[Feature: Thinking About Graduate Education] Hiroshi Matsuo: Cultivating Global Legal Professionals at Keio Law School

2022/10/05

In April 2017, the Master of Laws (LL.M) in Global Legal Practice was established within the Keio University Law School. This is Japan's first "Japanese-style LL.M." established alongside an existing law school. As a result, Keio University's Law School was positioned as a professional legal training major, and the Law School was renewed as Keio Law School (hereinafter referred to as KLS), consisting of two majors: the Juris Doctor (JD) course and the Master of Laws (LL.M) in Global Legal Practice (LL.M. course).

The cultivation of global legal professionals has been one of the core philosophies since the conceptual stage of the law school system (established in 2004). For example, the Central Council for Education's "Report on the Establishment Standards for Law Schools" (August 2002) indicated the necessity of legal training for Japan to respond immediately to the "progress of globalization." To realize this philosophy, law schools have, since their opening, conducted study abroad programs at overseas partner schools, internships at international organizations and overseas law firms, classes and seminars in English, and exchanges with international students from partner schools. However, many law school students were forced to focus on preparing for the bar exam, and it was not easy to simultaneously cultivate global legal professionals in a full-fledged manner within the law school curriculum. At most, students could only engage in overseas training during the gap term between taking the bar exam and starting legal apprenticeship. As a result, the cultivation of global legal professionals was carried out by major international law firms and large corporations sending a few talented qualified lawyers to LL.M. programs at universities in the United States or the United Kingdom.

However, it was pointed out that this "outsourcing-type" legal training system could only cultivate a very limited number of human resources, and that simply learning the legal systems of the US and UK was insufficient for responding to globalization. There was a demand for the cultivation of true global legal professionals who are also well-versed in the legal systems of non-Western regions, such as Asia, which is now the world's growth center. Furthermore, the problem was raised that Japan's infrastructure for cultivating global legal professionals remained underdeveloped*1. Meanwhile, the Japanese government has advocated for the development of "judicial diplomacy" as a "soft power" to contribute to the spread of the rule of law in the international community*2. To achieve this, there was an urgent need to develop a "domestic-type" legal training system capable of cultivating global legal professionals within Japan. The KLS LL.M. course was established to fulfill this historical mission as a catalyst for triggering a paradigm shift from an outsourcing-type to a domestic-type global legal training system.

Now that five and a half years have passed since the opening of the KLS LL.M., reflecting on its achievements and identifying challenges is essential for steadily advancing the cultivation of global legal professionals.

The purpose of the KLS LL.M. course is to cultivate "global legal human resources." Initially, with an admission capacity of 30 students (approximately 20 Japanese and 10 international students), "global legal human resources" were envisioned as legal professionals active in global fields, primarily focusing on: (1) global legal professionals through Continuing Legal Education (CLE) for qualified lawyers such as attorneys, and (2) global legal specialists such as legal staff for global companies, international organizations, and NGOs through CLE for legal professionals like paralegals and graduates of legal education.

However, since its opening, Japanese students have accounted for only about 15% of enrollees, while approximately 85% are international students. Additionally, (3) the cultivation of what might be called "development legal professionals" has begun, providing legal education to judges, prosecutors, government officials from ministries of justice, lawyers, and NGO staff from developing countries who seek to build their respective national judicial systems. As a result, it is necessary to note that the global legal human resources currently targeted by the KLS LL.M. are considerably broader than the "global legal professionals" envisioned when the law school was first conceived. Incidentally, the aforementioned report by the Central Council for Education discussed the significance of "global legal professionals" in the context of "lawyers who can be active internationally in fields such as international affairs, corporate legal affairs, and intellectual property rights," which had a strong nuance of cultivating international legal human resources to secure Japan's national interests in international transactions amidst advancing globalization. In contrast, the "global legal human resources" targeted by the KLS LL.M. include both Japanese and international students, envisioning individuals who can transcend the narrow national interests of their respective countries, find sustainable common interests from a truly global perspective, and strive to realize them. This has coincidentally developed in a direction that truly aligns with the KLS LL.M. Diploma Policy: "To cultivate individuals who can discover legal problems from a global perspective, resolve disputes, develop business models and policy proposals, and grow into professionals well-versed in global legal affairs. Furthermore, to cultivate human resources who can propose policies regarding global governance in regions centered on Asia and support the development of legal systems in Asian countries."

