Day 37: Studying Law in Switzerland (& etc.)

Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

When I first started teaching, I made a commitment not to work on Sundays.

For the past fifteen years, I’ve nearly always kept that commitment. But there’s been one big exception to that rule: leading study abroad programs.

Studying Law in Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, and Uganda

WVU Law students right now are in Geneva, Switzerland, studying international law and human rights in the international lawmaking capital of the world.

They’re touring the U.N. and the WTO and hearing from guest speakers who’ve worked in those institutions. And, in their free time, they’re exploring Europe, many for the first time.

This year, my job was to set up the program administratively in the spring, and let others do the fun but time-consuming working of teaching the course and managing on-the-ground logistics.

But I’ve taught many study abroad courses: this one in Geneva and others in Guanajuato, Mexico; Kampala, Uganda; and multiple locations in Brazil, including a week sailing on a riverboat in the Amazon.

The Case for Law School Study Abroad Programs

I’ve been a passionate advocate of study abroad programs, particularly at WVU, as a means of broadening law students’ sense of their relationship to the world. For example, while our study abroad programs were on hiatus due to COVID, a former student stopped by one day and brought up some great memories of our class in Geneva a few years prior. He told me that the trip had changed his perspective on what was possible for his life and career. He now works for a West Virginia-based law firm and represents the state in an international ambassador program for young leaders.

Studying law in another country can also add depth and dimension to a subject to study it where you can see it happening all around you. In addition to studying international law in Geneva, imagine studying migration in Mexico, sustainable development in Uganda, and climate change and biodiversity in the Brazilian Amazon. WVU Law courses have offered all of those experiences.

Challenges of Law School Study Abroad

One thing that has been and remains a challenge, however, is to translate those two- or three-week courses into a career path. We invariably have students who return home energized about what they’ve seen and learned, but finding the next step isn’t always obvious.

In a few cases, we’ve helped students connect with people and organizations in the host country where they’ve returned for a longer internship. These experiences tend to be in development-related positions rather than in law practice. Unlike medical students, U.S.-trained law students don’t always have skills that translate directly into law practice in the host country. This is particularly true in countries where English is not a primary language.

For law schools to develop long-term placement opportunities in law or law-adjacent fields in other countries requires a dedication of resources and staff that few are able to devote - and even then those opportunities can dry up quickly when things like Brexit and COVID happen.

We’ve also seen domestic challenges to the viability of these programs. For example, summer employers have become less flexible about student participation in these programs, even for students who’ve just completed their 1L year. The cost of a summer course (even one including cool travel) can be prohibitive for some students, such as those who are paying for law school through scholarships or part-time work. Diverse students are more likely to face this type of financial hurdle, creating an inequality of opportunity within legal education that is undesirable.

Looking Ahead - and Outside

I remain a proponent of short-term study abroad courses in law schools despite these challenges. Teaching these programs is fun, but it’s definitely not a vacation - professors who run these programs have to be logistics coordinators, travel guides, and sometimes counselors 24/7, even on Sundays. I’m glad to let my colleagues take the wheel this year, but I’ll do my part to keep these opportunities available for law students who want to take a broader view of what they might do in their lives and careers.