Three Conferences, Three Countries
This spring semester report focuses on three major conferences that the Stewart Center sponsored over the period of four months – one in India, one in Russia, and one in Bloomington, Indiana. We are grateful to our generous donors and to our colleagues in New Delhi, Moscow, and at IU for making each of these conferences both possible and incredible successes.
Professor Jayanth Krishnan
Director and Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law
India: October 3-4
Professor Jayanth Krishnan, Professor Carwina Weng, and Ms. Lara Gose worked with colleagues at Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia) and O.P. Jindal Global University (Sonipat, India) to sponsor a bilateral India-Russia conference entitled “The Legal Profession, Legal Education, and Global Governance: Comparative Perspectives.”
Dr. C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), opened the conference and introduced Mr. Jaimini Bhagwati, former Indian Ambassador to the European Union and former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, who delivered the keynote address. The ambassador encouraged those present to think of globalization in law as an opportunity, not an obstacle, for growth and development.
More than 90 participants took part in two days of programming in India, which included five panels on topics such as the role of lawyers on global law and policy, comparative criminal law, and globalization of legal skills with a focus on experiential education and innovative pedagogy. A key theme that ran throughout the sessions was the need for today’s lawyers to be educated and trained for a globalized world, including having the requisite knowledge and skills to work across borders to meet the needs of clients, policymakers, students, educators, and other members of civil society.
Russia: October 17-20
Later in October, the Stewart Center, in coordination with the Centre on the Development of Legal Clinics, was a main sponsor of the International Forum on Legal Education, which was held at Lomonosov Moscow State University. This conference brought together nearly 300 attendees from 17 countries. Included within this group were academic representatives from 72 law faculties in Russia.
The focus of the conference was on the state of legal clinics in Russia today. The meeting provided an opportunity to share best practices and interactive methods in teaching in order to help students and young practitioners develop their lawyering skills. Over the course of four days, there were nearly 50 events – round tables, panels, interactive presentations, and classroom sessions.
Professor Krishnan delivered opening remarks, Ms. Gose provided an interactive session on learning and teaching styles, and Professor Weng delivered a class on using narrative theory in legal training. All three also participated in a panel discussion about the role of teachers in student learning.
Indiana: January 30
In late January 2020, the Stewart Center held a symposium entitled “Lawyers in the Light of Suffering in Comparative Perspective” (see photo below). This event examined the role that lawyers have played in aiding the victims of human rights abuses and toxic tort disasters in key markets within the Global South. Setting the stage for the symposium was an article written by Professor Krishnan and his Lagos-based colleague, Kunle Ajagbe, on the history of pro bono legal work by private sector lawyers in Africa’s largest country, Nigeria.
Faculty from Indiana Law's partner institution in India, the O.P. Jindal Global University, were among those who participated. The Jindal colleagues were Professor Arpita Gupta, Professor Yong Choung (SJD ’17), and Professor Ronald Blue (JD ’14). In addition, Professor Marc Galanter, the John and Rylla Bosshard Professor of Law and South Asian Studies at the Wisconsin-Madison, served as the keynote speaker. Professor Christiana Ochoa, the Class of 1950 Herman B Wells Endowed Professor at IU, also gave a presentation.
In his remarks, Professor Galanter provided a historical retrospective on the deadly Union Carbide gas leak that occurred in Bhopal, India in December of 1984. Professor Gupta followed with a modern-day accounting of the ways that tort law has developed in India, while Professor Choung discussed how South Korea has failed to craft immunity laws for emergency vehicle operators delivering services for the needy. Professor Blue then offered a comparative discussion, which highlighted the influence of American tort law on the Indian legal system. Student Nick Eitsert ('21) talked about his fall 2019 exchange experience at Jindal. While there, he was part of a clinical program that focused on serving the needs of the poor in a nearby rural community. Finally, Professor Ochoa gave a concluding lecture on business and human rights in Latin America, with an emphasis on how mining has caused serious injuries to various local populations in the region.
Coming Soon…
The next report will focus on the scholarship of the faculty of the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession.
Best wishes for a productive spring.