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USD School of Law Announces Bi-National Legal Education Partnership

SAN DIEGO (September 30, 2011)—University of San Diego School of Law, its Trans-Border Institute and the Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California have created a bi-national partnership to promote legal education and cross-border exchange in the San Diego-Baja California region. Thanks to a grant from Higher Education for Development (HED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), this partnership will offer advanced legal training to Mexican attorneys through USD School of Law’s LLM program.

The state of Baja California recently adopted policies in anticipation of national level reforms approved by the Mexican Congress and current administration of President Felipe Calderón. Reforms will transition Mexico’s long-standing inquisitorial system of criminal justice to a more rights-based accusatorial system similar to that developed in the United States.

The educational exchange program is designed to prepare lawyers and law students for these transitional changes by providing training for lawyers and law students with a series of events designed with the express purpose of sharing insights and gauging the process of reform efforts. Principal investigators for the project include USD School of Law Professor Allen Snyder and Trans-Border Institute Director David Shirk.

“USD School of Law is excited to collaborate with the Trans-Border Institute and the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California on this ground-breaking project,” said Professor of Law Allen Snyder. “With two outstanding Mexican attorneys enrolled in our LLM in Comparative Law program, we are helping to prepare these young lawyers for the ambitious new reforms intended to improve the administration of justice in Mexico.”

Through this program, Rene Mireles and Roberto Imaz, law graduates from the UABC and attorneys from Baja California, each received a full tuition scholarship to study in the University of San Diego School of Law’s LLM program for the academic year starting August 15, 2011 and ending May 12, 2012.

About the USD/UABC LLM Scholarship
In 2009, the University of San Diego (USD) and the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) created a partnership to promote legal education and cross-border exchange, thanks to the generous support of Higher Education for Development (HED) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This legal education program provides tuition scholarships to UABC law graduates and attorneys from Baja California to study at the University of San Diego School of Law’s LLM program. The scholarships are intended to enrich students’ understanding of U.S. and comparative legal systems for the purpose of transferring skills and knowledge for professional practice or academic instruction in their home country.