Learning the Law in London
For 40 years, the Notre Dame Law School has offered second year law students in good standing an opportunity to study in London. The Notre Dame London Law Center, centrally located in Trafalgar Square, has two choices for students looking to learn abroad. The Concannon Programme in International Law is a full year program, and the Law in London Summer Programme is a five week experience from late May to early August prior to the 2L school year.
Third year law students Sarah Ansari and Manish Antani participated in the Concannon Programme during the 2007-08 school year. Ansari says there were a number of reasons to study in London. “The most rewarding aspect of the program is the chance to immerse yourself in an extremely diverse environment,” she says. “I was grateful and excited to be able to spend an entire year studying abroad, which is a very unique opportunity for law students.” While easy access to museums, theatre, and other cultural activities is certainly a plus, students attend the London Programme to study in a part of the world where many modern legal ideas were born.
Benjamin Huffman, a second year law student who attended the Summer Programme in 2008, says, “London is the place to be. We were really able to relate the materials in class to what was happening in London.” Learning from some of the best scholars in the world is also a bonus. Antani, who also participated in the summer program in 2007, says, “All the areas of the law that are developing, areas that are supposed to be the next big things, our professors were leaders in these areas.”
Standard second year classes, like Business Associations and Evidence, are offered, but the ultimate concentration is international law. Ansari said that studying law with an eye on the rest of the world will certainly help her in the future. “I think it makes you a better lawyer. The classes and the points of view I got there were much more varied than I would get anywhere else.” Huffman adds, “It was not just the subject matter. It was that the subject matter made more sense in the setting.”
All three agree that their time in London was well spent. For people who may be unsure about spending a year or a summer in London, Ansari says, “I would like to see people go outside their comfort zone and realize the tremendous value of the program, both academically and personally. You are not going to miss anything; you are only going to gain.”
Read more about the London Programme here.
