Berkeley Law J.D. students have the opportunity to participate in the INHR Program in Geneva. In the fall of their 2nd or 3rd year of law school, students will take a 1-unit seminar taught by Eric Richardson, president of INHR, to learn about the United Nations and the Human Rights Council. During the fall, each student will be assigned a country, and the students will spend the subsequent spring semester in Geneva working with that country’s UN delegation. Students will draft interventions, statements, and reports for their delegation. Students will also represent their respective country at the Human Rights Council, held annually in February and March.
Previous students have worked with the ambassadors of Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Fiji, The Marshall Islands, The Maldives, Costa Rica and Sierra Leone.
Eligible students can earn 8-12 units of law school credit while conducting a field placement. Accepted students should start by scheduling an advising appointment. Interested students must take the INHR seminar offered every fall before participating in the away field placement.
Link to 2025-2026 INHR application: available soon. The application process happens between May and July.
Why INHR?
INHR is a non-profit organization that helps small and mid-sized states gain access to the United Nations. INHR aims to level the U.N. policy playing field by building the capacity of smaller organizations and delegations so that they can better advance their perspectives.
Eric Richardson, INHR President and Lecturer
About the Instructor
Eric Richardson’s 30-year career includes working as a diplomat, attorney and journalist. He worked at U.S. embassies in and for China, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand, and Israel and the Palestinian territories. From 2013 to 2016, he served in Geneva as Deputy at the UN Human Rights Council. His Washington assignments focused on North Korea, political transitions in Burma and the Arab Spring, and legal and congressional affairs. As an international attorney, his clients ranged from technology and telecommunications companies to federal judges, and from Central American migrants to UN Agencies. He is a negotiations professor at US and UK law schools, has numerous awards and publications. He speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, and French.
The Field Placement Program is governed by ABA Standard 304: Study Outside the Classroom and Berkeley Law Academic Rule 3 – the 295 Series – (c) Limitations.