Program through Maurer School of Law offers students chance to earn dual degrees

This fall will mark the beginning of a new program through the IU Maurer School of Law that will allow law students to obtain an Indian law degree, an LLB, in addition to an American law degree.

The program comes as a part of the law school’s India Law Program and a newly formed relationship with O.P. Jindal Global University in India’s capital region of Delhi.

“At Maurer and our India Law Program, we are fully committed to training our students to be highly skilled lawyers,” said Maurer School of Law professor Jayanth Krishnan. “One aspect of that includes informing them about how globalization is contributing to changes in the legal profession.”

The law school is the first U.S. law school to have such a program with an Indian university. However, Columbia University and Cornell University have similar programs with law schools in Europe, and New York University has a similar partnership with the National University of Singapore.

Beginning in the fall, IU law students will be able to complete the two-degree program in four years and a summer session, Krishnan said.

Additionally, students in Jindal Global University’s law program will be able to obtain an American law degree through IU-Bloomington.

In the 1960s, India placed a ban on foreign lawyers that prevented them from practicing law in the country. This was to protect the interests of domestic lawyers.

Indian officials clarified in January that foreign lawyers may advise clients from their hotel rooms without fear of repercussion, as long as they abide by set standards and engage in a “fly-in, fly-out” practice.

Krishnan said students who obtain both degrees will be more attractive to U.S. employers, particularly law firms and companies seeking to do business in South Asia.  
He also called Jindal Global University  an ideal partner, attributing its appeal to the university’s vice chancellor C. Raj Kumar, faculty and law students “with great promise as future globalized lawyers.”

“This initiative helps to further deepen an already strong partnership with a university and country from which we believe our students can gain an enormous amount in terms of education and life experience,” Krishnan said.

— Kirsten Clark