Professor George Edwards completed a 5-day lecture tour in the South Pacific, hosted by the U.S. Department of State EducationUSA affiliated network. From 21 – 25 August, he delivered lectures and briefings at two U.S. Embassies, one U.S. Consulate and EducationUSA Advising Centers and American Corners, and a law faculty in three South Pacific countries -- Samoa, Fiji and Australia. Separate from his EducationUSA / U.S. Embassy engagements, he lectured at an additional South Pacific law faculty, visited the U.S. territory of American Samoa and met with an American Samoan prosecutor, and visited an Australian legal aid office where his Indiana law student is working as a human rights law intern.

​Professor Edwards’ South Pacific speaking tour follows his recent similar Central and North Asia EducationUSA tour earlier in August, in which he spoke at EducationUSA Advising Centers in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek), and Kazakhstan (Almaty).

Professor Edwards stated, “My South Pacific speaking tour and my Central and North Asia speaking tour were similarly insightful and productive. Many local stakeholders in these regions expressed strong interest in studying law at many of our 200 U.S. ABA-accredited law school programs, and otherwise engaging with our many thousands of U.S. law school professors and students. Doors are now open a little further, to benefit students, faculty, law schools, and other law institutions in the U.S. and abroad. This public and people-to-people diplomacy promotes cultural awareness and mutual understanding, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights. I thank the U.S. Department of State and its affiliated EducationUSA network for facilitating these beneficial undertakings.”

Professor Edwards’ U.S. Consulate presentation focused on law school education in the U.S. generally, and did not highlight any specific U.S. school. He provided information on the many U.S. law schools that accept Australian students for law degree programs, tips on how Australian prospective students might choose among the numerous law schools, the application and admission process, life during the academic program, and students reaching their goals post-graduation.​

​​EducationUSA invited Mr. Scales to return to the U.S. Consulate during his Australian internship to record a video to be placed on the EducationUSA / Consulate website as a resource for Australians interested in studying law in the U.S. Future cooperation and projects include the possibility of podcasts, webinars, and other means for Professor Edwards to convey information to Australians seeking to study law in the U.S.

Monash University Faculty of Law – Melbourne
Also on Monday Professor Edwards delivered a 3 ½-hour lecture at the University of Monash Faculty of Law on the topic of the right to a fair trial under international and domestic law, using the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Military Commissions as a discussion vehicle. This presentation was part of an intensive law course titled “Australians Detained Abroad” taught by Professor Michael Dan Mori, U.S. Marines Lt. Col. (ret), who was defense counsel in the Guantanamo Bay case against Australian David Hicks, who in 2007 was the first person convicted by a U.S. military commission since World War II. ​ 

Professor Edwards discussed whether the right to a fair trial is a universal right, meaning the same thing in Melbourne as it does in Madrid, Mississippi, or Mumbai or Mozambique. He also discussed the elements of a fair trial, how one knows when a fair trial is being had (or know when the trial is not fair), who determines whether a trial is fair, and how fair trials can be assured.

Furthermore, Professor Edwards discussed the confluence, overlap and differences among international human rights law, international humanitarian law (law of war) and international criminal law, as they all relate to the right to a fair trial. He noted that defendants have fair trial rights and interests, but other stakeholders with rights and interests in a fair trial include not only defendants, but also include the prosecution, victims and their families, the judge, the media, the U.S. and international communities, the guard force, non-defendant detainees, witnesses, non-governmental organization (NGO) observers, and others.​

​The Monash Law Faculty presentation was unrelated to the EducationUSA / Embassy / Consulate presentations in Australia, Fiji and Samoa.

​To Apia, Samoa – Tuesday / Wednesday
After a long flight from Melbourne with a plane change in Fiji, Professor Edwards arrived at Apia, Samoa, where on Tuesday he confirmed arrangements for his Samoa presentation, at which he was hosted by the following U.S. Embassy officials who attended the presentation:  U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires C. “Tony” Greubel; EducationUSA Adviser Sharon Mona; Public Affairs Specialist Dee; and Mr. Myki. Professor Edwards’ presentation was titled:  U.S. Law School Education for Students from Samoa (Western Samoa). The presentation was held in an Embassy extension -- the America Corner in the Nelson Mandela Library -- directly across the street from the main Embassy building. The American Corner serves as the EducationUSA Advising Center, and Samoan students are able to use the facility for courses, internet access, and to access volumes of reading materials.

