DLA Piper is backing an initiative by
US law school Georgetown Law Centre to set up a new London-based programme in cross-border law that will draw students from 10 universities around the world.
The international giant is providing 4,000 sq ft of rent-free office space in its London office to house administrative staff working on the course and some tutorials.
It is also likely to lend some of its lawyers to help teach the new programme at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS), which is set to launch in October this year.
Heather Heaton, a senior business executive at DLA Piper in London, said: “There is still a lot to be talked about but our lawyers would be available to give a practical aspect to the training.”
DLA Piper’s joint chief executives in the US and its chairman, George Mitchell, are Georgetown alumni.
In a groundbreaking move for the legal education market, staff and students on the new course will come from universities including Georgetown, King’s College London, the University of Toronto, the National University of Singapore and the University of Melbourne.The centre aims to teach 60-80 students each semester about cross-border legal practice.
Alexander Aleinikoff, dean of the Georgetown Law Centre, said: “Legal practice is increasingly global. Inevitably our students join some of the top law firms and work on transnational projects when they start practising.”
