Internationalising the Law Curriculum (ITLC)

Law Curriculum

Globalisation has impacted on many aspects of society and business, particularly trade, investment and finance, but also in areas such as the environment and human rights. Lawyers working in the private sector or for government or non-government organisations increasingly work in and across different jurisdictions to deal with matters that have an international focus and dimension. Globalisation of the legal services sector has given rise to the ‘global law firm’.

There is a broad consensus among legal academics and practitioners that law schools need to deliver law programs that take cognisance of global developments and the increasing emphasis on internationalisation. The challenge to law schools is to rethink their law programs – their curriculum, approaches to teaching, student support and the student experience in general.

Conclusions

Conclusions about the internationalising of the law curriculum

There are nine conclusions, which in summary are:

Internationalisation is having a significant impact on legal practice in Australia.
Law schools recognise that legal education must change to reflect this new reality.
Developments in regard to the internationalisation of the law curriculum are not static and there are further developments.
A multi-faceted approach is required for the process of internationalising the law curriculum.
There is a range of knowledge, skills and attributes which are essential for law graduates working in a global multi-jurisdictional environment, and for law graduates generally.
The internationalised law curriculum needs to focus on the knowledge, skills and attributes identified as essential for global practice.
Law schools recognise that their role is to prepare law graduates for both domestic and international legal practice.
There are some hurdles to achieving an internationalised law curriculum.
It is important these hurdles be overcome.

Approach

How a law school might approach the internationalisation of its curriculum

A law school which has made a commitment to the internationalisation of its curriculum has four complementary options:

The Aggregation approach. It can offer a number of separate ‘internationalised’ or global subjects or units, usually as electives. This model is the simplest and most common approach. Typically stand-alone international units of study are included as electives in the law program. Its limitation is that as internationalised aspects are limited to certain electives or specialist programs, only a small cohort of law students is likely to be exposed to a globalised learning experience.
The Segregation approach. It can establish one or more separate institutes or centres devoted to internationalised or global aspects. This model is more about how a law school structures itself rather than the curriculum itself. Adopting such an approach still leaves open any of the other approaches so far as teaching is concerned.
The Integration approach. It can incorporate internationalised or global elements across the whole curriculum, and beyond into research and student services. The integration model incorporates international and intercultural dimensions across the whole curriculum, including of course core subjects.
The Immersion approach. It can provide opportunities for its students to go elsewhere to study in a different jurisdiction.

This model is the most challenging to achieve as it aims to deliver a high level of international competence, expertise and experience, which may allow law graduates to practise in multiple jurisdictions. However, it is inevitably limited to those students who are able or willing to study in another jurisdiction.

In reality, the implementation process will most likely be an incremental and accumulative one that may start with the inclusion of select content or units, with the gradual infusion of international dimensions across the whole curriculum to the possible implementation of a fully integrated immersion model.

The progressive levels of internationalisation in which students move from a level of international awareness to international expertise can be presented in this typology.

Framework

A generic framework for an internationalised law curriculum

An internationalised curriculum will have four elements, all of which must be aligned:

Objectives or learning outcomes

An internationalised curriculum will articulate specific learning outcomes relating to the international and multi-jurisdictional context and dimensions of law.

Content

Knowledge
The law curriculum will include international legal content and materials that enable law students to develop and acquire the appropriate level and depth of knowledge of ‘international law’ and law with an international or comparative perspective.

Skills
The law curriculum will enable law students to develop relevant legal (‘lawyering’) skills that include cognitive (eg. analytical skills), technical (eg. research skills) and communication skills (eg. writing skills).

Attributes
The law curriculum will enable law students to develop international and intercultural perspectives and ways of thinking that prepare them as global citizens.

Pedagogy

Teaching/learning methods
A diverse range of teaching and learning strategies will be employed to convey international content, materials, and experiences.

Materials and resources
Students will be given access to materials and other resources from both the domestic and the relevant overseas jurisdiction/s.