​To Pago Pago, American Samoa – Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, following his Samoan Embassy EducationUSA presentation, Professor Edwards was driven to an airstrip 5 minutes from downtown Apia where he boarded a propeller jet for a 30-minute low-flying flight to Pago Pago, American Samoa, where Indiana McKinney law student Luke Purdy interned several years ago through the Program in International Human Rights Law that Professor Edwards founded. Professor Edwards met an American Samoan prosecutor, and they discussed, among other things, legal education and qualifications for the practice of law in American Samoa.

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the U.S., as are Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Island.

​Flights to and from Apia and Pago Pago cease operating at 4:45 each afternoon, so the planes can avoid flying after the sun sets. Neither airstrip has lights; the pilots rely on visually spotting the runways.

Planes do not take off or land on these two airstrips if evening is approaching. If a plane is late flying into Apia, it is diverted to the main international airport in Samoa, which is an hour’s drive from Apia. There is no alternative airstrip on American Samoa for late planes to land after dark.

​

To Nadi, Fiji – Thursday / Friday
Thursday morning began with Professor Edwards stopping by the U.S. Embassy – Samoa (Apia), de-briefing on his visit to Pago Pago, American Samoa the previous afternoon, and debriefing on the Embassy presentation the previous morning.

After saying farewell to U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires “Tony” Greubel and EducationUSA Adviser Sharon Mona, Professor Edwards embarked on the drive through the Samoa countryside to the main Apia airport, about 60 minutes away.
​
Professor Edwards flew for over 2 hours from Apia, Samoa to Nadi, Fiji.

​At the Nadi, Fiji, airport Professor Edwards was picked up by a driver organized by the U.S. Embassy, Fiji, and driven for 3 ½ hours by car to Suva, Fiji, where Friday morning he gave a briefing at the U.S. Embassy. The briefing was conducted live with a videoconference conference component -- with U.S. officials in the room with him at the Suva Embassy, with connections to EducationUSA elsewhere in Fiji. Live and remote U.S. Embassy officials and others who attended included Ms. Shivanjani M. Naidu, Ms. Julianne Sutherland, Ms. Alena S. Vesikula-Vatuwaliwali, and Ms. Violet P. Taukave.

​Ms. Violet P. Taukave escorted Professor Edwards to the University of Fiji School of Law where he presented to faculty and staff on the topic of Guantanamo Bay:  Fair Trial Past & Present. He was hosted by University of Fiji School of Law Dean & Professor of Law Shaista Shameem, with whom he discussed the possibility of faculty and staff exchanges between Indiana McKinney and the Fiji Law School, contributions to the new Unifiji Law Review, and possibilities for remote and live teaching at the Fiji campus. He spoke about opportunities for Fiji law professors, staff and students to go on exchanges and otherwise cooperate with various other U.S. law schools, and the possibilities for law professors, staff and students from U.S. law schools to go on exchanges to Fiji. Ms. Violet P. Taukave spoke briefly about U.S. government resources that could possibly be available for such undertakings involving U.S. law schools and the Fiji faculty.

Following the faculty / staff presentation, Professor Edwards delivered a lecture to the student body, and to faculty and staff, on the topic of U.S. Legal Education – Prospects, Opportunities and Challenges for Students from Fiji. Ms. Violet P. Taukave discussed with the students resources available at the U.S. Embassy, including the EducationUSA Advising Center, where student from Fiji may go to learn more about studying in the U.S. She spoke about the library reading materials, computers, training courses and other resources available at the U.S. Embassy for students from Fiji to use. She also spoke briefly about student visas for students from Fiji, and about scholarships that might be available, including the Fulbright.

Professor Edwards also met Fiji / former Wall Street lawyer Adrienne Ali, who is opening a civil and human rights non-governmental organization in Suva in October 2017, and discussed, among other things, Indiana McKinney law student interns working at this new organization in 2018.

​Following his University of Fiji presentations, a driver organized by the Embassy drove Professor Edwards from Suva, Fiji for 3 ½ hours back to Nadi, Fiji, the first leg of his return trip to the United States.

​WEstjustice – near Melbourne
Just before the official 5-day speaking tour began, within hours after touching down in Melbourne, Australia from the U.S., Professor Edwards visited WEstjustice, a legal aid center hosting Indiana McKinney law student Mr. Joseph Scales as a human rights law intern. While at WEstjustice’s Footscray office, Professor Edwards met Mr. Scales’ supervisors and other WEstjustice staff. Professor Edwards also met Ms. Fionna McLeod, Chief Executive of the Law Society of Australia, which is the national body representing 16 state and territory legal professional bodies as well as Law Firms Australia 

​Conclusion – Comments by Professor Edwards
Professor Edwards spoke about his 5-day South Pacific speaking tour, saying, “I am excited about the possibility of more U.S. law schools and law professors collaborating with the South Pacific EducationUSA Advising Centers and U.S. Embassies and Consulates I visited in Samoa, Australia and Fiji.  We on both sides of the Pacific can learn from exchanges with each other, whether the exchanges involve U.S. law students and professors traveling to the South Pacific, or South Pacific students and professors traveling to the U.S. We all also benefit from electronic and other cooperation that does not involve physical travel.”

