Law Schools' Impact on Justice. U.S. legal education advances rule of law around the world

• Author: Reginald Turner
• Pages: 6-6

President’s Letter

Law

Schools’

Impact

on Justice

U.S. legal education advances

rule of law around the world

BY REGINALD TURNER

World leaders getting a

degree in the law should

not be surprising. Many

in key positions in

corporations or media and many other

professions have studied law. Leading

a country is just another area in which

the skills attained in law school can be

benecial.

In Colombia, both the president and

rst lady have master of laws degrees

from American University Washington

College of Law, a credential they point

out on their professional resumés.

Seven U.S. presidents have graduated

from Harvard University, including two

from its law school. The law school

also proudly claims the former presi-

dent of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou (doctor

of judicial science ’81), and the former

president of Ireland, Mary Robinson

(LLM ’68).

Legal studies programs offered by

law schools for international students

have become popular among foreign

professionals who want to succeed

in business, international nance and

politics. The LLM, the most popular

legal non-JD degree, is usually ob-

tained by completing a one-year full-

time program.

These degrees fall outside the accred-

itation purview of the American Bar

Association Council of the Section of

Legal Education and Admissions to the

Bar. But these schools report to the ABA

on their programs for foreign students,

and more than 70 currently offer U.S.

legal studies programs for foreign law-

yers or international students.

Training leaders

There are numerous success stories,

such as Iván Duque Márquez, Colom-

bia’s president since 2018. In the early

2000s, Duque worked in Washington

for the Inter-American Development

Bank and received his LLM from

American University. He also received

a master’s degree in nance and public

administration from Georgetown

University. His wife, First Lady María

Juliana Ruiz, graduated from the AU

law program with a concentration in

international business in 2006.

The number of foreign students

enrolled in legal studies in the U.S. has

doubled in the past 20 years. The Insti-

tute of International Education found in

its 2019-2020 report—the school year

prior to the onset of the COVID-19

pandemic—there were 14,198 students

from abroad studying “legal professions

and studies.” This compares with 5,763

students for the 1999-2000 school year.

LLM programs and others have

opened doors to many areas of the law

for foreign law professionals. Some use

the degree to learn about American law,

which can be valuable not only in the

U.S. but also around the world—espe-

cially for those working in rms that do

business with U.S. companies.

Beyond U.S. law, many of these non-

JD law programs cover various topics

to help with specialties such as business

law and tax law, alternative dispute res-

olution, and international and human

rights law.

But fostering a better understanding

and allegiance to the rule of law might

be the best dividend.

Respect for the rule of law is the

world’s best hope for free and dem-

ocratic societies grounded by legal

stability, a fair justice process and an

independent judiciary. And the United

States is the best place to be taught or

reminded of that.

The United States has a large tool-

box to spread the rule of law through-

out the world, and the ABA is pleased

to contribute through our Goal IV,

which is to “advance the rule of law …

at home and throughout the world.” We

do this through the ABA Rule of Law

Initiative, which promotes justice, eco-

nomic opportunity and human dignity

through rule of law programs in more

than 50 countries; our Division for

Public Education; and multiple other

ABA efforts.

Our nation’s law schools have played

and will continue to play their role,

particularly when it comes to training

foreign lawyers and educating potential

world leaders. It is an often overlooked

but vital component of U.S. efforts to

foster an adherence to the rule of law

throughout the world.

Former Ireland President Robinson

captured the “why” in remarks in 2019:

“Without rule of law and access to

justice, we don’t have societies, we don’t

have security, we don’t have faith in

institutions, we don’t have anything.” Q

Follow President Turner on

Twitter @ABAPresident or email

abapresident@americanbar.org.

Photo by Danny Duran

ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2022

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