Miami Law is expanding its exchange programs by looking to our neighbors in the south. The newest program will now be in Bogotá, Colombia at the Universidad de los Andes. Miami Law had been interested for some time in expanding their agreements to South America and the choice of picking los Andres was a simple one.
This past fall the Dean of the Unversidad de los Andes, Helena Alviar Garcia, taught a course at Miami Law and says she has always been impressed by Miami Law School students’ argumentative skills and knowledge of legal institutions. "We decided to partner with Miami Law because we consider it a very good law school situated geographically in a place that is strategically important for Latin American and Colombian lawyers."
Alviar believes exchange programs are extremely important to expose students to the way law is thought of in diverse places of the world. Sandra Abraham, Executive Liaison for the Interdisciplinary Programs and Initiatives at University of Miami School of Law agrees. “Being able to spend a semester at a law school outside of the U.S. provides opportunities otherwise not easily available to JD students: studying comparative, international, EU, business and/or civil law in another country can provides a different perspective; studying in another country offers educational and cultural experiences with enhance leadership and communication skills, global awareness and contribute to personal development.”
Miami Law currently has 14 exchange programs. For students interested in these programs, Abraham suggests planning ahead. "The best semesters to go are spring of 2L year or fall of 3L year. Having decided on the best time to go, the next step is to consider where to go. This should be decided based on interest, language skills, curriculum/course offerings, and semester schedule."
Miami Law typically will have 3 to 4 law students away any given semester.
While not all exchange programs will have students participating every semester, Abraham is keeping an eye on the participation rates. The programs are still quite new with the oldest being one with Buceris Law School in Hamburg, Germany which is only 4 years old.
The exchange program for Colombia and the other 13 programs are all currently accepting applications.