​Professor Edwards said, “This 5-day South Pacific speaking tour was an excellent opportunity to cement valuable relationships, making it easier for law students and legal professionals on both sides of the Pacific to collaborate. I hope that many law schools in the U.S. will cooperate with the EducationUSA Advising Centers in the South Pacific, and with the Embassies and Consulates that house and support these Centers. Likewise, I hope that more law faculties and students from the South Pacific take advantage of resources available at and through our many U.S. law schools.”

Professor Edwards said, “This 5-day South Pacific speaking tour promoted public diplomacy and people-to people diplomacy, which both in turn promoted cultural awareness and mutual understanding, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights. Those of us on both sides of the Pacific benefitted from this rich and valuable exchange.”

​Professor Edwards said, “In Fiji I visited my 39th EducationUSA Advising Center”, speaking of the U.S. State Department network with 450 Centers in almost 200 countries around the globe. He said, “Students, parents, university administrators, Center staff and others I speak to at EducationUSA Advising Centers always seem eager to learn about local students going to the U.S. to study law. International students want to study many different areas of law in the U.S., and consider many U.S. law schools that offer Master of Laws (LL.M.) and other suitable law degrees. I happily provide as much information as possible to students wishing to attend any of the many dozens of U.S. law schools whose doors are open to international students.”

​Professor Edwards said, “My South Pacific visit was short, but it was very productive. I encountered a broad network of law professionals, including law students, and discussed substantive international law, international legal education, and information sharing and cooperation. I learned a great deal from EducationUSA Advisors, academics, government officials, law students, and the private bar.”

​Professor Edwards said, “The U.S. Department of State deserves great credit for having on staff high quality officials who promote the diplomacy associated with international education, such as Mr. Antony Koliha, the Director of the State Department’s Office of Global Educational Programs, and Dr. Alfred (Fred) Boll, Branch Chief, EducationUSA, Office of Global Educational Programs, both based at State’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. Their commitment and stewardship, along with that of hundreds of EducationUSA Advisors (including dozens I have met in the field around the globe), help make the EducationUSA network as highly valuable and effective as it is.”

Robin Lerner, who is U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Private Sector Exchange, addressed an audience of law school professors and administrators attending the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) held in New York City.
      On Thursday, 7 January 2015, DAS Lerner was the featured speaker on a panel sponsored by the AALS International Legal Exchange Section, with co-panelists Associate Dean for International Affairs Jeffrey Thomas (University of Missouri School of Law at Kansas City), Dean Fernando Villarreal Gonda (Faculty of Law of the University of Monterrey, Mexico), and Dean Haluk Kabaalioglu (Yeditepe University School of Law in Istanbul, Turkey). The panel was chaired by George Edwards, who is the C.M. Gray Professor of Law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lerner
DAS Lerner oversees the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program (J1-EVP), in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The J-1 EVP annually brings 300,000 foreign citizens to the US to study, build skills, and teach.
      In her remarks, DAS Lerner explained different types of diplomacy – government to government, government to people, and people to people – and emphasized how important it is for U.S. and overseas law schools to internationalize their campuses and curricula, and to be involved in exchange programs – sending and receiving law students, faculty and staff.
      DAS Lerner emphasized the J-1 EVP, and how this State Department initiative is a mechanism for law schools and their universities to create their own inbound international programs. She stressed the importance of sending law students overseas as interns to gain practical work experience in an international setting, how foreign governments increasingly seek to create special bilateral internship and other exchange mechanisms with the US, how foreign governments use the J-1 EVP to accomplish exchange goals, and how sponsors can become involved in those efforts through their participation in the EVP.
      DAS Lerner discussed the U.S.-Mexico bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on internships and the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative.
      Her powerpoint presentation identified numerous important statistics, and mentioned various ECA-funded programs and the State Department’s new study abroad office.
      DAS Lerner holds a Juris Doctor degree (JD), is a member of the California bar, and before becoming Deputy Assistant Secretary of State was staff counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (chaired by then Senator John Kerry), where she handled human rights, refugees, migration, trafficking in persons, gender equity, international exchange and public diplomacy. Earlier, she was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and the Regional Office in Kirkuk, where she worked on a range of issues, including trafficking in persons and congressional affairs. She was a legal and human rights advisor to the Organization of Security in Europe (OSCE) Missions in Croatia and Kosovo, handling minority and property issues, human trafficking and women’s legal rights issues, and was an OSCE long-term election supervisor in Bosnia and Croatia. She also worked as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi.

