To better serve her clients, lawyer Angela Inniss left her office on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and traveled thousands of miles. She is among the more than 1,200 lawyers and judges from over 50 countries who have come to the University of California, Davis, to study the U.S. legal system and international commercial law in intensive programs over the last 10 summers. "I'm interested in developing my offshore practice," says Inniss, who practices commercial law as well as civil and criminal litigation. "I will be better able to serve my clients if I have a more international perspective." The U.S.A. Law Programs are offered through the UC Davis School of Law and University Extension. "Our goal," says director Beth Greenwood, "is to provide the knowledge and skills that lawyers from around the world need to serve clients in the global economy." A total of 136 lawyers and judges from 23 countries enrolled in the two- to four-week programs on U.S. law, financial transactions and international commercial law offered through Saturday, Aug. 21. And for a second year, UC Davis has offered in Cologne, Germany, a two-week seminar on international commercial law, co-sponsored by the University of Cologne and the German Bar Association. The programs' participants can work toward a certificate in international transactions involving the U.S. In response to increasing demand for a degree program, the university is establishing a master's degree in international commercial law that could be earned over three summers. Viggo Von Wietersheim, who is a senior partner and tax lawyer in a Munich law firm, values not only the formal study but also the contacts he has made over four summers in Davis. "It's one of the most important things. You meet a lot of colleagues from different societies, totally different legal backgrounds and different practice areas."