To broaden the base of such global legal human resources, the KLS LL.M. has implemented a program where students can choose to enter in either April or September, can generally obtain a degree in one year, and all classes are conducted in English. To realize the aforementioned Diploma Policy, the KLS LL.M. curriculum is organized and implemented "to provide the academic knowledge and cultivate the abilities required for professions demanding high levels of expertise in global legal affairs, and to nurture human resources who handle legal issues from a global perspective" (Curriculum Policy). It consists of nine subject groups: (1) Japanese Law and Asian Law in Global Practical Perspective, (2) Global Business and Law, (3) Global Security and Law, (4) Innovations and Intellectual Property Law, (5) Area Studies, (6) Comparative Law, (7) Current Legal Issues, (8) Legal Research and Writing, and (9) Practical Training. Groups (1), (3), and (5) are basic subjects; (2), (4), (6), (7), (8), and (9) are advanced subjects; and (4), (7), (8), and (9) are characterized as practical subjects.

Among these, (1), (2), (3), and (9) are designated as the core program. Students are required to take a minimum of 4 credits from the contrasting (2) and (3) groups, and 4 credits from the practical (9) group. Furthermore, to complete the KLS LL.M., those who have graduated from a law school or are recognized as having academic ability equal to or higher than a law school graduate must obtain 30 credits. Others are required to obtain an additional 6 credits (for a total of 36 credits), consisting of 4 credits from the basic group (1) and 2 credits from group (9).

On the other hand, many subjects are set as electives, designed so that students can increase their expertise according to their needs. As a result, students can choose classes independently and flexibly. By having research-oriented faculty and practitioner faculty collaborate to advance systematic learning from basic to advanced to practical levels, and by bridging basic theory and practical application, the program encourages the acquisition of the high-level specialized knowledge and thinking skills required of global legal human resources.

Because there are few compulsory subjects, a professional certification system was established in 2018 to support students in voluntarily pursuing systematic learning and enhancing their abilities as global legal human resources according to their individual interests and future career plans. There are five fields: <1> Business Law, <2> International Dispute Resolution, <3> Japanese Law, <4> Law and Development in Asia, and <5> Intellectual Property Law. Students wishing to obtain professional certification are required to take core courses for each certification and write a research paper (and for <1> and <2>, an internship is also required). By the Spring 2022 semester, approximately 50 out of 120 graduates had obtained professional certification.

Additionally, many students write research papers (subject group (8) mentioned above) specialized in their own research themes, with about 15 to 20 papers passing annually. Among them, the J. Mclean Prize is awarded to outstanding papers each semester upon recommendation by the academic advisor, and some are approved for publication in "Keio Hougaku" (Keio Law Journal) after review.

The internship program (subject group (9) mentioned above) is also a feature of the KLS LL.M. For example, domestic internships of one to two weeks are conducted at major law firms, domestic and foreign global companies, UN agencies, and government offices such as the Ministry of Justice, and overseas externships are conducted at local project offices of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Furthermore, KLS has concluded exchange and double-degree agreements with the University of Washington (UW) School of Law (Seattle), making it possible for students to study at UW and for JD and LL.M. students to obtain degrees.

In addition, using the KLS LL.M. as a platform, cooperation agreements were concluded with seven universities in six countries in the Mekong region (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar), and the "Program for Asian Global Legal Professions" (PAGLEP) was implemented. This was adopted as a project for the Inter-University Exchange Project (2016–2020), involving the acceptance of regular and short-term international students from partner schools, the dispatch of KLS students (including the JD course) to partner schools, and participation in joint programs. Furthermore, dual-degree agreements were concluded with Thammasat University (Thailand), Hanoi Law University (Vietnam), and University of Economics and Law (Vietnam) among the partner schools, and even after the project ended, international students based on these agreements have constantly enrolled in the KLS LL.M.

As a byproduct of this project, the Keio Institute for Global Law and Development (KEIGLAD) was established within the Law School. It operates with the goal of contributing to the construction of a "Rule of Law Ubiquitous World" (a world where anyone can receive protection of basic rights anytime, anywhere) through continuous support for KLS LL.M. and JD students and students from partner schools, exchange of faculty and staff, joint research on comparative law and comparative legal education, and publication of results in English (About KEIGLAD | Keio University Graduate School of Law / Keio Institute for Global Law and Development).