Associate Dean Jeffrey Thomas -- Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.
Associate Dean for International Affairs Jeffrey Thomas from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, addressed technical aspects of law school international partnerships.
      He discussed partnership documentation, partnership agreement terms, personnel, university relations and approvals, exchange structures, creative ideas for exchanges, and joint research. He distributed sample Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).
      Associate Dean Thomas has been a member of the UMKC law faculty since 1993, teaching insurance law, terrorism and insurance, law and culture, introduction to American law and U.S. legal skills, and other subjects. He also administers the school’s LL.M. program for international students, and has negotiated many partnership agreements between his school and overseas institutions.
      He is a J.D. graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was Executive Editor of the California Law Review.

 Fernando Villarreal Gonda – Monterrey, Mexico
Fernando Villarreal Gonda, who is Dean of the Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey, Mexico, discussed different types of International Partnership Agreements. He emphasized “diversification”, as he contends that partnerships must benefit the full range of stakeholders. He discussed challenges in maintaining partnership arrangements, with those challenges coming in various shapes and sizes.
      As a representative of a non-U.S. law school, he focused on outbound perspectives (outbound to the U.S.), but he also discussed reciprocity – with students from the U.S. and elsewhere traveling to Mexico to study.
      Dean Fernando holds degrees from Harvard Law School (LL.M.), the University of Monterrey, and the University Panthéon Sorbonne (Paris I). He is founding professor of the Free Law School of Monterrey, and teaches Private International Law and electives such as Customs and Trade Arbitration Law and Dispute Resolution. He is a practicing lawyer of 20 years standing, and has served as negotiator on numerous treaty and other inter-governmental consultations, and worked, for example, as Head of Dispute Resolution of the Undersecretariat for International Trade Negotiations in SECOFI, and as negotiator of the Dispute Resolution Chapter and the Model Rules of Procedure and the Code of Conduct for Panelists of the FTAs. He was involved in negotiating the Protocol on Dispute Settlement of the 1980 Montevideo Treaty, drafting reforms of the Commercial Code regarding arbitration, and negotiating the Intellectual Property Chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). ​

​Dean Haluk Kabaalioglu -- Istanbul, Turkey
Since 2002, Haluk Kabaalioglu has been Dean and Professor of Professor of Commercial Law and the Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law of Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
      Dean Haluk spoke about a famous letter from Alfred Einstein's to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, how many German Jewish professors took refuge in Turkey and taught at Ankara and Istanbul universities in the 1930s and 1940s, and how overseas professors contributed to the development of law in Turkey by, for example, drafting the Turkish Commercial Code.
      Dean Haluk spoke about the early 1960s cooperation with Istanbul University Law Faculty and Columbia University, with notable Columbia professor taking residence in Turkey, including Professors Allan Farnsworth, Richard Gardner, Hans Smit, Walter Gellhorn, William Cary, and others.
      Dean Haluk also spoke of more recent exchange programs, including through Erasmus through which Yeditepe has 86 agreements, that benefit Yeditepe and other European law faculties. And, he spoke about how a Yeditepe Law and Washington College of Law collaboration, EU law summer schools, the Penn State summer program on US Law and Advocacy at Yeditepe,  joint LL.M. programs Loyola New Orleans, and cooperation with Chinese and Russian universities.
      Dean Haluk is himself a product of international legal exchanges. Though he was born in Turkey, he spent his high school years in Huntington Beach, California. He holds graduate degrees Columbia (LL.M.) and Brussels (LL.M.). He spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School’s Center to Study Financial Institutions & Securities Markets, was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Virginia School of Law, was a "Doctoral Scholar"  at The Hague Academy of International Law, and a Jean Monnet Fellow at European University Institute in Florence. His undergraduate and PhD degrees are from Istanbul University.
      ​Dean Haluk is past president of the European Law Faculties Association (ELFA), and has lectured at over 60 different universities abroad.

