Louis Perret, dean of the Civil Law Section, recently joined legal educators representing 45 countries and all of the world’s legal systems to hammer out a “global curriculum” for law schools.
Some 130 leading legal educators gathered at the invitation of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) for a three-day conference in May, entitled “Educating Lawyers for Transnational Challenges.” It was the first time that legal educators from around the world met to consider how best to educate lawyers for the practice of law across international boundaries. All the invited participants submitted a paper before the meeting.
Perret’s paper argues that basic international law courses should be part of any serious law school curriculum. “The need for law schools to take globalization into consideration is obvious. International trade and e-commerce are now part and parcel of our daily lives,” he writes.
“All lawyers, even in the most remote regions and whatever their areas of specialization, can expect to be involved at some time or other in legal matters involving an international component. Law schools accordingly have the obligation to train 21st-century lawyers to recognize and deal with these issues.”
Full text of Perret’s paper (PDF file)
