The Group of 20 summit in London underscores – again – the interconnected nature of our modern world.  When the G-20 leaders can ponder investing billons of dollars to stem a global recession, it’s clear that our lives are no longer contained by “international boundaries.”

Law is among the disciplines that is rapidly changing to meet the international realities of our day, and we are determined to keep our Law Center curriculum and connections in step with the fast-changing world.  Toward that end, we have forged cooperative arrangements with a number of top law schools across the globe.

Two of our Law Center students have just returned from a semester of study at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, where I recently completed my duties as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in International Commercial Law.  The school is among the finest in Europe, and I expect many more Law Center students will benefit from the cooperative relationship between our law schools in the years ahead.

Similar cooperative agreements are now in place with other leading law schools: the University of Cantabria in Spain; Wonkwang University in the Republic of Korea; Montpellier University in France; and ITAM, the Autonomous Technical Institute of Mexico.  All of these collaborations share a common goal: to facilitate academic dialogue among the faculty of superior schools throughout the world, and to better prepare Law Center students to practice in the global marketplace of law.