George Edwards -- Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.
Professor Edwards introduced the panel, highlighting the role of various stakeholders involved in international legal education, in the public and private sectors, in the U.S. and overseas. He drew linkages among the backgrounds of the other panelists, highlighting tensions, challenges, synergies, and surprises on the panel's agenda. Professor Edwards drew upon his many years involved in international legal education, including his visits to and presentations at approximately 3 dozen U.S. State Department affiliated EducationUSA Advising Centers, in as many countries. These Advising Centers, which number about 450 in almost 200 countries, are located at U.S. Embassies, U.S. Consulates, Fulbright Offices, Bi-National Commission Offices and other locations, and are used by local students in those countries who wish to study in the U.S. Professor Edwards' presentations at these Centers have focused on how overseas students can study law  in the U.S.
      George Edwards is Special Assistant to the Dean for Inter-Governmental and Non-Governmental Programs and the C.M. Gray Professor of Law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. He is founding Faculty Director of the Indiana law school’s Program in International Human Rights Law, that has organized over 200 internship placements in 56 countries on 6 continents, with students working 10 – 12 weeks at non-governmental organizations, governments, or inter-governmental organizations on a range of international human rights law issues. He founded the school’s Military Commission Observation Project that has sent dozens of IU McKinney Affiliates( faculty, staff, law students and graduates) to monitor hearings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (live, in-courtroom hearings) and Ft. Meade, Maryland (live video-links into the Guantanamo Bay courtroom). (For more information about out project, click here and to read IU Affiliates' blog posts from Guantanamo click here.
      Before joining the Indiana faculty, Professor Edwards worked at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, and taught at City University of Hong Kong and for the Hong Kong Law Society. Before that, he worked as a lawyer at the Wall Street firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore, and as a law clerk to Judge Cedarbaum of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
      Professor Edwards holds a Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) from Harvard Law School, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review and Associate Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. While a student at Harvard, Professor Edwards spent one summer working for a law firm in Bangkok, Thailand, and also worked as an intern in Ethiopia and Sudan on famine related issues, and for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland.
       Professor Edwards is the author of LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student’s Guide to U.S. Law School Programs, that offers guidance to anyone interested in overseas students coming to the U.S. to study law. The LL.M. Roadmap book and online portal – www.LLMRoadMap.com – have been well-received around the globe. Over 100 U.S. State Department affiliated EducationUSA Advising Centers around the world own copies of LL.M. Roadmap,.
      Professor Edwards is also principle author of the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual for U.S. Military Commissions, and author of the forthcoming book The Guantanamo Bay Reader.

Conclusion
The AALS International Legal Exchange Section panel was well-received by the audience, who had more question and comments than the panelists had time to address. Hearty one-on-one and group discussion were held following the panel, spilling over into the lunch hour.
      The panel was very well attended, particularly given that a sizable number of panel hosts (members of the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on International Legal Exchange) attended a Field Trip to the United Nations rather than attend this panel. Also, attendee numbers were down for the panel since the AALS had scheduled a second panel at the same hour on related topics (partnerships with Asian law schools).
      Fortunately, the panel was recorded with a link to the sound being available through the AALS website – www.AALS.org. You are welcome to visit the AALS website and listen to the podcast of our panel!

Dakar, Senegal was Professor George Edwards’ first stop on his July 2015 4-nation African visit to present on U.S. legal education for African students. After Senegal, the author of LL.M. Roadmap traveled to South Africa (Cape Town), Kingdom of Swaziland (Mbabane), and Mozambique (Maputo). 

Professor Edwards had meetings / presentations at 3 U.S. Embassies and 1 U.S. Consulate in Africa, sharing information with EducationUSA Advisers who are responsible for providing information to local students about studying in the U.S. He also met students, law teachers, advisors, judges, and other legal professionals.

US Embassy - Dakar, Senegal
At the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Professor Edwards presented an extensive powerpoint to Mr. Adama Dieng, who is the EducationUSA Advisor based at the Embassy. During this presentation, they meticulously discussed the pros and cons of doing a law degree in the U.S., how to get admitted and be successful in a U.S. law school program, and how to get appropriate and sufficient funding for the U.S. educational experience. Mr. Dieng operates the Embassy’s EducationUSA Advising Center that Senegalese students may visit to learn about study opportunities in the U.S., and he shares information such as this with student advisees.

When Professor Edwards walked into the Embassy, he was met by Mr. Dieng who was carrying a copy of Professor Edwards' book LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student's Guide to U.S. Law School Programs. Professor Edwards said "I was thrilled that Mr. Dieng had a copy of LL.M. Roadmap in the Embassy's EducationUSA Advising Center Library. That is further demonstration of the seriousness nature of the interest of Senegal students in studying law in the U.S., and the serious nature of the resources that Mr. Dieng makes available to students. It's flattering that the Embassy bought my book. But what is more important is that information sources are being made available to students from Senegal who want to study law in the U.S.".

While at the Embassy, Professor Edwards also met Ms. Fatou Kine Kiakhate, who is the Embassy’s Exchange Program Specialist. Furthermore, he met Robert Post, the Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer.

