Full disclosure: I’d rather teach in-person than over Zoom. My courses in China and the Dominican Republic were designed with group exercises, being able to provide quick feedback to students, being able to read the room, and being able to chat before and after class with students.

This summer, I’ll teach my Legal English for American Law Schools (LEALS) course virtually for East China University of Political Science and Law’s (ECUPL) International Financial Law School. Having taught in Shanghai in 2016 and 2018, I’m starting to work through how a virtual course will be different from my prior two ECUPL experiences.

We will definitely lose some of the benefits of in-person instruction. My hope is that we’ll be able to make up for that in three important ways:

• Connecting my class to two or three law schools in other countries. I’ll design assignments where my students will have to work with law students at other schools where English is a second language. My hope is this will bring together students interested in a U.S. legal education, help my students improve their legal English, and offer a benefit we didn’t previously have. Thanks to friends at other law schools for working with me on this!
• Bringing guest speakers in to discuss their work. I use the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for about 1/3 of the course to teach legal writing, lawyering, U.S. law, and legal English concepts. My hope is that students will be able to use this to learn more about the substantive law and the ways they can work in this area of legal practice.
• Host U.S. law schools. While I offer advice for my students, write LORs, and generally support students who want to study in any jurisdiction (though I hope for the U.S.!), I think hearing directly from U.S. law schools will also be a great opportunity as they prepare for the 2021-22 admissions cycle at the schools they’re most interested in. Many thanks to colleagues who will join us to share insight into law school admissions.

Preparing for a virtual Summer 2021 LEALS also made me wonder why I don’t offer LEALS virtually each Fall and Spring. The purpose of the course is to prepare students for a common law education, and I can see a benefit to offering it globally, instead of at a specific school. This would give the added benefit of having a multicultural classroom, working in English in group assignments, and developing a cohort of law students from around the world who know each other before their studies.

Will wait to see how my Summer LEALS course goes before making a decision, but very excited for the prospect of semester-long, virtual LEALS courses. While I look forward to returning to other countries to teach LEALS, I think a virtual complement would be a wonderful addition.