U.S. Law & the Americas
The Need for an Affordable &
Accessible Introduction to U.S.
Law for Latin American Students
By Valeria Elliot
Director, Lawyering in Spanish Program
University of Denver School of Law
Goal of Presentation
► Show
how US law schools do not provide many
opportunities for Latin American students from low
income/middle class families to participate in
programs that focus on learning about the US
legal system.
► Most of the top law firms in Latin America only
hire bilingual law students and law graduates who
have studied abroad.
► Students who can afford to study overseas have
an advantage over students with no international
legal experience.
► Grants and loans are not widely available in Latin
America to make studying abroad more accessible.
Therefore, law graduates from
low income and middle class families
in Latin America have fewer chances of
being hired by firms doing
international legal work.
Presentation Outline
►Why
U.S. Law for Latin American
Students?
►Programs currently offered
►Relative cost of legal education in Latin
America
►University of Denver’s Introduction to
the U.S. Legal System
WHY U.S. LAW FOR
LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS?
Globalization
► Regional
Trade Agreements
► Transnational Legal Disputes
► Common Markets
► Need for “harmonization” of commercial
laws in the hemisphere
► Building legal infrastructure for hemispheric
integration and free trade
See Alfredo Fuentes Hernandez, Globalization and Legal
Education in Latin America: Issues for Law and Development
in the 21st Century, 21 Penn. St. Int’l L. Rev. 39 (2002).
Rule of Law
►
Progress in Latin America



►
Civil and Political Freedoms
Respect for Human Rights
Economic liberalization & stabilization
Reform of legal system needed



Impunity for crimes and corruption
Violation of Human Rights
Lack of confidence in judicial branch
Understanding Civil and Common
Law Systems
► Commentators
have noted:
 Benefit to having working knowledge of two of the
major legal systems in the world
 Integrating comparative aspect into entire legal
educational experience would improve legal education
 Common law legal education would benefit from
incorporating aspects of civil law education, such as:
► requiring
a dissertation;
► oral exams
► allowing students to specialize;
► mandatory clinical training;
► adding courses on theory and philosophy
See Luz Estella Nagle, Maximizing Legal Education: The International
Component, 29 Stetson L. Rev. 1091 (2000); see also Xavier Blanc-Jouvan,
Bijuralism in Legal Education: A French View, 52 J. Legal Educ. 61 (2002).
Interaction Among J.D. Students and
Latin American Students
“The whole law school community can
benefit from and be enriched by the
presence of foreign lawyer-students
and foreign lawyers pursuing
legal studies.”
Luz Estella Nagle, Maximizing Legal Education: The
International Component, 29 Stetson L. Rev. 1091,
1093 (2000).
Interuniversity Agreements
► Powerful
tool for facilitating interaction
between U.S. and foreign law schools
► Examples:
 Chile Law Program
 University of Paris – Cornell / Columbia
Universities Exchange Program
 University of Florida Levin – University of Costa
Rica
U.S. Legal Education for Latin
American Students
► Improve
marketability to firms in home
countries that deal internationally
► Experience with Legal English and American
culture
► Valuable networking for future
See Carole Silver, Internationalizing U.S. Legal Education: A Report on the
Education of Transnational Lawyers, 14 Cardozo J. Int’l & Comp. L. 143 (2006);
see also Carole Silver, Winners and Losers in the Globalization of Legal Services:
Situating the Market for Foreign Lawyers, 45 Va. J. Int’l L. 897 (2005).
U.S. LAW & LEGAL ENGLISH
PROGRAMS CURRENTLY OFFERED
FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Programs Currently Offered
► Surveyed
15 Summer Programs in U.S. Law and
Legal English















