This information is very reliable (URM also counts but you didn’t mention being one). You should spend some time looking at [admissions data](http://lawschoolnumbers.com/). You’ll see the trend lines fairly easily. You can also look around [url=http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/index.php]here[/url] for more reports (this board has a proliferation of people who went to school 20 years ago who, for some reason, think nothing has changed). An easy way to figure out what schools care about is who they give money to. Money goes to people with good scores and nowhere else.
This is actually a surprisingly realistic view of cross-border transactions. You should note that as an American you will handle only the American side of things. They will have lawyers from those other countries handling things in those countries. @HappyAlumnus does corporate work, so he may have some insight into the process.
The academic market is small and shrinking, especially in law. It is dominated by the very top students from the very top schools who got the very top appellate clerkships and who publish like mad. While I wouldn’t necessarily dissuade someone from chasing academia, you should be aware that jobs are extremely unlikely and you should only go forward with a solid backup plan.
JDs are extremely expensive. Unless you are independently wealthy, chasing one for the slight shot that someone will pay for you to do the research you want is almost certainly not worth it. Ultimately you will need to pay back the loans you took out to get the degrees, and the future you want is simply too uncertain to be a good bet.
The languages are solid and will help you with employment. However, not having a science undergrad effectively forecloses IP work as you will not be eligible for the patent bar.