Training legal eagles
CUHK Faculty of Law, one of the world’s top schools, is justly renowned for the quality of its teaching.
With a wide range of traditional and alternative career opportunities to choose from, postgraduate programmes offered by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Law prepare students to pursue their aspirations in the legal profession.
Offered as a two-year programme for full-time students, and a four-year programme for part-time students, the CUHK Juris Doctor (JD) programme prepares graduates to practise law, either as solicitors or barristers.
"Upon graduating, many of our students embark on careers in leading law firms and chambers," says assistant dean (Graduate Studies) and JD programme director Matthew Cheung, who points out the intellectual rigour and range of the JD degree equips students with professional flexibility that extends beyond the legal practice. "Our graduates also flourish in other industry sectors including banking, finance, government, regulatory, academia and the media," he adds.
Matthew Cheung
Programme applicants are required to hold a bachelor’s degree in a non-law subject or a law degree from a recognised university. Alternatively, applicants may hold a professional or similar qualification equivalent to an honours degree. "Our faculty offers a large range of courses, some that are mandatory before applying to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), as well as a wide range of foundation and elective subjects," notes Cheung, while adding that the JD is a key programme within the burgeoning CUHK law faculty.
In the 2015 QS rankings, the CUHK Faculty of Law was placed within the world’s top 50 law schools, and in 2014 the Hong Kong Research Assessment Exercise ranked it as Hong Kong’s best research law faculty.
Master of Laws (LLM) deputy programme director professor Bryan Druzin believes with demand increasing for legal expertise in the areas of international trade, investment and finance law, the LLM in International Economic Law programme is specifically designed to provide a high degree of training in these subject areas.
"An LLM is a prestigious qualification providing an appreciation of the legal system which permeates all business transactions and allows for the acquisition of specialised legal knowledge," Druzin says. "It confers a distinct competitive advantage for those holding the degree," he adds. For example, the LLM in Chinese Business Law programme provides students with a structured course to study the principles, processes, institutions and methods of commercial law in China, all within the context of an evolving political, economic and social environment.
Bryan Druzin
As such, Druzin says an understanding of the commercial and legal implications of China’s "One Belt, One Road" initiative is invaluable to Hong Kong students. Offered as a one-year full-time or two-year part-time programme, LLM courses include a strong practical orientation. According to Druzin, another key strength is the practical in-class training modules, which include negotiation, drafting and presentation exercises designed to equip students with essential practice skills.
"The LLM is taught in English by a dynamic faculty, with academics from various jurisdictions who are international leaders in their areas of research with specialist knowledge and global experience," Druzin says. Importantly, the faculty constantly reassesses and improves course offerings to respond to market needs.
With today’s legal professionals expected to be more than just skilled legal technicians, Christopher Knight, CUHK Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) deputy programme director, says a key aim is to ensure that students who have passed the course can be effective members of a legal team from the first day they become trainee solicitors or barristers.
The PCLL programme includes compulsory subjects such as criminal and civil litigation practice, and elective courses such as drafting commercial documents and alternative dispute resolution. Because legal professionals rarely work in isolation, Knight says the teaching of advocacy and presentation skills is an important part of the core curriculum.
"This is for all students; not just those intending to have a career as a barrister," Knight explains. "Students are taught how to conduct contested applications before a judge in civil proceedings, and how to make applications for bail and pleas in mitigation of sentence in criminal cases."
Christopher Knight
Guest speakers such as judges and senior practitioners supplement the regular teaching, with talks and practical demonstrations relating to practice of law. The culmination of the course sees students taking the part of advocates in a mock civil trial in the courtrooms of the High Court. Students also have the opportunity to take part in local, regional and international mooting competitions, which involve mock legal proceeding designed to challenge and develop both oral and written advocacy skills.
"Mooting allows students to expand their knowledge of law, conduct research, and analyse complex facts to formulate arguments both in writing and orally," says Knight.