Student experience
In addition to the formal curriculum, students will engage in a range of other, including overseas, activities that promote international engagement, as well as interaction with overseas students studying at the law school on exchange programs.

Assessment

Assessment tasks will be developed that incorporate international dimensions and specifically test the required intellectual skills at the level required for global practice.

A curriculum framework for each of the three options open to law schools – aggregation, integration and immersion, is as follows:

	Level 1: Aggregation International Awareness	Level 2: Integration International Competence	Level 3: Immersion International Expertise
Objectives or Outcomes	Graduates will appreciate the global context in which the law operates.	Graduates will be able to recognise, analyse and interpret international or cross-jurisdictional legal transactions or events.	Graduates will have expertise in law in more than one jurisdiction.
Knowledge	General knowledge of basic international and comparative content within selected specialist areas of legal knowledge. Knowledge of different legal systems, international institutions and instruments.	Comparative knowledge of relevant law concepts and principles in areas of legal knowledge across the curriculum.	Advanced knowledge in areas of international and comparative perspectives in more than one jurisdiction.
Skills	Basic awareness of the need for cross-cultural communication. Basic research skills in relation to international materials. Basic analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills in the context of law concepts, principles and examples found in international and comparative settings.	Good written communication skills to advise persons from another jurisdiction. Good research skills to research international law and law and legal issues/transactions in different jurisdictions. Good analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills to resolve international legal problems involving a degree of complexity.	Advanced skills in cross cultural communication. Advanced skills to research international legal problems in their context. Advanced analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills to resolve complex international legal problems. Ability to communicate in a second language, where applicable.
Attributes	Appreciation of cultural diversity and the contributions to the law of different cultures, values and belief systems.	Capacity to build relationships and adapt to different contexts to address legal issues across cultures and jurisdictions.	Expertise in building relationships across cultures and adapting seamlessly to diverse cultural contexts.
Teaching/learning methods	Introduction of basic international and comparative content and perspectives. Inclusion of examples from other jurisdictions.	In-depth integration of international and comparative content and international perspectives in teaching. Comparative consideration of materials and cases from one or more other jurisdictions.	Immersion in law content and perspectives in another jurisdiction. Inclusion of detailed and complex case studies from several jurisdictions.
Materials & resources	Availability of materials and other resources from other jurisdiction/s for the applicable subjects.	Availability of materials and other resources from other jurisdiction/s for all applicable subjects.	Access to materials and resources in the jurisdiction in which students are studying.
Student experience	Engagement with overseas students studying in the law school. Engagement for those students studying overseas with international student peers.	Engagement with international student peers inside and outside the classroom. Law school supports international student exchange or study opportunities. Law school develops international networks for teaching staff and students	Students engaged in immersion programs experience interaction with other students in their home environment, with law teachers, and legal institutions.
Assessment	Assessments in specialist subjects/units include problem-solving activities incorporating international and comparative examples.	Assessments in all core subjects and others which have been internationalised include problem solving activities involving more than one legal jurisdiction.	Students engaged in immersion programs are assessed in accordance with the requirements of the overseas law school, and possibly in a foreign language.

Contract Law

An example of an internationalised curriculum in an area of law: contract law

Contract law is chosen as it is one of the most important areas of law in global practice.

This illustration proposes how this might be done for if any of the aggregation, integration or immersion approaches are adopted. It is recognised that some or many law schools may choose not to implement the immersion model. Law schools may also choose to implement the several levels in a different way.

The aggregation approach aims to have students examine contract law in an international context in elective subjects which might be, for example, Transnational Contract Law, Comparative Contract Law or Chinese Contract Law.

Such subjects would, obviously, require the core subject Contract Law as a prerequisite. Such an elective subject would help students ‘acquire an appreciation of the diversity of national contract law regimes’, ‘sensitises students to the world beyond the system that they are currently studying’ and ‘provides them with a basis for understanding the challenges of dealing with transnational activity’.

