On 15 December 2012, Center for Law and Policy (CLP) hosted the second conference of Global Trends in Legal Education (GTLE), titled “Concept of Global Lawyer and Future of Legal Education,” at Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, Lahore. The conference was designed to discuss:
Syed Imad-ud-Din Asad [LL.M. (Harvard); Founder and Director, Center for Law and Policy], who conceived the idea of GTLE while attending Global Legal Education Forum (GLEF) at Harvard Law School in March 2012, explained the concept and significance GTLE in his introductory remarks. He also announced that inspired by the deliberations that took place at the first GTLE conference on clinical and experiential learning, which was held in August 2012, UMT School of Law and Policy will set up a clinical program in the fall of 2013.
He was followed by Azam Nazir Tarrar [LL.M. (Edinburgh); Chairman, Legal Education Committee, Pakistan Bar Council], who formally inaugurated the event. In his speech, Mr. Tarrar appreciated the commendable efforts made by Professor Asad to introduce improvements in Pakistani legal academia; and highlighted the need for upgrading the curriculum of law schools so that law students could be better equipped for the global legal market.
The conference comprised three sessions. During the first session, Daniel Austin [J.D. (Columbia); Associate Professor, Northeastern University School of Law] explained how, as a commercial lawyer, he had to become accustomed to a more global way of practicing law, how it helped him become a better lawyer, and the different measures taken by Northeastern University School of Law to prepare its students for the modern demands of the legal profession.
During the second session, Mark Tushnet [J.D. (Yale); William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School] discussed the concept of global lawyer from a theoretical perspective. He spoke at great length about how ideas about law and legal institutions needed to be rethought for this new era and how law students had to be familiarized with this new way of thinking if they were expected to meet the demands of the rapidly revolutionizing legal world.
The third session was a panel discussion exploring the implications of globalization and global legal education in Pakistan. The panel, which was moderated by Professor Asad, comprised Dr. Tariq Hassan [S.J.D. (Harvard); Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan], Nasira Iqbal [LL.M. (Harvard); Former Judge, Lahore High Court], Dr. D. M. Malik [Ph.D. (Punjab); Former Principal, Punjab University Law College], and Mujtaba Jamal [Bar-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn); Founding Partner, Mujtaba Jamal Law Associates]. The panelists discussed the rising need for a more global and outward looking approach to legal education in Pakistan. They pointed out the deficiencies in the current system of legal education in Pakistan and made suggestions on how the bar councils and legal educators could practically find solutions that would produce better and globally competitive lawyers.
Hamid Khan [LL.M. (Illinois); Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan] made a concluding speech on the various efforts of the bar councils, over the past many years, to bring positive changes in legal education in Pakistan. He described the many hurdles he had to face while trying to introduce improvements in the system.In the end, he stressed the need for more initiatives like GTLE and assured full cooperation to Professor Asad in future projects.
Finally, Dr. Hasan Sohaib Murad [Ph.D. (Wales); Rector, University of Management and Technology], as patron of CLP, thanked the speakers and the audience for making the event a tremendous success.
It was the second time in Lahore that distinguished professors from prominent law schools in the United States engaged in a meaningful dialogue with Pakistani lawyers and law professors on such a scale. Previously, it was in August 2012 that faculty members from Harvard Law School, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston University School of Law, and Fordham University School of Law engaged in a similar dialogue at the first GTLE conference. Under the leadership of Professor Asad, GTLE is so far the only initiative in Pakistan which provides opportunities to Pakistani and foreign legal experts to learn from each other.
The third conference of GTLE will be held on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in August 2013.
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