Law School in China struggles against US job fears

The Peking University School of Transnational Law is running into difficulty as it seeks to gain accreditation by the American Bar Association. Accreditation by the ABA would allow the school’s mostly Chinese graduates to take the bar exam in any U.S. state, but the school’s application faces stiff opposition amid fears that the entry of Chinese lawyers into the US market would only increase unemployment among US attorneys. The school is located Shenzhen, China, and teaches a predominantly U.S. law curriculum in English, employing a faculty whose members mostly hold JDs from American law schools. The Dean of the school, Jeffrey Lehman, says that the concerns are unjustified, given that the school will have just 50 graduates in its first class in 2012. Sincet there is more than 4,000 foreign lawyers who take the New York bar each year, Lehman argues, accrediting the school will have little impact.

Law School in China struggles against US job fears amlawdaily.typepad.com Thu, May 26, 2011