Huber JD/LLM ’21 selected for clerkship with Europe's highest court
Participants in the program work in Luxembourg at the Court of Justice for the European Union (EU), which interprets EU law to ensure it is applied the same in all member countries and settles disputes between national governments and EU institutions.
Karen Huber JD/LLM '21
Karen Huber JD/LLM ’21 has been selected for the Dean Acheson Legal Stage Program, a prestigious clerkship with Europe’s highest court.
Participants in the program work in Luxembourg at the Court of Justice for the European Union (EU). The court interprets EU law to ensure it is applied the same in all member countries and settles disputes between national governments and EU institutions.
The purpose of the clerkships, which are offered to a small number of students at select law schools in the United States, is “to promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the U.S. and the European Union in the context of the legal profession,” according to the program’s website.
“We are thrilled that Karen will be clerking for a judge on the CJEU General Court, which hears a wide range of EU legal issues,” said Professor Laurence Helfer, co-director of Duke’s Center for International and Comparative Law. “The clerkship will provide real-world exposure to the interesting ways that international law, EU law, and national law interact.”
Huber will be assigned to the chambers of Judge Inga Reine of Latvia and assist her on cases before the General Court, where each member country is represented by two judges. She is the second Duke Law graduate to be chosen.
Huber was a professor of European History at Wesleyan College before attending law school. At Duke, she was a board member of the International Law Society and the Human Rights Law Society, served on the board of the Public Interest Law Foundation, volunteered with the Women Law Students Association, and was a student representative on the Entry-Level and Lateral Faculty Appointments Committees. She also worked at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and Shearman & Sterling in New York, which she will join full-time following her clerkship.
“I am honored to have been chosen for the Dean Acheson Stage and to begin my legal career clerking at such an important institution,” Huber said. “I look forward to working with the General Court's judges and staff and to seeing the interplay between national, EU, and international law in real conflicts.
“I am grateful to the outstanding faculty at Duke Law, especially the international and comparative law faculty, who prepared me for this wonderful opportunity. I'm also grateful to Shearman & Sterling for their support in allowing me to take advantage of this program.”