The integration approach integrates into the study of contract law in the core subject/s one or more international comparative contexts based on at least one other jurisdiction.

For example students might, near the beginning of the subject, undertake a comparative study of what elements are required to establish a contract in Australia and one or more selected jurisdictions. Later in the subject they might study the effect of misrepresentation on a contract in both Australia and one other jurisdiction, possibly a non-common law jurisdiction.

The immersion approach contemplates students studying contract law in situ in another jurisdiction.

A curriculum framework for each of the three options open to law schools – aggregation, integration and immersion, is as follows:

	Level 1: Aggregation International Awareness	Level 2: Integration International Competence	Level 3: Immersion International Expertise
Outcomes	Students will understand the contract law of another jurisdiction, or aspects of contract law from an international perspective.	Students will be able to investigate, analyse and compare Australian contract law with at least one international jurisdiction.	Students will be able to investigate, analyse and apply fundamental principles of contract law governing international commerce.
Knowledge	General knowledge of principles, legislation and cases in contract law within selected specialist area.	Comparative knowledge of relevant contract law concepts, principles, legislation and cases relating to contract law in Australia and at least one other jurisdiction.	Advanced knowledge of the principles, legislation and cases relating to contract law in another jurisdiction, either alone or comparatively.
Skills	Basic awareness of the need for cross-cultural communication. Basic research skills in relation to contract law. Basic analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills in the context of contract law.	Good written communication skills to advise persons from another jurisdiction in relation to contract law. Good research skills to research contract law and legal issues and transactions in different jurisdictions. Good analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills to resolve contract problems involving a degree of complexity.	Advanced skills in cross cultural communication. Advanced skills to research contract problems in their context. Advanced analytical, interpretive and problem solving skills to resolve complex contract problems. Ability to communicate in a second language, where applicable.
Attributes	Appreciation of cultural diversity and the contributions to the law of different cultures, values and belief systems.	Capacity to build relationships and adapt to different contexts to address contract law issues across cultures and jurisdictions.	Expertise in building relationships across cultures in the context of international contracts.
Teaching/learning methods	Inclusion of seminal contract law cases from selected other jurisdiction/s.	Comparative integration of contract law content from selected other jurisdiction/s. Consideration of materials and cases from selected other jurisdiction/s.	Immersion in contract law content and perspectives of other country. Inclusion of detailed and complex case studies from several jurisdictions.
Materials & resources	Contract law materials and other resources from other jurisdiction/s.	Contract law materials and other resources from other jurisdiction/s.	Contract law materials and resources in the jurisdiction in which students are studying.
Student experience	Engagement with overseas students studying in the law school. Engagement for those students studying overseas with international student peers.	Engagement with international student peers in solving contract law problems together. Students exposed to visiting international guest speakers.	Students engaged in immersion programs experience interaction with other students in their home environment, with law teachers, and legal institutions.
Assessment	Assessments in specialist contract law subjects/units include problem-solving activities incorporating contract law examples from other jurisdictions, or case note that discusses and explains a recent contact-related decision that has an international element.	Assessments include contractual problem solving activities involving more than one legal jurisdiction.	Students are assessed in accordance with the requirements of the overseas law school, and possibly in a foreign language.

Key Concepts

Globalisation

There is no universally accepted definition of globalisation, but it can be described as – the process whereby actions, circumstances and occurrences in one part of the world may have a major impact on the peoples and institutions of a quite different part of the globe.1

The phenomenon of globalisation has given rise to a new world order economically, politically and socially. Fuelled by rapid advancements in technology and communications, globalisation has seen unparalleled growth in cross-border trade, the free movement of capital and labour, increased immigration, the collapse and rise of political regimes and the transfer of ideas and knowledge at an ever expanding rate.

Globalisation and higher education

Whilst ‘internationalisation’ has tended to focus on recruiting international students and establishing international partnerships to enhance financial sustainability, there has been a growing awareness of the role and importance of the curriculum in the internationalisation of education.