Boston University
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Duke Law
Fordham University School of Law
Northwestern University
University at Buffalo Law School
University of California Davis School of Law
University of Illinois
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh Law School
University of Santa Clara Law
University of Southern California Gould School of Law
University of Washington School of Law
Washington College of Law American University
Yale University
Programs Currently Offered
► Students:
Targeted at LLM candidates,
international legal professionals and international
law students
 Non-native English speakers; must have working
knowledge of written and spoken English
 2/15 law schools restricted entrance to incoming
students
► Duration:
Ranged from Intensive 4-Day course
to 10-week course
Curriculum
Sample Week from 4-Week Program
9:3010:30
11:0012:00
12:001:00
1:003:00
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Criminal
law
Tort - Product Contracts
Liability
Breach
Thursday
Friday
Agency Law
Antitrust
Int.
Arbitrati
on
Tort Law
Contracts
Formation
U.S. UCC Sales
Agency Law
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Legal English
Legal
English
Legal English
Law Firm
Tour
http://lawgip.usc.edu/sle/schedule.cfm
Curriculum
► Many
programs aim to facilitate adjustment to
culture of U.S. legal education
► Overriding goal of improving Legal English
 Assignments include:
► Formal
► Briefs
presentations
► Client
Opinion Letters
► Agreements
► Update of the law
► Interaction with Mentors (lawyer, professor, student)
► Research
► Note-taking
► Mock Client Interviews
► Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw training
► Focus
on business and corporate law
Program Cost
► 4-Day
intensive course was the least expensive
at $800
 Does not include housing, food, travel expenses, visa,
other expenses
► Least
expensive for time spent is University of
Illinois Legal English Certificate Program at $1450
for 3 weeks.
 Does not include housing, materials, health insurance,
other expenses
http://www.wcl.american.edu/slei/
http://www.law.uiuc.edu/academics/legalengl
ish.asp
Program Cost
► More
expensive programs include
 University of Santa Clara Law’s 3-wk U.S. Law
Program at $4,200 (not including housing)
&
 University of Southern California’s 4-wk Summer
Law & English Program at $4,200 + minimum
of $1350 for housing.
www.scu.edu/law/international/us-lawprogram.cfm
http://lawfip.usc.edu/summer.cfm
RELATIVE COST OF
LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL
EDUCATION
Relative Cost of
Latin American Legal Education
► Considerations
 Legal education usually 4-6 year undergraduate
program, resulting in bachillerato or licenciatura
 Each country differs significantly in amount of grants,
scholarships and loans available
 Cost of living varies significantly in each country, and
compared to the United States
 Looking at GDP per capita and cost of education in five
different Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia, Mexico, and Peru)
GDP per capita for
Latin America and U.S.
Country
Argentina
GDP per capita
$15,000 (2006)
Brazil
$7,745 (2003)
Columbia
$6,897 (2003)
Mexico
$9,313 (2003)
Peru
$5,275 (2003)
United States
$37,352 (2003)
Un
Pe
ru
i te
d
St
at
es
Co zil
lo
m
bi
a
M
ex
ico
Br
a
nt
in
a
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Ar
ge
US $
GDP per capita for
Latin America and the U.S.
GDP per capita
Cost of Tertiary Education (Tuition)
Country
Private
Argentina*
$4,446
Brazil
$4,912
Colombia
$2,386
Mexico
$2,380
Peru
$5,276
United States
$9,604
*Average cost of a legal education in Argentina is $17,785. Legal education varies between four
and five years.
Education Cost/GDP per capita
Education cost/GDP per capita
United States
Peru
Mexico
Colombia
Brazil
Argentina
0%
50%
100%
150%
Living Costs
► Living
costs = accomodation and food for
the academic year
► Living costs in the U.S. are only 17% of the
GDP per capita
► Living costs in Brazil, Colombia and Peru are
between 30-38% of the GDP per capita
► Only Mexico has lower cost of living at
11%
Living Costs
“Even with free (public) university
education, living costs amount to a
substantial financial burden for
students from low-income families.”
Yuki Murakami & Andreas Blom, Accessibility
and Affordability of Tertiary Education in Brazil,
Colombia, Mexico and Peru within a Global
Context, The World Bank 15 (2008).
Grants
► Grants
in the U.S. average 11% / GDP per
capita
► Colombia provides average grants of 6% /
GDP per capita
► Mexico, Brazil and Peru have
underdeveloped grant programs with only
1%, <1%, and <1% respectively
Loans
► Loans
are extensively available in the United
States (on average, 13% GDP per capita)
► The
average student in Mexico, Colombia,
Brazil and Peru receives a loan equivalent to
2% of the GDP per capita
Out-of-pocket costs
Low student assistance &
high total cost of education
compared with the GDP per capita in Latin
American countries makes education
less affordable than in the United States.
Inequity in Enrollment
in Latin America
► 23%
enrollment tertiary education in Latin
America, compared with 56% in high
income countries
► FACTORS:




Affordability and lack of financing
Insufficient and unequal access to secondary ed
Lack of information
Low expectation of attending tertiary education
among youth from low-income families
Accessibility of U.S. Law and Legal
English Programs
Country Statistics
Country
Argentina
Summer Programs
GDP per 1 Year of
capita
Education
Program
Duration
Cost
4-Day
$800
$15000
$4446
Brazil
$7745
$4912
3-Week
$1450 $4,200
Colombia
$6897
$2386
4-week
$1900 $3,900
Mexico
$9313
$2380
10-week
$7,300
Peru
$5275
$5276
AFFORDABLE & ACCESSIBLE
INTRODUCTION TO U.S. LAW FOR
LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER STURM COLLEGE OF
LAW
Introduction to U.S. Law at
University of Denver
Sturm College of Law
► Designed
to provide Latin American students with
the theoretical and practical knowledge required to
understand the practice of law in the United
States.
► Goals:
 Expose foreign law students to the U.S. legal system
 Stimulate interaction between Latin American law
students and students, faculty and legal professionals
from the United States.
 Affordable and accessible program for middle and lowincome Latin American Students
Seminar Objectives
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
Recognize and understand basic legal terminology;
Understand the sources of American law;
Understand the structure and basic jurisdiction of the
federal and state court systems;
Understand the basics of civil litigation;
Demonstrate an ability to analyze statutes and case law;
Demonstrate an ability to apply legal reasoning to casespecific legal problems;
Have a broad overview of major substantive areas of law.
Curriculum
Week 1
The American Legal System and Legal Culture
Overview of the State and Federal Court System
Constitutional Law
Week 2
Legal Education and the Legal Profession
The sources of Law
Briefing cases
Contracts
Week 3
Legal Research and Writing
Understanding Legal Citations
Public Speaking Exercises
Evidence and Civil Procedure
Week 4
Law Office Memoranda
Introduction to IRAC
Criminal Law and Procedure
Torts
Curriculum
► Video
production project
 Presentations by students in Spanish
 Civil Law related topics
 Used in Lawyering in Spanish classes
► Facilitate
interactions between Latin
American students, professors, and
Lawyering in Spanish students
► Help students develop professional network
in the U.S.
Cost
► Tuition
= $400
► Visa Application Fee = $100
► Estimated Living Expenses = $1500
► TOTAL
COST = $2000
CONCLUSION
► The
case for Intro to U.S. Law Programs:
Globalization, regionalization, interuniversity
agreements
► Programs in existence are not accessible to low- &
middle-income Latin American students
► Relative high cost of legal education in Latin
America and low amount of student assistance
contributing to inequality
► Details of a more affordable Intro to U.S. Legal
Program