Before the pandemic, U.S. law schools had a lot of activities abroad. Partner school visits, recruitment fairs, conferences, alumni reunions, dual degrees, short-term teaching visits, and more! One of my favorite things when based abroad was meeting people from other law schools (e.g., a Fordham professor in Beijing, Case Western professors in Chongqing, and professors from other countries around China).

Pre-pandemic, international travel was one of the perks of working in the LL.M./international legal education world. It’s hard to imagine virtual-only options working as well before 2020, as so much of the recruitment and engagement norms revolved around face-to-face meetings. As schools have navigated the pandemic over the last two years, the strength of preexisting partnerships and connections have varied.

For many who have taught abroad, there is hope that we will soon be able to return to in-country teaching. For many, it’s a lot more fun to spend time teaching in another country, sightseeing, meeting people, and experiencing different cultures, than it is to Zoom into a classroom for a few hours. Having now taught in-person (2015-2018) and online (2021) abroad, here are some recommendations that I hope will help law schools and those seeking to re-engage in teaching abroad.

1. Scheduling: At this stage, I try to set up classes months in advance, so that my course is on the schedule at the same time as all other Fall, Spring, or Summer courses. Squeezing a class into an existing schedule creates a lot of difficulties for students, even if the school wants to offer the course. I’d recommend finalizing details for a course at least 4-6 months in advance. For example, we found a great time this Spring on the schedule where the students do not have any conflicts and had plenty of time to incorporate the class meeting time into their internships and other extracurricular activities.
2. Class: If you are teaching for a U.S. law school, the students in your course may be planning to study at your school through a joint program. Or, the school may be expecting your course to lead to interest in studying at your law school. If you are teaching for yourself, you have a lot more flexibility and freedom in terms of expectations. Do you want any student to be able to register for the course? Or students with certain backgrounds (e.g., language abilities, prerequisite courses, grade cutoffs, etc.)? If you’re in the second group, you have more flexibility in building the course. Because my courses offer a lot of individualized feedback, I try to cap my courses at 25 students.
3. In-Person v. Online: In-person courses depend on the flexibility of the instructor. If you’re based in the U.S., you may try to teach abroad during a break in your schedule or a quieter period in your practice. For some, that’s a 2-week course. For others, possibly a summer course. For online courses, a lot of those restrictions don’t apply. E.g., there doesn’t need to be a discussion of who will pay for housing for a semester-long course when it’s online and you’re teaching from your U.S. base. From experience with my LEALS course, longer is better, and so I’m happy to have the course run a full semester.

Recommendations for U.S. law schools:

1. Setting up a joint online course between students from a school abroad and your students in an area of mutual interest. If the teaching abroad is part of a broader strategy for recruitment and partnership development, that becomes easier when students at both schools form connections.
2. Setting up a partner school online course. Offer partner school students from different countries an opportunity to learn from one of your professors. It can be a basic overview of the U.S. legal system or a specialized subject that is of interest.