The law firm of White & Case announced yesterday that they are teaming up with Indian law school, Jindal Global School to provide for Executive training as well as Continuing Legal Education training. The amount of involvement from White & Case lawyers appears to be pretty significant, as they will also arrange for visiting and adjunct professors, as well as setting up interactions between the firm’s lawyers and JGS’s law students and faculty including internships, conferences and seminars.

This is quite a bold move on White & Cases’ part, and one that seems to be ripe for the undertaking. In reading the press release, it made me wonder if any law firms in the US were so closely involved with a specific US law school. I’m assuming, no, and thinking that there may be ethical rules of such tight integration of a law firm and a law school (I could be wrong on this, so feel free to tell me so.)

It would be interesting to see if this same type of agreement between a major law firm and a US law school could work. It would certainly shake things up a bit in the old Socratic Method teaching style and expose students that would never get a chance to be a Summer Associate for a major law firm to get a peek inside the way it operates, and what it expects from its attorneys. It might be of even greater importance as the numbers of incoming associates (both Summer and Fall) shrink for this lost generation of law students. Perhaps it would also expose both the firm and the school to new ideas on how to better train students for the profession. Unfortunately, the next opportunity to test this type of collaboration will probably come when another firm makes an agreement with a Chinese law school.

Here’s the press release from White & Case:

New York and Sonipat, Haryana, India May 23, 2011 … Global law firm White & Case LLP and Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) of O.P. Jindal Global University have signed an agreement to develop executive and continuing legal education programs. The agreement, a first between a major US law firm and an Indian law school, calls for visiting faculty arrangements, adjunct professorships, joint conferences and seminars and internships for JGLS students.

“Our collaboration with JGLS is part of the Firm’s long-term commitment to India,” said Hugh Verrier, chairman of White & Case. “Our association with this pioneering global law school will help prepare a new generation of lawyers who can operate effectively in a globalized world.”

“With a very active cross-border India practice, White & Case recognizes the huge role India plays in the global economy,” said Nandan Nelivigi, a partner with White & Case and head of the Firm’s India Practice. “Teaming up with one of the best law schools in India will allow the Firm, through its social responsibility initiative, to make contributions to the further strengthening of India’s legal education system and its legal profession.”

“The agreement with White & Case marks a historic opportunity underscoring the importance of globalization of legal education and the legal profession in India,” said Professor C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University and Dean of Jindal Global Law School. “This collaboration will provide impetus to raising the quality of legal education in India that will transcend jurisdiction-based learning, but also more importantly, help India develop legal knowledge across different sectors.”
About JGLS

JGLS is committed to promoting global legal education through global courses, global curriculum, global programs, global research, and global interaction through a global faculty. It offers a range of full time degree programs – five year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.); three year LL.B., and LL.M. programs with particular specialization in corporate and financial law, international trade law and intellectual property rights. JGLS has established eleven research centers, including a Michigan-Jindal Centre for Global Corporate and Financial Law and Policy jointly instituted with the University of Michigan Law School. In a short span of time, JGLS has established a global reputation due to its extraordinarily qualified faculty members recruited from around the world. JGLS has established international collaborations with Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Cornell Law School, New York University School of Law and Indian University’s Maurer School of Law. It recruits students in all its programs through the US-based Law School Admission Test (LSAT-India).

About White & Case
White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with lawyers in 37 offices in 25 countries. Among the first US-based law firms to establish a truly global presence, we provide counsel and representation in virtually every area of law that affects cross-border business. Our clients value both the breadth of our global network and the depth of our US, English and local law capabilities in each of our regions and rely on us for their complex cross-border transactions, as well as their representation in arbitration and litigation proceedings.

Contacts:
Francine Minadeo
Media Relations Manager
White & Case LLP
+1 646 885 2218
fminadeo@whitecase.com

Professor C. Raj Kumar
Vice Chancellor
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) &
Dean, Jindal Global Law School
Tel: (91) 99101222851
vc@jgu.edu.in
crk@jgu.edu.in