Overview:
Approved by the American Bar Association, the Prague program is open to students in good standing at ABA-accredited United States law schools.
“The Magical City,” “The city of a Hundred Towers,” and “The Paris of the East” are some of the common descriptions of Prague. Lying proudly along the banks of the River Vltava, Prague offers a wealth of artistic and cultural treasures, and possesses an individual charm with its many buildings of spectacular architectural form and proportional harmony. During his reign from 1346-1378, Charles IV made Prague the capital of the empire and founded Charles University in 1348. Prague grew into one of the largest cities in Europe and acquired many of its Gothic landmarks, including the Charles Bridge and St. Vitus Cathedral, during this period. Along with its fascinating history, Prague remains a bustling city of sights, sounds, and culture not to be missed.
Location:
Orientation and classes will be held at the historic Charles University Law Faculty building located in the Josefov section of Prague, near Old Town (Stare Mesto).
In order to complement the summer curriculum, one or two class days during Session One will be spent visiting legal institutions, including the Higher Court in Prague. A trip to the Terezin Concentration Camp is organized as part of program costs. While coursework is intensive during the week and attendance at orientation, all class sessions, enrichment lectures, and visits to government agencies and courts is mandatory, two long weekends in Session One allow for travel to nearby destinations. Students should bring a business suit for the court or government agency visits.
Tuition and Fees:
$5,250 for seven (7) credits if attending both sessions;
$3,000 for four (4) credits for Session I only, includes $200 non-refundable application fee
Tuition Includes:
Tuition includes the orientation program, transport pass, trip to Terezin Concentration Camp, court or government visits, use of facilities at the law library of the Charles University Law Faculty , and course materials supplied by the professors. It does not include airfare, medical insurance, traveling expenses, costs associated with optional tours, or field trips to areas outside the home campus, housing, meals, or books.
Due Dates and Financial Aid:
The application and $200 application fee are due by March 25, 2020. The remaining balance of the tuition is due May 18, 2020.
Enrollment is limited; therefore, early application is encouraged. Financial aid loans are generally available to students participating in this study abroad program. Students interested in obtaining loans for the study abroad program should contact the Financial Aid Office at their home school for application deadlines.
Session One:
May 29 – Orientation (mandatory)
Classes June 1 – June 26, 2020
(Take both courses for four (4) credits)
Intellectual Property by Design
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Professor Phillip Page,
South Texas College of Law Houston
High fashion clothing, smart phones, automobiles, sports gear, kitchen appliances, and the many other objects that fill our lives and fuel our markets, often place a high value on design. This course will use protection for the innovative designer as a way of comparing different forms of intellectual property whether copyright, patent, trade dress, or other. It will also compare the very different approaches taken by the United States and other regimes for protecting design in an increasingly global market. As part of the course we will confront and examine hands-on design objects from Prague museums and city streets, from motorcycles to coffee pots. – (2 credits)
d
Global Lawyering
11:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Professor Katerina Lewinbuk,
South Texas College of Law Houston
This course is intended to expose students to various types of regulation of lawyers in different parts of the world. It will comparatively examine the structure and ethical framework of the legal profession in the United States, European Union and in a few selected countries, such as Russia, including the recourse that may be taken against attorneys for misconduct and professional malpractice. Other topics to be covered will include a range of accompanying ethical and legal issues, such as the role of lawyers and judges, beginning and ending of the attorney-client relationship, globalization of the legal profession and the image and expectations of lawyers in different parts of the world. The course will also address various aspects of law practice in selected countries and analyze the reasons behind established traditions and practices in various legal systems. In addition, the course will offer hands-on legal skills training in various scenarios, such as intake client interview and case assessment. The assigned course book will be “Global Issues in Legal Ethics” by James Moliterno & Paul Paton (Thomson West 2014). – (2 credits)
Session Two:
Classes: June 29 – July 10, 2020
(Take both courses for three (3) credits)
Cross-Cultural Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
9:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. June 29 – July 3 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. July 6-10, 2020
Professor Laura Padilla,
California Western School of Law
Like any skill, negotiation can improve with careful work. There is a popular perception that some people are “born negotiators,” while others among us somehow “don’t have it.” In fact, all of us are born negotiators. Anyone who has ever dealt with infants and children for very long knows that negotiating begins very early in life. Since the time when we were very young, most of us have broadened our negotiation repertoires through a process of observation, experimentation, and reflection. You come to this course with many years of experience negotiating. While you may not have yet negotiated as a lawyer, there are some important lessons to be drawn from the experience you already have.
There is no single, universal “best” way to negotiate. We will consider many different approaches to negotiation. Your goal should not be to hunt for the one “right” approach. Negotiation is a dynamic, context-sensitive enterprise. You should be suspicious about efforts to create universal negotiation rules (“always/never give the first offer,” “always/never negotiate in private,” “always/never walk out,” and so on) because they ignore important differences in context, personal comfort, goals, and counterparts. At the same time, you are encouraged to develop a rich set of guidelines for yourself – practices that form something of a personal default, from which you can vary if you perceive a strategic reason to do so. Hopefully, our course discussions and exercises will help you start to build an expanded repertoire of skills.
