Northwestern, Spanish law school partner for new five-year program

Matthew Choi, Campus Editor

The Pritzker School of Law and IE Law School in Madrid are partnering to create a new L.L.B. and J.D. program to launch fall 2017, the University announced Friday.

Students currently enrolled at IE Law School in the L.L.B. program will be able to continue their legal education at Northwestern in its two-year J.D. program in international law, according to the news release. Students in the program will receive both degrees in five years as opposed to the usual seven.

Both schools are founding members of the Law Schools Global League, which is dedicated to giving law schools a more international approach. The partnership comes amid a movement at Northwestern to expand internationally, with a University task force recommending in November that Northwestern open up to three more campuses abroad.

School of Law Dean Daniel Rodriguez said in the news release that he is happy to partner with a school with such a diverse and international student body and curriculum.

“IE has become one of the leading and most innovative law schools in Europe, and it has a substantially international L.L.B. program,” Rodriguez said in the release. “We … look forward to welcoming their excellent L.L.B. students to Northwestern.”

The Pritzker School of Law was one of the first law schools in the country to create a two-year J.D. program specifically targeted toward international lawyers. IE University states international education as one of its core missions, with more than 90 nationalities represented among its student body.

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