On August 5, the Temple-Tsinghua Beijing LL.M. program officially welcomed its 20th entering class with 44 new students, including 13 firm-based lawyers (one from Brazil),14 in-house counsel, 3 prosecutors, 2 teachers, and 12 recent graduates. During the opening ceremony, Program Director Tarrant Mahony encouraged the students to work hard to master US common law principles and to dedicate themselves to advancing a global “community of common destiny.” Tsinghua Law School Associate Dean and Professor Gao Simin conveyed the support of Tsinghua, noting that the program is one of the oldest in China and referring to it as a “model” of Sino-US educational cooperation.
Professors Russell Leu from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Irene Wei Heng from China University of Politics and Law (LL.M. ‘05), Peter Fox (LAW ‘06) and Chris Norris will teach during the initial one month intensive legal English training, which includes courses introducing the American Legal System and Law School Skills. Substantive legal courses will begin in September, at which time several additional students will begin their studies, bringing the class to its maximum of 48 students. We wish all the students great success in their coming 15 months of study!