A growing number of students from China are expected to study at Wayne State University Law School in 2014 — a result of the school’s decision to offer a master’s degree in U.S. law and its vigorous outreach efforts to promote it.

Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson just returned from a “very productive” five-day visit to several law schools in China including the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), which has forged a partnership with Wayne Law that likely will include an exchange of professors as well as new law students coming to Detroit to study American law. Benson described her meetings as “very successful” and said she plans to return in the spring for another visit that will include student recruitment for the 2014 fall semester.

“Wayne’s new master’s degree program in U.S. law is designed for outstanding law students from other countries,” Benson said.  “This will be an attractive program for students who seek to practice law in the United States, transnational law in their home countries, who may work in government ministries involved in negotiations with the United States, or who intend to work on advanced degrees and careers as scholars.”

In addition to her visit to CUPL, a prestigious law school with two campuses in Beijing, Benson met with officials from:

• Beijing Foreign Studies University Law School that “agreed to encourage their students to apply to Wayne Law;”
• Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xi’an to discuss a possible partnership with Wayne Law;
• Tsinghua University Law School in Beijing where Benson, who is an expert on U.S. election law, spoke to a group of students and professors about Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and the 2009 Supreme Court decision on election campaign funding and First Amendment rights in that case;
• Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.

“I have since heard from Tsinghua students with whom I met that are interested in Wayne Law,” Benson said. “Their interest reinforces my belief that a partnership with Tsinghua, similar to what we are putting in place with CUPL, might be beneficial to Wayne Law in the long run.”

Photo caption:

Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson was walking in Beijing, and was surprised to come across this poster advertising her talk at Tsinghua University Law School in China.