Description

Law graduates are entering legal practice at a time when they will increasingly come into contact with law, clients and problems outside of their home jurisdiction. Is it possible or desirable to attempt to prepare students for a more global legal practice? This panel will present approaches to global legal education in Asia and elsewhere. The Panel, moderated by Dean Simon Chesterman, includes Carrie Menkel-Meadow (University of California Irvine Law School, Georgetown University Law Center), Helena Whalen-Bridge (NUS) and Craig Hoffman (Georgetown Law University), participating via Skype.

About The Speaker

Carrie Menkel-Meadow is Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California Irvine Law School, and A.B. Chettle Jr. Professor of Law, Dispute Resolution and Civil Procedure at Georgetown University Law Center, where she teaches a variety of international and domestic dispute resolution courses, including Negotiation, Mediation, International Dispute Resolution, and Multi-Party Dispute Resolution Processes. She is the author or editor of over 10 books, including Complex Dispute Resolution (3 volumes: Foundations, Multi-Party Disputes, Democracy and Decision Making, and International Dispute Resolution), Dispute Resolution: Beyond the Adversarial Model, (2nd ed. 2011) and What’s Fair: Ethics for Negotiators (2004) and over 200 articles. She has taught conflict resolution related subjects on five continents, including in Chile, Argentina, China, Singapore, Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, France, Norway, and Paraguay. She has been working, as a scholar, teacher, mediator and arbitrator for over 30 years and has been working on peace in the Middle East for the last seven years. She recently won the first ever awarded American Bar Association Award for Outstanding Scholarship on Dispute Resolution.

Topic: Why and How to Study “Transnational” Law

Helena Whalen-Bridge is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. She holds a B.A. (University of Connecticut, 1981), J.D. (University of Connecticut, 1985), and LL.M. (National University of Singapore, 2002). Helena’s professional career began as Law Clerk in the U.S. District Court (E.D.Ca.), followed by five years of jury trials and appeals as Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General’s Office. After acting as In-House Counsel in Japan and Singapore, Helena joined the NUS Faculty of Law. She ran the first year Legal Skills Programme from 2003-2009 and now teaches Comparative Advocacy as well as advanced legal skills. Helena’s research interests include legal education, comparative legal skills, and legal ethics and pro bono. She has published on comparative legal skills (Journal of Legal Education and Asian Journal of Comparative Law). She is also a member of the Law Faculty’s Teaching Excellence Committee

Topic: Identifying Global Legal Skills

Craig Hoffman (B.A., William & Mary; Ph.D., University of Connecticut; J.D., University of Texas) is a linguist and a lawyer who has specialized in transactional writing and negotiating during his nine years of practice in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. Professor Hoffman is currently the Professor of United States Legal Discourse at Georgetown. He is also the Director of the Graduate Writing Program. Professor Hoffman focuses on acculturating Georgetown’s foreign LL.M. students into United States Legal Discourse by teaching courses that introduce students to the ways that U.S. lawyers use language to communicate about the law. Professor Hoffman teaches classes and consults with law schools around the world on issues of language and the law. He also consults with law firms on the interpretation of statutes and contracts. Professor Hoffman has received several fellowships in linguistics, cognitive science, business, and writing. His areas of scholarship include forensic linguistics, statutory and contract interpretation, discourse analysis, and genre analysis.

Topic: Assessing Transnational Legal Competence: Alternatives to Bar Exams & TOEFL