Jindal Global Law School signs MoUs with leading US law schools

Sonipat (Haryana) - The Jindal Global Law School here has signed wide-ranging partnership agreements with three leading American law Schools to enrich academic programmes in both  India and the US.

Two MoUs were signed Thursday by O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) Vice Chancellor C. Raj Kumar and his counterparts in the University of California-Davis School of Law and the  University of California-Berkeley Law School.

The third MoU, with the James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona, which was signed on April 9 and provides for a unique dual degree programmeme. A central feature of the  agreement allows students from Jindal Global Law School to earn both their Indian law degree and a J.D. from Arizona Law in two years less than it would take to earn those degrees  separately.

The MoU with the Berkeley Law School enables a three year LL.B student in Jindal Global Law School to also pursue a professional LL.M degree in Berkeley which spans two 10 to 13-week  summer terms. Berkeley Law School’s Professional LL.M. Programme qualifies its graduates to take the California Bar Examination.

The Times Higher Education rankings for 2012 place the University of California-Berkeley at No.5 in the world in terms of "top universities by reputation".

The MoU with Berkeley provides for executive education programmes for lawyers, judges, general counsels, corporate executives, government officials, diplomats, think tanks and  businessmen in India. They seek to provide legal training, capacity and institution building and continuing legal education. The Law Schools will jointly conduct such programmes in either or  both countries, and will undertake at least one or two programmes each year.

"These programmes seek to build in depth and current understanding of evolving trends and best practices in various areas of law, including intellectual property law, antitrust/competition  law and regulations, corporate finance, environmental regulation, security regulations, federal and state regulatory matters, criminal justice delivery mechanisms, technology law, human  rights law and enforcement, public health, trade regulation and legal clinics," a JGU statement said.

The MoU with the University of California-Davis provides for collaborations through summer training programmes, joint research, seminars, publications, faculty collaborations and  exchanges of faculty and students. They seek to further educational interaction to support research collaboration, capacity building, and other forms of academic partnerships in designated  areas of business studies, international affairs and public policy.

According to JGU Vice Chancellor Raj Kumar, the agreements "mark the recognition of the importance of global legal education and transnational legal practice where students from the US  and India have an opportunity to pursue legal studies in both jurisdictions".