From July 14 to August 5, 2019, Professor LI Bin and Associate Professor MA Jianyin of the Law School led 19 students to go to Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S. to participate in a three-week 2019 summer vocation program of the Law School of U.S. College of William & Mary.
Law School of College of William & Mary
The course schedule of the project was very compact. On the morning of Monday - Friday, students mainly studied legal writing and legal English. In the course of legal writing, professors first led students to read and analyze cases and legal provisions and then taught the “CREAC” writing method used by U.S. attorneys when analyzing cases for customers. Finally, the students used this writing method to complete a complete legal instrument. There were also two simulated customer meetings inserted in the course. During simulated meetings, students simulated attorney’s work status, understood problems encountered by customers and informed customers of their recommendations after research on their own. The whole legal writing court made students have a rough understanding of the work contents of U.S. legal system and U.S. attorneys. In the course of legal English, professors mainly taught students some English grammar problems and at the same time emphasized some places easy to be ignored in the pronunciation of English. Teachers often organized students to discuss and communicate in class and gave meticulous answers to students’ questions.
On the afternoon of Monday-Friday, students mainly listened to lectures prepared by different professors. The scope of themes covered the U.S. legal system, courts and legislation, non-litigation dispute adjustment mechanism, common law, legal argumentation, introduction to moot courts, etc. On the morning of the last day, all students participated in the simulated court. Professors arranged roles for students in advance and provided the basic case and relevant legal provisions. Students from the prosecution and defense analyzed the basic case condition and prepared legal instruments, elaborated and debated the case under a true trial environment, which strengthened students’ understanding of the U.S. legal system as well as professional knowledge.
The students of the Law School took a group photo after the simulated court was finished
In the weekends, students stroke a proper balance between work and rest, participated in the activities held by the school, visited the York City, Washington and Virginia Beach. These excursions let students experience the natural scenery of America and at the same time helped students further understand the American culture.
A group photo in front of Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
This summer vocation exchange program was the first cooperation between the Law School and the Law School of College of William & Mary. The students of the Law School actively participated in it, had an outstanding performance, obtained the highly recognition of the College of William & Mary and successfully acquired the certificate of completion of the program. The courses of the program were rich, especially paying attention to the practical learning, greatly improving students’ learning enthusiasm as well as their capacity to understand and apply professional knowledge.