Higher education institutions wishing to respond to the challenge of globalisation need to incorporate international and intercultural perspectives into the curriculum in a planned and systematic way.³

What is meant by ‘incorporate’ in this context? The educational literature suggests that it should be an integrating process, whereby internationalisation becomes infused or embedded into policies and programs such that it becomes sustainable and not marginal or ad hoc.⁴

This can also include the establishment of campuses in foreign countries, cross-border partnerships, study-abroad programs, student and staff exchange programs, recruitment of international students or collaborative research projects. But, most significantly, it means the internationalisation of the curriculum itself – across all aspects of its design, development, delivery and implementation.

Today, every university in Australia now professes the need to transform its curriculum to reflect the goals of internationalisation. This applies across all disciplines, including law.

Globalisation, global legal practice and the global law firm

Globalisation has given impetus to legal activities and services requiring law firms and practitioners, both in private practice and working for government, to work in and across different jurisdictions, and to deal with matters that have a greater international focus and dimension.

This has necessitated a shift from law firms, including many small local law firms, working within the parochial confines of national law and single jurisdictions, to working across multiple jurisdictions and within a much broader international legal context and framework. All this has seen the emergence of the ‘global law firm’.

In Australia, the export of legal services is a major contributor to the Australian economy. The total income from international legal services activity for 2008-2009 was $709.1m; an increase of 5% compared to two years previously.²

Globalisation and legal education

For several decades there has been research and scholarly debate on preparing law graduates to work in a globalised world, across multiple jurisdictions and with a much deeper understanding of the increasingly complex international contexts in which law operates.

As the trend moves towards increasing globalised legal services and mobility of people and ideas, facilitated by unprecedented advancements in communications technology, law schools face the challenge of transforming traditional, domestic law curricula into a more internationalised law curriculum.

One writer, Jan Klabbers, has expressed the challenge as ‘in a globalising world, lawyers will need to be educated in such a way as to make it easy to move across jurisdictions, across specialisations, and to move across employment opportunities’.⁵

The challenge is to develop programs that prepare law graduates for working across borders in a global context but also continue to prepare them for the vast array of traditional domestic work.

Claudio Grossman advocates for a holistic, integrated and qualitative change to law curricula and concludes that:

the law school curriculum should embrace the emerging transnational legal order to create a more open and forward looking legal education that truly participates in the wider world with which law graduates will have to engage, to pursue successful legal careers.⁶

References

[1] David Sugarman & Avrom Sherr, ‘Globalisation and Legal Education’ (2001) International Journal of the Legal Profession 8(1): 5-10.
[2] Australian Government. International Legal Services Advisory Council. ILSAC’s Third International Legal and Related Services Statistical Survey 2008-09 FY.
[3] Betty Leask, ‘Internationalisation the Buzz Yet Again’ (2011) Campus Review, 10.
[4] Jane Knight, ‘Internationalization Remodelled: Definition, Approaches, and Rationales’ (2004) 8 Journal of Studies in International Education 12.
[5] Jan Klabbers, ‘Reflections on Globalisation and University Life’ in Jan Klabbers & Mortimer Sellers (eds), The Internationalisation of the Law and Legal Education, (Springer, 2008) 17.
[6] Claudio Grossman, ‘Building the World Community through Legal Education’ in Jan Klabbers & Mortimer Sellers (eds), The Internationalisation of the Law and Legal Education, (Springer, 2008) 35.

Background

Background to the internationalisation phenomenon

Globalisation has impacted on the legal services sector. It has given impetus to the growth of the ‘global law firm’, and legal activities and services requiring law firms and practitioners to work in and across different jurisdictions, and deal with matters that have a greater international focus and dimension.

This has necessitated a shift from law firms, including many small local law firms, working within the parochial confines of national law and single jurisdictions, to working across multiple jurisdictions and within a much broader international legal context and framework.

