Jane Ching and Azhin Omer have been working over the past 18 months on a project funded by the Society of Legal Scholars. There is a considerable literature in the USA by scholars such as Ballakrishnen, Lazarus-Black and Silver on the motivations and experiences of incoming international students to the JD and LLM, but we have not located anything equivalent in the UK. We set out to find out whether the US findings were mirrored in England and Wales, or if there were different factors.
We carried out a survey of international students, followed by interviews, resulting in quantitative and qualitative data that cast light on both motivations to study here (and if so, on which course) and experiences of doing so. We will be reporting that back to the SLS and consolidating it into an article in due course. The SLS had, however, kindly also funded a dissemination event, which we were pleased to hold on 9th June 2023 in the Nottingham Conference Centre. We reported on our qualitative and quantitative findings, and heard from our colleagues Aldo Gutiérrez and Ishwinder Kaur on work they have been doing to support, and to coach, international students in other disciplines. Carole Silver, Professor of Global Law & Practice at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, very kindly participated online to share her experiences of the US context. We finished the day by hearing from a panel of international LLM students, with their vigorous and often very moving, views. Many thanks to Jamiu Akinpelu, Harrison Ononiwu, Osamwonyi Odiase
and Oluwatomilola Oyewusi-Muraina for their insightful contributions.