Learning to negotiate need not be a competition. Many people see negotiation as a competition to be “won,” and we will talk at great length about whether and when this view of negotiation is accurate or helpful. Regardless of whether you view negotiation as a competition, learning negotiation need not and should not be a competitive endeavor. This is a course aimed at improving skills. By definition, it will require everyone in the class to experiment with different approaches, searching for those that seem to work best. That kind of genuine experimentation can take place only in a learning environment that is open, supportive, honest and creative. I will need your help in making sure that we create that atmosphere. – (2 credits)
Supreme Court Advocacy
1:30 – 2:30 pm | June 29 – July 2
President and Dean, Michael F. Barry
Associate Dean, Catherine G. Burnett
This is an intensive skills-focused short course designed to hone professional judgment. Students critically assess litigants’ written and oral advocacy strategies in cases of constitutional magnitude recently presented before the United States Supreme Court. During class sessions, students analyze how parties chose to frame questions presented, fact statements, summaries, and legal arguments in a side by side review of one pending case. Students then apply that analytical framework to their assigned case.
A Comparative Study of the United States and European Supreme Courts
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | July 6 – 10, 2020
Justice Sonia Sotomayor,
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In this five-day course, students will examine the differences between the two systems including the structure of processing cases before courts; jurisdiction of the courts; standards of reviews in lower court, executive, administrative, and congressional decisions; advocacy and best practices in oral and written presentations; and creating an ideal supreme court. – (1 credit)
Click here to view course descriptions
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All courses are taught in English and assessment of student performance uses the same criteria employed in upper-division elective courses, which includes written final examinations, graded projects and presentations.
Housing:
Students make their own housing arrangements for Prague. An internet search for “apartments in Prague” provides multiple links to companies that provide short term rentals. The law school is located in Prague 1 near Old Town (Stare Mesto) in Josefov, right on the river at the Cechuv “Most” (Most means bridge). The physical address of the Law Faculty building is Namesti Curieovych 7, Prague 1. Students are provided with transport passes at orientation that are valid on trams, buses and public transportation in Prague, so it is not necessary to live in the immediate vicinity of the law school. The college does not endorse any particular housing agents, but past students have made positive comments about their experiences with housing agencies in Prague such as: www.vrbo.com (select Europe, Czech Republic, then Prague), www.presitgeapartments.cz, and www.lovingprague.com. Costs for housing will vary based on location and desired amenities.
Transportation:
Arranging air and ground transportation to and from Prague is the student’s responsibility. Several airlines serve Prague through European hub cities such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and London. Locally, transportation to most areas of the city by tram, trains (Metro) and bus is inexpensive, reliable and easy to navigate.
Accessibility:
Facilities in Europe are not as accessible to individuals with disabilities as American facilities are. Individuals with special needs should contact the program at 713-646-1825 by March 20, 2020.
(Coming Soon!)
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcome 1: Substantive Law and Legal Process Knowledge
Graduates of the law school will demonstrate mastery of the foundational areas of legal knowledge and legal processes with the proficiency suitable for a competent entry-level practitioner.
Learning Outcome 2: Legal Analysis, Reasoning, and Problem Solving
Graduates of the law school will demonstrate the ability to perform legal analysis, legal reasoning, and legal problem solving with the proficiency suitable for a competent entry-level practitioner.
Learning Outcome 3: Legal Research
Graduates of the law school will be able to independently conduct effective legal research with the proficiency suitable for a competent entry-level practitioner.
Learning Outcome 4: Other Professional Skills, Including Effective Communication
Graduates of the law school will be able to perform such other professional skills as are appropriate for a new layer in their chosen areas of specialization with the proficiency suitable for a competent entry-level practitioner.
Learning Outcome 5: Professional and Ethical Responsibility
Graduates of the law school will demonstrate an ability to exercise the professional judgement and ethical standards expected of a competent entry-level practitioner.
Learning Outcome 6: Self0Management and Collaboration
Graduates of the law school will be able to use the skills and concepts required for the effective and efficient management of law practice with the proficiency suitable for a competent entry-level practitioner.
Responsibility and Modifications:
The sponsoring schools will not be responsible for personal injury or for loss or damage to personal property. Students are expected to maintain or obtain medical insurance coverage for accidents or illness that may occur during their participation in this program, including repatriation expenses.
The sponsoring schools reserve the right to change any aspect of the program which circumstances make necessary or desirable. Participants will be notified of material changes or cancellation of the program. Student and faculty conduct in the Prague program is governed by the rules on attendance, plagiarism, and sexual harassment of South Texas College of Law Houston. Any student who has questions about any aspect of this policy should contact the program director or Assistant Dean Wanda Morrow at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Online Application
Admission is open to any law student at an ABA-accredited law school who is in good academic standing and who has completed the first year of full-time study or its equivalent in part-time study.
Applicants should submit:
1.) An online application for admission along with a $200 application fee payable to South Texas College of Law Houston; and
2.) A letter of good standing from his or her law school stating that credits earned in the Prague program will transfer towards his or her J.D.
Should an application not be accepted, South Texas College of Law Houston will return this application fee within 20 days. The application fee will be applied to the tuition and program expenses such as orientation, closing dinner and visits to courts and governmental agencies.
The application deadline is March 25, 2020.
Wanda T. Morrow
Assistant Dean of Institutional Compliance and International Programs
Title IX Coordinator
ADA/504 Coordinator
1303 San Jacinto Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Phone: 713-646-1825
Email: WMorrow@stcl.edu
Stop by room 835 at your convenience, call 713-646-1825, or e-mail wmorrow@stcl.edu for more information.