Video Conferencing about U.S. legal study
Professor Edwards agreed to participate in video-conferences (DVCs) with students, law professors, career counsellors, and others interested in the study of law in the U.S.  Professor Edwards said “I can be in a classroom in Indiana and present to students in Senegal. My students and staff in Indiana can join us on our end, just as advisors, professor and even parents can join the video conversation on the Senegal side. I look forward to our video conferences about how students from Senegal can study law in the U.S.”

Conclusion
Professor Edwards said “I have not met too many Senegalese law students in the U.S. I believe that there are many opportunities for more students from Senegal to come to the U.S. for a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree program. Mr. Dieng and others I met at the Embassy in Dakar are a testament to the many resources available to students from Senegal who have an interest in U.S. study.”

Thanks to Mr. Adama Dieng from the U.S. Embassy - Dakar for providing this opportunity to share. Thanks also to Ms. Clara Priester & Ms. Nancy Keteku, both of whom have responsibilities for EducationUSA in different African countries.  Thanks also to Mr. Post and Ms. Kiakhate from the U.S. Embassy - Dakar.

Professor George Edwards, who authored LL.M. Roadmap, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to talk about legal education in the U.S. for South African students.

Professor Edwards presented an extensive powerpoint to Ms. Alice A.K. King, EducationUSA Advisor at the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town. Ms. King operates at the Consulate’s EducationUSA Advising Center that South African students may visit to learn about study opportunities in the U.S.

Co-presenting at EducationUSA was Ms. Joane Theodule, who is a Juris Doctor students at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. Under the direction of Professor Edwards, Ms. Theodule is working as an intern for a group based at the University of Cape Town Faculty of Law (with Dr. Kelley Moult), which is a faculty to be led by incoming Dean Penelope (Penny) Andrews.

Ms. Theodule was born in Haiti and studied in the U.S. as an international students. She was able to share experiences similar to those of South African students who wish to study in the U.S., a country in which they were not born.

Professor George Edwards, the author of LL.M. Roadmap, traveled to Mbabane, Kingdom of Swaziland to talk about legal education in the U.S. for students from Swaziland.

Professor Edwards began his stay in Mbabane with a lengthy discussion at the U.S. Embassy with Ambassador Makila James, who represents the U.S. in Swaziland. Ambassador James spoke about a wide range of joint programs and projects between the U.S. and Swaziland, about the reciprocal benefits from the two countries working together, and about the general positive relationship that the two countries enjoy with each other.

Ambassador James is a career diplomat, having served at the main U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, and in many countries including Nigeria, Jamaica and Zimbabwe. She is also a trained lawyer with a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in New York. Ambassador James’ commitment to the people of the Kingdom of Swaziland, and her many accomplishments over her three years on post, are strongly evidenced by words of praise heard throughout the Kingdom.

Joining Professor Edwards’ discussions with Ambassador James was Mr. Ntsika Fakudze, who is the Director of Legal Affairs for the Office of the King in Swaziland. Mr. Fakudze received his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Indiana University McKinney School of Law, under the direction of Professor Edwards.

Also participating was Mrs. Marjorie Balarin, from EducationUSA, which is a U.S. State Department affiliate, based at the Embassy in Swaziland. Mrs. Balarin is responsible for the Fulbright and other programs that offer students scholarships to study in the U.S., and that facilitates exchanges of students, scholars, professors and others from the U.S. to Swaziland and from Swaziland to the U.S. More information about EducationUSA and Fulbright (including scholarships) can be found here.

Educational Fair

After the U.S. Embassy meeting, Mrs. Balarin, Mr. Fakudze, and Professor Edwards traveled to the Royal Swazi Convention Center to participate in an Educational and Career Fair. Students from throughout Swaziland came to the fair to learn about opportunities to study in different places, including the U.S.

Both Mr. Fakudze and Professor Edwards have received prestigious Fulbright grants from the U.S. government, and thus they were able to speak about the Fulbright applicaiton process, who is eligible, and where the students can travel and study under a Fulbright. 

Mr. Fakudze was able to speak with local students about what it is like for a Swazi student to study in the U.S. He shared information about choosing the best schools for each student, the application process, how to get accepted, how to get funding for their study, how to be successful during the academic year, how to decide what their career goals might be, and how to get the job of their dreams.

Many hundreds of students participated in this fair. Also participating as a speaker was a famous Swazi Hip Hop Artist (see photo below) and other notable persons from the greater Swazi community.

Mrs. Balarin, Mr. Fakudze, and Professor Edwards were all mentioned in a newspaper article published the day after the Educational Fair. (see photos below)

LL.M. Roadmap author George Edwards presented at the U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique on how students from Mozambique can study law in the U.S.

