It was founded in 1955 as part of Georgetown University to assist in the building of governmental and economic institutions and infrastructures in post-war Europe. Since that time, ILI has provided training and technical assistance to find practical solutions to the legal, economic and financial problems of developing countries and emerging economies. In 1983, ILI became an independent, non-political, non-profit 501 c 3 educational institute serving a global constituency. ILI now stands as a leading authority and global provider of training and technical assistance relating to international legal, economic and financial issues. ILI has provided legal training to over 38,000 government officials, legal and business professionals, and scholars from 186 countries.