Case Western Reserve University law students will be able to complete their third year in China, while simultaneously earning an LL.M. degree in Chinese Law at Zhejiang University – Guanghua Law School and a J.D. from Case Western.
The new concurrent degree program, which takes effect in the fall, is among the first between law schools in the United States and China, and increases the number of international concurrent degree programs offered by Case Western Reserve’s law school to four — among the most made available by a U.S. law school.
“The practice of law grows increasingly international each year,” said Case Western Reserve law school Co-Dean Michael Scharf, who signed the concurrent degree agreement in China with Guanghua Law Dean Zhu Xinli. Scharf directs the law school’s Frederick K. Cox International Law Center.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Case Western Reserve students and Guanghua students to further enhance their employability by earning two degrees at the same time at no extra cost,” Scharf said.
The program also permits qualified students in their fourth year of Guanghua Law School to spend an entire academic year at Case Western in studies for the LL.M. in U.S. and Global Legal Studies. They can complete the LL.M. degree from Case Western and a law degree from Guanghua.
Each year, up to two Case Western Reserve students can attend Zhejiang University, and two from Zhejiang can attend CWRU. While visiting, students pay tuition to their home institutions.
“We anticipate that both sides will send the maximum, but it doesn’t require an equal number every year,” Scharf said.
The agreement with Zhejiang marks the fourth concurrent degree available to Case Western law students. In the past two years, similar agreements were completed with Comillas University in Madrid, University of Paris (Dauphine) and Middlesex University in London.
Case Western Law Professor Tim Webster, who directs the law school’s Asian Legal Studies program and negotiated the Zhejiang agreement, is a former visiting scholar at Guanghua Law.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for law students curious about China and interested in international commerce,” Webster said.
