The University of Wisconsin
Law School has a long history
of involvement in
interna-tional and comparative law.
The East Asian Legal Studies
Center has continued that
tradition by formalizing and
increasing the Law School’s academic interaction with universities,
govern-ment ministries, and the private sector in East and Southeast Asia, and is also
active in:
EAST ASIAN
LEGAL STUDIES CENTER
EAST ASIAN
LEGAL STUDIES CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN LAW SCHOOL
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COURSE DEVELOPMENT
The Center has been instrumental in having several new courses added to the Law School’s curriculum. Some Center-developed courses are specifically designed for MLI and other international graduate stu-dents, while others are for both MLI and JD students.
Contemporary Topics in American Law
With dif-ferent Law School professors teaching each week, this course includes lectures in three general areas: Business Law, Procedural Law, and Special Topics. Fall semester; specifically for MLI students. (2 credits)
Introduction to American Law An overview of American legal institutions and basic areas of
American law. Offered in the fall semester for MLI students and foreign and American graduate students. Taught by Lawrence Church. (3 credits)
Legal Issues Involving North America and East and Southeast Asia The topics covered in this seminar vary yearly depending on the interests of individual students, who report on their research topics in the second half of the course. The course typically includes a cross-cultural negotiations component. Spring semes-ter; open to MLI and JD students. Taught by Charles Irish and John Ohnesorge. (2 credits)
Legal Sources An introduction to common law analysis and American legal research sources. Emphasis is on the use of American cases in legal problem solv-ing. Includes an overview of plagiarism concerns and citation and attribution con-ventions. Fall semester; specifically for MLI students. Taught by Jessica Harrison and Susan Katcher. (3 credits)
Legal Writing for MLI Students
Research, organization, and writing process of an inter-office memorandum and client letter. Discussion of objective and subjec-tive writing. Limited enrollment. Spring semester. Taught by Jessica Harrison. (3 credits)
Scholarly Legal Writing for MLI Students
Practice in the process of research-ing and writresearch-ing a law school academic paper. Includes choosresearch-ing a topic, devel-oping a thesis and a research plan, incorporating outside sources effectively, note taking, organization, plagiarism concerns, and attribution conventions. Fall semes-ter. Taught by Susan Katcher. (1 credit)
ADVANCED LAW STUDIES
Center personnel and Law School faculty advisors help graduate students plan individualized study programs for advanced legal studies at the Law School. Most graduate students are enrolled in the Master in Legal Institutions (“MLI”) degree program, a course-based master’s program for students with law degrees from universities outside the United States.
The Master in Legal Institutions (MLI) Program
• The entry level master’s program for international law students • Requires 24 credits
• Courses are selected from the JD curriculum and other University departments.
• Three specialized MLI courses (7 credits) taken in the fall semes-ter and a 3 credit research component (“Directed Research”) are required.
• Program length: minimum, one academic year
(September-May). Length of study can be extended by an additional semester, if desired. • Great flexibility in designing individualized programs
• Each student has a faculty advisor.
• MLI graduates may qualify to take a bar exam in the United States.
• Students whose TOEFL is below 580/237 are required to take a 3 credit English class in the fall semester. The English class does not count towards the 24 required credits. Students required to take English in the fall semester may be able to complete their MLI degree work within the academic year, or by June, if they wish.
LIBRARY ENHANCEMENT
The Law Library has a collection of over 525,000 volumes, has reference librarians who assist stu-dents, and houses the Law School’s computer laboratory. The Center provides continuing support for the acquisition of new books, peri-odicals, and other reference materials related to the laws of East Asian and Southeast Asian countries. The Grand Reading Room is pictured on the brochure cover and to the right.
SCHOLARLY EXCHANGES
The Center assists the Law School in hosting special visitors who teach at the Law School, as well as younger academics at the beginning of their professional careers who come as visiting scholars for a year of research. The Center coordinates the MacDonald Distinguished Visiting Professorship, named in memory of James B. MacDonald, a pioneer in international collaborative legal research and an early supporter of the Center. The Center also encourages UW teaching faculty to par-ticipate in research, lecturing, and conference opportunities in East and Southeast Asia.
