Our Pre-LL.M. Program is home to students from civil law and common law jurisdictions. Week 7 was our introduction to judicial opinions (for civil law trained students) and introduction to U.S. judicial opinions (for civil law and common law trained students).

Animal Science Products, Inc. was decided on June 14, 2018, during my last week teaching Legal English for American Law Schools (LEALS) abroad. Over the last three years, I’ve enjoyed using that case to highlight a lot of themes I used to cover in my courses. In addition to its use as a case for Legal English (more on that in a follow-up post), it is an equally great case for our Pre-LL.M. Program for many reasons.

1. An Audience of Global Lawyers

My Pre-LL.M. group includes lawyers from around the world. They join with a range of backgrounds and experiences. During the Pre-LL.M. Program, we discuss ways that adding a U.S. legal education through an LL.M. degree will assist in their future cross-border work. Animal Science Products is a case where lawyers had to understand two different legal systems. When reviewing the briefs, Pre-LL.M. students can see how lawyers from large, international law firms worked on both sides of the case. I use this case to highlight the value of being a dual-educated (and often dual-licensed) legal professional. We also begin to discuss how to demonstrate this value as they consider post-LL.M. plans.

2. Connecting the Dots

At this stage in the Pre-LL.M. Program, I’ve introduced the common law system (to civil law students), the court systems, and the Constitution. We discussed the system of precedent, the federal court structure, sources of law in the United States, and other key information as our incoming students prepare for their courses. Animal Science Products shows the evolution of a rule from common law to codification (pp. 7-8), factor tests (p. 9), and review of precedent and distinguishing the precedent (pp. 10-11). The Court also highlights international treaties and reasoning by analogy. I can also highlight the distinction between sources of law, as well as primary sources and secondary sources. Animal Science Products is a manageable 12 pages and offers a great starting point for reading a U.S. judicial opinion.

3. Civil Procedure

Given that many of our LL.M. students choose to sit for state bar exams, Civil Procedure is a popular course for our LL.M. in U.S. Law students. Animal Science Products offers a great introduction to many of the concepts they’ll learn about in Civil Procedure and allows them to begin building their legal English vocabulary for Civil Procedure, see how a circuit court’s decision may lead to a conflict that brings a case to the Supreme Court for review, and have an overview of the way a case makes its way through three levels of courts. As more of our three-semester Tax LL.M. students also sit for state bar exams, my hope is that even more LL.M. students will take Civil Procedure (in addition to Contracts, Business Associations, and Professional Responsibility).

4. Gator Nation Network

In addition to the point above about the importance of understanding multiple legal systems, I also use Animal Science Products to make a point to the Pre-LL.M. students about the importance of building their global networks while in Gainesville. I encourage students to connect with the American J.D. and LL.M. students in their classes, and with one another. After graduation they’ll be able to e-mail or call colleagues with questions. From Seoul to Santiago, we have a great group of incoming foreign-educated law students. But their network will also include practitioners from Sarasota to San Francisco. Taken together, I mention that in an interconnected world, the networks they form in Gainesville will carry over to their post-LL.M. careers.

Conclusion & Legal English

For a program designed to help onboard foreign-educated LL.M. students, I believe Animal Science Products fits nicely with the Pre-LL.M. Program I’ve designed. This coming week, we’ll focus on the legal English aspects of the case. Given that I also use this case in my Legal English for American Law Schools course, I’m excited to delve into the vocabulary, structure, citations, and organization of the case (and the litigation documents) with the group.

I often say “embrace ambiguity” when teaching legal writing to foreign-educated law students. I think this portion of the opinion sums that up nicely:

“Given the world’s many and diverse legal systems, and the range of circumstances in which a foreign government’s views may be presented, no single formula or rule will fit all cases in which a foreign government describes its own law.”

Animal Science Products, Inc., 585 U.S. ___ (2018) (slip op. p. 9)