Foundations of American Law and Legal Education

July 7 - 27, 2013
Tuition: $2,000.00

Foundations of American Law and Legal Education (“Foundations”) prepares lawyers trained outside the United States for their graduate legal education at Georgetown Law.  It is an in-depth introduction to American law, legal heritage, and common law reasoning and methodology. Foundations is taught by faculty members from Georgetown Law and other prominent law schools, who are experienced in teaching foreign lawyers. In addition, teaching assistants work in cooperation with full-time faculty members to reinforce the classroom experience and help students strengthen their understanding of American law and the law school.
                        
Certificates are awarded after successful completion of the program.

The Foundations Curriculum has three key components:

Common Law Tradition: The common law tradition is fundamental to American law. Many of our students come from a civil law system and must adapt to learning law through the concentrated study of judicial opinions—the “case law” method of legal education. This course will teach common law development and the judicial process through a study of traditional law school subjects, including property and contract law.

Constitutional Law and the Federal System: The U.S. Constitution, the oldest written constitution in the world, dominates both our legal heritage and our everyday life. The American governmental structure is complex, with power shared between the federal and 50 state governments and among the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government. An understanding of constitutional history, civil rights, and the division of powers is basic to an understanding of law in America and success in your LL.M. program.  Classes include U.S. Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and Civil Procedure.

Law School Experience:  The foreign lawyer must become comfortable in the American law school setting where faculty members use the Socratic method of discussion with students rather than lecturing to the class. Foundations prepares students to succeed in the classes they will take with American students and helps them learn American legal terminology and refine their English language skills.

Questions:  Contact Dorothy M. Mayer, Assistant Dean, mayer@law.georgetown.edu.