With my LEALS Summer 2023 class at the halfway point, I wanted to highlight 4 of my favorite articles to share with students (alphabetical order, all great!). LEALS is designed for students who want to study in U.S. LL.M. and J.D. programs and provides a head start on (1) U.S. law; (2) U.S. legal analysis and writing; and (3) the U.S. legal education experience.

1. Alexa Z. Chew and Rachel Gurvich, Saying the Quiet Parts Out Loud: Teaching Students How Law School Works. How law school “works” is an important part of the LEALS course. My ultimate goal in LEALS is helping students prepare for a U.S. LL.M. or J.D. degree. Pages 889-893 offer some really important examples of differences in law school experiences, students, and relationships. I enjoy adding a dimension to this article by focusing on how law school “works” for LL.M. and international J.D. students.
2. Orin S. Kerr, How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students. New J.D. students with an American undergraduate education need to learn about judicial opinions, and so I really enjoy the way this article is written as a way to LEALSers (civil law, English as a second language) to judicial opinions. The article also highlights the role judicial opinions will play in the classroom and provides a couple nice vocabulary words revolving around opinions. The breakdown of the parts of the opinion and what students should be ready to discuss in class really help LEALSers prepare to read their first batch of opinions.
3. Suzanne E. Rowe, Legal Research, Legal Writing, and Legal Analysis: Putting Law School into Practice. LEALS is designed to reflect a J.D. 1L legal writing course (18-25 students, assignments throughout the semester, IRAC and inter-office memo, etc.). This article helps me provide guidance for my students about what they should expect in a U.S. legal writing course at the J.D. (or LL.M.) level. I really like the opening portion as a way to share with students that the goal is not to memorize every case. Pages 8-10 really help connect the projects in the class to the work the students will do if they choose to study in the United States.
4. Carole Silver, States Side Story: Career Paths of International LL.M. Students, or ‘I Like to Be in America’. LEALS also focuses on helping students think about which schools they want to apply to and what they plan to do after their LL.M. (or J.D.) degree. This article is one I share with my students, LL.B. students who have not yet graduated, to ensure they are thinking strategically about their U.S. education experiences. LL.M. (and J.D.) programs can be quite expensive and I want my students to really think through their reasons for wanting to study abroad and ensure that the programs, schools, and degrees they pursue align with their goals.