The Embassy audience was full, with law students, lawyers, and other legal professionals, including at least one Judge from a Mozambique court. There was a lively, engaged discussion about choosing the best U.S. law school for each student, how to get admitted, finding scholarship funding, and getting a great job after their degree.

Professor Edwards explained how students can study in a degree program, such as the Master of Laws (LL.M.), the Juris Doctor (J.D.), the Doctor of Juridical Sciences (S.J.D.), and the Master of Jurisprudence (M.J.). Over 160 They can also come to the U.S. in non-degree, shorter term programs, where they can gain significant experience and exposure that would assist the students when they return to Mozambique after their U.S. experience.

The title of the presentation was n “Studying Law in the U.S.A.:  A Student from Mozambique’s Guide to U.S. Law School Programs”.

Distinguished Co-Presenter from the Kingdom of Swaziland
Professor Edwards co-presented with Mr. Ntsika Fakudze, who is Director of Legal Affairs for the Office of the King in the neighboring country, the Kingdom of Swaziland. Mr. Fakudze is a Master of Laws graduate of the Indiana University McKinney LL.M., and a recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Scholar to study in the U.S.

Professor Edwards said “It was great to spend time with Mr. Ntsika Fakudze, an Indiana McKinney LL.M. graduates, who has a successful career as lawyer to the King’s Office in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Earlier in the week, Mr. Fakudze and I co-presented in Swaziland, had a substantial meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland Makila James, and represented the U.S. Fulbright Commission and the U.S. Embassy at a special Education Fair held in Mbabane, Swaziland. Mr. Fakudze then drove me across the border to Maputo, Mozambique, where he and I were able to carry our message about U.S. legal education to another group of legal professionals.”

The U.S. Host
The host for the presentation in Maputo was Mr. Brock McCormack, a U.S. Embassy – Mozambique official. 

Professor Edwards said “Special thanks to U.S. Embassy official Mr. Brock McCormack, who worked tirelessly to arrange this U.S. legal education presentation. He gathered a substantial group from the local legal community to participate, which made for a lively discussion during the presentation. As a lawyer himself, Mr. McCormack had special insights into the subject matter.”

Conclusion
Professor Edwards said “The law students and legal practitioners I met in Mozambique are inspiring. They are determined to further their formal legal education, and to work hard to achieve their goals. I believe that the U.S. and Mozambique would benefit if more students from Mozambique come to the U.S. for LL.M. and other law degrees.”

Professor George Edwards, who is the author of LL.M. Roadmap,  was invited to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, to discuss implementation of international human rights law in Japan and in the U.S.

Professor Edwards consulted with Ms. Katia Bennett, who is the U.S. Embassy’s First Secretary, Political Affairs. Ms. Bennett carries the Embassy’s human rights portfolio covering a wide range of issues such as trafficking in persons, rights of disabled persons, discrimination against LGTB (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) including LGTB youth, and other issues, including issues incorporated into the U.S. Department of States Country Human Rights Report on Japan. Congress mandates that the State Department complete a human rights report on each country of the globe each year.

Additional issues covered in the most recently published U.S. Human Rights Report on Japan include lack of due process for prisoners at the pre-trial stage in criminal proceedings, conditions of incarceration at prisons and detention centers, abuses of persons on death row, discrimination against ethnic minorities, exploitation of children including child pornography, domestic violence and sexual harassment against women, exploitation of foreign trainee workers, and the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

After returning to the U.S., Professor Edwards drafted a memorandum to the First Secretary outlining human rights proposals, particularly involving Japanese officials and others who may travel to the U.S. for further human rights briefings.

Instrumental in organizing the session was Ms. Rosie Edmond (EducationUSA Regional Education Advising Coordinator – REAC), who is also based at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Professor George Edwards engaged in reciprocal consultative briefings with U.S. Embassy – Japan and Fulbright / EducationUSA in Tokyo on Thursday, 18 December 2014.  The

The briefings were held at the U.S. – Japan Educational Commission (Fulbright Japan), which also houses an EducationUSA Advising Center, supported by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

Professor Edwards, who the National Jurist identified as the “world’s leading expert” in U.S. law programs for international students, introduced the U.S. officials to wide-ranging topics related to Japanese students joining Master of Laws (LL.M.) and other law degree programs at U.S. law schools.

