Dean Anthony Varona, Seattle University School of Law, and Vice-Chancellor Professor C. Raj Kumar, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), signed two key agreements creating new opportunities for law students in India and the United States to pursue a global education.
As per the MoU signed between the universities, students of JGLS will have opportunities to pursue an LLM degree at Seattle University School of Law while they finish their final year at JGLS with concentrations in American Legal Studies or in Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.
As part of the academic credit system, the programme also offers opportunities to work with Seattle-based employers, including multi-national corporations (including Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing), international tribunals, and government agencies. Students from India will have the opportunity to study with world-class professors and gain real work experience to become globally trained lawyers.
Reciprocally, students at Seattle University School of Law will have the opportunity to participate in an India Immersion Programme in March 2023, which includes lectures, workshops, study tours to legal and other public institutions, and cultural visits. Institutional leaders from Seattle University School of Law and JGU welcomed the partnership as an advancement towards building a legal community with global imaginations and spirit.
Emphasizing the need for garnering global imagination in an increasingly integrated world, Professor Anthony E. Varona, Dean, Seattle University School of Law, observed, “As more legal work transcends national borders, lawyers with significant global knowledge and experience will be in high demand. Students of both JGU and Seattle University School of Law will benefit from these programmes, which in turn will provide meaningful ways to learn about foreign legal systems, norms, and traditions.”
Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU and Founding Dean of JGLS, remarked that, “This partnership will help students build a strong foundation in academic fundamentals and at the same time provide the required skills and knowledge necessary to compete in a global marketplace. I am certain that partnerships like this one will help build young professionals who are ready to take up global challenges. JGU has always been driven by global ambitions, aiming to partake in India’s progress to the centre-stage of global happenings. I am delighted that we have taken yet another step in that direction”
Seattle University School of Law has strong connections to India and the study of its legal system. Associate Professor of Law Sital Kalantry, whose scholarship focuses on India, founded the India Center for Law and Justice, which works with law schools in India to promote legal education and mentor emerging law scholars. It also promotes engagement with India among the students at Seattle University School of Law. In her additional role as Associate Dean for International and Graduate Programmes, she has been working to develop legal education programmes specifically for international students. Prof. Kalantry has been associated with JGU since its inception in 2009.
Drawing on her association with JGU for more than a decade, Professor Sital Kalantry, Faculty Director, India Centre for Law and Justice, Seattle University School of Law observed that “JGU is now the number one private university in India, and our law school is thrilled to work with such an exceptional institution. We look forward to providing an exciting learning experience to the students from India in one of the most exciting and innovative cities in the world, significantly adding to their skills and positively shaping their law careers.”
On this special occasion, Professor (Dr.) Sreejith S.G., Executive Dean, JGLS, reiterated the global ambitions of JGU and observed, “For a law school like JGLS, which is deeply committed to impart global legal education, international collaborations are part of its evolution and expansion. Through international collaborations, the school creates spaces of ‘interculturality’ for providing global experience to its students.”
The beneficiary of the collaborations would be Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), which has been ranked 70th globally and 1st in India by the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2022. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Pacific Northwest, and its legal writing programme ranks #6 in the U.S. News and World Report and clinical programme in the top 30.
