RegNet scholar Anthea Roberts receives funding to conduct in-depth examination of legal education

RegNet scholar, Anthea Roberts has secured funding through the Asia-Pacific Innovation Program (APIP) to undertake an in-depth examination of legal education in a globalised context.

The research comes from a growing trend that sees students moving across borders in order to study law.

“Global law schools are emerging that are seeking to position themselves as global leaders. They are attracting students from around the world with the aim of training the next generation of lawyers who will specialise in various forms of international and transnational law.

“With these trends emerging, we wanted to create a symposium as well as an edited collection that examines and understands these developments” said Anthea.

While the study has an international focus – this research has specific benefits in the Australian context.

“Education is a very important export industry for Australia. In terms of global student flows, Australia ranks 3rd or 4th in the world. However, Australia has not capitalised on being a leader in transnational student flows in law as much as it has in certain other fields.

“By examining when and how some other legal academies and institutions are globalising, we can learn lessons about how Australia might improve its competitive advantage as a global provider of legal education”.

This project is a culmination of three existing projects - Anthea’s book to be published next year’Is International Law International?’, a sociological study by Bryant Garth and Yves Dezalay on hierarchies and competition between law schools globally, and a study by Greg Shaffer as part of Harvard Law School’s project on ‘Globalization, Law and Emerging Economies’.