The purpose and methodology for the study

Internationalising the Australian Law Curriculum for Enhanced Global Legal Practice

Purpose

The primary purpose of the research project was to develop a framework for an internationalised law curriculum to prepare law graduates for practice in a global context and to enhance the wider recognition of Australian law degrees.

The development of such a framework for an internationalised law curriculum required:

identification of the relevant knowledge, skills and attributes required by graduates
identification of the particular needs and views of employers of graduates of Australian law schools
identification of delivery frameworks from the international education literature
articulation of how these elements can be brought together for inclusion in the Australian curriculum
identification of any consequent changes required in the regulation of the curriculum.

The focus of the research project was on the internationalisation of the law curriculum within the broader context of globalisation and its impact on legal services and legal education.

The project was conducted over a period of 18 months (January 2011 to June 2012), which included an extension of six months during which time a national symposium was held.

The project adopted the following approach and methodology:

Phase 1: Scoping the project and preliminary literature review

A preliminary literature review was conducted and the scope of the project was defined.

Phase 2: Literature review and curriculum analysis

A comprehensive literature review was undertaken with the focus on curriculum internationalisation, the knowledge, skills and attributes required for working in an international and global context, graduate attributes by which the law curriculum is shaped, approaches to internationalisation and examples of internationalisation in law curricula.

Phase 3: Regional employer roundtables

Employer roundtables were held in Sydney, Canberra, Perth and Hong Kong. The aim of the roundtables was to consult with and seek input from key employers on their perceptions and views on the core knowledge, skills and other attributes required for law graduates to work in the global environment.

The data was used to inform the curriculum framework.

Phase 4: Develop a draft curriculum framework

A draft curriculum framework for a law curriculum suited to practice in a globalised world was developed based on the literature review and preliminary roundtable data. This also formed the basis for the program for the national symposium.

Phase 5: A national symposium

The aim of the national symposium was to engage key stakeholders in high level discussions on various aspects of internationalising the law curriculum, and to provide feedback on the interim findings of the project.

Phase 6: Amend and finalise curriculum framework

The final framework for an internationalised law curriculum to prepare law graduates for practice in a global context was developed based on the input from the symposium and the ongoing literature review of curriculum design and development.

Phase 7: Dissemination of results and outcomes

The project aims to disseminate the research findings and outcomes mainly through project reports, seminars and scholarly reports. The result will be to improve the Australian law curriculum as taught in Australian law schools; increase the mobility of both in-bound and out-bound law students across jurisdictions and significantly enhance the recognition of Australian law degrees.

National Legal Education Symposium

Internationalising the Australian Law Curriculum for Enhanced Global Legal Education and Practice

The National Legal Education Symposium – Internationalising the Australian Law Curriculum for Enhanced Global Legal Education and Practice, was held in Canberra on 16 March 2012. The event attracted substantial interest from the judiciary, academia and the profession.

To learn more about the presentations and discussions at the Symposium, click on the links which interest you:

The Hon Justice Robert French, AC, Chief Justice of Australia

Professor Duncan Bentley, Victoria University & Associate Professor Joan Squelch, Curtin University

Professor Sally Kift, Queensland University of Technology

The international context:
Perspectives on preparing graduates for the practice of law in a global context

Mr Joe Catanzarati, President-Elect, Law Council of Australia

Mr Stuart Clark, Clayton Utz

Professor Gillian Triggs, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney

The domestic context:
Current advantages, constraints & innovations

Professor the Hon Michael Lavarch, AO, Executive Dean, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology

The Hon Justice Michael Slattery, Supreme Court of New South Wales

Mr David Fredericks, Australian Government Attorney General’s Department

Professor Jill McKeough, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney

Innovations & outcomes

Dr Gordon Hughes, Partner, Ashurst, and Mr Arjuna Nadaraja, Director, Secretariat of the International Legal

Professor Michael Coper, Dean, ANU College of Law, Australian National University

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