When I returned to the U.S. in June 2018 after 2.5 years in China, I knew I’d be back pretty soon. I quickly returned in Fall 2018 as part of a recruitment trip to China and India for St. John’s Law. But a career move to Florida and then the pandemic delayed the next trip. I became very comfortable with online lecturing for two Chinese law schools (and supposedly became pretty good at it!). Another career move happened. And so I wasn’t sure when I’d get back to China again.

That all changed recently! I spent the past two months back in Shanghai (Songjiang if we’re being technical!) for my first visit back to China in 7 years. I taught LEALS in-person for the first time since 2018. I finally reunited with people who played important parts of my life from 2015-2019. I met so many of the people I worked with online from 2021-2025 and in-person at three U.S. law schools from 2013-2025. It was a really great experience.

The timing for this return could not be more on-point: a decade since I began preparing for the first LEALS in December 2015 at Beijing Jiaotong. And my first experience as a visiting exchange professor/lecturer/teacher/whatever. The career move that changed my life.

Getting to Yes, Easily: Professor Wang Cheng

LEALS has been online since Summer 2021. And I’ve loved it that way! But when an old friend asked if I’d consider an in-person LEALS in Fall 2025, the combination of Shanghai, a return to old friends at SUIBE, and curiosity about teaching an in-person class again were enough to sell me. I said yes, and we started planning the logistics.

It’s way more complex to welcome visitors (something I learned a lot about when I was based in China for 31 months) than to plan online courses. I am thankful to everyone at SUIBE who played a role in the scheduling, logistics, planning, and so much more that goes into this stuff. A special thanks to Kevin for all his assistance and support from the start (airport pickup) until the end (final bank card details).

From hot pot dinners in 2016 and 2017 and 2018 to hot pot dinners in 2025. It felt great to reunite and I will proudly wear my new SUIBE polo shirt.

SUIBE

I taught full-length LEALS courses for SUIBE twice during my time in China. A full-semester Fall 2016 course and a split-semester Fall 2017 course (I was in Beijing September and October and Shanghai November and December).

SUIBE was one of the most memorable schools I worked at/with for a couple reasons. First, one of the first three partner school students at St. John’s from China was from SUIBE. Sherry and I even reunited in Beijing this time. I was able to attend her SUIBE graduation while I was in China and St. John’s even let me borrow some regalia to wear for the ceremony. SUIBE was also one of two law schools my Dean guest lectured for my students (Fall 2016, alongside Soochow) when he visited.

And Professor Wang was one of the people I became friends with outside of “just” our work together. Given the similarities between SUIBE and St. John’s, I was happy to say yes for a return and be able to assist with more than just a LEALS course. As we planned, we also discussed some other ways I could support SUIBE during the two-month course.

LEALS and the Two-Month Visit

An action-packed two months included a LEALS course for 30 SUIBE sophomores in their excellence program, with great support from a wonderful junior faculty member. I also provided a guest lecture for students not in the course and a session on applying to LL.M. programs globally (and of course in the U.S. specifically!). I had office hours with LEALSers and assisted SUIBE with thinking through more internationalization activities in the U.S. and globally. A lot of lunches with faculty and staff and getting to talk about the 2015-2018 days, current events, and a lot more.

It had been 7 years since I last taught LEALS in-person. And so I was really eager to be back in a classroom and see (1) how well I did relearning that format and (2) what students were using during class by walking around the room. Both were really fantastic. I realized how much I’ve shifted my teaching style through online lecturing. I spend way more time working with students over email before and after class than I ever did years ago. And I retained that as a couple of students who were a little quieter in class used that format to really shine through each week with in-depth and very thoughtful questions, recaps, and thoughts. And I was able to see the tools students were using, from translation to GenAI to how they took notes. I provide my PPTs before class, so it was also nice to be able to see how students incorporated those into their in-class work.

Online lecturing forces me to think much more intentionally about keeping everyone focused (entertained?) during the lessons. Returning to the classroom, I saw the “captive audience” that I spent the first 6 years of my career well-versed in. When students are in a classroom with you, it’s harder for them to tune out, do other work, or be distracted. So those years of online teaching definitely helped me adjust to the classroom return.

The students were wonderful. Having shifted from teaching seniors to sophomores, I also was able to shift into doing more to help as they think about their internships, exchanges, and more long-term planning before making LL.M. (or J.D.) decisions. And over the years, I’ve shifted into more LEALS activities focusing on studying in any common law jurisdiction/English-language LL.M. program as I write more LORs for more students seeking to study in places besides the U.S. And I learned a lot that I will incorporate into my next LEALS course, starting in mid-November online for NWUPL.

The other two lectures/workshops both went very well. I was able to highlight how I’ve spent ten years using current events to teach the U.S. legal system to a wider audience of SUIBE students. And I was able to give what I consider neutral advice as students thought about their future study abroad plans. China and Chinese students play a large role in the business of global LL.M. programs. For ten years, I’ve tried to assist students in understanding that. I’ve enjoyed helping LEALSers make decisions in their best interests and I was able to provide some of that same advice to a wider audience.

Overall

Seven years later, Shanghai still feels like a second home. I look back fondly on those 31 months and the ways they changed my career and life. Being back in China, back in-person for LEALS, and seeing so many of the people I worked with over the past ten years was phenomenal.

I’ll have more about the other parts of the two months, including visits with ECUPL and ECNU and the many St. John’s, Northwestern, and even a UF grad I was able to reunite with. But I wanted to start with the wonderful experience at SUIBE. Thanks for inviting me back and for the great experience. I look forward to staying in touch as we plan the next LEALS course!