Briefing by Professor Edwards
Professor Edwards spoke about why Japanese students are interested in coming to the U.S. to study law, factors to consider when choosing a U.S. law school, how to get admitted and pay for the program, success in the classroom, and reaching career and personal goals after graduating from a U.S. law school degree program. He also briefed on his belief that international legal education promotes peace, security, fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Professor noted that recently enrollment in U.S. law schools has declined dramatically because the job market for law graduates in the U.S. has dropped off. Law graduates are having difficulty in finding employment, and students no longer wish to take out large loans to pay for high tuition if they cannot earn enough after graduating.

Professor Edwards said “It is a buyer’s market for international students seeking a U.S. legal education.  U.S. law schools are actively recruiting non-U.S. students to help fill a gap caused by declining U.S. students.”

Professor Edwards discussed his new book LL.M. Roadmap Career Guide: An International Student’s Job Hunt After Earning a U.S. Law Degree, which is scheduled to be published in 2015.

Professor Edwards said “Virtually all international students joining U.S. law degree programs have employment aspirations for after they graduate. Law schools are obligated to help international students and graduates reach their career goals.”

Briefing by U.S. Embassy / Fulbright
The U.S. Embassy was represented in the talks by Ms. Rei Yakazami, Educational Outreach Coordinator / Country Coordinator – Japan, Public Affairs Section. The Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (Fulbright Japan) was represented by Ms. Chizuru Sasada (Senior Adviser) and Ms. Atsuko Ichikawa (Adviser).

The officials briefed on current trends on Japanese students joining U.S. educational programs, opportunities for U.S. students and professors to engage in short or longer term study or lecture opportunities in the U.S., recruiting strategies for U.S. law schools seeking to enroll Japanese students, and other international education work of the Embassy and Fulbright Japan.

They discussed plans launched by MEXT (Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to support Japanese students going abroad for study. The plans include “Super Global Universities”, supported through 2013.

Instrumental in organizing the session was Ms. Rosie Edmond (EducationUSA Regional Education Advising Coordinator – REAC), who is also based at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Facts and Conclusion
For many years, Japan sent more students to the U.S. each year than any other country, but various factors led to Japan falling to seventh place, behind countries such as Saudi Arabia, Korea, China and India. In 2013 Japan sent over 21,000 students to the U.S.  Most of these students are at the undergraduate level, but over 20% are at the graduate level. No accurate statistics are available on how many of these students were enrolled at U.S. law schools in law degree programs.

Professor Edwards, who is the author of LL.M. Roadmap: An International Students Guide to U.S. Law School Programs (www.LLMRoadMap.com) has given presentations or briefings at EducationUSA Advising Centers at U.S. Embassies or Consulates, Fulbright Commissions or other offices in over two dozen countries. Edwards is a The CM Gray Professor of Law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

A new book will assist LL.M. students and graduates who wish to find employment during their LL.M. year at a U.S. law school or after they graduate. This book, authored by Professor George Edwards, is the only comprehensive guide to job-hunting in the LL.M. market.

The LL.M. Roadmap Career Guide: An International Student's Jthob Hunt After their U.S. Law Degree, recognizes that all LL.M. students have career aspirations. LL.M. students or graduates may wish to work

• at a U.S. law firm
  
• as in-house counsel for a multinational corporation
  
• as a law professor in U.S. or overseas
  
• for a human rights non-governmental organization (NGO)
  
• for an inter-governmental organization such as the UN
  
• at a law firm in their home country
  
• or even at a non-law job, in the U.S.,  home or a third country

The LL.M. Roadmap Career Guide covers many employment-related topics relevant to international students at U.S. law schools, to graduates, and to applicants. Topics shed light on how to navigate the job market. 

The Career Guide  will be of interest to LL.M. program administrators, law school career offices, and international & non-international students & graduates (J.D., LL.M., S.J.D.). Law schools are obligated to assist their LL.M. students and graduates, and the  Career Guide  will help schools fulfill their obligations.

Career Guide topics include:

Job Hunt Strategies

• Steps to take before you enroll in your LL.M. program
  
• What you can do while you are enrolled
  
• How to get & change jobs after you graduate
  

Presenting Oneself to Prospective Employers

• LL.M. Resumes—How a 1-Page Summary Document Can Help You Get a 
• LL.M. Cover Letters—Capturing Prospective Employers’ Attention
• Lots of Samples -- Resumes, Cover Letters, Publication Lists, Reference Sheet 

Dozens of Tips!

• Taking & passing a U.S. Bar Exam
• Dress for success & etiquette tips
• How to ace a law job interview
  
• How to draft e-mails to prospective employers
  
• How to negotiate after you get a job offer!
  

Other tools to help you reach your career goals

• Resources Guide
• Bibliography
  
• Glossary of terms you need to know when dealing with the job hunt