The International Jurist writes
The International Development Law Center and UC College of the Law, San Francisco worked with partner law schools and faculty members to enhance legal education programs in West Africa as part of a grant project funded by U.S. embassies in Ghana and Nigeria during the 2023-2024 academic year. Here are some highlights from those efforts:
Efforts in Ghana
The center and UC Law San Francisco continued implementing a University Partnership Initiative grant from the U.S. Embassy in Ghana in 2023-2024.
The program, which started in fall 2022 and ended in May 2024, aimed to strengthen ties between UC Law San Francisco and its partner in Ghana, the University of Professional Studies, Accra Law School (UPSA Law).
In September 2023, the center hosted two professors of the UPSA Law faculty in San Francisco who observed classes and seminars and visited the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and observed oral arguments.
Several UC Law San Francisco faculty and affiliated experts also traveled to Ghana.
In October 2023, Gail Silverstein, associate dean for experiential learning at UC Law San Francisco, spent a week at UPSA Law to celebrate the launch of its first legal clinic.
The clinic received support from the law school with the development of training materials and help planning the clinic opening. Representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Ghana attended the event.
Professor of Practice Jessica Vapnek, Clinical Professor Mai Linh Spencer, Senior Assistant District Attorney Demarris Evans of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and UC Law San Francisco Graduate Fellow and Intellectual Property Law expert Claudia Cantarella spent a week at UPSA Law’s campus in December 2023.
They gave presentations, legal trainings and classroom lectures on topics such as grant seeking and management, plea bargaining and restorative justice, legislative drafting and trade secrets and confidentiality.
Each U.S. speaker was paired with a Ghanaian speaker to put the American presentations in context. The lectures, trainings and presentations were attended by students, faculty members and professors of UPSA Law, along with representatives of the U.S. Embassy.
In March 2024, UC Law San Francisco hosted two more professors from UPSA Law who observed classes and clinics.
Efforts in Nigeria
UC Law San Francisco and the center received a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria this year to support the project “Strengthening Ties Between Legal Education Institutions in Nigeria and the United States.”
This grant aims to build ties and connections with the University of Abuja and Nasarawa State University and UC Law San Francisco.
This project launched in April 2024 and will run for 12 months. UC Law San Francisco will share expertise by delivering short courses in subject areas of interest to its Nigerian partner universities, including Training of Trainers programs to willing faculty members to strengthen active learning techniques. The project aims to strengthen clinical legal education at the partner law schools by assessing existing legal clinics and identifying opportunities for new and additional clinics in the curriculum.
UC Law San Francisco advances legal education in West Africa