At KLS, an international learning environment is formed while remaining in Japan, and daily interaction between Japanese students and international students is promoted. This is achieved through JD students taking LL.M. subjects, Japanese lawyers and others taking LL.M. classes as recurrent students, and non-native Japanese-speaking LL.M. students taking JD subjects conducted in Japanese (requires approval from the Academic Advisory Board and the instructor in charge).

Since fiscal year 2018, international students from Bangladesh and Laos (central government officials, judges, lawyers, NGO staff, etc.) have been accepted through special recommendation entrance exams under the Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) and the long-term trainee system implemented by JICA. These international students are assigned Japanese tutors, and here too, daily interaction between Japanese and international students takes place.

The KLS LL.M. conducts general entrance exams in the spring and autumn, and special recommendation entrance exams in the spring. Looking at the cumulative totals for the five and a half years from its opening to September 2022, there were 250 applicants, 191 successful candidates, and 140 enrollees (excluding those scheduled to enroll in April 2023), producing 120 graduates. The nationalities of the graduates (in descending order of number) are China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Bangladesh, Thailand, France, USA, Taiwan, Laos, Philippines, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Austria, India, Hong Kong, Finland, Turkey, Chile, Spain, Kenya, Canada, Cambodia, Italy, and the UK. In this way, KLS LL.M. graduates show a literally global spread across Asia, North America, South America, Europe, and Africa.

The career paths of graduates are diverse, but distinctive patterns include: first, those who return to their previous positions in courts, government offices, National Diet staff, universities, law firms, or corporate Office of Legal Affairs and continue their activities while achieving promotions; second, those who return to their home countries and find new employment at local law firms, companies, or local offices of Japanese companies; and third, international students who wish to work in Japan and find employment at major Japanese law firms or companies.

In the first pattern of returning to previous positions, some have achieved promotions in courts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the National Police Agency, etc. Among them, some have acted as bridges for legal system development support projects (such as improving the efficiency of judicial dispute resolution) that JICA intends to implement in their home countries, and have returned to Japan as lecturers for KLS LL.M. intensive courses. There are also Japanese graduates who, after temporarily returning to their previous law firms, became involved in the activities of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations' International Exchange Committee and Legal Support Center, and subsequently applied for and were hired as local experts for legal system development support projects implemented by JICA. Also noteworthy is a graduate dispatched from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs who, after completing the KLS LL.M., was hired as a First Secretary and is striving to be a bridge between South Korea and Japan. Some graduates have also become lecturers at their alma maters and are developing joint programs with KLS.

In the second pattern of new employment, there are graduates who, after completing the KLS LL.M., passed the bar exam in their home country (Vietnam) and found employment as lawyers at the local office of a major Japanese bank.

In the third pattern of international students finding employment in Japan, there are graduates (such as a Chilean) who have been formally hired by major Japanese law firms and are fully engaged in international transaction cases.

Looking at it this way, there are prominent examples of KLS LL.M. graduates, regardless of whether they are Japanese or international, building their careers upon returning home or in Japan, broadening their perspectives and scope of activities more than before, and beginning to grow as global legal human resources.

In January 2022, five years after its opening, the KLS LL.M. underwent a certified evaluation by the Japan Association for University Accreditation. One of the challenges pointed out at that time was that "it is desirable to systematically collect and analyze information on the career paths of graduates... and disclose it within the university and to society." This is nothing less than a requirement to constantly verify the degree of achievement of learning outcomes and whether the current KLS LL.M. program truly leads to the cultivation of "global legal human resources." It is also a touchstone for measuring whether the KLS LL.M. is leading the way in its historical mission of "domestic-type" global legal training.

Compared to other countries, Japan has a smaller number of graduate degree holders relative to the population and among corporate managers, and the difference is particularly pronounced in the humanities and social sciences*3. In order for the KLS LL.M. to fulfill its mission under such harsh environmental conditions for humanities graduate schools, it is an urgent task to constantly strive to increase its own appeal as a global legal human resource training institution, while communicating that appeal to government offices, companies, NGOs, etc., both domestically and abroad*4, and creating incentives for graduates to gather voluntarily as intermediaries.