Law School Signs Agreement With University in India
The UA James E. Rogers College of Law, under a new agreement with the O.P. Jindal Global University in India, is launching a new dual law degree program.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
April 17, 2012


Under a newly signed agreement, students from Jindal Global Law School located near New Delhi will be able to earn both an Indian law degree and a juris doctorate from the University of Arizona.

This means the students in India will be able to earn the two degrees in two years less than it would normally take to earn the degrees separately.

Representatives from the James E. Rogers College of Law and the Jindal Global Law School of O.P. Jindal Global University, or JGU, in India this month signed a memorandum of understanding.

C. Raj Kumar, JGU's vice chancellor and also the Jindal Global Law School dean, met last week with UA Law Dean Lawrence Ponoroff for the signing. 

With the signing comes a partnership between the two law schools, which will work together to develop a similar program for Arizona Law students who wish to study in India.

The new partnership is among the examples of Arizona law, collaborating with other law schools, including those at Harvard, Yale, Michigan, Cornell and Indiana.

Under the new agreement, the UA and Indian law schools may also design advanced law degree programs and initiate faculty collaboration on research, scholarship and special projects.

"The practice of law is increasingly global, and India – with its rapid development in business, law and global affairs – is a nation at the heart of that transformation," said James E. Rogers College of Law Vice Dean Marc Miller.

"This innovative joint degree program addresses an unmet need, and is the first step in what we expect to be a mutually beneficial collaboration," Miller said. "We are also looking at additional advanced legal and interdisciplinary training that will benefit both student bodies."

O.P. Jindal Global University's professor C. Raj Kumar agreed.

"The agreement marks the recognition of the importance of global legal education and transnational legal practice where students from the U.S. and India have an opportunity to pursue legal studies in both jurisdictions," Kumar said.

JGU is a nonprofit global university established in 2009 as a philanthropic initiative of Naveen Jindal, the founding chancellor in memory of O.P. Jindal.

The vision of JGU is to promote globally centered courses, programs, curricula, research, collaboration and interaction through a global faculty. JGU is situated on a 60 acre state-of-the-art residential campus in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Since its origins, JGU's law school also has established research centers in a variety of key policy areas.

In a recently released report on higher education in India, "New Realities, New Possibilities: The Changing Face of Indian Higher Education," JGU and its law school were recognized as one of only two key institutions in India classified as "Premium Higher Education Institutes."

"Jindal Global Law School students will be able to practice in all American jurisdictions while U.S. students have an opportunity to receive a law degree from a common law jurisdiction with a strong emphasis on international and comparative law."

The agreement supports one of the UA College of Law's key goals: to expose students to the international nature of law, business and public policy.

The UA college already maintains significant international connections through its existing masters of law programs in International Trade & Business Law and in the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy programs. The recent establishment of the juris doctorate with advanced standing program is also designed to grow an international student body. 

Miller said these connections are beneficial to U.S. students.

"There is inestimable value in the relationships and connections that students establish here," Miller said.

"We want them to experience the many ways that law is global, and to develop networks and contacts that can help them practice over the course of their careers."

Extra info

Established in 1915, the UA James E. Rogers College of Law has a rigorous curriculum delivered in a small and highly individualized environment. The college's distinguished faculty are leading scholars and educators, and the college maintains an international network of more than 7,700 alumni.

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Nancy Stanley

UA James E. Rogers College of Law

520-621-8430

Nancy.stanley@law.arizona.edu