Law Schools Offering More Opportunities to Study Abroad

As the world becomes increasingly global, America’s law schools are offering more opportunities for students to learn about international law, as well as foreign legal systems, according to the March 29th article at usnews.com, “Law Schools Go Global”.

The opportunities to study abroad are increasing accordingly. In 2009, over 100 U.S. law schools offered over 250 such programs, according to the ABA.

In the usnews.com article, Hulett Askew, a consultant for the American Bar Association’s legal education and admissions section, was quoted as saying about foreign study programs: “The growth overall in the last 5 or 10 years has been steady—and even dramatic.”

The most common study abroad opportunities are offered during the summer. Approximately 8,000 U.S. law students participated in a foreign program in 2009, despite the downturn in the economy. According to the ABA, around 40 U.S. law schools have semester abroad options.

Alexis Paddock, a Georgetown graduate, spent a semester at the school’s Center for Transnational Legal Studies. “It’s like going to 10 countries” to study,” she was quoted as saying.

Steven Ratner, a professor at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor Law School was quoted as saying: “It’s simply impossible to be a competent lawyer” without understanding “how law works across borders.”