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
Research Grants The Center offers travel grants for current JD students at the Law School to do research in East Asia or Southeast Asia as part of a larger research project leading to the writing of a scholarly paper. JD students have been awarded travel funds to do field work in many different coun-tries in the region on a variety of topics.
Summer Internship in Thailand The Center, in cooperation with Thammasat University Faculty of Law, offers a summer internship to give current UW JD students an opportunity to study briefly at Thammasat University and then work in interna-tional law firms in Bangkok.
Student Employment The Center offers work positions to qualified JD students to assist MLI students with the organization and construction of their research papers (“writing tutors”) and to lead MLI study groups for law courses (“discussion leaders”).
PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS AND OUTREACH
The Center develops, sponsors, and presents professional development programs in East and Southeast Asia and in Madison. These include:
Tipchanok
Ratanosoth OsanaiSatoru TamaruyaMasayuki Yash Ghai Shen Sibao Lo Changfa Yuko
Koishi LewisDon Chuck ItoHisaei Tien
Hung-mao Ki-Su Lee
Natalia Prisekina
• English for Lawyers program in Bangkok, Thailand, presented in cooperation with the Thai Chamber of Commerce (2003)
• Judicial Skills Training Program held in Shanghai and in Madison, for judges from the Shanghai area (2002, 2003)
• Conference on Technology and Legal Education, co-sponsored with Nagoya University School of Law, held at the Law School (2003)
• A training program on international business law and American law in Vladivostok (1997) and in Madison (2001)
• A one-day international conf-erence on Corporate Governance, held at the Law School (2003)
• Globalization and Taiwan, a regional conference, held at the University of Wisconsin (2000)
• Short programs on international trade in Thailand, Taiwan, China, and the Russian Far East (various years)
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CENTER PERSONNEL
Charles R. Irish, the Director of the Center, is Volkman-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he has taught since 1974. He teaches courses in tax, international tax, and tax policy. Professor Irish has lectured and advised in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the insular coun-tries in the Pacific and Caribbean, and has written and published extensively. Professor Irish frequently acts as advisor for international students at the Law School.
Susan Katcher, the Associate Director of the Center, teaches at the Law School, is a general advisor for master’s law students, and helps administer the Center’s programs for visiting scholars and JD stu-dents. She has published occasional pieces and has given guest lectures at the law faculties of universi-ties in Japan, Korea, P.R. China, and Thailand. She has a master’s degree in teaching in addition to her JD degree.
Ethel E. Pellett, Program Assistant of the Center, brings extensive experience in administration from her previous work in the Law School and in the private sector. As administrator of the Graduate Programs office at the Law School, she is usually the first contact that international students have with the Law School (and the Center), and she is instrumental in assuring that each student has a successful study experience at the Law School.
W. Lawrence Church, Volkman-Bascom Professor of Law, teaches courses in constitutional law and prop-erty law. He has lived in and taught law in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and has published books and articles on many areas of American law. Professor Church advises many international students at the Law School each year.
Jessica Harrison, Lecturer in Law, worked in private practice and clerked for a federal District Court judge before joining the Center staff. Ms. Harrison has traveled extensively in East Asia and lived in Palau for one year, doing research on land tenure issues. She is a graduate of the UW Law School and also received a master’s degree from the University.
John Ohnesorge, Assistant Professor of Law, teaches administrative law and business law. Professor Ohnesorge studied and taught in Shanghai and practiced law in Korea. He earned the JD from the University of Minnesota Law School and the SJD from Harvard Law School, where his primary advisor was William P. Alford, director of Harvard’s East Asian Legal Studies program.
For current information about course offerings, professional development programs, scholarly exchanges, and other activities of the East Asian Legal Studies Center, visit our website or contact Ms. Ethel Pellett at the following address:
EAST ASIAN LEGAL STUDIES CENTER
University of Wisconsin Law School 975 Bascom Mall, Room 4312 Madison, Wisconsin [WI] 53706-1399 U.S.A.
Telephone: 1-608-262-9120 Fax: 1-608-265-2253
