Message from the Dean

Prof. Yishai Blank

Prof. Yishai Blank

Welcome to the Buchmann Faculty of Law website - a "virtual front door" to our law school. If you have made it this far, I strongly encourage you to take the next step and learn about our school and its programs.

 

TAU Law is the oldest law school in Israel, tracing its roots to the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics established in 1935. Our law school  is not only the oldest but also the best law school in Israel and is a leading law school globally. Our top tier research output has been ranked by the QS 2013 annual rankings #1 outside the US and UK for scientific research impact and citations - a key indicator of the high quality of our Faculty.

 

The law school is home to a vibrant, innovative and dedicated academic community. We, at TAU Law, seek to educate Israel's future legal leaders and strengthen its society through socially-engaged, legally-skilled and policy oriented students. Our goal is to create for our students a unique learning environment that encourages independent thinking and prepares them for their professional pursuits. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of our alumni hold senior positions in the country's leading law firms, judiciary, politics, journalism and business. In recent years, we have also attracted a growing number of promising international students and researchers.

 

TAU Law and its faculty members are deeply involved in the legal challenges Israel faces with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the position of religion in the Jewish State, issues of national security, welfare, immigration, health, education and more. As such, we offer a wide array of courses and seminars in fields such as Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Jewish Law, Islamic Law, International Law, Corporation Law and Intellectual Property Law. In addition, our cutting-edge Clinical Legal Education Program exposes students to real life clients and problems, to various value laden policy issues and to the exciting world of Israeli NGOs.

 

As a country, we are positioned both culturally and economically at the junction of North America, Europe and Asia. Israel is a mixed legal system having historical layers transplanted from French, British, German and American law. This has created a unique intermix of legal thoughts and methods in the law school, which are brought into our classrooms.

 

When it comes to legal theory and doctrine, we have won a reputation as an intellectual powerhouse. Our distinguished faculty members have been educated at leading law schools in the world, they regularly publish articles in top-ranking law reviews and interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journals, as well as books in the world's most prestigious university presses.

 

We currently have 10 research centers and institutes. Among these is the Cegla Center for Interdisciplinary Research of the Law, which is home to our flagship journal - Theoretical Inquiries in Law (TIL), the top-ranking law review outside the US (according to the Washington and Lee ranking), and yet another indication of our high quality of research.

 

Throughout the year we host many academic events such as workshops, colloquia, conferences and guest lectures, which are held both in Hebrew and English. We boast a long tradition of institutional and personal collaborations with leading academic institutes and scholars from across the globe. Some 25 Visiting Professors are invited to teach at the law school every year and approximately 200 short-term visitors come to take part in various academic activities.

 

The Faculty of Law is part of a comprehensive university, comprising 9 faculties and nearly 40 schools, that all play a key role in Israel’s startup nation, being strongly involved in Israel's innovative high-tech, cyber, biomedical energy and defense sectors. This makes our law school perfectly positioned to be a real interdisciplinary school. We have strong interdisciplinary groups in fields such as legal history, law and economics and political and moral philosophy. We often collaborate with departments in the Social Sciences and the Humanities, in both research and teaching. 

 

The school's connections and close proximity with many law firms, NGOs and high tech startup centers, enable us to give our students a broader and enriching experience. As such, we are able to bring a wide range of adjuncts to teach specialized courses, which further strengthen our ties with the legal community, and often create interesting internships and job opportunities for our graduates.

 

For our international students we offer over 45 courses in English to choose from, as well as numerous community outreach opportunities. Our English courses are taught by internationally-renowned faculty, both from TAU Law and from leading law institutes around the world. In that respect, we go to great lengths to ensure our international students feel a sense of belonging, both during classes and after-school hours.

 

If you are studying for an LL.B. or J.D. degree, I recommend you take a look at our vast Student Exchange Program, which includes a network of over 40 partner universities as well as “Study Abroad” opportunities for students from institutions outside the network. If you intend to study for a Masters of Laws, our year-long International LL.M. offers a number of customized study programs. For doctoral or post-doctoral students we offer various short to long-term graduate-level and post-doc level study and research opportunities, as part of the unique Zvi Meitar Center for Advanced Legal Studies, as well as the Safra Center for Ethics and the Globaltrust Project. Young faculty members are also invited to come visit us as visiting researchers. As a visiting scholar, you will have access to the David J. Light Law Library, as well as the full range of our academic events. All of our international students benefit from personal travel related and academic counselling, orientation, tours and social events.

 

Let me close by stating that, as Dean, I am committed to maintaining our position at the forefront of legal education in Israel. I invite you, once again, to explore our website, and in particular, our faculty members' webpages, research centers and calendar of events. I am confident that you will find a remarkable amount of study programs and opportunities that might suite you.

 

Sincerely,

 Yishai Blank

Buchmann Faculty of Law Dean and Professor of Law    

 

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