergraduate units)
Dr. Hend Hanafy, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge

This course focuses on selected issues in criminal law and criminal justice that intersect with intricate problems regarding the scope of criminal liability, the respect for individual autonomy, and the balance between extending the law’s protection and principled limits to criminal liability. It considers issues such as consent to harm in non-fatal offences, the justifiability of constructive liability in homicide and non-fatal offences, consent and deception in sexual offences, protection of property rights and protection from exploitation in property offences, and finally, how harm and culpability manifest in sentencing offenders. The course addresses the law in England and Wales, with reflections on continental and US laws as relevant, offering both doctrinal and theoretical considerations. 

Fees for the Program: 

* University of Richmond students do not have to pay the Advance Deposit.

Important financial dates:

* Note that if a student is using financial aid to pay, they may delay full payment as long as we have adequate assurance that funds are expected to arrive before the Program begins.

Students may take out loans to cover Cambridge costs, as with other law school expenses. University of Richmond students should contact Rachel Weinberg-Rue in the financial aid office for details and total Cost of Attendance. Other students should contact their home school’s financial aid office.

A student who withdraws from the Program before the deadline for full payment is entitled to a refund of all payments. A student who withdraws from the Program after the deadline for full payment but before July 5 is entitled to a full refund minus a $150 processing fee. Starting on July 5, no payments will be refunded. The University of Richmond reserves the right to cancel the Program in the event of compelling circumstances. In such an event, students will be notified as soon as practicable and all payments will be returned in full.

Note that airfare and other transportation expenses are the responsibility of the student.

Once a student has applied and been accepted, they will receive payment details. Students from outside the University of Richmond should send their advance deposit, payable to the University of Richmond, to: 

University of Richmond School of Law
Summer Cambridge Program, Attn.: Tracy Cauthorn
203 Richmond Way
Richmond, Virginia 23173

As noted above, applications must be submitted no later than Mon., May 12. But the sooner the better, as enrollment may be restricted by available accommodations. In particular, the availability of slots for undergraduate students from schools other than University of Richmond tends to be very limited.

Applications from students from outside the University of Richmond must be accompanied by a $150 deposit.

Please complete the application below.